Everyone who has done any travel knows that airlines are a mess right now. This is happening on two fronts: airports are understaffed (TSA agents, wheelchair pushers, vendors) and airlines laid off a ton of people after getting $100 billion bailout “so they would be ready to fly when people were wanting to fly again” (haha).
This leads to many flights being missed (due to waiting at TSA, issues with checking in, flights being delayed) or outright cancelled (right now, this is usually due to airlines scheduling more flights than they can truly handle, but weather could be an issue as well). Indeed, I just read on Twitter that Brussels Airport has cancelled all flights for tomorrow due to the staff shortage.
So, if this happens, what should you do? While most of my issues have been with delayed flights, I have had my fair share of cancelled flights (including an adventure I had earlier this year in Miami, which I’ll explain at the bottom).
I have thus put together a set of rules that has helped me get on my plane more quickly. Let’s dive right into it.
1. Be nice to the agent helping you.
Most of the people flying today are leisure travelers who have typically flown, at most, once a year (American Airlines recently said that 80% of their customers this year fly, at most, once a year). Thus, agents for the airlines are often dealing with individuals who don’t understand the rhythm of how airlines and airports work. This presents a problem, in that it requires more time to help each individual, who are often irate because they don’t understand the process or what they are owed.
I had a professor in undergrad who said a little bit of humility goes a long way. Be nice to the agent and they are more likely to be willing to do something out of the ordinary. They are a human being who is likely being yelled at by dozens of people. Don’t engage in chitchat that unnecessarily lengthens the time you speak with them (they want to get through everyone quickly), but at least demonstrate some empathy towards the agent.
2. Engage in multiple lines of communication at the same time.
The first thing you should do is get in line. While you’re waiting in line, put your headphones in and call the airline. While you’re waiting in line and on hold with the airline, update the airlines app to see if you can rebook yourself in the app. If you have lounge access to the airline’s network of lounges, go to the lounge and speak to one of the individuals at the check-in desk (or consider buying a day-pass, although I know for a fact that Delta does NOT sell day-passes anymore).
What this allows you to do is to get in contact with someone who can help you (or, in case of the app, rebooking yourself on your phone) and be the first person to get to your next destination. It is likely the case that, in the event of a cancelled flight, there are 100+ people also trying to get on the next flight. Flights are running at over 90% capacity right now, and everyone else who was on your flight is jockeying for those few seats on the next flight. Make sure that you are on that flight by being the first to get through and rebooked.
3. Think on your feet, and advocate for yourself.
When it is time for you to speak with an agent, have a plan. Know exactly what flights you want (flight number, date, time, origin and final destination, connecting city). Feed those to the agent so they don’t have to look for you.
If everything is cancelled, know backup airports that you can fly into, as well as alternate routings. I normally fly into National in DC, but I know that I can also fly into Dulles, Baltimore, Richmond, Philly, or Virginia Beach if need be. While many are an hour or so away, if I’m stuck in a city that’s a 15-hour drive from home, I would rather get rebooked to somewhere close and rent a car than just rent a car in my origin city and drive home. In terms of alternate routings, if you’re flying American, instead of flying through Charlotte, you could fly through Philly. Pretend you’re making a new booking on the app or website and figure out what routings are available.
If you are able to get rebooked, but it’s on a flight for the next day, always ask for a hotel and food vouchers. They may so no, but they may say yes. Also, know what credit card you booked the original airfare on. You’re fighting for every crappy airport hotel that everyone else is. If you have something like a Chase Sapphire product or an Amex Platinum, many of these incidentals (like hotels, taxis, and food) will be reimbursed because your flight got delayed. Know the terms and conditions of your cards flight delay policy so you’re taken care of (saved my butt on a flight from Charlotte to Birmingham once…reimbursed about $200).
Also, one other option would be to consider asking if you can be rebooked into first class for a fee. There are a lot less people aiming for a first class seat than an economy seat, plain and simple, so there may be more availability if you can swing yourself into first class. If I had the choice of getting on a flight the next day in economy or the same day in first for $200, I would pay the $200. If you can swing it and you’d rather not have to be in a hotel, then go for it.
4. If necessary, consider booking yourself on another airline.
Say you are flying American Airlines, and they are having a meltdown. However, you know that you can book a one-way flight on Delta that leaves the same day. Delta isn’t having a meltdown. You can book yourself one-way and get a refund for your unused flight on American. It’ll get you home on time.
Will it cost you money you weren’t expecting to spend? Yep. However, it’ll get you to your destination faster.
This works better when flying to your home airport than flying from your home airport, as missing the first flight will cancel the rest of your reservation. Keep that in mind!
5. If all else fails, consider other means of transportation.
This will primarily be renting a car, but, if you’re able, you could take the train or take a boat. Check the websites of all those companies and figure out the best way to move forward. I’ll explain in detail below, but we thought we would have to drive from Miami to DC, as I didn’t have my work laptop and I had important meetings the next day I could not miss or take from my phone.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to do that, but it’s something to consider. Keep in mind that the airport rental car facility will likely be overwhelmed, so look to make a rental a few miles off of the airport property and just take a taxi to that facility. It’s much more likely that you will actually get a car.
