What Are Your Rights? (US Edition)

Recently, Spirit Airlines was fined $375,000 by the DOT, the largest such judgement in its history, for failing to comply with rules governing denied boarding compensation, fare advertising, baggage liability and other consumer protection requirements. Spirit bumped passengers from oversold flights but did not provide compensation or a written notice of their rights to compensation. Spirit failed to resolve baggage claims within a reasonable period, on one occasion taking 14 months to provide compensation, and compensating for delayed baggage only for the outbound leg of round-trip flights and only for purchases made more than 24 hours after arrival.  Finally, they violated baggage liability laws governing international travel by refusing to accept responsibility for missing laptop computers and certain other items it accepted as baggage.

So, what are your rights as defined by the DOT? The basics are taken directly from the DOT’s Fly-Rights Handbook(not the most current source, we admit), with our additions and annotations. These rights apply to flights inside or originating in the US. We’ll cover EU rights another time.

Basic Advice

• Airlines don’t guarantee their schedules, and you should realize this. Despite what we may feel, an airline is not obligated to get you there at a specific time. Their obligations do increase on day of travel though.
• Airlines are not required to compensate passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled.
• Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers waiting at the airport; there are no federal requirements. If you are delayed, ask the airline staff if they will pay for meals or a phone call. Some airlines do not provide any amenities to stranded passengers.
• Airlines may not offer amenities if the delay is caused by bad weather or something else beyond the airline’s control. However, we have noticed a tendency of airlines to attribute everything to events beyond their control.
• If you find a flight on another airline, ask the first airline to endorse your ticket to the new carrier. Remember, however, that there is no rule requiring them to do this and they don’t want to, as they have to give that airline your money.
• Payment by credit card provides certain protections under federal credit laws. When a refund is due, the airline must forward a credit to your card company within seven business days after receiving a complete refund application. If you paid by credit card for a refundable fare and you have trouble getting a refund that you are due, report this in writing to your credit card company. If you write to them within 60 days from the time that they mailed your first monthly statement showing the charge for the airline ticket, the card company should credit your account even if the airline doesn’t.

Compensation

• Compensation is required by law only when you are “bumped” from a flight that is oversold. Airlines almost always refuse to pay passengers for financial losses resulting from a delayed flight. Since you aren’t likely to haul the airline into court to compensate you(which often works), you might want to allow a little extra leeway and take an earlier flight if you need to get there.
• DOT rules require airlines to seek out people who are willing to give up their seats for some compensation before bumping anyone in- voluntarily.
  • DOT has not said how much the airline has to give volunteers. This means carriers may negotiate with their passengers for a mutually acceptable amount of money-or maybe a free trip or other benefits. Airlines give employees guidelines for bargaining with passengers, and they may select those volunteers willing to sell back their reservations for the lowest price. If the airline offers you a free ticket, ask about restrictions. How long is the ticket good for? Is it “blacked out” during holiday periods when you might want to use it? Can it be used for international flights? Most importantly, can you make a reservation, and if so, how far before departure are you permitted to make it?
• DOT requires each airline to give all passengers who are bumped involuntarily a written statement describing their rights and explaining how the carrier decides who gets on an oversold flight and who doesn’t. Those travelers who don’t get to fly are frequently entitled to an on-the-spot payment of denied boarding compensation. That means you do not have to accept a voucher. They owe you money. The amount depends on the price of their ticket and the length of the delay:
  • If you are bumped involuntarily and the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to get you to your final destination (including later connections) within one hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.
  • If the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to arrive at your destination between one and two hours after your original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), the airline must pay you an amount equal to your one-way fare to your final destination, with a $400 maximum.
  • If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (200% of your fare, $800 maximum).
  • You always get to keep your original ticket and use it on another flight. If you choose to make your own arrangements, you can request an “involuntary refund” for the ticket for the flight you were bumped from. The denied boarding compensation is essentially a payment for your inconvenience.
  • To be eligible for compensation, you must have a confirmed reservation. A written confirmation issued by the airline or an authorized agent or reservation service qualifies you in this regard even if the airline can’t find your reservation in the computer, as long as you didn’t cancel your reservation or miss a reconfirmation deadline.
  • Each airline has a check-in deadline, which is the amount of time before scheduled departure that you must present yourself to the airline at the airport. If you miss a deadline, you may have lost your reservation and your right to compensation if the flight is oversold, although some airlines do have compassionate or ‘flat-tire’ policies without additional charge, they have every right to charge you.
  • If the airline must substitute a smaller plane for the one it originally planned to use, the carrier isn’t required to pay people who are bumped as a result.In addition, on flights using aircraft with 30 through 60 passenger seats, compensation is not required if you were bumped due to safety-related aircraft weight or balance constraints.
  • They don’t apply to international flights inbound to the United States, although some airlines on these routes may follow them voluntarily.

Baggage

• Valuables should be carried on your person.
• If your bags are delayed, lost or damaged on a domestic trip, the airline can invoke a maximum of $3,300 per passenger on the amount of money they’ll pay you. When your luggage and its contents are worth more than the liability limit, you may want to purchase “excess valuation,” if available, from the airline as you check in. This is not insurance, but it will increase the carrier’s potential liability. The airline may refuse to sell excess valuation on some items that are especially valuable or breakable, such as antiques, musical instruments, jewelry, manuscripts, negotiable securities and cash. (Editor’s Note: We’ve never heard of an airline offering this. We should call up and ask.)
• On international round trips that originate in the United States, the liability limit is set by a treaty called the Montreal Convention. This treaty also governs liability on international round trips that originate in another country that has ratified this Convention, and one-way trips between the U.S. and such a country. Unless you buy excess valuation, the airline’s baggage liability on a trip covered by the Montreal Convention is limited to 1,000 “Special Drawing Rights” per passenger. The value of the SDR changes daily.
• This international limit also applies to domestic segments of an international journey.
• This is the case even if the domestic and international flights are on separate tickets and you claim and re-check your bag between the two flights.
• Keep in mind that the liability limits are maximums. If the depreciated value of your property is worth less than the liability limit, this lower amount is what you will be offered.

Disabilities

• A person may not be refused transportation on the basis of disability or be required to have an attendant or produce a medical certificate, except in certain limited circumstances specified in the rule.
• Airlines must provide enplaning, deplaning and connecting assistance, including both personnel and equipment. (Some small commuter aircraft may not be accessible to passengers with severe mobility impairments.
• Passengers with vision or hearing impairments must have timely access to the same information given to other passengers at the airport or on the plane concerning gate assignments, delayed flights, safety, etc.
• Air carriers must accept wheelchairs as checked baggage, and cannot require passengers to sign liability waivers for them.
• Carriers must allow service animals to accompany passengers in the cabin, as long as they don’t block the aisle or other emergency evacuation route.
• FAA rules also prohibit passengers from bringing their own oxygen. Most airlines will provide aircraft-approved oxygen for a fee, but aren’t required to.
• Airlines may not charge for services that are required by this rule.
• Airlines must make available a specially-trained Complaints Resolution Official if a dispute arises. There must be a copy of the DOT rule at every airport.

Complaints about airline service may be registered with DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division (ACPD). You may call the ACPD 24 hours a day at 202-366-2220 (TTY 202-366-0511) to record your complaint. Calls are returned Monday through Friday, generally between 7:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern time. To send a complaint, comment or inquiry electronically, you can use the web form at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm or write them at…

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

There is much more to say about this, but while we’ve said all this before, this is a good place to start if you want to know what you can do. Just know that while you have rights, airlines are large monolithic corporations and it can be hard to extract compensation from them even if they admit they owe it to you.

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