You see, airlines spend the money you give them as soon as they get it. They then carry a line item

Well, I ve got bad news and more bad news. Federal law doesn t require another airline to accept your ticket. (A temporary law enacted easy rent car after 9/11 forced airlines to accept stranded passengers on a space-available basis, but it quietly expired).
As a practical matter, some airlines are coming to the aid of travelers. For example, United Airlines is helping Aloha Airlines passengers , but firsthand reports easy rent car suggest some United employees are confused about the terms of accepting Aloha s tickets.
I talked to different agents and I was getting a different story every time, said Magdalena Platte, a passenger from Reno, Nev. One of the options was to rebook easy rent car the ticket at discounted price of $994 which was laughable, since Expedia offers those same tickets at $945.
For example, in ATA s case, travelers who paid by cash or check are ineligible for refunds, according to a statement on its Web site. These customers may be able to obtain a full or partial refund for their unused tickets by submitting a claim in ATA's Chapter 11 proceedings, it says. Information about submitting a claim will be available at the following website easy rent car .
Note the use of the term may. In fact, passengers are at the bottom of the list of claimants in a bankruptcy court. Chances are, you ll see pennies on the dollar if that after the carrier liquidates.
What these so-called experts often fail to mention is that when it comes to these kinds of disputes, the Fair Credit Billing Act only protects people who have made purchases in their home state or within 100 miles of their current billing address. (Some credit card companies regard these issues as quality of goods and services disputes rather than billing errors, so they refuse easy rent car to reverse the charges.)
Get a plan B . If you were planning to fly on an airline that s grounded, call your travel easy rent car agent immediately or try to make alternate arrangements with an airline that says it will accept your ticket. At the time of this writing, easy rent car no other airline had come forward to say it would help stranded ATA passengers, but I imagine a carrier like Southwest Airlines will probably do what United has done for Aloha.
Run an airline health check . Is your airline showing signs of imminent bankruptcy? If it has removed its top executive recently, scaled back routes or issued an excessively cheery press release in the recent past, chances are you re flying on a distressed carrier. You might consider making alternate plans. I can t guarantee your airline will be there when you need it.
Get professional advice. A competent travel professional can help you navigate the ins and outs of a bankruptcy-ridden airline industry. Before you book your next airline ticket, check with a travel pro and find out what you should do. It s advice worth paying for.
One other thing that s worth noting. The current wave of bankruptcies are healthy for the airline industry. They re weeding out the weakest air carriers and making room for new airlines with sustainable easy rent car business models. This is part of a perfectly normal cycle we ve seen many times before.
The reason why credit card companies always refund money for airlines that go tango uniform is that the airline has a LARGE cash deposit with the credit card company to protect the credit from this very event. The amount of this fund changes with the financial condition of the carrier. I forget which airline bankruptcy this came to light in, but Mastercard and Visa refused easy rent car to cooperate with the company and prevented them from coming out until they resolved the outstanding dispute easy rent car over how much they needed to leave on deposit to secure their air traffic liability.
You see, airlines spend the money you give them as soon as they get it. They then carry a line item in their balance sheets called air traffic liability. This is the amount of air travel they owe their customers for for future flights. As an airline starts to get into financial trouble, Mastercard and Visa [and AMEX I believe] begin to increase the amounts held in reserve by the credit card companies to three and some cases four months charges so that they have a cushion in the event the company easy rent car goes belly up.
The key to obtaiing a refund is NEVER NEVER NEVER buy an airline ticket more than 4 months before easy rent car you intend to travel. These days you can get the same fare 2 weeks out as you can 6 months out so why let them have your money?
easy rent car @ JF: This all confirms my crazy idea that customers are treated as a liability the second they have paid for their ticket. An airline would much like to not have you show up, and just pocket your money. easy rent car This is also the underlying reason why customer service is down the drain. They have your money, so there is no motivation for the company anymore to service you. All they need to do is get rid of their liability for the least money possible.
New regulation proposal: Customers a only a down payment on their ticket when they purchase it. Airlines are only allowed to charge the customer from the moment they actually show up at the airport. Only *after* completion of the trip, the customer has to separately authorize the payment of the full ticket.
The policies of credit card banks must vary wildly. I booked a cruise on WindJammer Barefoot Cruises in June for a cruise over New Year s. The company stopped sailing in August, but didn t officially cancel the cruise until November.
I didn t call the bank until January (I had hoped they would resume sailing I wanted my cruise, not my money). They refunded my money instantly, without so much as a single fax or form to fill out. This was over six months after the initial charge.
Sir they refund immediately because they are holding money if there company no longer has money left there is no LEGAL requirement that the credit card issuer refund the charge. It does not satisfy the Fair Credit rules pertaining to refunds for charges where you do not get what you bargained for or never get it at all . . ..
I don t wish to spread gloom, but Mesa (and thus Go! here in Hawaii) are looking quite precarious. With the recent loss of one of their Delta contracts representing nearly 20% of their business, and with their stock and market capitalization at historic lows, I m not sure what s in the cards for them.
And guess what, skybus just dropped. They just shut down like a couple hours ago. I was dropping my friend off for a flight in portsmouth nh and they got the call while we were checking in. This is crazy
Champion Air has not filed bankruptcy easy rent car and is not intending to nor are their aircraft grounded. They are responsibly winding easy rent car down operations by May 31st. All employees will be paid and taken care of. No passenger will be inconvenienced as they are a charter carrier and the tour operator customer is making arrangements with other carriers to operate charter flights at the same time or re-book passengers on scheduled service. Unlike Aloha and ATA (Skybus now included) who left passengers, investors, and employees out in the cold Champion seems to be doing the appropriate and responsible thing when faced with a tough decision. Someone should be pointing out that in the time of ethics issues and distrust of airlines that there are some companies that still do the right thing. Also with a charter carrier the monies for transport are held in escrow by DOT regulations so that if the carrier goes belly up the passengers can get their money back.
I would expect you could get your money back from a credit card because they failed to deliver your purchase. Unlike the person who pays cash to the airline, the credit card companies have all the contract easy rent car power they need to protect their (and thus your) money.
The one thing I would be concerned about is your credit card statement requires you to contest your charges within 30 or 60 days depending on the card. If you purchased your ticket three months ago, will you have trouble with the credit card company?
I m not sure the caveat you mention about the Fair Credit Billing Act is accurate. The way I read the text of the bill, the in-state/100-mile provision of the FCBA pertains to a lower threshold of disputes pertaining to the quality of a good or service. easy rent car Items that are billed for and not received fall into one of a set of more strict billing error categories that are mentioned earlier in the text.
What s your problem? If you're having trouble with a business - any business - and you've reached a dead end, maybe I can help. Send me an email and I'll investigate. (I can't promise a fix, but I take every request seriously.) If you want to connect with other consumers, easy rent car why not sign up for my free weekly newsletter easy rent car , RSS feed or free daily email updates ?
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