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A good news story from an airline – well done, Monarch!

A couple of weeks ago I was meant to be going on a press trip to Tenerife  with my family and reviewing a couple of hotels out there.  Shortly before we were due to depart, I was looking into travel insurance as I was aware that our annual policy had expired.  I contacted the travel insurance company we’d previously had cover from and sent them an email, rather than an instruction initially, because I had a query about the policy that I wanted to run by them. I never received a reply from that email and, before I knew it, events unfolded shortly afterwards, that were to entirely scupper our plans.  Our younger son was diagnosed with Henoch–Schönlein purpura which left him with a nasty rash on his legs, and resulted in painful swelling on his joints – particularly his ankles – that temporarily prevented him from being able to walk.  Our doctor sensibly advised us not to travel. With this diagnosis, I knew I couldn’t just get travel insurance retrospectively.  So I contacted Monarch who I’d booked our flights with, and explained my predicament. They were extremely helpful and understanding and have allowed me to re-schedule the flights for the same time next year so that I can make the trip then – all at no cost. Of course, all this was the least of our worries.  The main thing was that our son made a speedy recovery and I’m pleased to report that he is doing much better now and has even been able to return to school today. That said, it was a very kind gesture from Monarch and gave us one less thing to worry about. For the record, to my surprise Monarch do have a policy that allows you to amend your flights up to just 4.5 hours prior to your departure, usually at a cost of £27.50 per flight if done online (or £40 if done over the telephone), and you can amend your flight to dates up to a year in advance – a useful feature for anyone else finding themselves in a similar predicament. A worthy mention also goes to SkyParkSecure who I’d booked a ‘meet and greet’ airport parking service with.  I contacted them also, and they have simply re-credited our account so that we can re-book with them on another occasion. And the moral of the story?  Even if your travels aren’t imminent, if you have a trip booked, make sure you have travel insurance in place at the time of booking, and not just prior to your departure.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.

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3 Comments

  1. great advice and nice to hear of some companies that have their customers best interests at heart. glad to hear your son is doing ok.

  2. Hmm I wasn’t so impressed with Monarch when their website says 20kg hold baggage per person. But at check-in they told me it was 15kg and I would have to pay £9 per kg. Which meant I and many others would conned for more money. In my case £45. I wrote to Monarch and said that their website says 20kg and check-in say it’s 15kg. They offered me my money back. But how many people don’t bother to take it further and get ripped off??

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