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Over the years I always thought that the IATA was the regulator hertz car rental france protecting us against the usual problems that we can face in air travel, but lately I'm waking up to the reality, we are helpless against bad airlines. The most recent case is PU . I have two very close relatives who were booked for a flight in September MVD - SCL in PU , and paid in cash to the travel agency.
Today, with the closure of PU and the Uruguayan government washing its hands, they are screwed. The travel agency says IATA doesn't take any measure to protect the passengers against this crisis, hertz car rental france despite how frequently we have seen situations like this. The very same travel agencies hertz car rental france requested to IATA to take some measures, like evaluations of the financial shape of its members, demand guarantees to its members, or the implementation of some sort of solidarity system where other airlines help stranded and "betrayed" passengers when other airline vanishes like PU did today.
In summary, despite all the millions of dollars involved and all the marketing and talking, hertz car rental france it seems to me that IATA is useless in this situations. Am I wrong ? Or are we really helpless when an airline goes belly up ?
Quoting Gonzalo ( Thread starter ): In summary, despite all the millions of dollars involved and all the marketing and talking, it seems to me that IATA is useless in this situations. Am I wrong ? Or are we really helpless when an airline goes belly up ?
They can set standards and goals, hertz car rental france but if the local laws are different, the most the IATA could do is blacklist an airline. That is a major political move, not a clear standard hertz car rental france that can be easily enforced.
In Denmark we have the Rejsegarantifonden (literally the travel guarantee fund) Which covers package deals. After Sterlings bankruptcy in 2008 they made it mandatory for airlines to offer insurance hertz car rental france for the customers. It is not very expensive only 20kr/~$4. This is only for members of Rejsegarantifonden, which is optional for airlines but mandatory for travel agencies.
Yes most countries have this - in the UK it's ATOL, Air Travel Organisers' Licence. A travel agent or tour operator must be bonded by ATOL, which is run by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), if they sell air travel plus any other component of a trip (eg hotel or car hire), which thence constitutes a package holiday. Pure air travel, and airlines, are not covered - sounds a lot like the Norwegian security described by Lashjort.
Against airline failure, yes, you are on your own if you pay by cash / cheque et al, whereas you get some protection with a credit card, because with a CC you only pay for goods and services you actually receive.
No, you are right. IATA (International Air Transport Association) is a club of airlines. hertz car rental france Most airlines are members, but not all. They are dealing with common issues with authorities, airports and other such third parties. But they are not involved with financial problems of members.
hertz car rental france 1. You paid with credit card. Then the supplier gets his money from the credit card company with a substantial delay, typically 4 - 6 weeks. If that delay hasn't expired, then the credit card companies, I know of, will on request cancel the payment.
2. You take out an insurance against this calamity. And hope that the insurance company survives. I know airlines which do all the things needed when you only tick on their web site accepting the insurance fee, typically some $4 per ticket. This is up to local availability. hertz car rental france If it is not possible to take out such an insurance at a modest price, then it is a good indicator telling you to find another carrier since the likely reason is that the insurance companies find the risk too high.
One advantage of buying through a travel agency should be that they should hertz car rental france be better informed than the average Joe Airtraveller about the financial state of individual airlines, and they should advice about availability of insurance. It seems like your travel agency hertz car rental france wasn't very helpful.
Quoting prebennorholm ( Reply 4 ): No, you are right. IATA (International Air Transport Association) is a club of airlines. Quoting prebennorholm ( Reply 4 ): But don't blame IATA, it is not their business.
I understand the overall hertz car rental france explanation.... but they can do better. It's a matter of customer service. The way that things are today, is not enough. And it's not exactly fair that you must buy an ( extra ) insurance for a service you are paying for.... is like having to pay extra in the restaurant if you want to be sure that the food doesn't have poison. The IATA is just useless in this regard, and should be much more active preventing this kind of damage against the common people.
