After Heathrow debacle: Who pays for a ruined vacation?

When the airport shut down, travelers were on the hook. How can you protect yourself next time?

- SETH KUGEL

Last Friday's power outage in Heathrow Airport disrupted vacations across the world, causing countless thousands of travelers to miss prepaid reservations and forgo long-anticipated adventures. Among them were Sheila Addison, a therapist from Seattle, who missed out on a four-day whisky-tasting in the Scottish Highlands, forfeiting a $500 nonrefundable hotel room and a rare break from her work routine; Zachary Wang and friends from Brown University, who lost $260 in "Les Misérables" tickets, $180 from an Airbnb reservation and two days of spring break in London; and Steve Wehr of Hyde Park, NY, who missed two days in Jordan—including the first day of a cruise—a loss of about $1,500.

Who pays when your vacation gets ruined through no fault of your own?

The answer, all too often, is you. Though travelers can recoup some losses through refunded flights and vouchers for meals and hotel stays, airlines generally do not pick up the tab for reservations that can't be canceled, expensive last-minute flights that must be booked, or missed family events like weddings. Unfortunately, there is no perfect way to protect yourself, but there are three imperfect ones. Here's what you can do:

Find the right travel insurance

Wehr does not expect to recover that $1,500 he lost by missing two days in Jordan. "We didn't have trip insurance," he lamented in an email.