What to Do If Your Flight Is Diverted
I am spending this week in Scotland, a journey that started for me at 5am on Tuesday and thanks to the weather on the east coast ended up not arriving in Edinburgh until 9am on Thursday. The problem arose when my flight from San Francisco to John F. Kennedy was not allowed to land due to approaching weather, an issue that forced the plane to deviate to Philadelphia and sit for 3 hours, 3 hours, which just happened when my flight to Edinburgh took off. The best news? The next flight was only at 19:00 the next day.
So what are you doing?
I fly somewhere at least once a month, most often two or three times, and I somehow managed to never find myself in such a situation. If you find yourself in the same predicament, here’s what I learned from conversations with airline staff and personal experience:
Call the airline
When we all got off the plane, the queue at the exit counter stretched out literally the entire plane. No one intended to be in Philadelphia, and everyone had questions about when they could get a new flight and how they could be redirected to get to their destination. Calling the airline directly is faster than waiting in line.
If you call the airline, you can change your flight in much the same way as with an agent at the gate. An airline representative can find out over the phone what is available and find a seat for you (provided that there is one) just like a real person, but in some cases much faster. I spoke to an airline representative 15 minutes after landing, who offered to transfer me to a flight in 30 minutes, which I would have missed anyway (but a nice offer), and informed me that if I did not, then the next one would not be. t until the next day.
After about 45 minutes of waiting, the agent at the front desk yelled for everyone with no international flights to leave the queue, and while it still thinned out, I still waited an hour and a half to get to the entrance and there were at least 50 behind me. Human.
People on the phone cannot help you with things like hotel or travel vouchers, but they can help you board a new flight if possible. You can also do this on the multi-airline mobile app, so it’s worth downloading as well.
If I had a flight, it could solve my problem and get me out of the long line in 15 minutes, not 90. It could also allow me to take the last seat on the next flight before someone is ahead of me. made in physical line.
Your bag will be transported to your new flight
Your checked baggage will be sent on your next flight, even if that flight is short . From the screaming around me, checked baggage has become a big problem for the passengers on my flight. Since our plane was ultimately supposed to leave for Kennedy Airport, our bags remained on it, although we did not. This meant that people who were transferred to new flights could not get their belongings. Instead, their belongings were to travel to New York as planned and then travel to their destination.
This could be a problem for me if I actually took the new flight out of Philadelphia simply because my bag would still be heading to New York and could not get on the flight to Scotland until late the next day.
In my case, I was rebooked for a flight at 7:00 pm the next day, 24 hours after my original flight, and the airline still left my checked bag overnight. This is where some advice on how to take with you an extra set of clothing comes in handy. I didn’t do it this time because I only had one connection, I could track the location of my bags and figured that my three hour stop would be enough to get my bag from the first plane to the second … the same clothes in within 3 days. Don’t be me. Plan ahead and pack some emergency clothing just in case.
You may not receive a free hotel, so book as soon as possible
This was the most amazing thing for me in the whole experience. I assumed that since I would not be able to catch my next flight for a full 24 hours due to a canceled flight, the airline would provide me with a hotel, food or something. Since my problem was with the weather, I got nothing. If your flight is canceled due to a mechanical or other problem, your situation may be different.
By the time I arrived at JFK at 10:00 pm on Tuesday, I had eaten half the cheese plate (what the American gives you for breakfast) and only half the cheese plate all day. I was not offered additional meals in flight or at the gate while we waited for our in-flight plane to take off. And when we landed, I was told I was alone, so I had to pay for things like food and hotel accommodation.
Fun Fact: The hotel rate that night was more than the cost of my flight from SFO to Edinburgh because graduates from NYU and Columbia this week and all hotel rooms in New York seem to be sold out.
Collect snacks in case you find yourself in this situation, and if it looks like you will be stuck for the night, it doesn’t hurt to go ahead and start looking for hotel options before talking to the gate agent. I was one of the many people who got stuck on Tuesday in New York due to the weather, and I believe the hotel could have more rooms if I could have booked this room sooner rather than later. I knew I would be stuck in New York while I was in Philadelphia, although I thought there would be an airline-sponsored hotel in my future. It’s time to book.
Be flexible
When you find yourself in this situation, it doesn’t just happen to you, it happens to everyone on your plane and possibly a lot of other people at the airport. Keep this in mind and try to approach every conversation calmly and politely. You are not the only one having a rough day, and someone will be much more inclined to help you with it if you are kind to them than if you yell at them.
Also, keep in mind that even if you had a perfect aisle seat at your original seat, that may not be available on your next flight. Be prepared to take what’s available.
And if you do get stuck in an unexpected city, try to make the most of it. When I realized I was stuck, I planned to meet a friend for a drink when I got to my hotel, and another one for brunch the next day. Although I would still have preferred to make my initial flight, meeting friends was a bright spot on this unpleasant day.