Arthur's Blog: Readers' Comments on Spirit's Big Fees and Tour Operator Bankruptcy

In reactions to our recent blogs on Spirit Airlines' new fees, and on the need to buy travel insurance, readers have made such valuable remarks that they need to be re-published in our main space, and not simply appended as comments. 

Spirit Airline's Hefty Fees

First, the reader identified as Boomer48 has argued there are both pros and cons to booking flights on Spirit Airlines. He writes as follows:

Re: The Pros and Cons of Spirit and Its Fees

PRO: You CAN fly dirt cheap on Spirit, often much less than on any other carrier. 

CON: A minefield of fees. Very spotty customer service or response, often non-existent. Seems even more cramped than other carriers.

He elaborates what to do about it here.

On Tour Operator Bankruptcies and Insurance 

Prompted by the recent shut-down of the well-known tour operator, Club ABC, reader PDHenry has pointed out, that most travel insurance policies do not cover the bankruptcy of the tour operator. He points out, as examples, the provision in the policies of the well-known TravelGuard Insurance, that 

Financial Default of an airline, cruise line, or tour operator. [...] There is no coverage for the Financial Default of any person, organization, agency, or firm from whom the Insured purchased travel arrangements supplied by others.

And he cites similar rules in the policies of Travelex and Travel Safe.

So what is the prudent traveler to do? As I've earlier pointed out, it's important to pay for your tour with a credit card, as many credit card companies will refund payments made to a bankrupt tour operator. Also, you would do will to confirm whether the tour operator you are using is a member of an industry association -- like the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) -- which requires that members post certain bonds to protect the people who book with them against financial loss caused by the insolvency of the tour operator member of USTOA.

There's no complete protection against tour operator default, but the credit card mechanism is one of the common devices used to lessen the blow.