Booking flights WAY ahead - safe idea?? AirTran

[Jeanne B]

I purchased tickets on Skybus with my debit card...not the same as purchasing with a credit card apparently. I also purchased the trip insurance. It does not cover an airline going out of business (not that same as a cancelled flight I guess ) so I was o SOL all around...

Trip insurance typically DOES cover airline default as long as its purchased within 14 or 15 days of your initial trip deposit (unless the airline is already on the insurance companies "watch" list).

Sorry to hear about you losing $ on the Skybus tickets. When Skybus shut down I did read posts by people who paid by debit card and were successful in getting their bank to refund the money. I used my cc so fortunately I was able to get my money back within a month or so. I typically buy trip insurance from travelguard but since the Skybus airfare was so cheap I didn't bother since the insurance would have been about as much as the airfare ($90 for three tickets).