[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

This sounds like a situation where travel insurance could have helped. However one should be careful when it comes to selecting a company. Based on website postings Access America has a less than stellar image. PHX did an informative posting on Travel Guard (see http://www.airlinecomplaints.org/sho...26&postcount=1 ) It seems there ARE companies who will, for a price, insure common travel risks related to the purchase of non-refundable tickets.

When it comes to travel on the cheap people need to understand that, to a significant degree, there is little difference between buying a domestic non-refundable ticket and putting your money down on the craps table in Las Vegas. True, the airlines might give you, slightly, better odds but you're still betting the airline will not use one of the seemingly endless provisions of its Contract of Carriage against you; keep your money, and provide you with no transportation at all. In the end buying a high cost fully refundable fare is the only true protection against this type of airline abuse. Purchasing insurance from a company with a low record of complaints is the "second-best" (and cheaper) course of action.

As I've indicated in other posts, if one want to get from point A to point B; they're travelling entirely within the "lower 48," and CHEAP is the guiding principal, Amtrak, and/or Greyhound, should be serious contenders in your travel plans. Greyhound's fully refundable fares are inexpensive compared to the airlines and almost all of Amtrak's fares are fully refundable or refundable minus a service charge. An added "plus" to using the latter two modes of transport is that you avoid the TSA Nazis and flight attendants who try to get you arrested over asking for orange juice with your breakfast.*

* see:
http://cbs13.com/local/orange.juice....2.1369891.html