What To Do When Your Flight Is Cancelled
Itenarant IT consultant James Brockman was sitting outside gate 44 at Reagan airport, and after seeing a gaggle of travelers flip out over their canceled flight, decided to put together a flight cancellation primer based on his eight years of heavy air travel experience. One piece of advice, after getting in line for the gate ticket agent with a pen and paper in hand...
If you do get someone on the phone, EVEN IF YOU GET AN ALTERNATE BOOKING, STAY IN LINE [Unless you have to, at that point, run to get the flight they just put you on. If that's the case, go ahead and go.]. When you get to the front of the line, say that you've been booked on something else, and tell the agent the details. They should be able to print the boarding pass/transfer ticket you need.Flight cancellations are on the rise and never fun, but with a plan of action and poise, you can make good decisions to help get you where you need to go without more delay than necessary.
Relax. [Today On The James Front]
(Photo: jordanfischer)
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FYI, only Gingrich-era Republicans call it Reagan. Everyone outside the RNC calls it National.
Also it helps to know alternate airlines routings, so when you do take advantage of rule 240 you KNOW what flights are available and more likely to be open and can direct the the agent to put you on those flights.
In Denver when I fly United I'll look at the board and online to see what other UAL flights are available, and also check Frontier Airlines which has 2-4 flights a day to the same major cities.
Similarly I might print out the canceled airlines other flights before leaving. I want to know if the gate agent is trying to put me on a 3pm 737, which will be packed with other cx'd pax, or if there's a 757 or 777 flying at 3:15 on the other side of the concourse which might be more open. The gate agents would seem to have this, but often they just put you on "next standby."
Also ask for odd routings. I had a canceled flight in L.A. - Denver recently, and I knew that there were flights to Vegas (and Vegas to Denver) For some reason that routing doesn't show up as an available connection, but connections through S.F. and San Diego did! After some polite pestering the agent routed me through Vegas, which I BELIEVE is somehow more complicated on their end, but was easy and most direct for me. (Someone explain that to me)
james [www.futuregringo.com]
@TeamSAM: My mom refuses wholeheartedly to call it Reagan...maybe that's due to the fact that he basically fired her and a whole lot of other people for no reason when he was elected president in 1984 ("RIFfed by Reagan").
"If you are stuck, consider getting something to eat."
Wow. This guy is a genius.
Either way, both DC-area airports (DCA and Dulles) are crapholes.
@mconfoy: Reagan illegally fired the air traffic controllers when they went on strike to get decent wages.
@TeamSAM: Thank you. It is the most rediculous renaming of an airport. Ever. Oh, wait. I was wrong.
@IRSistherootofallevil: Have you flown out of Newark lately?
@jamesdenver: I to have used Vegas as an alternate hub. But I too have no clue why it is harder for them to route through Vegas...
Reagan fired illegally striking air traffic controllers. Just about anyone in air traffic controll calls it National to spite him.
@TeamSAM: I call it Reagan National. Now, if we can rename BWI, maybe to De Tocqueville Baltimore International, the Republican takeover of DC airports will be complete.
@jamesdenver: Rule #1: There is NO Rule 240 anymore.
Also, be sure to get meal vouchers and use every penny on them.
@TEAMSAM - Ironically, I usually refer to it as "National" or "DCA", but I was trying to be a bit more formal, so I went with what the airlines call it.
@IRSISTHEROOTOFALLEVIL - Actually, I'm going to disagree, but just on DCA. I haven't been to BWI in years, so can't comment. I really don't like Dulles, though. Maybe when they get the train finished, it'll be better. But for now, the ridiculous arrangement of busing passengers between terminals is AWFUL. Flying BUF-IAD is about 50 minutes of airtime; to get from the terminal to my rental car takes close to an hour[1]. Security lines can be bad at IAD too. I've waited in line half an hour there, and know someone who waited over two hours in line once.
In contrast, DCA is clean and pleasant. I rarely spend more than five minutes in a security line, and usually pretty much walk right up. There's a surprisingly broad variety of restaurants and shops, and I really like the policy that the prices in-airport are legally required to be the same as off-airport. The biggest advantage at DCA is that I can get from my gate to my rental car in ten minutes. Unless you fly in to the main terminal at IAD, are first off the airplane, and hustle like OJ Simpson (anyone else remember when he sold rental cars?), you're looking at 20 minutes MINIMUM to get to a rental car.
[1]Typical process at IAD is (I fly in on a regional jet, so no jetway): Arrive at gate. Wait for gate agent to open door. Wait for gate-checked luggage. Walk the length of the terminal. Wait for a bus. Take bus to main terminal. Walk across main terminal. Wait for a rental car bus. Walk to rental car. At National, you just walk to your rental car. You *CAN* take a shuttle, but I find it faster to walk.
I've had exactly one flight canceled on me. They put me on the flight before that one which was scheduled to leave the same time I was standing at the counter, but had been delayed. It got delayed past my original departure time. I finally get into Newark (the rumor had it that there was a fire there, never verified) and make my connecting flight home. My wife was pissed because that meant she had to pick me up at 2AM. She really, really wanted me to stay back and wait for the next flight the next day.
In the end, it was a good thing I got home. My wakeup call from my friend I had been staying with was about some plane hitting one of the World Trace Center towers. The date being 9/11/2001.
I met my wife for an extended lunch at our favorite restaurant, which had the TV going on CNN covering it.
She was ever so glad that I did make that decision to come home, even if it meant a short night of sleep that night. I did get home after all.
Mr. Brockman's guide is all fine and dandy... but someone needs to author a "Stranded Airlines Passengers Guide to Civil Disobedience" to specify what legal acts of civil disobedience could be performed by captive passengers that are stranded for endless hours inside of planes on airport tarmacs without food, water, medical attention or working toilets.
Perhaps the ACLU or a similar group with legal savvy could come up with a usable plan of action for captive passengers to force these planes back to the ramp.
At least in jail you're given food, water and a workable toilet.