Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

Do Not Stand in Line
Friday, February 9, 2007

My flight from LAX to Seattle left without me on Wednesday night, even though I was waiting in the gate area, just feet from the door. The P.A. system didn't work and the plane left ten minutes early, unannounced. Basically it was virtually empty and they wanted to shove off. I got bumped to the next flight and lost a precious hour of sleep on the other end.

Then my sister sends along this email.

If your flight is cancelled, you can invoke Rule 240 (an old rule still on file at the U.S. Department of Transportation), which says the following: In the event of any irregularity of any kind whatsoever (other than that caused by weather), the airline must immediately rebook you on the NEXT available flight (not THEIR next available flight). In other words, the next available flight on any legacy carrier - American, United, Delta, U.S. Air, Continental, Northwest, etc. Airlines like JetBlue or Southwest, which do not have interline agreements with the legacy carriers, are exempted.

If you are already at the gate - or worse yet, on the plane - when you learn that your flight is delayed or cancelled, do NOT stand in line. Instead, use your cell phone or a pay phone to call the airline's 800 number, and ask them to invoke Rule 240 for you. They'll know what that means, and off you'll go, hopefully to your destination.

Labels: Travel

Posted by B Feiler at 7:05 AM
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