In my last post, I gave several scenarios or horror stories about airline schedule changes. I also promised I would give some tips next time I wrote about what to do in case it happens to you (and sooner or later, it probably would!). Here are some general ideas about what to do in case of cancellations or delays. I’ll give you more specific tips and discuss Rule 240 with you on a later post.
Before booking your flight:
•Book the first flight out in the morning. Chances of flight delays are smaller compared to later flights.
• Although it may cost more, try to take an non-stop flight.
• Try to find out the weather conditions on your flight day. Or at least get a general idea. If you’re planning on traveling during winter or hurricane season, there’s a good possibility your flight may be affected by weather.
• Check the connecting times between your flights. Although it’s usually 30 to 45 minutes minimum connecting time for the same airline, try to get a connecting flight with more time in between, in case of flight delays.
• If you’re flying with different carriers, check beforehand if they have a luggage transfer agreement. If they don’t, you might have to check-out and recheck your luggage. Try to put more time between connections (at least 1 hour for domestic), to allow you plenty of time to travel from one terminal or gate to the other.
• Be careful about booking with smaller airlines. Major carriers usually have interline ticket agreements with each other, which smaller airlines usually lack. This means that in case of cancellations or delays, smaller airlines won’t be able to endorse your ticket to another carrier, which means they won’t be able to book you a flight with another airline.
More tips next post.