“Remind me not to travel during the summer.”
That’s what I texted my husband from a crowded terminal at Orlando International Airport, after our family's seventh travel headache in as many weeks. Our flight there had been canceled, then the rebooked flight was delayed, as was our flight home.
The disruptions were never because of anything major. Not the kind of sweeping severe weather that prompts airlines to offer travel waivers nor wide-scale issues like labor strikes, IT problems or government shutdowns, which have unraveled countless plans in recent months.
Ours were the kind of surprises that strand travelers at airports every day: isolated storms, aircraft issues and staffing matters.
It didn’t make them any less miserable.
Here’s how we navigated the mess and how to get what you’re owed when you run into hiccups, too.
Weather-related delays
The first delay came in mid-June on a work trip to Dallas. Lightning began on the drive to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. At that point, my flight home to Atlanta was still listed on time, but my rideshare driver sagely warned that flights would probably be grounded.
Airlines usually notify passengers of disruptions by email or text, but I regularly check my flight status online in the lead-up to departure. Travelers can also find the latest information on ground stops and airport closures on the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Airspace System webpage.
Sure enough, a ground stop was issued by the time we got to the airport.
If your flight is significantly delayed or canceled, it’s important to figure out why because the cause determines your eligibility for accommodation. Airlines try to get customers on their way as soon as possible, but they're not required to offer anything else for delays caused by reasons beyond their control – including weather.
Cancellations are different. If a flight is canceled for any reason, Department of Transportation rules require airlines to offer travelers a refund if travelers choose to no longer fly.
“You have a non-refundable ticket? It doesn't matter. You will still have the right to choose to get a refund, but in that case you cannot continue to travel (on that ticket),” said Erika Joseffson, an air passenger rights expert at AirHelp, which specializes in flight compensation.
Travel insurance can help cover reasonable expenses related to significant delays or cancellations, but I don't typically purchase it for domestic trips. Thankfully, DFW’s ground stop and my recent Orlando delays only lasted a few hours.
Aircraft maintenance, staffing issues
In early July, my husband and two of our kids ran into hiccups coming home from our annual trip to Maine. Our middle child and I had already flown home days earlier, but the rest of our family spent hours at Bangor International Airport as their Delta Air Lines flight got progressively delayed. The crew was stuck elsewhere and couldn’t make it to Bangor. Eventually, the flight was pushed back until early the next morning.
Staffing issues are considered controllable, so any significant delays and cancellations tied to those warrant accommodation. Customer service commitments for controllable delays and cancellations vary by airline and can be found on their websites and the DOT’s consumer dashboard.
Delta’s commitments include providing a meal or credit for a meal when a flight is delayed by at least three hours due to reasons within the airline’s control, complimentary hotel accommodations for passengers affected by controllable overnight delays, and complimentary ground transportation between the hotel and the airport. My family was offered a free stay at the cozy Ursa Hotel 12 miles from the airport, two one-way Uber vouchers for transportation to and from the hotel, and a $75 digital gift card to cover meals for all three people.
The following morning, they showed up bright and early only to find their flight delayed again. This time it was due to mechanical issues, which are also considered controllable. And now they would miss their connecting flight in Detroit and potentially spend another day or night in limbo.
To avoid this, I suggested they ask to pivot to Portland, which we knew from years of past visits offers direct flights to Atlanta. Delta would typically keep customers on their existing flights or automatically rebook them on a new one in the event of a significant delay. However, customers may explore alternative options on the airline's app and website. While not guaranteed, Delta said alternate airports may be available, based on a customer’s specific itinerary.
My family was booked on a direct flight home from Portland International Jetport the same day and given a $50 digital gift card for additional meals. I tried to help them find a car to rent for the two-hour drive to Portland, but there weren’t any one-way drops-offs available, so I booked them a coach bus ride between cities.
“Ultimately, in the case of the U.S., it's going to depend on the terms and conditions of the airline, if they are agreeing to provide the accommodation, transport to the airport between the hotel, and the meal and these kinds of expenses that you can incur,” Joseffson said.
Compensation is not always up to airlines abroad. For instance, European Union rules entitle travelers to standardized monetary compensation for significant flight delays or cancellations within airline control. That's for flights to EU countries on EU airlines, from EU countries on any airline, and within the EU on any airline.
“It's between 250 Euros and 600 Euros, depending on the distance of your flight ... unless there’s a situation that was outside of the control of the airlines. So then we’re talking about the extraordinary circumstances, which may be bad weather. It can be strikes. It can be a decision from air traffic control," Joseffson said. AirHelp helps travelers figure out what they may be entitled to, for free, and fight for it, for a fee.
My family handled our travel headaches ourselves. As soon as my family made it home from Maine, my husband submitted an Expense Reimbursement Form for the bus fares, rideshare fares between the bus stations and airports, and another meal the gift card did not cover. We’d made sure to hang on to all the receipts. Depending on the airline and circumstances, carriers may reimburse reasonable travel expenses due to controllable cancellations and delays, subject to review. We later received a $116 check by mail.
Delays that turn into cancellations
In late July, my middle child and I were preparing to fly home from a quick trip to New York when I got a text notification that our flight was delayed. There was inclement weather somewhere along the way to New York, and the plane hadn’t even left its previous city. Even if the weather looks fine in your departure and arrival cities, severe weather elsewhere on the plane’s path, at any point in the day, can have cascading effects, especially since many flights are booked back-to-back.
If you’re already at the airport when you learn of a disruption, Joseffson said, “It's usually most helpful to talk directly to the gate agents and see if they can come up with a solution for rebooking or whatever it can be. But at the same time, there's a lot of passengers at the same time, so it's always a good idea, while you're queuing, to check the app as well, try to call and basically try all possible options.” She added that It’s also helpful to get confirmation in writing “because it might be that they say something and then all of a sudden it's not what you had agreed on.”
Fortunately, we hadn’t yet left for LaGuardia Airport and were staying with family, so we could rest comfortably while our flight got further delayed. By evening, however, I decided it was getting too late to fly because we’d arrive back so late that I would be too tired to drive home safely. I could have rebooked online through the airline’s app or website, but I called to switch to a flight out of neighboring John F. Kennedy International Airport the next day.
It’s a good thing I rebooked when I did because our original flight wound up getting canceled. Again, if a flight is canceled for any reason, including weather, airlines are required to offer customers a refund if they choose to no longer fly.
We needed to get home, so that wasn’t an option, but I’m glad I rebooked early. If I had waited until the flight had been canceled, I would’ve had to compete with everyone else scrambling last minute for fewer seat options. Sooner rather than later is a good rule of thumb when trying to rebook. We caught one of the first direct flights out of JFK in the morning.
How to minimize travel disruptions
Joseffson suggests morning flights in general because “you don't have the same kind of congestion, of delays getting built up during the day.”
You also have more options for rebooking, if needed, with the whole day ahead of you.
To further reduce the risk of flight disruptions ruining trips, it’s best to book direct flights when possible.
If no direct flight is available, Joseffson suggests booking flights with longer layovers. “That means that if your first leg is delayed, you still have a buffer to catch your second flight, and it's not going to be an issue.”
No matter when or where you fly, keep an eye on your flight status so you can act quickly if you need to.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Every flight we took this summer was disrupted. Here's what helped
