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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Syndicated Travel Writer George Hobica

Aired May 11, 2002 - 09:25   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You thinking about getting out of here? There are many times when I'm thinking about getting out of here. How about you?

Anyway, and so to that end we have brought on an expert to talk a little bit about travel tips. It is -- the summer travel season is upon us, Paul. Excuse me, George Hobica, a syndicated travel writer, joining us now from New York for a few tips for us.

Good to see you, George.

GEORGE HOBICA, SYNDICATED TRAVEL WRITER: Hi, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. It's going to be a messy summer travel season if you're flying, isn't it? This is the first time we've seen huge masses of people beyond the business traveler entering the system since 9/11. And they're perhaps in for a rude awakening, aren't they?

HOBICA: Well, you know, it's interesting, traffic is up, and capacity still hasn't caught up. So there are, you know, a lot of full flights, especially if you're going to places like Asia. I mean, it's almost impossible to get a flight to Asia these days.

O'BRIEN: Well, give us a sense of what -- for people who haven't been to an airport since 9/11, and I'm sure there quite a few of them out there who are thinking about taking a trip this summer, what's the most important thing they should know before they go to an airport?

HOBICA: Well, you know, the truth is, it's not as bad as they probably think. I've flown a lot lately. In fact, I'm off to Morocco tonight, and, you know, you arrive at the airport, and it's often not as bad as people think. But I think an important thing to remember is to pack light and not to, you know, take a lot of baggage with you, because that's just going to slow you down.

And of course it's, you know, a good idea to arrive, you know, fairly early, although you don't have to arrive...

O'BRIEN: So George, George...

HOBICA: ... quite as early...

O'BRIEN: ... I'm going to guess you've never traveled with young children. HOBICA: Well, you know, people who travel with young children...

O'BRIEN: Packing light is just not an option. What do you do when you got the strollers and the car seats and the toys and all that stuff? How do you handle that?

HOBICA: Well, definitely arrive early, and, you know, the airlines are pretty good with small children. I mean, they give you priority boarding and that sort of thing. So, you know, obviously if you have small kids, then arrive, arrive extra-early.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and put them on that conveyor belt, give them a little MRI, right?

Let's talk a little bit about what happens when you get totally dissed by the airlines. They cancel flights right and left these days, and there is a secret rule, Rule 240. Explain how this works and how a passenger might be able to use it.

Here we go. I'll read it to you. "If your flight is delayed or canceled, or if you've missed your flight connection, you may be booked on a substitute flight, even on another airlines." So you go up to the ticket counter and you say, "Rule 240," and things start happening, right?

HOBICA: Well, not always. I mean, sometimes it does. It's great to know Rule 240, and it's great to actually carry a copy of it. And you can find a copy of Rule 240 on most airlines' Web sites, like if you go to united.com, and then hit on About United, and then go to Our Commitment, you'll see the whole Contract of Carriage there, and you can download Rule 240 and print it and carry it with you.

The problem is that not all airlines adhere to Rule 240, only those that were formed before deregulation. So United, American has it, USAir has it, Continental has it, but Southwest doesn't have it, and -- or it doesn't have as strong a version, and some of the other airlines like Vanguard don't have it. So it doesn't work all the time.

But what it means is that even if there's only first class available on a competing airline's flight, they are obligated to put you on that airline. And that's actually happened to me once. I was in San Juan and my flight was canceled, and everyone else was being overnighted in Miami or sent to Philadelphia and then bussed.

And I said, "Rule 240," and they said, "It's only available on -- there's only one seat on Continental, it's first class, we can't do it." And I said, "Rule 240." You know, it's like -- And the supervisor was called...

O'BRIEN: That's good, I like that.

HOBICA: ... and they put me on first class.

O'BRIEN: Rule 240 it is. It's interesting that the airlines that -- it's sort of reverse grandfathering in. They're stuck -- saddled with something from the pre-reg -- deregulatory era in a way that doesn't seem like a very even playing field when they're post- deregulation competitors don't have to play by the same rule.

HOBICA: Right. But actually, you know, it's pretty much up to them to do that. I mean, they -- in fact, United is weakening Rule 240. I have a -- from what -- my understanding of the Rule 240 for United, they won't put you in first class. And some airlines are weakening Rule 240.

O'BRIEN: All right. And just quickly before you get away, U.S. Airways is -- well, it -- there's real trouble there, on the precipice of bankruptcy perhaps. Just some quick tips for people trying to book in our around airlines that are on the edge of financial disaster.

HOBICA: Well, I think we're going to see, you know, more bankruptcies too and more consolidation. Just because U.S. Airways goes into Chapter 11 doesn't mean it's going to stop flying, necessarily. They have a very, very high cost structure, you know, perhaps the highest in the industry, and they're probably going to try to renegotiate some of their contracts.

So they may still flying. But I think that the important thing, you know, to remember is to -- you have a paper ticket, a paper ticket's better than an electronic tickets, because it's easier to change airlines. And, you know, just because they're going to go into Chapter 11 doesn't mean that other airlines won't honor U.S. Airways' tickets. And oftentimes airlines are very accommodating in cases like that. They want you as a customer, so the problem is, is...

O'BRIEN: You know, it's funny, it's funny, George, you say that, they want you as a customer, but they keep it a pretty good secret, don't they?

HOBICA: Yes, I mean, you -- no, you only get what you ask for. I think it's important to arm yourself with foreknowledge...

O'BRIEN: With Rule 240.

HOBICA: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Oh, for one thing, you know...

O'BRIEN: Be out there. All right, thank you very much, George, we appreciate your insights on the world of traveler. George Hobica, who's a syndicated travel writer, joining us from New York.

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