passenger rights when travelling on award tickets

[disneyberry]

question for those gurus out there!

we're flying on award tickets (US Airways) next week, and just wanted to make sure we know our passenger rights.
we unfortunately have e-tickets, not paper tix, because we booked last minute.
any tips would be appreciated. thanks...

 

[Beverly Lynn]

what exactly is it that you want to know?
you pretty much have the same rights as a paying psgr does. if they bump you from a flight they can also give you another free tkt for another flight, but they usually take FTP awards last for that.

 

[taysalyn]

imo paper tickets are too much of a hassel to keep track of. etkts are much easier cuz you don't have to worry about a paper trail. all you need is either your itinerary or your passenger receipt which you should receive from your booking. as for your rights, they are the same as others, like Beverly Lynn said.

 

[disneyberry]

thanks for the replies.
i did some research and read on another message board that, if my flight is cancelled, because i'm travelling on award tix, i won't be offered alternative transportation on a different carrier. i'd have to wait for next available flight on US.

can someone let me know if this is true?

 

[CTPacky]

If you are travelling out of LaGuardia, E-tickets are a Godsend. We went down on 11/16. We got into the airport at 2:50pm. With E-tickets we went to the separate kiosks for them. We put in our credit card and out came our boarding passes. We handed our luggage to the counter person. (separate counters from the paper ticket counters) We were sitting at the gate by 3:00pm for our 5:00pm flight. They held our plane for a few minutes to let a family who got into the paper ticket line, also at 2:50pm make it onto the flight. 2 minutes vs 2 hours. Not hard to decide which way to go. We were disappointed that MCO didn't have the same separate counters.

 

[flyingcircus]

disneyberry,
I think you might be correct on the award miles tickets NOT being able to be used on other airlines.
US Air would have to endorse your ticket to another carrier, however I don't think another airline would accept if there is no monetary value to it.
I would contact USAir direct and find out. As far as being bumped off a flight, your tix wouldn't make a difference, but endorsing over to another airline might!

 

[seashoreCM]

I used the automated kiosk to get an E-ticket boarding pass, for the first time at MCO coming back. The airline (Delta) did not have one at Boston where I started from although the ticketing wait was less than five minutes at that time.

I am reasonably sure that award tickets cannot be used on other airlines in case of flight delays or cancellations.

Other Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[josierac]

If your flight is cancelled, you cannot go on another airline if you have an e-ticket. It can only be used by the carried you reserved your ticket with. sometimes they will let you go on another airline partners flight. Example continental and America west.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

the only way you can go right to another carrier(with a paper tkt) is if THE TKTS ARE A NON-RESTRICTED COACH TKT so it is still good to have an e-tkt. just because its a paper tkt doesn't mean you can just go to another carrier and give them that tkt. if its anything other than an F,F8,Y,Y8,YN,b,m or somethign similiar without restrictions then you must get it endorsed from the issueing carrier before going to another carrier.

if its an FTP award tkt then its considered a free tkt and therefore not transferable on another carrier for transportation. but if they cancel the flight on you then they must put you on the next available flight whether it be coach or first/business class. they may also offer you compensation in the form of a dollar amount, a % off your next flight, a deposit of FTP miles, or even another tkt.

 

[disneyberry]

okay, i'll keep all this in mind. hopefully i won't need to use this knowledge... thanks for all the replies!