Ryanair refuses grieving mother refund after teen son dies just days before flight

A mother has criticised Ryanair as “inhuman” after the budget airline refused to issue a refund for a cancelled holiday following the sudden death of her teenage son.

Tina McDermont and her husband were due to fly from Newcastle to Alicante in Spain on 30 August for a four-day break.

However, the trip was cancelled after their 18-year-old son, Billy McDermont, died in an accident on 19 August.

The 45-year-old civil servant contacted Ryanair customer support to notify them of the situation and request a refund for their £350 flight booking, supplying a copy of her son's death certificate.

However, she was informed that she was ineligible for reimbursement because Billy had passed away 11 days before the scheduled departure date – missing the airline's deadline by just 24 hours.

Under Ryanair policy, customers may apply for travel credit if a passenger on the booking or an immediate family member (restricted to a partner, parent, or child) passes away within 10 days prior to the flight.

Ms McDermont said that she was left "disgusted" by the decision, having hoped to use the money to help cover the costs of Billy's funeral.

The mother-of-two labelled the airline “greedy” and described the policy as a “slap in the face”.

She is calling for Ryanair to review all bereavement claims on a case-by-case basis.

The incident has led her to swear off flying with the budget airline again over its “inhuman” policies.

However, in response, Ryanair simply reiterated their policy and said that Billy had died outside of the bereavement window, so Ms McDermont was not entitled to cover.

Ms McDermont, who lives in Washington, Tyne and Wear, 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.

“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.

“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.”

After contacting Ryanair, Ms McDermont claims that she was told she was ineligible to make a refund claim due to her son's death falling outside their 10-day cover window.

“If he'd died a day later, I would've got my money back. It's disgusting and petty,” Ms McDermont said.

“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.

“I was devastated. Everybody I've dealt with has been compassionate except for them. They're greedy.

“I was outraged. Nobody wants to lose their child. It was disbelief in their policies.

“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.”

Ms McDermont is calling for Ryanair to review bereavement claims on a case by case basis after her “deflating” experience with the budget airline.

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.

“I feel so deflated by them. I'll never fly with them again.”

However, Ryanair stood by their policy and said that it was correct that Ms McDermont should not be covered.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “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.”