Home

Fascinating North African-Mediterranean destinations like Morocco have surged in popularity becau... Go, but get travel insuran

Fascinating North African-Mediterranean destinations like Morocco have surged in popularity because they are perceived to be relatively calm, exotic destinations. If you are booked with a tour, keep your reservations for October. However, get travel insurance.

On April 10, three suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca. However, the State Department has posted no travel warnings at this time for Morocco (www.travel.state.gov ).

My group was returning to Detroit from a furniture show at High Point, N.C. We arrived at the airport 1 1/2 hours ahead and printed our boarding passes at a kiosk. Instead of a seat assignment, the boarding passes said, "See gate agent."

When we arrived at the Northwest Airlines gate, the agent told us there were no seats left. Worse, our bags were already on the flight and could not be removed. We could not get home until the next day.

Overbooking -- in which the airlines sell more seats than they have available -- is legal, nefarious and common. What's going on? Airlines making money at your expense.

Last year, 56,000 passengers were involuntarily bumped off flights, up 15% from 2005. In addition, 621,000 more took a bump voluntarily for compensation.

The Travel Doctor recommends that you choose seats when you book your ticket. If the computer won't let you do it, check in for your flight online as soon as you can -- usually 24 hours before your flight (even if you are on a trip, find a place to do it). The computer should assign you a seat at that time.

If you don't have a seat assignment, get to the airport early. If at the airport you get a boarding pass that says "See gate agent," that's trouble.

If you are bumped, the airline is violating a contract. Federal law requires compensation based on the delay. See http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov for your rights; you can also file a complaint there against an airline.

Instead of accepting compensation, you can sue the airline in small claims court to recover not only the cost of your ticket but also the cost of a ruined vacation. Few do, but it can work.

This is cache, read story here

admin – Sun, 2007 – 04 – 22 11:00