Pearl Travel

Weathering the storm!

January 26, 2010 on 3:38 pm | In Pearl of Wisdom for Travel, travel hints | No Comments

My Pearls of Thought for this week are a bit about combating and being prepared for delays.  I fly an average amount of time  (not frequent) and over the years have been delayed due to engine trouble (9 hour delay for a 3 hour flight), overcrowding at the arrival airport (missed European connection), emergency landing (made it home safe but late), Security breach (arrived a day late) and an untold number of weather related delays this is what I have learned I offer you a few things you can do to minimize the problems of flight delays. 

When traveling to a wedding, cruise, tour or some other thing that is ‘time  sensitive’  (it goes without you) think about leaving a day early.  This affords you the opportunity to be ready and rested at the right time and can lessen the possibility of travel delays that cause you to arrive late.

Any time you are traveling is it important that you stay informed- don’t wait for robo calls telling you a flight is delayed or cancelled you may have already left for the airport.  Call your airline, check the airlines web site, or find a flight tracking web site  like www.flightstats.com that lets you see airport delays and allows you to check the status of your flight.  Don’t forget the arrival airport can cause a problem, if you can’t land you will not be allowed to take off.

Know what your rights are.  Your airlines has a contract of carriage and it is available on the airline website.  You will find that this usually has an exclusion for “Act of God” which includes weather.  Most airlines will, as a courtesy allow you to change your flights without penalty, or reschedule to travel at the earliest possible moment.  The problem is that most flights are very full these days so it sometimes is only possible to get a few people from a cancelled flight on the next available flight.  If your flight is delayed and you find your self in line (usually a long line) to reschedule immediately get on the phone to the airline and see if you can make the change before you get to the desk.  Even when the airline phone has a long hold time this frequently gets you through before you get to the agent.  I put the airline 800 number on my cell before I leave home so that I am prepared.   

There are 2 other bits of advise I have to offer first sometimes finding an alternative way (drive, bus, train) if it is a short flight and a long delay sometimes the alternative is the best thing to do.  Second and most importantly bring your smile and your patience with you and be alert sometimes just being near the podium and hearing a word can get you to the head of the line and a courteous talk with an agent will get you much further than being confrontational.