AeroArgentina From United Kingdom, joined May 2001, 192 posts, RR: 3 Posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2746 times:
Hello all
I am planning a trip and I found a great deal on an airline that is recieving some horrible press about liquidating soon. I was wondering what will happen to me if I buy these tickets and the airline does eventually go under?
Thanks a lot!!
It is a us based carrier flying from the us to europe and back.
LimaFoxTango From Antigua and Barbuda, joined Jun 2004, 693 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2738 times:
Your ticket won't even worth the paper its printed on.
You are said to be a good pilot when your take-off's equal your landings.
BCAL From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 3384 posts, RR: 18 Reply 2, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2730 times:
I believe that if the airline involved is a scheduled carrier, your ticket is useless and you simply become a creditor of the airline. However, the chances are that passengers with tickets will be at the back of a long line of people hoping to receive some payment from the liquidators. If, however, you pay by credit card and the airline enters liquidation after your booking, you might be able to claim the fare back from the card issuer. That is the UK law but it might be different in the US.
[Edited 2005-04-05 17:02:12]
MOL on SRB's latest attack at BA: "It's like a little Chihuahua barking at a dying Labrador. Nobody cares."
MidnightMike From United States of America, joined Mar 2003, 2892 posts, RR: 16 Reply 3, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2719 times:
Quoting AeroArgentina (Thread starter): Hello all
I am planning a trip and I found a great deal on an airline that is recieving some horrible press about liquidating soon. I was wondering what will happen to me if I buy these tickets and the airline does eventually go under?
Thanks a lot!!
It is a us based carrier flying from the us to europe and back.
Depends which airline you are talking about, most major airlines will honor tickets from other major airlines for a fee. If US Air were to go out of business, United/Delta/American would honor that ticket. Of course everything is based on open seats & there would be a fee involved....
Best to check to see if the airline in question has any partnerships, certainly that airline would honor the tickets...
Avek00 From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 4092 posts, RR: 18 Reply 4, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2720 times:
A ticket plated by a failed carrier (whether on its own routes or even the routes of another airline) is, strictly speaking, worthless, since the transporting carrier will not get paid. In some instances, however, other airlines *may* honor them for goodwill reasons or to draw down the monies owed to the failed carrier - there's no hard-and-fast guideline, and during the peak TATL travel season, it's likely that you would simply have to buy a full-fare Y ticket to get home. Your CC company might give you a refund on the defunct carrier's ticket, but there's no guarantee of that either.
IMHO, your best bet is to buy travel insurance that will cover your costs to get home in the event your airline goes bust.
Avek00 From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 4092 posts, RR: 18 Reply 5, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2710 times:
Quoting MidnightMike (Reply 3): Depends which airline you are talking about, most major airlines will honor tickets from other major airlines for a fee. If US Air were to go out of business, United/Delta/American would honor that ticket. Of course everything is based on open seats & there would be a fee involved....
Not true, I'm afraid. The standby rule applies ONLY to USA domestic tickets - international flights were exempted, and it wouldn't make a difference during the summer Transatlantic travel season anyways. The OP would find it nearly impossible to BUY a full-fare ticket home, much less try to standby on a defunct airline's ticket.
SK A340 From Sweden, joined Mar 2000, 845 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2703 times:
I was in London when Dan Air went under (at least that's the story I remember). We had to take an earlier flight home (morning instead of afternoon). As a compensation we were upgraded to first, but on the BAC 1-11 it wasn't much difference.
My dad and my friends dad (both lawyers ) managed to get some refund from the airline which was enough for four tickets to Paul McCartney when he played in Stockholm. This was 13-14 years ago.
BCAL From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 3384 posts, RR: 18 Reply 7, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2678 times:
Quoting SK A340 (Reply 6): Dan Air went under (at least that's the story I remember).
Dan-Air never went 'under' - they were brought out by BA who paid £1 for the airline. On the day of the liquidation, most charter flights were cancelled but many scheduled flights continued although in some cases some services were combined so you had an earlier or later departure time. BA honoured all Dan Air scheduled tickets.
MOL on SRB's latest attack at BA: "It's like a little Chihuahua barking at a dying Labrador. Nobody cares."
