United Airlines Ripped Me Off Chicago Illinois

I had the same situation with United, only it was very positive.

We were on vacation, had non refundable tickets, and in this case we didn't know we would be in the hospital (if we had been going specifically for surgery we would have bought refundable tickets). My Wife ended up in the hospital and they would not release her until the day after our flight. I went to the airport, waited in a long line, kept seeing people get frustrated with the agents, and knew this would be awful. When I got to the agent, I explained the situation. She changed our tickets to a later date, as they were doing it, I said, I know we bought discount tickets, so how much will the cost change? as I got out my wallet. The woman said, You know what, everyone yells at me and fights the fees and causes a fuss, since you offered to pay, I am going to waive the fees for you. She then changed our tickets to another flight, and put us on a Y fair which is refundable in case we had to change again.

I guess it pays to read the rules and know you will have to pay if you buy a discount ticket and offer to pay graciously instead of expecting to get things for free that you don't deserve because you didn't plan ahead.

I love it when people leave out a bunch of facts. Like the fact that the OP bought the cheapest, NON-REFUNDABLE tickets, then ran into a problem that required that they stay at the hospital longer, then the big, bad, mean old airline won't refund all of their NON-REFUNDABLE tickets. Why not blame the doctors? THEY said they could usually make arrangements with the airlines. Why not blame the patients for leaving early before they are advised to by their doctors? Why not blame the government for allowing such a thing to happen? Let's see, Is there anyone else we forgot to blame? How about the OP for buying a NON-REFUNDABLE ticket? Nope can't blame them. that would make too much sense. Here's a suggestion, BUY REFUNDABLE TICKETS.

You wrote: "they would not give me a refund for the return flight ticket despite the fact that it was a medical emergency."

If it were truly a "medical emergency," then wouldn't you need to STAY IN SAN FRANCISO WHERE THE HOSPITAL IS? Not return back to Honolulu?

Also -- if there was a chance your travel dates may change, you should have purchased full-fare tickets, not NON-REFUNDABLE ones.

there are many examples like yours - this is how their system is set up: obviously they make more money with fees than with regular ticket sales. You paid $ 500,- for the one way trip from SFO to Hawaii with Hawaiian airlines. for $ 300 more you can go with the same airline from phoenix to manila (via Hawaii) and back to Phoenix - does that make sense ?

I would still keep your United experience in mind and avoid them in the future. They don't care about losing customers with their arrogant behavior and they should get the message from you.