Travellers flying by air to Florida, both domestic and international, will be pleased to hear about the new airline passenger bill of rights. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) passed these rules to protect the average air passenger and is a result of many years of lobbying the industry. The new American rules are the result of a dedicated association for airline passenger rights – flyersrights.org. The new rules essentially establish the following six point consumer-oriented programme:

• Better disclosure and open posting of fees to allow the average consumer more details before making reservations
• Compensation for being “bumped” to increase roughly 60% at the low and high ends
• Voluntary and forced bumping compensation must now be presented at the gate when applicable
• Baggage fees shall be refunded if baggage is lost by your airline

Additionally, because of the many international flights embarking to Florida, the new passenger rights will be in force at many Sunshine State airport destinations. These new standard rules include:

• Global flights must now report tarmac delays to the DOT/FAA
• The tarmac delay rule which was previously applicable only to domestic flights, will now apply to global flights as well. This is commonly called the “3 hour rule”.

The fore-mentioned 3 hour rule was a landmark set of regulations aimed at improving the required quality of service standards for all airlines. This rule established a few basic mandates:

• The maximum duration for being stranded on the tarmac is 3 hours
• All domestic airlines must offer you water and a snack if your tarmac delay does exceed 2 hours
• The airlines are required to respond to your correspondence within 60 days

All of these passenger oriented initiatives should help lift the real and perceived image of domestic air carriers. Since Florida is one of the top 3 states for air travel, this is a big deal. This can only help all domestic and international travellers’ comfort level with flying to any Florida destination.

So whether you’ve booked flights to Orlando in first class or booked another Florida city on the cheap , you’ll be pleased with this minimum new programme. For additional information on the new air passenger bill of rights, please click here.

If you’re looking to pair up your airfare with some luxurious Orlando accommodations, check-out our reviews of Orlando vacation rental homes. These community resort reviews are geared towards informing you, the consumer, all about vacation home rentals and what they have to offer.