Sammyk From United States of America, joined Oct 1999, 1686 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 2625 times:
Why can't you name the airline? Wouldn't you get a better answer if you did instead of the general answers given?
BCAL From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 3384 posts, RR: 18 Reply 10, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 2618 times:
An airline's liquidation that I can remember very well is that of Laker Airways (the Skytrain Laker not Laker II or Laker Bermuda). As the receivers immediately ordered all airborne flights to return to base and grounded all departures, people suddenly found that they were holding worthless tickets and they had little chance of compensation. There were scenes at LGW but surprisingly more people were upset about the airline's and Sir Freddie's situation than those who had lost their flights.
It was partly (or principally depending whose view you took) a conspiracy by the major airlines that brought about Laker's downfall. Perhaps it was guilty consciences that the same airlines allowed Skytrain passengers to fly if they had the space available on their aircraft. As far as I can recall, they did not charge any supplement or booking fee to accept Skytrain passengers.
As most a.netters will know Sir Freddie settled out of court with the major airlines (including BA, PanAm, TWA and BCal) and received a personal award rumoured to be in excess of £5 million. Part of the out-of-court settlement was that all Laker creditors were to be paid in full. I do not know whether this extended to passengers holding worthless tickets.
MOL on SRB's latest attack at BA: "It's like a little Chihuahua barking at a dying Labrador. Nobody cares."
Lightsaber From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 10668 posts, RR: 100 Reply 11, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 2610 times:
Quoting BCAL (Reply 2): If, however, you pay by credit card and the airline enters liquidation after your booking, you might be able to claim the fare back from the card issuer. That is the UK law but it might be different in the US.
US law is similar. However, its a lot less "sticky" if you fly (or not) before you pay the bill that the ticket comes in on.
Quoting Sammyk (Reply 9): Why can't you name the airline? Wouldn't you get a better answer if you did instead of the general answers given?
Actually, I think its more respectful not to mention the airline. AeroArgentina has a valid concern; I prefer this style of post to "am I screwed because so and so is going under?" Its not like there is a plethora of USA based trans-Atlantic carriers who are in danger of liquidation, so we can all guess and be pretty sure of being correct. Best to be polite.
Quoting Avek00 (Reply 4):
IMHO, your best bet is to buy travel insurance that will cover your costs to get home in the event your airline goes bust.
I would agree. Normally I wouldn't touch travel insurance (note: my company has me well insured anyway), but in this case it makes sense.
AeroArgentina From United Kingdom, joined May 2001, 192 posts, RR: 3 Reply 12, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 2554 times:
Thanks for all the replies. I'll probably see how much travel insurance costs and compare it with the next airline's fare. I hate to not book an airline because of this but I might have to, I don't want to be stranded over the peak summer season, my flight dates would be May 23rd to June 7th.
Jetdeltamsy From United States of America, joined Nov 2000, 2984 posts, RR: 8 Reply 13, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 2523 times:
buy trip insurance if you buy a ticket on a struggling carrier. some airlines are already "blacklisted" and you can't buy insurance to cover them because of financial difficulties. with this type of insurance, you have to put out the money to fix the problems (i.e..a one-way ticket home, extra hotel nights, etc...) and you get reimbursed.
i'd go with a more solid company. you're in for a huge headache if the carrier you choose fails.
Worked for too many airlines to list. Banktupcy after bankruptcy after bankruptcy.
Sammyk From United States of America, joined Oct 1999, 1686 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 2406 times:
Quoting Lightsaber (Reply 11): Actually, I think its more respectful not to mention the airline. AeroArgentina has a valid concern; I prefer this style of post to "am I screwed because so and so is going under?" Its not like there is a plethora of USA based trans-Atlantic carriers who are in danger of liquidation, so we can all guess and be pretty sure of being correct. Best to be polite.
Polite to who? Do you honestly think the airline cares? if it's so obvious why not just name names? At least then people would be aware of who to possibly avoid if such a situation occurs. Besides, this is just a message board, I doubt it could do much harm. Not like we're running a full page ad in the paper telling people not to fly so and so airline.
UN_B732 From United States of America, joined Jul 2001, 4286 posts, RR: 5 Reply 16, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 2382 times:
The airline in my opinion is US Airways. Personally, I don't think their bound to liqudation.
