{"id":98885058,"date":"2016-08-08T15:23:15","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T19:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/?p=98885058"},"modified":"2016-08-10T13:36:24","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T17:36:24","slug":"survive-flight-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/survive-flight-delays\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Survive Flight Delays and Cancellations"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all fallen victim to (or known someone who’s experienced) this frustrating situation: your flight is delayed 30 minutes. And then it\u2019s an hour. And then three. Sometimes, it\u2019s cancelled altogether after hours of waiting and you have to, yes, wait even longer as a new plane is chartered and tickets are reissued.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bad news? There\u2019s nothing you can do about it. There\u2019s nothing the gate agent can do about it either, which is something to consider the next time you want to give \u201cthe man\u201d a piece of your mind about your lost time and missed meetings.\u00a0<\/span>So instead of losing your cool with an airline employee, the best thing to do is plan ahead and move quickly following the dreaded announcement. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are our top five tips for how to make the best out of a bad situation:<\/span><\/p>\n

Call the Airline<\/h2>\n

See that massive line of people with folded arms demanding to speak to the gate agent? Yeah, you can skip that by calling the airline directly. Get your flight info ready while you\u2019re on hold and have them rebook you \u2014 preferably on the next flight out (there\u2019s also rumors about an old \u201cRule 240<\/a>\u201d, which says that major airlines have to offer any available seat on the next flight out, even if it\u2019s a competitor. BUT you\u2019ll have to check your airline\u2019s rules before citing this since many don\u2019t honor it anymore). The earlier in the day you schedule your flight, the better chance you have of snagging a seat on the next one, so keep that in mind next time you\u2019re booking.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

BUT<\/strong> if you prefer good old-fashioned, face-to-face customer service \u2013 there\u2019s a great trick for that, according to Senior Vice President of Supplier Relations and Partnerships for OneTravel’s very own parent company Fareportal, Tom Spagnola.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to give away my \u2018secret\u2019 but it works for me most of the time,\u201d explains Spagnola. \u201cI\u2019m not a member of any of the airlines’ private clubs but they do help accommodate customers. It is much quieter, a lot less stressful, and only a few people that need help. The regular customers end up at the regular customer service desk and it turns into complete mayhem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get Some Compensation<\/h2>\n

Obviously, the type of compensation you\u2019re eligible for depends on how delayed your flight is. For one to several hours, you should at least get some meal vouchers and free Wi-Fi. Longer than that and you may be eligible for a flight voucher. But <\/span>know your rights<\/span><\/a>, because if you\u2019re delayed even further you could be entitled to rebooking on a flight of your choosing, a hotel for the night, or even a completely refunded ticket (Europe has its own set of rules that also apply to foreign travelers, which you can check out\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>). Even if their answer is \u201cno\u201d, it\u2019s worth asking for something. After all, time is money.<\/span><\/p>\n

Check Alternative Routes<\/h2>\n

If the flight is seriously delayed or cancelled and there are no reasonable flights out with the same airline, ask for a refund and shop around. Very often, other airlines will work with you, especially if they have availability for you to fly on stand-by. But be sure not to get stuck with a worse route \u2014 especially in the winter months, because the more layovers, the higher chance you have of getting even more delayed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Plan Ahead<\/h2>\n

Maybe this isn\u2019t helpful advice if your flight is currently delayed or cancelled, but next time, be sure to plan ahead \u2014 especially during the winter months when bad weather can delay flights. Pack as lightly as possible (to avoid checked bags getting lost or rerouted) and bring everything you\u2019ll need for a potentially delayed flight. Pack a jacket or coat and earplugs if you\u2019ll be stuck overnight, chargers for your devices, a book, and plenty of food. A toothbrush is a small thing that can also go a <\/span>long <\/span><\/i>way towards making your waiting experience a little better \u2014 especially if there\u2019s the potential to be stuck overnight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notify Important Parties<\/h2>\n

If family and friends or business colleagues are planning to pick you up, they should be notified as soon as possible. And if you\u2019re missing meetings, see if you can attend it remotely. You may as well work while you wait.<\/span><\/p>\n

Think we missed anything? Feel free to post your delayed\/cancelled flight horror stories below and any tips or tricks you learned the hard way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all fallen victim to (or known someone who’s experienced) this frustrating situation: your flight is delayed 30 minutes. And then it\u2019s an hour. And then three. Sometimes, it\u2019s cancelled altogether after hours of waiting and you have to, yes, wait even longer as a new plane is chartered and tickets are reissued. The bad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":98885060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[913,912,914],"class_list":["post-98885058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-tips-intel","tag-cancelled-flight","tag-flight-delay","tag-how-to"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98885058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98885058"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98885058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98885114,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98885058\/revisions\/98885114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98885060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98885058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98885058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98885058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}