Note: DO NOT GIVE UP YOUR PLANE TICKET FOR THE NEXT DAY UNTIL YOU ARE IN YOUR RENTAL CAR/ON THE TRAIN/ON THE BOAT. You never know if the rental car facility will let you book a car online, but not actually have one!
My close call in Miami
Back around April Fools Day this year, my wife and I made our yearly trek to stay in Miami. We love hanging out at the hotel there, eating good food, and just enjoying the energy.
This was a special trip because I had just accepted a new job, and we took time to celebrate that. Because of that, I had left my laptop at home so I could focus on the vacation at hand.
We flew down on Thursday and were scheduled to fly up on Sunday. We went out and had dinner at one of the top 10 steakhouses in America on Saturday night to celebrate and went to bed around 10PM, as our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:30 AM from MIA.
When I woke up at 5:15 AM, I saw that I had a notification on my phone that our flight had been cancelled and we had been rebooked for an 8:30 AM flight with a layover in Atlanta. Weird for an American Airlines flight, but whatever, at least we were still getting home in time to pick up our dog from daycare.
We took an Uber to the airport, and went to the kiosk to check in. However, when I typed in my American Airlines number, an error popped up. We had to check a bag, and I was getting antsy because the airport was particularly busy for a Sunday morning in Miami.
I got in the priority line to speak with an agent at the checkin counter (earlier the week before, I got an upgrade offer for $100 total for both of us to sit in first class for an almost three hour flight from MIA to DCA). I checked my phone and realized something horrible: our new flight was on Tuesday. American was having an operational meltdown due to a pilot shortage and people being out of place and had cancelled all mainline flights (an important fact) for that day and Monday out of Miami.
I hadn’t realized that there was an operational meltdown yet and was second in line, so I figured I would just wait and speak to an agent.
When we got to the agent, I said “Our flight had been cancelled and we were rebooked for Tuesday, can you help us?”
The agent said, “Yes, let me see what’s available.” She typed some things in, and she said, “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing until Tuesday.” I then went into panic mode. I started naming additional airports (Dulles, Baltimore, Richmond, Philly, anything). She said there was nothing. I then immediately asked for a hotel voucher, which she gave to me. It was time for me to figure something else out.
We got out of line and found a place to sit down. I had my wife look at other airlines (everything was sold out), while I tried to find another route on American. I kept updating the app, and was able to rebook our flight through Orlando for the next day (which would have been wild, because Orlando was also hit by the meltdown, and I’m sure there would have been a lot of kids leaving Disney World).
After that, we talked about what to do next. We really needed to get back to DC on Sunday, so we looked at Amtrak. Nothing. We then did what we didn’t want to do: we booked a rental car.
I had gone to the rental car facility just to check if there were any spares there. They were sold out. I was able to get a reservation about 5 miles off facility, but the rental place did not open until 10 AM. It was 8 AM at the time, so we just sat and wait.
I kept updating my phone, hoping something new would pop up. At about 9 AM, I said, “One last time.” I updated the app one more time, and I found it: A flight for that Sunday! I found a set of flights with a layover in Key West. (I have an idea of why these flights actually ran that day: we were flying under the American Eagle brand. Think tiny planes with a single aisle and two seats on each side of the aisle. According to some data I saw, regionals weren’t hit NEARLY as hard as mainline flights).
I immediately rebooked it, and then I told Mary Helen. I then looked at the time, and I realized: we had one hour to check our bag, get through security, and run to the gate (so really like 45 minutes).
We put our plan into action. I took the bag and ran ahead of my wife and got in line. She caught up and was calling our dog’s daycare to give them an update. We somehow got our bag checked in 20 minutes. We had 25 minutes to get through security and get to our gate before the door would be closed.
Thankfully, because of our first class seats, we had priority access. That line had about 5 people, while the PreCheck line, which we would normally do, had about 30. We got through security in about 10 minutes (I have no idea why it took so long). We then had 15 minutes to get to our gate before the door closed.
Anyone who has ever been to Miami International knows that the American Airlines terminal is 1 long building, probably about a third of a mile to a half a mile long. There’s also a skytrain that runs the length of the terminal to get people around more quickly and easily.
Our gate was at the end of the terminal, which was the opposite end of the terminal. We knew we could make it if we could get on the skytrain.
THE SKYTRAIN WAS DOWN. We were tired and stressed and we now had to run down the terminal. We were moving in and out, dodging people who decided that the entire family needed to span the entire width of the terminal and walk hand-in-hand. People got mad at us. I did not care.
We were running and running and running. When we got to the end of the terminal, we took the escalator down to our gate, and we made it as they were finishing up boarding!
It turned out to be a fun set of flights. We got to retain our first class seats, and we actually got to do a layover in Key West (that’s another story for another day, including a gate agent giving me the death stare when I told her I had a gate-check tag on my carry-on because we were laying over in Key West. She thought I was lying!).
However, with a lot of luck, and going through all my options, I was able to get us rebooked. We were able to get back to DC on Sunday, pick up our dog, and be rested in time for work the next day.
Have you ever used any of these techniques to get yourself rebooked onto a flight?
Comment (1)