Airline passengers gain new rights today
Airline passengers gain new rights this week including the ability to hold a reservation without payment or cancel one with a full refund within 24 hours of making the reservation, as long as its made at least a week before the departure date.
Some airlines were doing this voluntarily but now its a requirement. Its one of several new regulations the U.S. Department of Transportation announced in April 2011 that take effect today.
The new rules also require airlines to promptly notify passengers of cancellations, diversions and delays longer than 30 minutes and generally prohibit them from increasing the price of a ticket after it is bought.
New advertising rules that take effect Thursday require airlines and ticket agents to include all mandatory taxes and fees in published airfares. Today, airlines and ticket agents can show government-imposed taxes and fees separately from the advertised fare if they are assessed on a per-passenger basis.
http://blog.sfgate.com/pender/2012/01/24/airline-passengers-gain-new-rights-today/