What to do when your flight is cancelled or unexpectedly delayed
The more you travel the more you will see that things don’t always go according to plan. There will be a day when you arrive at the airport in a timely fashion with your kid in tow ready to head on a great trip, only to get an alert or look at the board showing that your flight has been cancelled or severely delayed. What now?
Below I’ve outlined a few things to know about flight delays/cancellation compensation and a few helpful ways to pass time at the airport with kids.
Ways to pass time at the airport:
- Find a play area
I LOVE airports that think about kids, and by that I mean airports that provide an area for kids to jump off of things and run around without consequence or annoyed glances from judgement filled (kid-less) passengers. I’ve found in my experience that play areas are the perfect place to pass time during lengthy delays without having to pull out our travel activities from the backpack.
- Grab some food comfortably
Most airports have restaurants with tables inside that are a lot more relaxing than the seats at the gate. Take the delay in stride and grab a drink for you, a juice for your little one, and a great meal to ease the stress of being at the airport longer than desired.
- Kick your feet up in an airport lounge
Airport lounges aren’t just for the customers with elite status. Some credit cards you have in your wallet possibly offer a lounge perk, check into this while waiting. If you don’t have a lounge perk from your airline status or your current credit card you can ask about a day pass, most lounges have this offer available for a fee. The fee could be priced the same as the amount of money you would spend on airport food for your family and they typically offer complimentary snacks and drinks along with a super comfortable atmosphere and most importantly, complimentary WiFi.
Things to know concerning flight delays and cancellations compensation:
- When the flight cancellation is out of the airlines control
Somethings can’t be predicted or avoided by airlines such as inclement weather, certain mechanical issues, air traffic control, or other operational controls outlined in their individual policies. Since these things can’t be predicted the airlines aren’t required to compensate you for these things. I’ve found that remaining calm and speaking with the right employee could get you food vouchers for delays or hotel vouchers for overnight cancellations when you can’t be booked on another flight.
- When the flight cancellation or delay is the airlines fault
Typically the airline will book you on the next available flight with open seats. I’ve found it’s best to call the customer service number immediately instead of waiting in line to speak to someone in person because those lines will be long and full over angry customers. This will only take more time away from getting you accommodated on the next available flight. Read the policies for your specific airline of how much and for what reasons they legally have to compensate passengers for. The policies can vary from airline to airline but will include an amount based on each scenario and can also include vouchers food hotels and food. If your flight has a lengthy delay or is cancelled, feel free to ask for the airline to book you on an earlier flight with a different airline. I’ve done this before with American Airlines. They had a crew issue where they went over the amount of time they could safely fly, and they didn’t know when a new crew would be able to come. The associate helping me booked me on a flight scheduled to leave a few hours later on United Airlines.
- Check your credit card perks
Most credit cards have policies outlining how they will compensate you for cancelled flights and flights that are delayed beyond a certain time. These can come in handy when you aren’t getting proper compensation and treatment directly from the airlines. It’s best to call you credit card company before traveling to see how you are covered as far as rebooking or reimbursement, better safe than sorry.
Be sure to download the app with your flight information in case the flight time changes to an earlier delayed time than first stated. The app will give you the most up to date information concerning your flight.
