✈ Free guide The 4 Things to Ask For Before You Fly

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Diane Whitaker Flight rules for travelers over 60

Diane Whitaker Free guide · 10 pages · large print

Airlines will give you things they never offer you. Here are the four to ask for, and the exact words.

Not as a favor. The rules say so, and the government wrote them, not the airline. But almost nothing arrives unless somebody asks for it out loud.

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Leave the price at $0, enter your email, then click “Read”. No account, no password.

  • Free PDF · 10 pages
  • Large print, readable without glasses
  • Every rule names its federal source
  • Just your email · no card

Gate 01 Free guide

Start here: the free guide.

This is not a list of tips. Each conversation comes with the words that work, and what to say when the answer is no.

Free guide

Cover of the free guide: The 4 Things to Ask For Before You Fly

The 4 Things to Ask For Before You Fly

10 pages · PDF · Free

Four conversations, in the order your trip happens.

  1. At booking The seat you can ask for at no charge, and the one door in the rule that almost nobody knows about.
  2. Weeks before The two documents that decide whether you fly, the star on your license, and the cheap way out if you don’t have one.
  3. Before you leave The help nobody offers, who it actually belongs to, and why you do not have to book it 48 hours ahead, no matter what they tell you.
  4. When it goes wrong Bumped, canceled, or your bag didn’t arrive. Three counters, three sentences, and what you’re owed in cash.
Get the free guide

Leave the price at $0, enter your email, then click “Read”. No account, no password.

Every rule names its source.

At the end of each section the guide names the federal rule it comes from. Type that number into ecfr.gov and you’ll be reading the same page Diane read. She would rather you checked it than believed her.

Gate 02 How it works

Three steps. Just your email.

  1. Click “I want this”

    The button takes you to the guide’s page. Leave the price at $0. The guide is free and you do not need a card.

  2. Type your email, click “Get”

    One box, your email address. That’s all it asks for.

  3. Click “Read”

    The guide opens. Or click “Download” to save it. The same link goes to your email, so you can open it again at the gate.

Nothing is mailed. The last screen offers to create an account: you can skip it.

Diane Whitaker, smiling, in a navy blazer and a plain blue silk scarf

Gate 03 Who wrote this

Diane Whitaker

The voice of the Diane Whitaker channel

Diane talks to you the way someone on your side of the counter would: calm, short sentences, no lectures. She doesn’t ask you to trust her. She shows you where the rule is written.

Every rule she writes about comes with the official source printed under it, so you can check it yourself. Her job is to tell you where to look and what to say.

What she leaves out on purpose: which airline to pick, which seat to choose, and anything an agent will happily tell you if you ask. She covers only the rules they don’t offer until you ask.

None of this was ever a secret. Nobody just tells you.

Gate 04 Questions

Questions people ask first.

Is it really free?

Yes. On the guide’s page the price box says $0. Leave it at $0 and you will not be asked for a card.

Do I have to create an account?

No. You only type your email. After you get the guide, the screen offers to create an account with a password. You can ignore that box.

I’m not good with computers. Can I do this?

Yes. It is three clicks and one box to fill in: your email. Nothing to install. If you get stuck, ask someone to sit with you for the two minutes it takes.

Will a printed copy arrive in the mail?

No. It’s a PDF that opens on your screen. If you’d like paper, it prints well at home, at the public library, or at a FedEx Office or Staples.

Does it apply to my airline?

The rules in the guide are U.S. federal rules, and each one names its source so you can check it. They apply to flights within, into and out of the United States.

What will you do with my email?

Send you the link to the guide, and let you know when Diane’s full rule book is ready. You can unsubscribe from any email with one click.

Get the free guide

Take the four conversations with you.

Ten pages, large print, free. Read it once before your next trip.

Get the free guide

Leave the price at $0, enter your email, then click “Read”. No account, no password.

Diane’s full rule book is in the works. Guide readers hear about it first.