Victoria M. Walker Nov 2, 2021<\/p>\n
Nobody likes a delayed flight.\u00a0\u00a0But with several airlines, such as American and Southwest, experiencing operational meltdowns lately, it\u2019s not inconceivable that you\u2019ll experience a flight delay if you\u2019re traveling right now. On Oct. 31, more than 9,700 flights within, into or out of the United States were delayed, according to data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware.<\/p>\n
However, before you head off to the airport lounge to drink away your sorrows, there are some things you need to know about flight delays. And, in some instances, you may even be entitled to financial compensation for your inconvenience.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you should do if you find out your flight\u2019s been delayed.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check-in with the gate agent<\/p>\n Don\u2019t skip off to the airport lounge immediately after finding out about a flight delay.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve, admittedly, been guilty of this, and it\u2019s almost caused me to miss a twice-delayed flight. After getting delayed during a flight a few years back, I figured I had enough time to grab some food, drink and catch a cat nap at the lounge. I hadn\u2019t realized that the flight had somehow been \u201cun-delayed\u201d until I\u2019d happened to wake up a short time later. With just minutes to spare before the boarding doors closed, I arrived to catch my connecting flight \u2014 harried and out of breath.<\/p>\n I would have avoided this entirely had I checked with the gate agent to find out the new time or asked an employee at the lounge. They typically know these things.<\/p>\n Another thing: Don\u2019t rely solely on the airport departure and arrival board as they are sometimes not updated. They\u2019re usually accurate, but you\u2019re likely to have the most up-to-date flight departure information if you\u2019ve downloaded your airline\u2019s app to your phone.<\/p>\n On a recent flight between my hometown airport Norfolk (ORF) and New York (LGA), I found out my outbound flight had been delayed minutes before the gate agent announced it over the intercom. Having multiple sources of information, especially as more flights experience operational delays these days, is better than relying on just one source.<\/p>\n Know your credit card\u2019s delay and cancellation policy<\/strong><\/p>\n We talk a lot about how to make your travel rewards credit cards work for you here at TPG. But that isn\u2019t only about earning elite status with airlines or finding the best lounge to plane-spot. Sometimes, your credit card can come in handy when a trip doesn\u2019t go quite as planned.<\/p>\n One underrated benefit that can come to the rescue when things go wrong: trip delay coverage, as my colleague, TPG senior editor Nick Ewen wrote earlier this summer. A delay isn\u2019t just frustrating: It can cause you to miss a crucial flight segment and potentially leave you stranded at an airport.<\/p>\n Trip delay protection ensures that you won\u2019t be responsible for additional (reasonable) expenses that occur due to a lengthy trip delay. However, some credit cards can save you money and hassle if you\u2019re delayed due to weather, operational problems, strikes or other unplanned events. You will likely need to pay for the expenses upfront, but you may be eligible for reimbursement afterward.<\/p>\n Credit cards with trip delay protection include:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Chase Sapphire Reserve covers delays from 6 hours or overnight, with a maximum coverage amount of $500. ($550 annual fee) Know your rights if there\u2019s a delay or cancellation.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you decide not to fly your originally scheduled flight due to significant delays and cancellations, you should get your money or points back. Airlines will generally try and push a voucher on you, but you don\u2019t have to settle for it and are entitled to cash.<\/p>\n You may have a cancel and refund option available to you online or in the airline\u2019s app. But as I\u2019ve found in the past, the airlines often won\u2019t make it simple to ask for a refund, so you may end up having to call the customer service line. Just remember, even if the airline offers you a voucher or even miles, you\u2019re typically entitled to a cash refund.<\/p>\n You have even more options if your travel falls under the EU261 regulation \u2014 which establishes rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, cancellation or long flight delays.\u00a0\u00a0EU261 provides you some travel protections if your flight is delayed at departure, depending on how long your delay was. If you arrived at your final destination with a delay of more than three hours, you are entitled to compensation (unless the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances, like terrorism.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Victoria M. Walker Nov 2, 2021 Nobody likes a delayed flight.\u00a0\u00a0But with several airlines, such as American and Southwest, experiencing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16612,"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16611\/revisions\/16612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv51.demowebsitelinks.com\/afstravelers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe Chase Sapphire Preferred Card covers delays from 12 hours or overnight, with a maximum coverage amount of $500. ($95 annual fee)
\nThe Platinum Card\u00ae from American Express covers delays from 6 hours, with a maximum coverage of $500 per covered trip. ($695 annual fee \u2014 see rates & fees)
\nThe Delta SkyMiles\u00ae Reserve American Express Card covers delays from 6 hours, with a maximum coverage of $500 per covered trip. ($550 annual fee \u2014 see rates & fees)
\nYou may be eligible for a refund<\/p>\n