SAN ANTONIO – With spring break right around the corner, many millions of people have booked flights to destinations across the country.
But what happens when your flight is delayed, canceled or overbooked?
Travelers have rights, but there are few rights when things go wrong.
“Being informed will help you get the compensation you are due,” Lauren Lyons Cole, with Consumer Reports, said. “If you stand up for yourself.”
With it comes to cancellations, each airline does things differently.
Delta, for example, will put a passenger on its next available flight or rebook them on another carrier. Southwest Airlines, though, will only rebook people on the next available flight.
“Overbooking isn’t illegal, but if you are bumped involuntarily, in most cases the airline has to rebook you in a timely manner, or pay you,” Lyons Cole said.
They might also have to do both.
On domestic flights, if airline rebooks a passenger who lands 1-2 hours later than the original time, the airline has to cover the cost of the ticket's one-way fare, up to $675.
Should a flight be delayed more than two hours or the airline does not make any alternative arrangements for passengers, they are due four times their one-way fare, up to $1,350.