PLEASE NOTE: Western Union states “The card and future money transfers to the card can only be sent or loaded to cards with addresses in the U.S. except Arizona, PO Boxes and U.S. territories.”
This page will be your resource center for how to use this site, requirements for certain activities, the steps involved, what is included in membership and what’s coming in the future.
If you have ANY questions, and certainly any suggestions about anything on this page, or what you would like to see as part of the membership, PLEASE send an email to suggestions@airlinepassengerassociation.com.
If you are planning a trip, first try our relationship with travel agents worldwide. Simply send a detailed e-mail of where you’d like to go and what you’d like to do, to quotes@airlinepassengerassociation.com. We have a special membership for travel agents only, and we will forward your request to our entire list. If anyone has an attractive package that meets your request, they will respond. If you’re unsure of what to do at your desired destination, include that you would like suggestions as well! Be sure to include your contact information.
Membership Levels-
There are three levels of membership. Two are available now, with the the third being released at a later date, if our members wish to have it as an option.
Gold Membership-
With this membership, our members will have access to all of our programs, services, discounted merchandise and our travel deals.
This is an annual membership that automatically renews, and updates itself as we release new products and/or services.
As of now, our flagship program is included with membership. This program is an assistance program, designed to help our members as they travel abroad. If a member finds themselves stranded in an airport, after a canceled flight, we will send them $200 (minus Western Union charges and/or fees) IMMEDIATELY on a Western Union debit Mastercard, which they can then use to get a hotel room, food, taxi or just go to an ATM and take out the cash…whatever may help them in their time of need.
When you join, you will be given 100 “credits” that can be used anywhere on this site. You can see a running total of how many credits you have, how many you’ve used, etc…at the “Alerts” tab. A detailed explanation of the Alerts tab will also be given a little further down this page.
The Gold Membership is $27/yr
Travel Agent-
This membership is to be used by travel agents with a VALID IATA number ONLY (you must enter your IATA number in your profile). This is an annual membership that automatically renews, and updates itself as we release new products and/or services., with the sole purpose of being on a special e-mail list. Our members will send in travel “requests”, which we will then forward on to all travel agents on this list. You are then free to contact them if you have an attractive package that meets their specifications.
The Travel Agent Membership is $10/yr
Silver Membership-
This will be planned for the future, if there is enough interest by our members.
Currently, Silver is planned to be a more restricted membership, and will NOT be annual, or renewing. It will be a one-time “trip specific” membership.
Alerts Tab-
The alerts tab is where you will use your credits to “alert” us that you are going on vacation, and would like us to be aware. Each “alert” will use 50 credits, thus you have two alerts per year. This means that twice each year, we will be on the watch for your canceled flight, and if you are left stranded, we will send you assistance.
These credits and “alerts” are completely transferable. You may elect to use them for your children traveling, give them as a gift, etc…it does not matter, as long as you follow the guidelines listed below…
-when travel plans are made, simply log in and select one “alert”. This alert MUST be made NO LESS than 10 days BEFORE the departure date of the trip. PLEASE READ THAT LAST LINE AGAIN…IT IS MANDATORY!
-After the alert is selected, you MUST forward your itinerary to mytravel@airlinepassengerassociation.com the SAME day that the alert is selected. In the e-mail subject line you MUST put your first and last name, date of departure and date of return flight. DO NOT include the year. (example: Jon Smith Jan 22 Jan28)
-Any alert selected, or itinerary forwarded within 10 days of departure WILL NOT be honored. This is for two reasons…One- we need ample time to set up the flight monitoring, and Two- in the past, unscrupulous people have decided to watch the weather and alter their trip plans to try to put themselves in a situation where they would receive the assistance. A few bad apples always spoil the sauce.
-Only ONE alert may be used per person, per trip.
-The assistance will be provided if you find yourself stranded at THE DESTINATION, NOT THE ORIGIN of your trip. Example…you are going to Disneyland. You are flying from Chicago to Orlando. You are NOT going to receive assistance if your flight cancels in Chicago, you are already at home. Our program is for those that find themselves stranded AWAY from home.
The Card-
For this program to work, you MUST get a Western Union prepaid Mastercard. We chose this card for a few reasons…
NOTE: When ordering the card on the Western Union website MAKE SURE TO UPGRADE TO THE MASTERCARD. The default registration on the website is a simple Western Union rewards card. They will walk you through the upgrade.
-Western Union is a trusted name in travel worldwide.
-There are no set up fees, and more importantly, no monthly maintenance fees that most other cards charge.
-Most importantly, the Western Union card is the only card we know of that lets you receive the assistance money in MINUTES, rather than the 24-48hr process time of other bank cards.
When your card arrives in the mail…
-Go IMMEDIATELY to your profile page and enter the 16-digit card number in the “WU Card #” area. Without that number, we CANNOT distribute funds promptly if you find yourself stranded.
-MAKE SURE TO ACTIVATE YOUR CARD WHEN IT ARRIVES!
Here is the process to receive assistance when your flight cancels…
-Immediately after the airline tells you that your flight has canceled, and you are now stranded…call 800-283-0008. This number is used ONLY if your flight has canceled. The agents are busy monitoring flights and helping others in need. All general questions should be sent via the form located at the “Contact” tab.
-The agent will collect your name and phone number. Be sure to also tell them that your flight has canceled and give them the flight number.
-Give us approx 20-30min to verify that your flight has canceled, verify that you were actually on that flight, and that you did not submit your itinerary within 10 days of departure.
-We will then contact Western Union, distribute funds and receive an MTCN number from them. NOTE: Western Union charges a fee for Money in Minutes transfers. You will receive the remainder of the balance (deducted from $200) on your card. Please see the Western Union website for charges and fees.
-We will add the MTCN number to your personal profile at AirlinePassengerAssociation.com, where you can retrieve it (you will see an area on your profile page marked MTCN #)
-Call Western Union at 866-953-6436 (the number is on the BACK of your card in the upper right hand corner, NOT the 888 number in the middle of the card. That number is for using your debit card as a calling card ) with the MTCN number, listen to the options (choose #4) and they will apply the funds to your card within minutes.
PLEASE GO TO “THE CARD” TAB TO ORDER THIS CARD, AND FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Coming Soon-
Below are some things that are being released in the very near future, we just need to work out the bugs on some things, and minor details on others…
-Travel Deals
We have relationships with travel wholesalers, and will regularly post their deals on our page.
-A shopping cart
We are working on some relationships with many different travel suppliers, to provide our members with a variety of different items at wholesale prices.
-Concierge
We are working on training our agents (and hiring only agents with travel experience) so that they can provide a myriad of travel assistance services to our members. These will include re-booking, information and recommendation, etc…
-Language Line
We are almost ready to release an over-the-phone language interpreter service for our members, in case they find themselves in a far off land without the ability to communicate.
Again, any requests or suggestions that you may have on how we may improve our services, products or services that you’d like to see as part of membership or any other advice…
Please send an email to suggestions@airlinepassengerassociation.com