What happens to your "non-refundable" airline tickets if....?

Question

...the airport is closed due to an "act of God." (Snowstorm, hurricaine, etc?) Are they refunded then? Or are they still good for the next possible travel date? Can you exchange them for another date?

What happens?

Answer 1

It really depends on what the airline's policy is for what they call "uncontrollable disrupts" (such as weather). As far as I know non refundable tickets will remain non refundable, unless a supervisor uses their discretion to authorise a refund.

In most cases the value of the ticket (or unused potion if it's the return portion) can be kept as a travel credit to be used at a later date, within the ticket's validity, which is usually 12 months.

Answer 2

The term "rule 240" is an urban myth. After deregulation, it went away. It's now up to the individual airlines to decide what they want to do. It's call the Contracts of Carriage. When you purchase an airline ticket, you are entering into a contract that says what the airline is responsible for and what you are responsible for.

It's best to ask the airline directly what the policy is.

Answer 3

All airlines offer a re protection regulation under IATA it's called a rule 240. What it means is that in the event of weather delays or flight cancellations the airline will get you to your final destination as soon as they can. The problem occurs when passengers demand to be on a specific flight that unfortunately may not be available. In really large situations (ie. hurricane, natural disasters) the airline is faced with sometimes thousands of people who need to travel considering that sometimes this can take days and there are other passengers who have already booked for those days and the build up starts thus creating more delays. Everyone just tries to do the best they can in situations like this.

Answer 4

Good question. The airline has to have the flight availabe for the ticket holder. If the flight is canceled or unavailable the ticket holder is refunded or given another ticket. There are variations but this is pretty much standard.