I'm a parish priest who recently booked a trip to Europe with Gate One after explaining that I have a parishioner who is dying and would have to play it by ear. The agent suggested getting the full insurance coverage which would allow me to cancel without loosing my money. "No problem, " she said.I did so.

A week before my scheduled departure it began to be clear that the person from my church might die during my absense so I called Gate 1 to notify them that I would probably have to cancel. They said that it was no problem as I had the full coverage insurance and to call back on 72 hours prior to departure to cancel.

I called early on the morning of the day I was told to and did not receive a call back for several hours. When the agent returned my call, she informed me that I would receive a travel voucher that would have to be used within one year and that I would have to cancel in writing. She also mentioned that since this person was not immediate family I could not receive my money back and suggested that I take it to the insurance company. Neither the voucher, the fact that it had to be immediate family, nor the cancellation in writing had been mentioned prior to this time. I was away from home at that point and could not get to my computer to receive her email with instructions until after the deadline. I also contacted Travel 1 and left a message for a manager to contact me and did not receive a call back. Doing some research on the net, it appears that the full coverage insurance does not include airfare and that there are all sorts of fees tat will not be covered. What does full coverage mean?

At this time I have already contacted my credit card company to complain and asked both the agent and the manager to contact me. Later today I will attmept to sort this out again but will also contact a lawyer and the state attorney general's office. This is very dishonest and unprofessional.