March 10, 1999

I started flying a lot a few years ago. When I started, I mainly flew between SFO and LAX with US Air. US Air had a shuttle that left every couple of hours. About a third of the shuttles that I booked were canceled and most of the time, US Air never notified me about the cancellations. I contacted US Air about the cancellations and about not being notified, but they never replied back.

I also noticed very quickly, that in general, the airlines did not provide the type of friendly and helpful service that they promised with their ads (I know most ads are BS, but the airlines take the BS to the limit.).

A couple of weeks ago I heard that if you are a passenger on an airplane, and the airplane can't dock to the terminal for whatever reason, that you have to stay in the seat, buckled up, indefinitely. If you give the airline crew any hassle about it, they can have you arrested.

Since I didn't want to wait until something like this happened to me to find out more about the Airlines, I started reading up a little on the subject. Here's some more info I found out.

Lost tickets, "although you'll eventually get a refund, it may take a good two to six months-if not a year-and the airline may charge a lost-ticket fee." (Wendy Perrin's Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc., copyright 1997, pg. 20). (The remaining quotes in this article all come from Wendy Perrin's Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc., copyright 1997, I will only show the page number for each quote.)

Missing a flight because the airline changed the departure time, "If you miss a flight because of a scheduling change, the airline will not assume liability, even if it never notified you." (pg. 22).

Showing up late for check in, "Many readers ask us whether it's really necessary to meet the check-in deadline. I'd rather spend the extra hour in bed too, but it's safer to play by the rules: If you're late [even by five minutes], the airline is in its rights to give away your seat." (pg. 22) If you are only 5 minutes late for check-in the airline can legally give your seat away to someone on standby.

Flight delays and cancellations, "Just in case a delayed or canceled flight isn't frustrating enough, airlines provide an added pill to swallow: No matter how long or uncomfortable the delay, they are not obligated to make any peace offering. They don't have to put you up in a hotel overnight, or give you a meal, a drink, or even money for a phone call. And they're not liable for any damages or expenses incurred." (pg. 27) Also, "The delayed airling is not necessarily responsible for getting you to your final destination. Say your United Airlines flight from Denver to New York runs late, causing you to miss your Iberia flight to Madrid. United is not obligated to fly you across the ocean." (pg. 28)

Staying healthy and comfortable in the sky, "Because recirculating air requires less fuel, airlines have reduced the influx of fresh air on planes (not to mention the size of the seats and the amount of leg room)." (pg. 38-39)

Complaining to customer relations, many times when you complain to customer service they will ask for documentation such as receipts for tickets and claim checks. One thing you might not think to ask for is an in-flight accident report. If something happens to you on the plane from a bump on the head to spilled coffee and it's the fault of the airline, ask the pilot for an in-flight accident report so you can prove to customer relations that the the event occurred.

What if your luggage never shows up, the airline is only liable for $1250 per person for domestic flights and a mere $640 for international flights. And if the international flight included a domestic flight, it's the $640 amount that applies. My suitcase is nothing fancy, but is high quality and it cost me $500, that means on an international flight I'm only going to recover my suitcase cost and for everything else in the suitcase, only $140. Remember too, these numbers are the airlines maximum liability, you could actually recover less.

Happy Flying.