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Flying by the Rules
The Travel Critic · March 1, 1999

Why do airlines hate Rule 240?

Maybe it's because the controversial clause, which covers flight delays, cancellations and misconnections, is, in the words of airline expert Terry Trippler, "the bible of how airlines must treat the consumer."

Each carrier is required to file a "condition of carriage" - a list of do's and don'ts - with our friends at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Contained therein is the offending Rule 240.

No airline Rule 240s are exactly the same, but they generally share a few features. They allow for meal vouchers and accommodations if a flight is diverted to another airport overnight. They require passengers to be booked on another flight if there's a scheduling irregularity. And they limit the amount of compensation an airline must give its customers if a flight is delayed.

But if Rule 240 is the bible, then the carriers have been sinning. Airline representatives aren't always well-versed or forthcoming about their own regulations. Often, the only way to get what you deserve is to consult the contract and confront the carrier with it.

Sometimes it even works. One couple leveraged Rule 240 to land a better seat on an earlier flight when their airline canceled a connecting flight. At first, the reservationist balked at getting them on the early flight because the only open seats were in first class. Confronted with Rule 240, the carrier caved. Its rule clearly indicated that if there is an available flight that will arrive earlier than the alternate offered, the passengers have the right to be confirmed on the early flight for free, even if first class is all that's open.

So where can you get your copy of Rule 240? Well, that's easier said than done.

The airline-owned Airline Tariff Publishing Co. sells a thick volume of every carrier's rules, including 240. But it's impractical to lug around and, at $130 a year, expensive. Travel agents have access to the rules in their reservations system.

The DOT also mandates that a copy of the contract be available to passengers at each ticket counter. But compliance is less than perfect. An internal Northwest Airlines memo, for instance, asked its customer service agents to keep copies of the rules on hand, warning, "We have received fines in the past from the Department of Transportation for non-compliance."

Even if you manage to get your hands on a contract, making sense of the gobbledygook legalese will remain a challenge. Trippler's Rules of the Air offers the full text of the regulations and their interpretations.

Airline agents tend to interpret the conditions of carriage in the most creative ways - when they bother to read them. So it's up to us to understand the rules and apply polite but persistent pressure.

No luck with the airline reservationist? Don't forget the chain of command. Gate agents and reservationists often seem to take pleasure in denying you a better seat or flight. If you're unfortunate enough to end up with a mean employee, ask for a supervisor. Work your way up the chain until you get what you believe the rules entitle you to.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.