Your Flight’s Canceled, Now What?

With the massive amount of flight cancellations and delays already this summer, I’ve been thinking about how to handle it. Luckily, there are things you can do to make the whole mess easier if it happens to you. 

Long story short, prepare as best you can ahead of time and be proactive if you do get stuck.  Here's how:

Before you leave on your trip:

1. Be selective with your cities: If you'll have to have a layover, do so in cities where you have friends or family. At least you'll have a place to stay if you need it. Check with friends/family before you arrive and give them your flight info. Also, avoid NYC area airports if at all possible (JFK, LGA, EWR). Issues here multiply quickly due to the sheer volume of flights in a small geographic area.

2. Download some apps: You'll need your airline app, booking.com or Airbnb or VRBO, Uber or Lyft, and Rome2Rio and Google Maps for public transportation options**. Make sure you are signed in to each of them and you understand how to use them. BONUS: The airline app itself may announce the cancellation before the gate agent does so you've got a head start. Make sure you have your airline app active even if you get a paper ticket.

3. Decide where you’ll sleep.  If you have a cancellation that delays your journey overnight, you'll need somewhere to lay your head. If you’ll need paid lodging options, scope out some candidates so you can book quickly if needed. You can sleep in the airport if absolutely necessary but you’ll probably want to pack to accommodate that option or at least mentally prepare for it.

4. Pack well. Either fly carry-on only or have some essential toiletries and a change of clothes in your carry-on bag. Be sure to add some snacks too. Whether you get stuck on a tarmac waiting to take off or in the airport itself, being hangry won’t help. However you define it, bring the supplies you’ll need to manage yourself for a couple of unexpected days.

5. Bring patience and kindness. The airline personnel you'll be interacting with have the power to help you if there is a cancellation but not the power to cancel your flight. It's not their fault you're stuck. Basically, don’t be a jerk or you may not be flying for a week.

6. Make peace with the fact that you probably can't rent a car. When there are massive cancellations due to weather, airport car rental agencies will not allow you to take a car on a one-way journey. The cars are managed in fleets in specific locations and if they let you (and everyone else) take one they have to go and get it later. As with most things, it's more complicated than that but that's the gist. 

Time for action!

Be proactive as soon as you are aware of your canceled flight:

1. In your airline app, book the first available flight out as you pick up your bag and head to the counter where you’re directed to speak with an agent. Please note that the first available flight may be a day or 2 in the future. CHOOSE IT ANYWAY.

2. Get on the phone with the airline (you can usually do this via the airline app) while you’re in line to speak with the agent and see if they can get you an earlier flight than the one you just chose AND ask them to put you on standby for a flight sooner than that.

3. Put your earbuds in and multitask while you’re on the phone with the airline. If you have decided you are not going to sleep in the airport, you'll need a place to stay. So does everyone else. Book quickly! Especially if your flight is canceled due to weather. This is why I say you need to be signed in and know how to use apps like booking.com, Airbnb, VRBO, etc.

4. When you get to the gate agent, ask them for the same thing you asked for on the phone. Also, if you're flying standby in the next day or 2, have them print you a boarding pass that says so. This is ESSENTIAL if you’ll leave the airport between now and the standby flight otherwise you won’t be able to get back through security.

5. If you're leaving the airport, head out to the designated rideshare pick-up area (if allowed in that city) and then request your ride. There will be chaos and may God have mercy on your soul! Fine, I’m being dramatic. However, frustrated and/or scared people who were supposed to be somewhere else by the end of the day have short fuses. Tread lightly and bring patience. No one will be their best self right now.

In my decades of regular air travel, I have encountered the above situation exactly once...in NYC. It couldn't be helped as it was my destination. Even before this happened, I warned people for years to avoid the area when possible because there are just so many moving parts. The good news though that the NYC area is remarkably well connected to public transportation so you'll have options there you wouldn't in other places.

** If you have questions about public transportation options via Rome2Rio or Google Maps, contact me before you go and I'd be happy to explain.