| Travel Guides & Tips |
| Soaring Above Reality |
| by Vino Clement |
| For Yuletide jetsetters, it’s easy to wonder how “goodwill toward men” can survive the holiday season. Flight cancellations ruin plans and airlines offer few solutions. Yet, for an informed traveler, there remains a glimmer of hope. |
A shockwave ripples through America every holiday season and, remarkably, few manage to brace for impact.
It’s a scene common to any airport terminal in the throes of winter – so tragic and, yet, oddly comical. It’s a tale of a businessman who set up too many deals on the heels of Christmas, it’s a retired couple hoping to escape the winter to some tropical sea, or it’s a college student, looking to return to her Midwestern home after wrapping up a late final exam.
They all put their faith in an airline, and now they find themselves out in the cold – like London guttersnipes after old Scrooge foreclosed on the orphanage.
Ever increasingly, since the major airlines learned of their invulnerability in the wake of the 1978 deregulation act, customer service has become a privilege rather than a right. Accountability, likewise, seems perpetually on back order. As the harvest season for the airlines looms on the horizon, every traveler hoping to challenge the beast should keep aware of his or her options in the event of a dreaded last-minute cancellation – limited though they may be.
Common sense dictates what to expect in a consumer-driven culture. We expect, in the event that a company fails to deliver services paid for, that the outfit take certain steps to remedy the situation. However, in the anarchic world of the airport terminal, such dealings rarely prove so cut and dry. Cancellations arise for a variety of reasons, and the airline’s supposed solutions run a similar gamut.
In the event of a cancellation due to some hitch in operations – whether by mechanical malfunction or labor issues – the airline will cover reasonable overnight accommodations, when available, while the traveler waits for an open flight. Of course, “reasonable” and “available” are notoriously relative terms, and the laws of demand that power the holiday season often assure that nothing available can also be reasonable. In high-traffic airports, on high-traffic days – like those immediately leading up to Christmas – these guarantees tend to evaporate.
In the event of a cancellation due to inclement weather or anything else deemed an act of nature, a weary traveler will receive no such assistance. These circumstances fall within most airlines’ nefarious “realm of control” clause.
Recently, many Americans found out just how deep the airlines will delve to bury fault when a record hurricane season triggered mass cancellations due to rising fuel prices. Apparently the phrase “beyond the realm of control” includes the unspoken addendum, “beyond the ability to foresee and prepare for.”
After all, who ever heard of a spike in fuel prices?
On the opposite extreme of entitlement, the airlines are required to compensate passengers bumped if, and only if, the company overbooks a fight. But how often does this occur? Sadly, more frequently than it should. Regardless, this policy does not extend to circumstances that fail to show the carrier at absolute and total fault. The line could misplace a 747, forcing customers to miss a Polynesian cruise or lose the industrial lubricant contract of a lifetime and no immediate remuneration is due.
In short, nothing is owed unless specifically cited by law – the brutal truth of airline customer service. Hence, the best option to avoid getting buried during the holiday season rests in familiarity with the contract of the chosen carrier.
Enter the seldom-employed, often-mysterious Rule 240: a strange post-deregulation bit of regulation.
Filed with the Department of Transportation by each airline, these conditions of carriage detail exactly what is entitled in the event of a delay or cancellation, including, in some cases, transfer to another carrier with seat availability. Most airlines try not to broadcast their 240 since it actually constitutes part of a larger agreement with the DOT – a tax exemption of sorts. However, it can, and should, be obtained upon request.
If used properly, Rule 240 can prove a traveler’s saving grace. Or it might simply supply a free meal during a lengthy delay. Then again, in some situations, 240 will offer nothing. Knowing it is the key but, suffice it to say, the provision is not license to act like a jackass. An airline agent cannot deny you your rights, but they can make things difficult – in fact, that’s their stock in trade.
When traveling this holiday season, be sure to pack a copy of these service contracts and ample patience to deal with the frustration to come. After all, someone has to keep their head out of the clouds. |
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