My father in law was due to travel to the UK on 20th of December on a British Airways flight which I paid for, but unfortunately two nights before his flight, he was hospitalised and operated on to remove his appendicitis. He was in no condition to travel and was in hospital until yesterday.

The morning I found out I contacted BA promptly and asked for the flight to be cancelled and requested credit for the flight amount, to be used for future travel in accordance with their General Conditions of Carriage providing that I send them medical and hospital records.

The lady I spoke to had no idea about these clauses and had to put me on hold while she actually found out. Then she came back and pointed me to an irrelevant clause that cited illness and said that this is the only time that they actually refund due to illness. I very patiently explained that the clause clearly stated that it was 'after your begin your journey' and that the clause for unused tickets was different entirely but she wasn't having it.

I asked to be put through to a manager and she put me on hold, apparently spoke to someone on my behalf and they told her the same thing. Although I continuously asked to speak to them myself she refused. I then requested permission to record the call and stated all the conversation facts up to that point and asked her to confirm them. Once she did, I greeted her and hang up.

I contacted their complaints team with all the details and I mentioned that our family have been regular BA customers for over 6 years and that we jointly make over 20 flights a year. I am now waiting to hear back.

The clause I referred to in their terms and conditions was:

3e) Your rights if you are prevented from travelling by events beyond your control

If:

you are a consumer.
you have been prevented from travelling by events beyond your control and
all or part of the fare for your ticket is non-refundable.

we will give you a credit for the non-refundable part of the fare. We will do this if you:

have a completely unused ticket
have told us promptly about the events beyond your control and
have given us evidence of these events.

The credit can be used for future travel on us by you or any person you choose. We may take a reasonable fee from the credit to cover our administration costs.

and she referred me to:

3b3) If, after beginning your journey:

you become ill
your illness prevents you from travelling on your next flight within the validity period of your ticket; and
you want us to extend the validity period so that you can continue your journey;

you must give us a medical certificate. The certificate must:

state the facts relating to your illness and
confirm the date you will be fit to travel again ('the recovery date').

When we receive the certificate, we may decide to extend the validity period until either:

the recovery date, as long as there is a seat available on the relevant flight in the class of service for which you have paid the fare or
if not, the first date after the recovery date when a seat will be available.

If the flight coupons left on your ticket involve one or more stopovers, we may decide to extend the validity period up to a maximum of three months from the recovery date. If other members of your immediate family were travelling with you when you fell ill, we will extend the validity period of their tickets for a similar period.

I wondered if anyone has had a similar experience or if someone can shed any light on whether my case is appropriate.

Thanks in advance.