Passengers of easyJet and British Airways, and the UK's biggest package holiday operators, could be charged £25 if they make a complaint about delays, cancellations or lost baggage that is subsequently not upheld.
The House and Senate held hearings on the issue because of growing complaints about overbooking, lost baggage and delays, including an incident in Detroit last year, when hundreds of Northwest Airlines passengers were stuck on snowbound planes for up to eight hours.
The standard kind is bought per trip and "normally includes coverage for things like trip cancellation and delays, lost baggage, illness," said Linda R. Kundell, a spokeswoman for the United States Travel Insurance Association, a trade group.
Travel Guard offers a variety of packages that also include medical insurance and lost baggage protection.
Under the Montreal Convention, which came into force on June 28, passengers can claim up to a maximum of about £850 per person, from the airline for lost baggage.
Their monthlong trek in the Himalayas, sponsored by the museum, was plagued with lost baggage, serious illnesses, dangerously bad weather and an exhausting pace that quickly did in the less prepared among them.
According to a survey by the Travel Industry Association, the countless horror stories of cancellations, delays, lost baggage, unsympathetic airline personnel, and the physical man-handling that comes with post 9/11 regulations have made air travelers avoid some 41 million trips over the past year, a move that costs the national economy $26 billion.
Last month, the US Department of Transportation announced a broad array of new rules that, among other things, protect airline passengers from lengthy tarmac delays, raise compensation limits for involuntary bumping, provide a 24-hour grace period for ticket purchases and require fee refunds for lost baggage.
Higher reimbursements are possible for flight cancellations, medical expenses and lost baggage.
Submit lost baggage claims to the airline that handled your luggage last.
