Handling air travel weather delays

With the summer storm season rapidly approaching, I thought I’d share some tips on handling weather delays that I have successfully used.

Check the forecast. My wife makes fun of me because the morning of any flight I’m going to take I check at least three forecasts. First, know what your weather forecast about the time you are scheduled to take off. Second, check your arrival city about the time you are scheduled to land. Finally, check the weather at any connecting airports.

If the weather looks good, you really don’t need to take any added steps. If not, it’s time to do some additional work. 

• Check the airlines website.
1. Travel Waivers. Some airlines will issue travel waivers when they know that severe weather is going to adversely affect operations. Normally these allow you to reroute your trip or delay it without penalty. (For example – As I write this, Continental has four waivers posted on its site. Three of which are due to severe weather (the other one is a volcanic eruption in Guatemala).
2. Look for alternate routings. Spend some time using the airline’s booking engine to see if you can find alternate routings or alternate airports that will miss the weather. If there is a waiver or if you get caught by weather, call centers and customer service centers are going to overloaded attempting to rebook and reroute passengers. Knowing alternatives will help you get what you want that much faster.
• Use other websites to understand the “big picture.” Remember that most airline’s route system is interconnected so a weather delay at a hub can cause large issues throughout the system as the airline prioritizes landing slots and crews. (See Janice Hough’s posts on weather delays and more weather delays.) Here’s the two websites I use to gain different information. Both help me anticipate airline decisions before they happen so I can beat the crowds.
  1. FlightStats.com – This site will show you the current state of a flight and the current state of an airport. Together, these can allow you to make informed decisions on connection well in advance (for example –  even if your flight is showing “on time” if the airport your flying into is show 2 – 3 hour delays and in on a ground stop, you are probably not going to leave. If you have a connection, now is the time to start working the rebooking process not at the hub or after the airline announces the delay.
  2. Flightcaster.com – Flightcaster consolidates information from a number of websites (to include flightstats) to calculate the probability of you leaving and arriving on time.  I use this site mainly to obtain the status of the inbound aircraft. If it’s stuck somewhere, doesn’t matter if you have a crew or not, you are probably not going to leave on time.
• Understand your airline’s customer service plan. While most airlines do not publish these, some, like JetBlue, do. It’s always helpful to know what they will do for you in different situations. (Note: The DOT has announced proposed rule changes to make these mandatory and part of the contract)
• Charge your cell phone. If you get weathered in at a hub, you are going to be trying to get rebooked with thousands of your new closest friends. Having a fully charged cell phone so you can call your travel agent or the airlines call center instead of standing in line will help.
• Join the club! While I am now a member of an airline club, in the past, I would purchase a day pass when it looked like weather at the hub was going to be ugly. First, the customer service staff at the club can help rerouting you and the lines are normally shorter than either the customer service desks on the concourse or the hold time for the call center. Secondly, it’s much nicer to wait in the club watching TV and sipping a drink than fighting for a seat in the terminal.
• Bring a book and patience. The airline didn’t create the weather and its going to be a long day. Just be ready for it. Yelling at agents or other employees is counter-productive. Rarely will it get you what you want.

 So now you have lots of information, how do you use it?

If your airline has issued a travel waiver for your flight, it’s almost always best to go ahead and phone the call center. Ask for one of the routings that you found on the airline’s website and any other options. You may have a routing the agent wouldn’t have thought of or one that works better for your schedule but the agent may have options, like a partner airline, that doesn’t appear on the airlines website. Remember that they have probably been dealing with unhappy people all day. Now is the time for your “happy” voice and good manners. You might be surprised on what it will get you.

If the weather delay is probably going to occur at the hub and you weren’t able to have the call center route you to a different hub or put you on an earlier flight, you might consider arriving at the airport for the flight earlier than yours. Technically, most airlines could charge you for flying standby; however, I have never personally been charged when I explain to the agent at check-in what I am trying to do and why (ie I want to try and beat the weather to the hub so I can make my connection). If it doesn’t work with the agent at check-in, I try the gate agent for the earlier flight. Since at a non-hub airport, the odds are one of these two agents will be stuck trying to reroute you if you are going to miss your connection, they may be more inclined to help you.  Again, you are asking for an exception so you really need to nice and thank them even if they can’t help (less your flight record get tagged with a note that hurts your chances in the future).

Think ahead. If you can see a problem might occur in the near future, ask the airline before it happens for solutions. You might be surprise on what they will do for you.

 Here are some specific examples of how I’ve used this in the past:

1. After a conference we attend in Florida, one of the pros in our network was scheduled to connect through Memphis to Cincinnati on Delta. Due to an expected snow storm, Delta had issued a waiver for flights going to or through airports in GA, KY and TN. After I let him know about the waiver, the Delta call center put him on the direct flight to Cincinnati without penalty and saving him 3 hours of travel time.
2. I was connecting through Newark on Continental for an overseas flight. FlightStats had shown that the entire New York area was having delays exceeding 3 hours. I arrived at the airport in time for the next earlier flight to Newark. After explaining to the agent that the current delay would mean I would miss my connection to Europe, she put me on the earlier flight without charge. My original flight was later cancelled.
3. In February, my wife and I were flying back through Chicago on United when a snow storm had caused issues throughout the Midwest. Our connecting flight was scheduled to leave will after the Red Carpet Club closed for the night. When I approached the customer service desk 20 minutes before they closed and pointed out that our inbound aircraft was stuck in Minnesota, they confirmed us on the first flight out the next morning. While our flight did eventually get out after a 2 hour delay, the confirmed reservation for the next morning would have allowed us to go straight to a hotel instead of spending hours trying to get rerouted the next day.
4. On another overseas trip, I was delayed for a day after having a flight canceled. Because of the delay, I lost my upgrade, using miles, on the overseas flight. When I arrived for the flight, I nicely asked the gate agent if there was anything he could do and was told no. I thanked him and had a seat. About 15 minutes later, he called me to the desk with my new seat assignment in the front cabin. He then turned to the frequent fliers with Platinum and Gold status (I didn’t have status at all) who were yelling at him over an upgrade and explained why they couldn’t get one. It pays to be nice when everyone is upset.

Will these suggestions work every time? No.  But those that arrive prepared will have a better chance at a better outcome than those that don’t.

 I’d be interested in anyone else’s ideas as well.

 Happy travels!