Tina McDermott, 45, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, was due to fly from Newcastle to Alicante with her husband on August 30 for a four-day break. But her son Billy died in a tragic accident on August 19, 11 days before departure. Ryanair refused her a refund, citing its 10-day bereavement policy.
Mum's shock and grief
Billy had just turned 18 at the time of his death. Tina said: "Billy's death was a massive shock. He'd just turned 18. I could never have travelled and gone abroad. I just wanted to be at home with my family around me."
She added: "I'm arranging my son's funeral. There's no way I could go. I thought when I got in touch with Ryanair there wouldn't be an issue." However, she was told his death fell outside Ryanair's 10-day policy for refunds.
Refund claim blocked
Tina said Ryanair demanded a copy of Billy's death certificate. She said: "I thought we'd get that money back and put it towards Billy's funeral and then I hit these barriers because of this 10-day policy that I hadn't been aware of."
She struggled to complete the claim form on Ryanair's website, saying: "It was raw emotion all the time. It wouldn't let me complete the form. I looked at the terms and conditions and thought 'That doesn't really make sense.'"
She added: "I opened a chat on the app and they told me to 'no show' so I could get a letter off them and you can go to your travel insurance and claim off them. I thought 'That's passing the buck'."
Disgust and disappointment
Tina claims she was told she was ineligible for a refund on the £350 flight due to her son's death falling outside the 10-day window. She said: "If he'd died a day later, I would've got my money back. It's disgusting and petty."
She continued: "It was like a slap in the face. It should be done by a case by case basis. It's a blanket policy, but it isn't human. I felt very insulted. He wasn't meant to die. It was a tragic accident, so surely there should be special circumstances."
Tina said: "I was devastated. Everybody I've dealt with has been compassionate except for them. They're greedy." She added: "It's not about the money. It's the principle. £350 for a huge company like Ryanair is chicken feed. It's made the grieving process worse. I'm a mother who's grieving. It felt very personal and I know the terms and conditions are not."
Call for policy change
Tina is calling for Ryanair to review bereavement claims on a case by case basis after her experience. She said: "Ryanair needs to change their policies. There needs to be a special circumstances clause for close relatives like children. Have a bit of heart and compassion." She insisted: "I'll never fly with them again."
Ryanair stood by its policy, with a spokesperson saying: "Ryanair's bereavement policy allows passengers to apply for travel credit where the death of an immediate family member occurs within 10 days of their scheduled flight departure. As this bereavement occurred outside of that period, this passenger was not entitled to travel credit. This passenger was provided with the documentation required to submit a claim through their travel insurance provider."
