What are my rights and the airline's responsibility. It's not an "act of God" like weather and not the airlines fault like mechanical problems. We are leaving mid-week on AA for Paris and returning the beginning of the following week.

These cancellations are mandated by the government - so technically it would be similar to an "act of war" clause and the airline has no responability. However, I''m sue thay will do all they can to get you on the next flight out if yours is cancelled.

Sorry - should be sure not sue

DH and I were just taslking about that as we were taking our daily walk. A flight from Miami to London was cancelled and it is similar to the one we are taking in 3 weeks. DH said we would rather pay for the extra hotel and meals, rather than being "terrorized". I think the least that could be done, would be have an airport hotel with some major discounts. My main concern is getting rebooked on another flight...what a hassle; bad seats, rotten routes etc. Judy

My concern is the same as yours. The first US airline that had a canceled flight is Continental. Anything can happen within the next two weeks when I'm supposed to travel and our US-based airline could be the next one, who knows? My problem is not so much the expense of paying for another night or two at some hotel in Paris if we get stranded but as mentioned already, the hassle of having our flights rebooked. Well, there's a slight hassle trying to find out what hotels would have availabilities at such short notice too not to mention letting the office know you're stranded.
I guess this is what should be expected nowadays if we wish to go traveling.

Francophile, when was the Continental flight cancelled? I usually fly USAirways, but got a better fare for early March on Cont. and was taking comfort in the (mistaken, evidently) knowledge that Cont. had never been mentioned re terrorist activity, etc. Guess not!

I see the answer to my question on another post; flight to LAX.

With all this said, will travelers be-rebooked without an additional booking fee in the event this is to happen again? Does this apply to travelers without ticket insurance? I wonder what these flight insurance policies (offered through online travel agents - priceline, travelocity, etc.) cover.

If there airline cancels a flight--regardless of the reason--there is no fee for rebooking.

And are we being "terrorized"???? in a word, YES.

The airlines will try their best not to alienate their valuable customers...and right now, every customer is valuable.