Ticket Protection From Airline Bankruptcies

[jeffrey]

One of the biggest risk these days when flying is whether the airline you purchased a ticket with will still be in business when the time arrives for your trip. To help out with the uncertainty of a number of airlines, congress passed a new law to help protect passengers holding tickets on carriers that stop flying. President Bush says he will sign the bill into law.

While you still will need to spend some extra money if such a situation happens, the new law will require airlines still flying to accept tickets from any failed airlines with $25 limit on re-booking fees for a one-way ticket. The problem is that the law is that airlines don't have to guarantee a seat. That means that the trade in tickets will be for flying standby which won't help people on flights that are regularly full.




For the best protection in case an airline goes out of business is to use your credit card. You'll need to check with your credit card's terms, but most will give ticket holders a refund if they have tickets on an airline that goes out of business. This is one of the instances when credit cards can be advantageous.