Andz From South Africa, joined Feb 2004, 8298 posts, RR: 11 Reply 17, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 2327 times:
Friends of mine were at the end of a 5 week honeymoon in South Africa when Swissair went bang, I contacted SAA on their behalf and they asked me what the airline code was printed on the ticket (SAA is 083 and there was SA/SR codesharing at the time). Theirs was Swissair's code and they were told sorry tough shit, Swissair has your money and had to buy new tickets to get back to Germany.
After Monday and Tuesday even the calendar says WTF...
AMSSpotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2005, 271 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 2261 times:
I'm flying on a "troubled" airline to the US this Summer and I normally book with that airline directly. This time, I booked with a travel agent (similar fare) and they added Eur. 3,= as a ticket insurance; not bad.
Btw: It's not just a good deal for the customer because I believe you cannot even chose not to take the insurance. They even charge ticket insurance on profitable airlines...figure that out!
PlaneSmart From New Zealand, joined Dec 2004, 739 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 2206 times:
AMSSpotter
'I'm flying on a "troubled" airline to the US this Summer and I normally book with that airline directly. This time, I booked with a travel agent (similar fare) and they added Eur. 3,= as a ticket insurance; not bad.
Btw: It's not just a good deal for the customer because I believe you cannot even chose not to take the insurance. They even charge ticket insurance on profitable airlines...figure that out!'
If they only charged ticket insurance on troubled airlines, you would pay EUR30 for the insurance.
Take a good look at the fine print. Some policies have surprisingly high number of exclusions, like for instance if the airline fails and you miss your flight, no compensation.
AMSSpotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2005, 271 posts, RR: 1 Reply 21, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 2151 times:
Quoting PlaneSmart (Reply 20): If they only charged ticket insurance on troubled airlines, you would pay EUR30 for the insurance.
Yeah, I realize that. I wasn't really complaining about it since Eur. 3,= is nothing. I would like to be given a choice, though (insurance or not) and since (I believe) all travel agencies in the Netherlands do it, there really isn't a choice. But indeed: Eur. 3,= is peanuts!
Quoting PlaneSmart (Reply 20): Some policies have surprisingly high number of exclusions, like for instance if the airline fails and you miss your flight, no compensation
This insurance only covers bankruptcy issues (it's not a travel-insurance which, like you said, often has a zillion exclusions). It was installed not too long ago in response to some bankruptcies that left Dutch (and many other) tourists stranded.
Swisskloten From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 22, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 2069 times:
Koenie, do you have any proof of this such as newspaper reports? When Swissair went under, the passengers were stuck with nothing but a piece of worthless paper. They had to buy new tickets to get home.
CRJonBeez From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 317 posts, RR: 4 Reply 23, posted (8 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 2013 times:
i was scheduled to fly southeast airlines (i was short on cash) over the x-mas season this past year when i found out they went belly up prior to my flight to sanford. i called mastercard and they suggested i see if i could find an airline that would honor my ticket. nobody could do anything for me in time, i called MC back and they were happy to refund my money.
FedExIndy From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 77 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 1928 times:
The credit card companies also have begun withholding funds to an airline if the airline appears on shaky ground. They were doing that with ATA (and might still be doing that). Read an article that ATA was not getting paid from the credit card companies until the flight actually operated. This was hurting ATA's already tight cash position.
25 Sevenair: you pay by credit card and the airline enters liquidation after your booking, you might be able to claim the fare back from the card issuer. That is t
26 YYZYYT: In Canada many of us are painfully aware of this issue due to the recent failure of Jetsgo, on the Friday before March break, no less. The lucky ones
27 Sevenair: ah i see. well i hope ZOOM stay afloat this summer, im not aware of any problems, but then again, jetsGo was a bit of a surprise, im a little axious n
28 Lightsaber: If you subscribe to "Consumer Reports," see the March (or was it April...) issue. They have an article on how to cover oneself in case an airline fail
29 YYZYYT: Not to those of us who: - flew with JetsGo during the last few months; - followed their litany of technical / operational woes (e.g., altitude restri
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) managed to get some refund from the airline which was enough for four tickets to Paul McCartney when he played in Stockholm. This was 13-14 years ago.
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From South Africa, joined Feb 2004, 8298 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Feb 2005, 271 posts, 
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