You may have read several days back on this blog that Tom and I had to cancel our Air Tran flights to Boston last Friday, for our Saturday flight out of BWI due to the impending blizzard. At that time, the Air Tran rep said we'd be charged $150 for a cancellation fee. I told her that I was sure the flights would be grounded and the airport closed due to the impending blizzard. She said "call back tomorrow and see what happens." That would've been fine if it didn't take 35 minutes on a good weather day- because it would've taken 4+ hours on hold during a blizzard to get the full credit. I informed her I was a meteorologist, and she didn't care. I guess it's all who you talk to. As it turned out, the flight was canceled the next day, and the airport closed for hours.
After checking Air Tran's website to confirm the flight was canceled and airport closed - I wrote to Air Tran customer service explaining that I was trying to cancel the tickets in advance of the chaos that ensued on Saturday (the day of the Blizzard), and provided proof from their website the flight was canceled.
This Customer Service Rep. refunded the penalty, and credited the full amounts for the flights to our frequent flier number.
I urged Air Tran to reconsider their cancellation policies ONLY in the case of natural disasters, based on severe weather watches such as blizzards and hurricanes... extending the cancellation times to the full day before (for a full credit). It's kind of foolish to wait for a hurricane or blizzard to hit and expect people to get through on the phone (when phone lines will be busy with friends and relatives trying to ensure their loved ones are safe during severe weather). Anyway, Air Tran gets an "A" for customer service in this situation.
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