The weather is starting to look like winter across the United States.
Snow and ice currently cover much of the Midwest and AccuWeather predicts that “a major storm” will develop this weekend, “threatening to bring an area of heavy snow, rain and intense winds from the Plains to the Atlantic Coast” in time for Christmas.
Therefore, if you fly this week, your flight may be delayed, possibly significantly, or even cancelled.
On the internet and on social media, it’s not hard to find lofty advice on how to make the most of cancellations and lengthy delays — such as spotting small-print holes. or trick the system.
The idea of asking for a voucher for the cost of your flight or scoring a flashy stay at a nearby hotel at the expense of the airline sounds great. However, that rarely happens when your flight is disrupted by a winter storm.
Here are practical strategies TPG staff use to deal with flight problems when Mother Nature blows snow and ice their way.
Use FlightAware to get ahead
While there’s no way to predict which flights will be canceled or delayed, you can sometimes get people in the know by tracking flights on sites like Flight knowledge.
Katie Genter, Senior Correspondent for TPG Use this strategy to stay ahead of the game and potentially beat other travelers when rebooking flights.
When a flight is delayed (or if a flight is supposed to take off but the plane isn’t at the gate and there’s no delay notice), she checks what FlightAware (or a similar website) shows. town.
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You can click “see where my plane is now” to check if it has arrived, which can give you a better idea of the expected timeline for delays.
Additionally, a flight showing a zero (meaning the airline has stopped selling tickets) may indicate a cancellation, especially if the flight is prior to the flight.
This is not a surefire way to determine when a flight will be cancelled—airlines stop selling seats for a number of reasons, including a sold-out flight. However, it is a tool to get more information.
Once you realize your flight is about to be cancelled, see if you can make the same day change on the app to get the new flight up and running.
You can also call customer service to double check if the flight has been canceled and to see if the next flight should be rebooked.
Genter notes that elite status call lines are well-suited to this type of support, so if you have status with the airline, make sure to use that privilege.
Being one of the first to reset will give you more options. Once all affected people start calling and rebooking, seats on upcoming flights will quickly fill up.
Related: 5 things to know about air travel warnings
Refund of expenses
Know your rights and take an inventory of your credit card protections. It will require you to read some fine print, but you may be able to get accommodation, credit or reimbursement from your airline or credit card (usually depending on your delay and reason for delay or cancellation).
Multiple travel credit cards service flight delay insurance can save you money when you are stuck somewhere. It will not help you avoid cancellations or delays. However, it can help cover the cost while you wait for your flight.
For example, when a TPG reporter’s JetBlue flight is delayed for more than eight hours, she learns that according to the customer’s rights bill, she is entitled to a $200 credit (which is actually more than the bill). money she paid initially).
Plus, by using trip delay protection on your credit card, you can be reimbursed for any expenses during the delay — like airline lounge tickets or a meal .
What you can get will vary by airline, but knowing the fine print will help you make the most of those unfortunate hiccups on your travel.
Related: How to avoid airline change and cancellation fees
Call customer service (or contact on Twitter)
You should also never have trouble calling customer service to see how the airline can help you — especially if you keep elite status with the airline you are flying with.
While an agent may not do any magic to rebook you for a same-day flight to your destination, you can often get a flight credit or some other consolation for the inconvenience. this convenience.
TPG Contributor Benet Wilson there was a direct flight from San Antonio to Baltimore canceled en route to the airport last winter.
She was unable to catch her flight on the same day and ended up rebooking with another airline. However, a call to Southwest got her a $300 voucher.
“I called Southwest to make sure they didn’t cancel my Saturday return flight. The agent found a flight but it was SAT to ATL to MYR to BWI, with a late arrival,” Wilson said.
“He gave me a $300 LUV voucher for the inconvenience of a canceled flight. I used the travel credit to book the original flight and the canceled portion was sent back to my account.”
In addition, many TPG employees have been successful contact an airline on Twitter when the customer service line is busy.
my first leg American Airlines My flight from New York City to Arkansas before Christmas was delayed, causing me to miss my connection.
Contacting American Airlines on Twitter helped ensure that I was rebooked as soon as possible.
While that still requires me to went through a long transit in Charlotte, it’s better (and less stressful) than rushing to the customer service desk to try and rebook on arrival in Charlotte.
Strategies for placing your layovers
Speaking of long transit times in Charlotte, it’s a prime example of why I always try to book transits in cities where I have friends and family. Of course, this isn’t always possible, but some planning (and being willing to delay a little longer) can save you headaches (and a lot of money) later on.
Because I strategically chose Charlotte (instead of Washington, DC) for a pause on the way home, I was able to call a friend who lives in the area to pick me up from the airport when the time came. My hour-long pause is almost over. 9 hours in Charlotte due to that initial delay.
Instead of spending the day at the airport, I could spend time with a friend, buy some non-airport food, and take a nap on her couch.
Be there early for waiting flights
If you receive advance notice that your flight is canceled or delayed, getting to the airport early can help you get a same-day waiting flight that will get you to your destination early.
TPG’s technical director, Steve Romain, was able to avoid an overnight stay by using this strategy.
A problem with my flight from Austin arrive New York City will cause him to miss a connection in Dallas.
“Since I’m A-List, I got to the ATX airport a little earlier and did a free same-day standby on my previous flight connecting to another city, and A-List got me to the top of the waiting list.”
Note that being on the waitlist is not a perfect method, especially if the previous flight was almost full.
Has an elite status (Romain has List A with Southwest, for example) can certainly be useful as you will get priority over non-elite members. Additionally, some airlines charge a fee for non-elite members who are put on a waitlist for an earlier flight.
Related: Delta now allows non-elite to wait for an earlier flight for free
Fly into another airport
If you really want to go home, you can also try rebooking your flight to a different airport before using another method to get home.
This is TPG Senior Travel Editor Melanie Lieberman’Her top strategy when dealing with delayed or canceled flights has her waiting a day or more to return home.
For example, if your flight from LA to New York City is canceled without the option to rebook on the same day to fly to New York, you can check to see if you can board a flight to Philadelphia. . From there, you can book a train to get the rest of the way back to New York.
If you don’t live in an area with easy access to train or bus lines, you can also try renting a one-way car to get home from an alternative airport.
This method may not be for everyone — especially if you can book a flight on the same day or if you don’t mind staying overnight in a hotel. However, it is an option for those who need to get home as quickly as possible.
Bottom line: Know your rights
Unfortunately, occasional cancellations and delays are a reality of flights — especially right now. They can’t always be avoided, but there are ways you can minimize fallout.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list of everything you can do, but here are the strategies TPG staff regularly use to pivot when we are faced with unfortunate flight and flight cancellations protracted delay.
At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is Know your rights and feel empowered to ask an airline (politely) for help.
Whether it’s helping you rebook the best flight possible, arranging your accommodation, giving you flight credits or adding miles to your loyalty account as a consolation, It never hurts to know what the airline can do for you in the event of a cancellation or delay.
Additional reporting by Melissa Klurman.
