Travel Expert Addresses How She Avoids Flying on Boeing 737 Max 9s
It's fair to say that the average air traveler isn't too keen on flying on any Boeing airplanes right now, especially the now-notorious 737 Max 9s. With Boeing aircraft so widely used among major airlines, it's hard to avoid Boeing entirely, but many people are at the very least willing to go the extra mile to avoid ending up on a 737 Max jet.
Raimee, a luxury travel expert with flight anxiety, has been very open about avoiding 737 Max 9s since the controversy around them first came to light. However, she was left with a surprise, last-minute dilemma for a recent trip. On March 5, she opened up about this on TikTok, addressing just how far she was willing to go to avoid Max 9s.
Poor Raimee (aka @raimeetravel on TikTok). She did everything right, meticulously avoiding any flight that would put her on a 737 Max 9, only to have her plane switched at the last minute to the very airplane model she feared the most. With only a couple of hours to spare, Raimee faced a dilemma. She knew that the odds of anything as bad as the Alaska Airlines incident happening on her flight were slim, but her flight anxiety would be intolerable nonetheless.
Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Raimee was forced to spring for another United Airlines flight slightly later, even though it cost $240 more. It was also a Boeing plane, a 777, but at least it wouldn't be one of those suspicious 737 Max 9s. However, Raimee had promising news, both for herself and for other travelers who might find themselves in the same predicament.
"I was told that I can get in touch with United to get a refund, because it was their fault that there's a plane switch last minute, like my travel plans were disrupted in that way," Raimee explained. "I'm able to file for that refund after my entire trip is over, and I'll see if I get reimbursed..."
United's 737 Max 9 Refund Policies
So here's where things get tricky. It's true that after the 737 Max 9 issues first came to light, United Airlines (one of the only two US air carriers with Max 9 jets) had a pretty lenient refund policy and would waive the change fee for passengers who wanted to avoid the Max 9s. However, this was a temporary policy. According to the Washington Post, United's Max 9 refund policy only applied to flights originally scheduled to travel between January 6 and 28. Nothing on United's website indicates that they extended that policy, and it appears that passengers get refunded on a case-by-case basis. Still, what Raimee was told seems encouraging- though there's been no word yet on whether she got that refund or not.
In short, the easiest way to 100% avoid potentially flying on a Max 9 is by avoiding United and Alaska Airlines. If you are traveling with them, you can use tools like Kayak's search engine widgets to filter out Max 9 planes when booking. However, if you're in Raimee's situation, and get switched onto a Max 9 plane last-minute, there's no longer a set-in-stone refund policy like there was in January. You can ask for a full refund of the upcharge if you change, but getting it isn't a given, so keep that in mind before you drop hundreds of dollars switching to a different flight.
These are the kinds of dilemmas anxious air travelers like Raimee are now left with. The question is, how far are you willing to go to avoid flying on a Max 9?
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