Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/08/ted-cruz-shills-for-airlines-claims-automatic-refunds-are-a-dumb-idea-video.html
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Meanwhile, in Europe, if a flight is cancelled and the reason is not force majeure, you get to reschedule AND you get cash compensation.
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Continuing his fine work on behalf of his real constituents: big business.
As for Texas voters, it may be that the addition of another conspiracist nut to the mix might finally result in the end of the career in the Senate betraying them.
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Hold on, we should at least listen to him. After all, he is a recognized expert on no-notice flights out of the country.
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Ted Cruz shills for airlines, claims automatic refunds are “a dumb idea”
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Another day for Ted just screwing the people and doing his donor’s bidding:
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Beyond just the 60k in cash, I imagine he gets extra special airline service and perks if he’s known as the industry’s very special congressional friend.
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He probably uses the air miles from taxpayer-paid flights on his personal trips.
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I do have an argument here… What happens if my flight is canceled and my “cheap” fair is automatically refunded, but I still need to get home so booking a last minute flight now costs me 5 times as much?
I’m sure they are working that out???
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Cruz did actually (accidentally, I’m sure) make an interesting point. Perhaps that clause should require airlines to provide a refund or alternate transportation to the original destination (within a certain short period of time, to prevent them from putting the passenger on a flight six weeks from now and calling that ‘alternate transportation’) at the customer’s choice, with the default being a refund after that ‘certain short period of time’ has expired.
That ‘certain short period of time’ should probably start at the end of the event that caused the flight to be cancelled if it’s ongoing, to account for something like a blizzard shutting down an airport for multiple days.
That would have actually been a useful amendment for Cruz to have proposed, which is one of the reasons I’m sure it never crossed his mind.
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The devil is in the details. If something shuts down an airport for more than 24-48 hours, there will be a large backlog of stranded travelers to move along. I may opt for the airline to pay for a one way car rental so I can drive to my destination or alternate airport, rather than wait for them to work their way through a wait list. Who knows how long I could be waiting otherwise? There’s also the domino effect: miss a connecting flight, a hotel reservation, a car rental, a major life event…
I can hear the airlines’ rebuttal now: “You bought cut-rate tickets from an online booking agency, not us. Here’s your $120 back. Good luck getting home from Cancun.”
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I too was thinking his argument was shallow and anti consumer when we really do need real answers to the problem, but of course going back to the headline it reminded me he is just advocating for his sponsors.
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So true, I just experienced a new one… My flight was “delayed” (not cancelled) and I was told to pick a new flight but the next available flight wasn’t until the next day. After hours of customer service holds I was told that since the “delay was caused by ATC” (at a different airport even) I’m not getting any help other than I can pick a new flight. No reimbursement, no accomodations, no meals, no ground transportation.
This was not the only bad experience I had with the airline on this trip, some of it so comically that I’m amazed a business can survive acting like this. I’m never flying AA ever again, and I’m never connecting/stopping through Miami International ever again even if I have to change my holiday plans. It wasn’t worth the time, cost, and stress during my vacation.
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There might be some details that could be improved with the new automatic refund rule, but don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The issue is that right now, the airlines can hold onto your money damn near forever if they cancel a flight. They make customers jump through a ridiculous amount of hoops to get a refund, if that’s what they want. You shouldn’t have to go through any hoops. If the airline canceled your flight, you should get your money back without needing to do anything. The airlines are making money off the interest from these paid for canceled flights, and that amounts to theft, ethically if not legally.
This is a perfect example of who the Biden administration believes they work for, and who the GOP thinks they work for. Please keep this in mind come November.
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Sadly, these days airline customer service seems (like many other things) to be in a race to the bottom. At least government regulations can provide some brakes on the headlong free-fall.
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If this bill really does require the airline to refund my money even if I’d rather have them book me on a different flight, then I agree it’s a poorly written law. I should have a right to be put on a different flight if I so choose. If I don’t choose, then the airline should be required to refund my money.
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An oxymoron if ever there was one.
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Senator Ted Cruz is a dumb idea. Floating him for president was even dumber but only marginally… how low can you go? 
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All these situations where individual consumers are pitted against a big, well-resourced organisation, are automatically biased against the customer unless legal measures are put in place. That’s where the European compensation system comes in.
No system is going to be perfect. It seems to me, though, that an automatic refund is better than flight vouchers the evidence shows are mostly unused.
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That’s a given.
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