Compare Airlines with the DOT Dashboard

Tl;dr: Use the DOT Dashboard to see which Airlines have your back with important protections like compensation for delays.  

The Transportation Department has been on a push lately to cut back on some of the worst experiences American travelers suffer through, for instance recently slapping AA with a $4.1 million fine for tarmac delays.

A gentler tactic employed by the DOT has been the launch of their Customer Service Dashboard, which allows consumers to see and compare different airlines’ policies on things like the ability of families with children to sit together for free, accommodations during overnight delays, and compensation for delays. (Note that these refer to “controllable delays,” rather than things outside of the airlines’ power, like severe weather events.) 

It’s a really useful tool, and a quick visual examination makes it clear that you’ll probably want to avoid Frontier Airlines if you can help it. On the other hand, I learned from the Dashboard that Alaska and JetBlue stand alone for now in offering travel vouchers for delays of just (“just” lol) 3+ hours. 

Coincidentally, I recently saw a great JetBlue discount in my Amex offers:

With those kinds of policies, I’m going to be much more tempted to take advantage of that offer. And hopefully that is exactly what the DOT transparency push will encourage, more competition to offer traveler-friendly policies.