Travel Rights Part 1

Next week is the busiest travel week of the year.

Many of you have plans to spend Thanksgiving with family or friends elsewhere, or they are coming here to Maine to visit you.

So what options and rights do travelers have in case something goes wrong?

Traveling is quite an investment, and there are some ways to protect yourself, but there are also some horror stories of long delays and passengers trying to sleep in a terminal.

It's going to get busy next week nearly one out of every eight Americans is going to be traveling, according to TV5's travel expert Peter Ramsay. "The 41 million that traveled last year will have 4 percent fewer, so we're looking at about two million, so about 39 million will travel for Thanksgiving. We'll see a four percent decrease for Christmas. We never see a decrease for February or April school vacations. That's pretty much a given. People by that point need to get some place."

With that many people traveling in a short amount of time, and a smaller number of flights, there are bound to be delays and problems.

"With reduced capacity at the airlines and going all over the country, we are seeing unusually high loadfactors on a daily basis," says the Director of Bangor International Airport Rebecca Hupp. " So that will complicate travel if things get delayed or back up, if flights get cancelled system wide."

For anyone heading out to a destination, it's good planning to be ready in case a delay pops up, and that means thinking of everything you may need for an extended time in an airport terminal, says Hupp.

"I think the big thing is really to be prepared if you're travelling with small children. Make sure that you have enough snacks for them, you have enough diapers. If you have medication that you take, make sure that you have it in your carry on. Just make sure that you are prepared and actually with the lack of food service on airplanes these days, make sure you bring a snack for yourself as well."

With weather problems, medical issues like H1N1, and fewer flights which could lead to more delays, should you pay the extra for trip insurance?

"Ten years ago, I would have said it's a nice option," Ramsay said. "If it looks like there is a reason that is going to prevent you from traveling, I'd say yeah, you need it. But if you're healthy, no you don't need it. But there are so many factors outside of your control. Now insurance is the best thing."

Insurance usually costs 10 to 18 percent of the total value of your trip.