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CNN Live Saturday

Interview with Renee Werbin of "Travelgirl Magazine"

Aired September 20, 2003 - 12:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Isabel not only made life miserable in the Mid-Atlantic region. It also left thousands of passengers stranded as hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed.
In a first installment of new series, "CNN Weekend Get Always."

I'm joined now by Renee Werbin of "Travelgirl Magazine." She is here to tell us do and what sort of rights travelers have when we're talking about weather.

You know, initially, when you think about that, airlines, forget it, there's nothing they can do about the weather.

RENEE WERBIN, "TRAVELGIRL MAGAZINE": There is nothing they can do about the weather but can help you by reaccommodating you. All the airlines differ how they accommodate the passengers. You need to call your airline and see what they will do for you or you are entitled to a complete refund with no penalties whatsoever.

COLLINS: Do you think many people know that?

WERBIN: I would hope so. But if not, call your airline. If you have trouble getting through try your travel agent. Your travel agent will be more than happy to go to bat for you. But you are entitled to complete refund if you're trying to fly somewhere and the storm has not permitted you go.

COLLINS: What about hotels, planning on vacation, you have the hotel lined up, your airline lined up, the whole deal, then natural disaster.

Are the hotels as accommodating?

WERBIN: Not quite as accommodating. You want to call the hotel directly, not the 800 number. That's very important. Call the hotel directly, keep the name of the person you speak to and keep your cancellation number. You may need it later.

COLLINS: OK, obviously, to me, it would seem like, I looked at the situation, I was heading to the Outer Banks, I'm not going to go anymore, I'm just going to just plain postpone.

Isn't that easier?

WERBIN: You can only postpone for so many days. Every airline differs on the amount of time they allow you to postpone without penalty. So, if you postpone and go within the penalty period, you're fine. Otherwise, you're going to pay and exchange fee plus you are going to pay the difference in fare.

COLLINS: I know you travelled during this storm. Tell us a little bit about what you experienced?

WERBIN: I did. I was in New England, and I was actually nervous. So I left my last accommodation, headed for the Boston Airport, spent the night there, was fortunate, got out early, Boston and Delta Airlines were reaccommodating all of their passengers. No problems whatsoever.

COLLINS: How about other cities along the East Coast?

How wear they affected?

WERBIN: Heavily affected. Thousands were canceled in New York and Virginia and North Carolina and Pennsylvania. And all of those people are entitled to a refund. Remember also that the planes had to be moved. You can't leave a plane in the line of fire. Airlines were scurrying to move their aircraft just as they scurrying to move their passengers.

COLLINS: All right. So what's the lesson here, as a travel, what do we learn from this?

WERBIN: Be repaired, call ahead. And don't try to go into the eye of a storm, the plane's not going to take off.

COLLINS: Definitely not.

WERBIN: Definitely change your plans.

COLLINS: OK, they'll be sitting on the runway for obvious safety reasons. All right. Renee Werbin, thanks so much for being with us from "Travelgirl Magazine." We appreciate it this morning. This afternoon I should say.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 20, 2003 - 12:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Isabel not only made life miserable in the Mid-Atlantic region. It also left thousands of passengers stranded as hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed.
In a first installment of new series, "CNN Weekend Get Always."

I'm joined now by Renee Werbin of "Travelgirl Magazine." She is here to tell us do and what sort of rights travelers have when we're talking about weather.

You know, initially, when you think about that, airlines, forget it, there's nothing they can do about the weather.

RENEE WERBIN, "TRAVELGIRL MAGAZINE": There is nothing they can do about the weather but can help you by reaccommodating you. All the airlines differ how they accommodate the passengers. You need to call your airline and see what they will do for you or you are entitled to a complete refund with no penalties whatsoever.

COLLINS: Do you think many people know that?

WERBIN: I would hope so. But if not, call your airline. If you have trouble getting through try your travel agent. Your travel agent will be more than happy to go to bat for you. But you are entitled to complete refund if you're trying to fly somewhere and the storm has not permitted you go.

COLLINS: What about hotels, planning on vacation, you have the hotel lined up, your airline lined up, the whole deal, then natural disaster.

Are the hotels as accommodating?

WERBIN: Not quite as accommodating. You want to call the hotel directly, not the 800 number. That's very important. Call the hotel directly, keep the name of the person you speak to and keep your cancellation number. You may need it later.

COLLINS: OK, obviously, to me, it would seem like, I looked at the situation, I was heading to the Outer Banks, I'm not going to go anymore, I'm just going to just plain postpone.

Isn't that easier?

WERBIN: You can only postpone for so many days. Every airline differs on the amount of time they allow you to postpone without penalty. So, if you postpone and go within the penalty period, you're fine. Otherwise, you're going to pay and exchange fee plus you are going to pay the difference in fare.

COLLINS: I know you travelled during this storm. Tell us a little bit about what you experienced?

WERBIN: I did. I was in New England, and I was actually nervous. So I left my last accommodation, headed for the Boston Airport, spent the night there, was fortunate, got out early, Boston and Delta Airlines were reaccommodating all of their passengers. No problems whatsoever.

COLLINS: How about other cities along the East Coast?

How wear they affected?

WERBIN: Heavily affected. Thousands were canceled in New York and Virginia and North Carolina and Pennsylvania. And all of those people are entitled to a refund. Remember also that the planes had to be moved. You can't leave a plane in the line of fire. Airlines were scurrying to move their aircraft just as they scurrying to move their passengers.

COLLINS: All right. So what's the lesson here, as a travel, what do we learn from this?

WERBIN: Be repaired, call ahead. And don't try to go into the eye of a storm, the plane's not going to take off.

COLLINS: Definitely not.

WERBIN: Definitely change your plans.

COLLINS: OK, they'll be sitting on the runway for obvious safety reasons. All right. Renee Werbin, thanks so much for being with us from "Travelgirl Magazine." We appreciate it this morning. This afternoon I should say.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com