Quoting Gonzalo ( Reply 5 ): I understand the overall explanation.... but they can do better. hertz car rental france It's a matter of customer service. The way that things are today, is not enough. And it's not exactly fair that you must buy an ( extra ) insurance for a service you are paying for.... is like having to pay extra in the restaurant if you want to be sure that the food doesn't have poison. hertz car rental france The IATA is just useless in this regard, and should be much more active preventing this kind of damage against the common people. Sadly, I feel that way, IATA means nothing for a passenger when an airline goes belly up, and with the economic downturn this could be a common occurrence in the near future.
If you buy any other product hertz car rental france eg a house or a car you loose the warrenty if the company goes bankrupt. Should hertz car rental france other car manufacturers honour the warrenty of a competitors car becaus they sold it too cheap?
As for protecting the common people hertz car rental france that is a job for the governemt or the people itself. Anybody buying a ticket without insurance with Pluna in the last couple of months knew what was coming. On June 4th the CEO warned that PLUNA might collapse. Likewise with QI , my former employer, there was signs at least a year before the shutdown that it wasn't going fantastic.
However, national goverments might be interested in setting up similar guarantee funds that they have set up for package travel agencies. For example, Air Finland went bust a week ago here. The people who have bought a packaged vacation from Air Finland will get their money back from the guarantees that Air Finland had paid to the local consumer protection agency. hertz car rental france Even if it will take months to process all the claims. However, the people who had bought a scheduled flight from Air Finland and paid by cash will likely hertz car rental france not get anything back.
Yes and always check the small print before buying to ensure hertz car rental france the insurance product does actually cover airlines going out of business. Not all policies do. Some insurance companies will also publish advisories stating that travel with certain airlines is no longer covered but you may have to hunt or specifically ask for that information. As always, caveat emptor.
Whilst I sympathise with your family's situation, never , ever book any travel without paying for it with a credit card - be it airline tickets, hotel rooms, car hire - whatever, just use a credit card.
Whilst I sympathise with your family's situation, never, ever book any travel without paying for it with a credit card - be it airline tickets, hotel rooms, car hire - whatever, just use a credit card.
Even if you never normally use a credit card - always do so when travelling. Not only do they offer some level of protection against failed services but it is also often easier to deal with fraud/theft of a credit card.
Quoting prebennorholm ( Reply 4 ): One advantage of buying through a travel agency should be that they should be better informed than the average Joe Airtraveller about the financial state of individual airlines, and they should advice about availability of insurance. It seems like your travel agency wasn't very helpful.
After booking VIP/Intl passengers hertz car rental france worldwide for 20+ years, I can say with all confidence, blaming the agent is the most typical response when something goes wrong, and not all of what is visible now, was visible when those passengers bought their Pluna tickets. The travel agencies do not have any information that is proprietary hertz car rental france about carriers nor their finance, they find out the same time everyone hertz car rental france else does.
I do agree that the agent would be doing a disservice if not informing their passengers had they known anything, which is unlikely. I do think maybe less than 1% of all the tickets I wrote were paid for by any other means other than credit card, debit cards and prepaid credit cards rarely offer the same protections. And purchasing travel hertz car rental france insurance is a good option, if you are breaking the bank to pay for the trip, pay the little extra and buy travel hertz car rental france insurance! (They flew a client of mine off Mt Kilimanjaro when she fell) Some credit cards also offer varied levels of travel protection if you used them to pay for things, check with your lender or bank to be properly informed. IMHO, American Express is the best travel credit hertz car rental france card, and I don't leave home without hertz car rental france it, ever.
In most credit card transactions, the merchant (in this case, the airline) gets the payment within 48 hours or so....it's the credit card issuer (usually a bank) that has to wait 4-6 weeks to get the payment from the card holder......
One thing to note is, that at least here many online travel agencies and airlines even (AY included) charge extra when paying by credit card. This of course hertz car rental france steers the public towards paying by othe
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