Thursday, November 26, 2009

Action plan for when your flight is canceled

Traveling is stressful. Most plans will go off without a hitch, but there's always a few who get the short end of the travel stick when their flights are canceled. Weather, mechanical problems, and shortage of crew are a few reasons why flights might be delayed or canceled altogether. The Associated Press prepared a tip sheet with what you can do if your flight is canceled. Familiarize yourself with the action plan before you leave for the airport.

  • "Try to be rebooked. Some major airlines have interline agreements that allow them to easily rebook a passenger on another carrier." This option wouldn't lead to additional costs on your end.
  • "Request a refund. Most airlines will refund the amount you paid for a ticket if they cancel your flight and can't accommodate you on another flight that gets you to your destination on the day you were expecting." If you take the refund route, the AP warns that the walk-up fare for purchasing a ticket from another airline may be much higher than your original ticket.
  • "Ask for a hotel room. American Airlines says that if a delay or cancellation was caused by events within its control and it does not get a passenger to his or her final destination on the expected arrival day, it will provide "reasonable" overnight accommodations, subject to availability."
  • To avoid any surprises when you arrive at the airport, "make sure your airline has your email address or telephone number so it can alert you in the event that it cancels or reschedules your flight."
  • "Try to negotiate." The airlines' eagerness to keep customers might play to your advantage.

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From the Community…

Comments 11 of 11
  • PapoolC's Avatar
    Posted by PapoolC Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:10am PDT

    Sorry allee but you should have looked up US Airways. Horrible track record. Your hubby probably booked it because it was cheap, but there were many other alternatives...they do cost more, but maybe now you understand that higher costs can be worth something. You could have gotten a flight into Chicago or NY and then flown to Milan via Alitalia, the national airline of Italy, for example (There are many others).

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