Last Friday morning, as I was getting ready to fly to Wisconsin for the wedding of our best friend’s daughter – a wedding where I was doing a reading – I noticed in my Southwest app that our evening flight was already showing delayed. I thought that was a bit odd so many hours before our flight, so I kept checking all day long, and kept watching the delay steadily increase to over 3 hours by late afternoon.
And then I got the dreaded alert: Cancelled.
So began a weekend of frustration that was shared by thousands, as Southwest continued to cancel flights through the beginning of last week. We ended up having 3 separate flights cancelled by Southwest over the weekend: 2 on the way to the wedding (we did finally make it to Wisconsin in time for the wedding – barely), and then another cancellation for our trip home.
While I’m not going to address any of the reasons for the Southwest meltdown – as there is plenty of conjecture online as to the *real* reason for the cancellations – I did want to take a few minutes to discuss flight cancellations in general, because they can happen at any time, to any airline, for all kinds of reasons. Weather, technical issues, mechanical issues and even heavy volumes of holiday travelers can all contribute to flight cancellations, and while it’s rare (thankfully) to have an airline cancel several thousand flights over 3 days, cancelled flights do actually happen every day. And it’s not fun when they do.
Knowing what to do if it happens to you is important – especially as we head into winter weather and the busy holiday season – and that’s what I want to talk about today.
Before You Leave
I’m a firm believer in being prepared, and just as you pack your suitcase to have what you’ll need on your trip, you should also do a few things related to your flights before your trip.
- Have a Plan B (or C, or maybe even D) – Consider potential options in case your flight is cancelled. While you don’t have to do tremendous research on this, it’s not a bad idea to quickly check if there are any other flights that could get you to your destination in time. Look at nearby airports as well as other airlines for additional options. Or is driving or the train a possibility?
- Stay in contact with your airline. Make sure you are getting your airline’s text messages (I was amazed how many fellow cancellation victims told me they never got a text alert that their flight was cancelled.) In addition, make sure you have your airline’s app downloaded on your phone. Keep checking the status there, especially in the last 24 hours before your trip. Even if you have text alerts, check the app.
- Check the flight status for your flight several days in advance. Note if you see a pattern of delays or cancellations. Sometimes there is, and if so, definitely have a Plan B ready.
- Know the phone number for your airline (or where to get it).
- If you still have time and don’t have it, purchase travel insurance if you can.
If Your Flight is Cancelled
First, do not panic (although you probably will.) Try to remain calm because it’s important to be able to think clearly and quickly.
- You may be automatically rebooked on the next available flight by your airline. If so, and if that time still works for you, then you can accept that time and not worry about it further. Unless you’re already at the airport, in which case, you’ll need to decide if you are staying there, going home, or getting a hotel room.
- If you are already at the airport and you’re not rebooked (or the time they gave you doesn’t work), immediately go to the airline’s desk. You’ll likely be there with a lot of other people so while waiting, check your app and take a look at your Plans B, C, or D and see if any of those are options at this point. You can also try calling the airline, but since the wait times will likely be hours, this probably won’t get you the quickest results.
- If you see another flight option that works for you and the line for the airline desk is too long – especially if you are under a time crunch for your trip timeline as I was – book online and don’t wait for your original airline to help. You can sort it out with them later.
- If you haven’t left for the airport yet, you can try calling, but again, you’ll likely find this to result in hold times of hours. I’d recommend accepting any change your airline offers (if it works for your plans) or rebooking online yourself if necessary.
- Make sure that you keep all receipts of any additional expenses you have related to this. as you may need them for claims later. And if you do speak to any *live* person, make a note of the name, date, time of day, and summary of any phone or in person conversations you have.
- Don’t forget to update your hotel/transfer plans with the suppliers or notify your travel agent.
If you have travel insurance, be sure to notify them as soon as possible regarding a potential claim, and provide all documentation related to your cancellation and subsequent expenses that haven’t been reimbursed.
When you return from your trip (or as soon as possible), call your airline to make sure you get a refund rather than a credit or mileage points. You do have some rights regarding refunds in the event of flight cancellations, and you can learn more about those here: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/southwest-airlines-passenger-refunds-compensation/
Having a flight cancellation is unquestionably frustrating, especially when it’s last minute and for a special event as mine was. Hopefully these tips will help if it ever happens to you!
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