Safety ruling complicates some Mexico flights

If you're traveling to Mexico soon, be aware that the FAA recently downgraded Mexico's safety rating due to oversight concerns. U.S. carriers will still be able to fly to and from Mexico, but they won't be able to do code-sharing flights with Mexican carriers. This will have an impact on carriers such as American and Delta, which offer a number of code-sharing flights with Mexican airlines.

If you want to fly to a smaller airport that doesn't have service from a U.S. carrier, you'll have to book a ticket to a gateway city, such as Mexico City, and buy a separate ticket to your final destination. Prices to smaller cities probably will increase because of these new rules and a lack of competition.

The Mexican carrier Mexicana recently filed for bankruptcy and temporarily stopped selling tickets. The airline says it will continue flying, but it could be out of business by the time you read this. At press time, the airline was still offering a daily flight between Dallas and Mexico City, but it had suspended flights between many of its other destination cities, including one of two daily round-trips to San Antonio.

If you're holding tickets to Mexico, take a close look at who is operating the flights. If you bought tickets through Mexicana, your plan of action will depend on the details.

If you're flying on a Mexicana-operated flight that is canceled, contact your credit-card company and ask for a refund for services not rendered.

If you paid by cash or debit card, you'll have to get in line in bankruptcy court.

If you purchased through Mexicana, but the flight is operated by American, call American and use a lot of honey and no vinegar to see if it will reissue your tickets on American.

Effect on prices

While Mexicana's trouble is certainly not good news, I don't think it will have a huge impact on ticket prices. We should still see deals pop up to Mexico, but smaller cities will be more problematic when it comes to low fares. As always, watch fares and buy when you see a good price.

Fares to Los Cabos are usually expensive, but we do see sales. Some weeks, Puerto Vallarta is high-cost, and some weeks it's low. We should still see deals to cities that have competition from more than one U.S. carrier, such as Mexico City and Cancún.

Tom Parsons is CEO of Bestfares.com: www.bestfares.com