AAFrequentFlyer |
Aug 14th, 2004 07:04 AM |
I believe USAir is talking about Chapter 11, not 7, so you should be fine during your trip.
But, what if? If you used USAir miles to get a ticket on USAir, it would be a long ordeal for you. Here's why. US based airlines are required by law to help bring in any passengers left stranded 1/2 way of their trip by a bankrupt US based airline, but there is no law that makes them fly any extra planes just to pick you up. Also, this does not apply if you did not start your trip, in which case, you are on your own to collect any money from the airline. What they are required to do is "sell", for a minimal fee any available seat after their own passengers are taken care of. Unfortunately this creates a packing order. For obvious reasons, the first passengers accomodated by any other US based airline would be first class passengers followed by business/full fare/economy/discount economy and finally award/special/free tickets. When the other airlines collect the original ticket from the stranded pasengers, they have a claim in the bankrupcy court later on against the bankrupt airline. Usually what they end up getting is just a small percentage of the original cost of the ticket, but a 20% of a $1000 ticket is a lot more than 20% of $100 ticket. There is also a small charge involved once they find a seat for you, I'm not sure exactly what it is, but for some reason I don't think it's more than $50. So, as you could see, it may be days before you get a seat, especially during a busy season, and no, nobody will pay for your lost time, hotel or any other expense that you may face, unless you file a claim with the bankrupcy court, but again, you are at the end of the list, so it's not even worth your time.
There are other possibilities. Some airlines may just want to accomodate you if for no other reason than good PR. Some foreign based airlines that partnered with the bankrupt airline may step in to. Your status if any may help you, and few other possibilities, but what's important to remember that what I described above is the way it's regulated and the US based airlines that fly to the same destination HAVE to follow the procedure, anything above is only at the discretion of any other airline that wants to get involved.
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