New Rights for Airline Travelers

Unless you are sailing to your next Maho vacation, this applies to you. The Department of Transportation has rolled out some new rights for passengers/obligations for airlines. I read numerous articles on the matter and Chris McGinnis did the best job of explaining the 7 changes that will effect us the most. My favorite aspect is the 24 hold period for tickets. Countless times I've needed that 24 hours to be able to make the pieces fit and being able to hold those tickets is a huge deal.

Here is his article and a link to his article in the San Francisco Gate .

Yesterday, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a broad range of new or enhanced airline consumer protections that will go into effect in September.

As is often the case with governmental regulations, new US rules are lengthy (213 pages!) and full of loopholes. Here are seven important details that matter most to frequent travelers:

1) TARMAC DELAYS. Current rules that impose heavy fines on US airlines for tarmac delays will be extended to cover international flights and non-US carriers operating in the United States. For domestic US flights, the tarmac delay limit is three hours. For international flights, the limit will be four hours. Carriers will be required to provide trapped passengers with status updates at least every 30 minutes, plus food and water every two hours.

2) NOTIFICATION OF IRREGULARITIES. All airlines must offer passengers a flight status update service (i.e., email or text) to which they can subscribe. They must also notify passengers within 30 minutes of becoming aware of a situation that will delay, divert or cancel a flight.

3) 24-HOUR GRACE PERIOD. Airlines will have to hold all reservations for at least 24 hours at the quoted fare, without payment. If a payment is made at the time of reservation, it must be refunded if a passenger cancels the purchase within 24 hours. (Many airlines already do this; the new rules force all of them to do so, uniformly.)

4) FEE REFUNDS FOR LOST (NOT DELAYED) BAGS. Airlines are now required to refund checked baggage fees (which generally run from $20 to $35 each way) in addition to compensating passengers when bags are lost or destroyed. However, new rules do not force airlines to refund fees if bags are simply delayed and eventually delivered to owners.

5) FEE DISCLOSURE. Airlines must clearly disclose all potential fees via prominent links on their homepages. The DOT says these fees and charges include checked, carry-on, oversized or overweight bags, meals, on-board entertainment, Internet access, pillows, blankets, premium coach seating, phone reservations, early boarding, ticket changes or cancellations, unaccompanied minors and pets.

6) FULL-PRICE DISPLAYS. When airlines quote, display or advertise fares, they must always include all government taxes and fees, which in some cases can make up as much as half of the total price of a ticket. (This should make comparing apples to apples much easier when fare shopping.)

7) BUMPING. Compensation for involuntarily bumped passengers will double to a maximum of $650 if the replacement flight results in a delay of less than two hours or $1,300 if the delay is more than two hours. This applies to both purchased and frequent flyer award tickets. (Note: US passengers are not entitled to any compensation for flight delays - these rules only apply if a passenger is involuntarily bumped.)

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cmcginnis/detail?entry_id=87513#ixzz1KGVhQOnD