On Nov 22 my 36 year old brother Mike died suddenly. So I quickly hoped on-line to get a flight from San Francisco to Pittsburgh, leaving Nov 24th.

After a few minutes I realized that I booked the wrong "come back to San Francisco-return" date. I called Travelocity less than 5 minutes after booking my flight information on line. I told the man I was frantic over my brother's death and needed to change the "return flight"---he became confused. I explained my concerns a few more times to him and he said he understood.

The man on the other end of the phone didn't know what a funeral was!!!

He said he could help me but the computers were down and he would make a note that I called right after booking my ticket so I could change it without penalty. In addition, I purchased the flight insurance.

When the funeral was over I called again and they had no record of my call. I was put on hold and the phone hung up after about 28 minutes so I called again and logged into my account with you so I could have all my info right at my fingertips...

Here is a list of a few of the problems I encountered.
-Can't get info on flights under the "my stuff" heading--was told the web site is having problems.
-Put on hold for upwards of 40 minutes--3 times.
-Hung up on twice.
-Customer service didn't know what a funeral was!!!
-Non English speaking customer service.
-Loud background noise of people talking and laughing.
-My account was not updated with the numerous calls I made after the receptionist said they were.
I was quoted $580.00 to change my flight after I was told there would be no charge.

I would like to cancel my flight with you on December 7th.
I would like to be reimbursed the 279.00.

Thank you for your time and attention in this matter,

Jason Doctor

My brother's death record.

Jason, our condolences for your loss. You have to always be careful when ordering tickets online, but we can understand how, in your grief, you made a mistake. We found some contact information that might prove helpful. First, you have to stop calling their regular customer service line. The people they hire there don't even know what a funeral is. You can't reason with such people. Instead, we want you to call the corporate headquarters and try to reach the office of Michelle Peluso, the President. Here is a picture we found of her. You can tell she is just dying to help you. The corporate HQ # is (682) 605-3000. We think her office lines is (682) 605-1374 and her email could be michelle.peluso@travelocity.com. Use the techniques we describe in Flying to one of America's numerous satellite airports can be faster and easier than charging into a congestion clogged airport that suffers delays on the sunniest days. Travel guru Peter Greenberg and his staff compiled Good News: If you're stranded or heavily delayed at the airport this holiday season, you may want to have 1(877)FLYERS6 saved in your cellphone contacts. That's a special free flyer hotline set up by the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights. They offer a variety of services, like emailing your family or business associates and let them know where you are, offering real-time weather and flight status information, and let you know about hotel or rental options, as well as help you deal with refund situations. If you're stuck on the tarmac and not being let off the plane, they will pass the info on and try to get media out to the airport.

Who's Been Naughty and Nice With the Airlines [Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights via Rick Seaney]

Airlines Quietly Institute Annual Two-Bag Max Policy For Caribbean And Latin American Travel [Travel]

If you're traveling to Latin America or the Caribbean, don't pack more than two bags, and don't let them be overweight. People traveling to and from these countries have a propensity to pack heavily this time of year. And so every year at this time of year the airlines impose stringent restrictions, though you'll have to do some Googling on the airlines' sites to find mention of the policy. No worries,