Don’t Fly Unless You Know This New Airline Law | Secretary Pete Buttigieg

#89 Have you ever had a canceled flight, extreme delay, lost luggage or damaged wheelchair? Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the head of the U.S. Department of Transportation, is back again here at Erika Taught Me, and he is pioneering new airline passenger rights that airlines don’t want to know about. Why? You could get automatic refunds and compensation not available before. Secretary Buttigieg also discusses the initiative to allow family seating without extra fees and improving customer service. Time to read the fine print!

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
03:38 - How to handle flight delays and cancellations
06:45 - New lost luggage rule explained
11:18 - Travel tips and rights for parents with toddlers
16:09 - Dealing with airline delays and wheelchair handling
18:23 - Understanding airline accessibility and refund policies
21:37 - The best way to book flights
23:09 - Air travel issues & your rights with Sec. Pete Buttigieg
26:58 - Sec. Pete Taught Me

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[biblesforbreakfast]

He would have my vote if he runs again. He's a very good speaker and good at explaining things. He also pays attention and studies how systems function behind the scenes to try and accomplish goals. He strikes me as half engineer half politician. I think he would be a good problem solver.

[LesliM-emzi]

Just had a major flight delay to the following day due to maintenance. Was originally told that since I had basic tickets they could not change my flights. I simply stated per DOT…and flights fixed to my satisfaction, meal vouchers given, and hotel accommodation. The website is very helpful!

[LucieVital]

My biggest pet peeve with airlines is their constant overbooking!

[EveLivesToTravel]

What a wonderful guest Secretary Buttigieg was! I love always his clear and concise messaging! He will always have my vote! 💙🗳️💛

[kevinstanley]

Well Erika has a guest that gave some vital information that would definitely benefit the passengers. The Secretary had great information.

[Aa]

As long as safety is not compromised in order to avoid fines, this is wonderful.

[yos]

Hi Erika!
Love your videos. Just found your channel. Thank You.

[lhdo]

Thx for the important info, Erika! Y'all were both very clear and professional! Keep up the great vidz and awesomeness 💪🏼

[JohnnyCashBackX]

Wow, Southwest must be frustrated with the new wheelchair rule because it seems like half of their passengers are on wheelchairs.

[jgust]

Hi Erika. Thank you for another informative interview. I would really appreciate your advice on an unusual situation we experienced last week.

Sun Country offered travel from Eau Claire, WI to Anchorage, AK but cancelled the beginning portion of the trip without notifying us. The trip was set up as a 2-hour shuttle bus ride from Eau Claire, WI to Minneapolis, MN with a connecting flight to Anchorage, AK. The day before the flight, we went to the airport in Eau Claire to confirm the shuttle bus pick-up location and procedure. At the entrance, there was a large poster stating no need to check in at the counter, but to go straight to the shuttle pick-up location. The next day we arrived early and found the shuttle area was deserted -- no employees or passengers to be found. Eventually, we found a ticket agent for another airline that told us the shuttle service had been discontinued 2 weeks prior. Fortunately, we were able to find a local shuttle company that could run us to Minneapolis for the 2-hour shuttle ride. We reached out to Sun Country and were given a $10 refund. We had, however, requested reimbursement for the cost of the shuttle we were forced to book at the last minute ($52). Have you ever run across anything like this? It doesn't seem to fit the standard flight cancellation situation since it was on a shuttle, yet they made no effort to contact us before hand to reschedule so that we could even catch our connecting flight.

[Managirl]

This was really awesome info, thank you both!

[beautyinyoga]

Thanks Erika! Can you please bring awareness to Airlines and their new NDC ( New distribution Channels) and how it impacts the consumer specifically corporate managed travel and the shift to drive business direct to airlines vs a corporate travel agency. Also in Regards to airlines offering refunds for cancelled flights…this is great but what about a rate guarantee? If one gets their money back but still have to inevitably travel to this destination? I’m visualizing a huge rate increase and am wondering if they will honor the old rate?
Thanks so much for advocating

[korenng]

Thanks for a wonderful 👍 interview 😊!💕

[Buc-eesGurl]

Great interview!! Thanks for all the info!!

[luzmdavila]

Thank you, Erika. I and my sister and several passengers have suffer almost all the situattions you were exposing on june 18, 2024 when we were not permitted to take our flight and then just prettend that we were late for the process. We were 1.5 hrs. at the check-in wirhout been served. I will go to the goverment page as the airline have been hard to reach and communicate. The last thing they are trying is to refund with points fir future flights eith them, instead of cash for the money we spent on this airline. We had to buy another fligt on other airline to finish going to our Destination.😢

[bgemchk]

That’s great about the refund for the delay, but it doesn’t address the fact that a last minute ticket on another airline will be wildly more expensive than the old ticket was…

[Veganyum]

This is extremely helpful! Could you share the links!!!

[lourdesraupe]

Great interview! I love Secretary Pete!

[robertgelley]

Government fees on airline flights will increase. Anytime an airline has to tell an airline how to run a business, guvernment takes more of the business.

[SurvivorC]

Pete kept mentioning the website but it wasn’t given that I can find. ….. no link in the description.