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Airlines Will Now Face Higher Penalties for Luggage Issues and Overbooking Flights

Airlines Will Now Face Higher Penalties for Luggage Issues and Overbooking Flights

In about three months, the U.S. Department of Transportation, also known as DOT, will be instituting higher penalties on airlines when it comes to passenger luggage and overbooked flights.

Because you are a savvy traveler, you already know you are entitled to compensation for lost or damaged luggage when the airline is at fault. In case you don’t remember, Tourist Meets Traveler has a breakdown of luggage compensation details here at Secrets Airlines Don’t Want You to Know That Could Save You Thousands of Dollars. Before the upcoming DOT enforced change, airlines were liable for up to $3,400 in reimbursements. Under the changes, the penalty will increase by $100 to $3,500. It doesn’t seem like much, but to an airline it could mean an additional $1 million lost each year.

In addition to the luggage settlements, airlines will now be required to offer higher compensation for passengers who were bumped thanks to an overbooked flight. Here’s why you never take the airline’s compensation offers and always ask for cash… DOT will now require airlines to pay out around $675 to $1,350 in compensation to each bumped passenger.

These changes come after 1.8 million instances of passengers filing claims for mishandled baggage in 2013 and nearly 57,000 passengers were involuntarily denied boarding.

A good question we should be asking in light of these changes is – Will airlines make changes or will those penalties be passed on via higher fees more and more airlines are instituting for passengers?

That’ll be $19.95 for a packet of peanuts, please.