Your Flight Delay Backup Plan:
HOW TO SECURE A REFUND
The holiday season is supposed to be a time of cheer and goodwill, but keeping that spirit alive when you’re stuck at an airport is challenging. If you’re traveling to see family this year, we hope your flight is on time and uneventful. But with large-scale airline delays repeatedly making the news since the pandemic began, it’s wise to have a backup plan. Before you pack your bags, know how to get a refund if the worst happens and you end up stuck at home. Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) requires airlines to provide consumers with a cash refund when a flight is canceled or experiences a preventable delay or schedule change. Any refund should include baggage or service fees. The airline may offer a voucher or new tickets instead of a refund, but you can refuse these offers. Receiving a refund for a canceled flight is pretty straightforward. Speaking with a representative in person or over the phone
“preventable” by the airline. So, you should receive a refund if workers fall behind or there’s a maintenance issue. But if a tropical storm rolls through town or a security threat grounds flights, a refund is at the airline’s discretion. Most airlines will provide a meal voucher for passengers waiting three hours or more due to a delay. For a particularly long or overnight delay, most also pay for a passenger’s unforeseen hotel stay. However, check your airline’s policy before you book. While most airlines commit to these benefits as a matter of customer service, no law legally compels them. If you believe an airline legally owes you a refund, but it refuses, you can file a complaint with Transportation.gov . However, many travelers prefer to utilize travel insurance for situations that fall into a gray area. Many credit cards offer this service to cardholders for free, and frequent fliers should keep one ready in their wallets.
will usually solve the problem. However, delays can be trickier. Unfortunately, USDOT does not explicitly define a significant reschedule or delay and decides the matter on a case-by- case basis if a consumer files a complaint.
Regulations also only require airlines to issue refunds for delays if the matter was
A PERSPECTIVE ON 2024 AND BEYOND
He increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He finally got his son home from college to help him out. But then, something happened. His son said, “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio? Haven’t you been reading the newspapers? There’s a great depression. The European situation is terrible. And the domestic situation is even worse.” Whereupon the father thought, “Well, my son’s been to college, he reads the papers and he listens to the radio, and he ought to know.” So, the father cut down on his meat and bun orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hot dogs. And his hot dog sales fell almost overnight. “You’re right, son,” the father said to the boy. “We are certainly in a great depression.”
If you are old enough, you may recall that in the late 1970s, we had high inflation rates, high gas prices, and high unemployment. The government was saying that our standard of living was on the decline. Interest rates for a loan went to a high of 21 % . I remember once getting a loan for 11% and thinking that I was getting a great deal. And I was. There was a lot of doom and gloom then. Sound familiar? One day during the late ’70s, I walked into the real estate office where I worked, and there was a note on the bulletin board containing a short story. It was written by an anonymous author and posted by an anonymous source. No one ever took the time to explain the note or the story, but the lesson I learned that day is one I still remember. I’d like to share that story with you. It was a story about a man who sold hot dogs. I think you may find some similarities between the mindset and outlook of people’s thoughts in 2023 and what 2024
may bring. My point is that we don’t have much, if any, control over what goes on in the world, but we do have control over our mindset and outlook on life. If we have “stinking thinking” about life, we will get “stinking thinking” results. Garbage in equals garbage out. With that said, I would like to share with you a story I have shared before but is still as relevant in today’s world as it was in the 1970s. Enjoy. THE MAN WHO SOLD HOT DOGS There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspapers. But he sold good hot dogs. He put up signs on the highway telling how good they were. He stood on the side of the road and cried, “Buy a hot dog, mister?” And people bought.
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