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I finally made it home and have some tips for you to avoid flight delays…
How to Survive Delayed Flights {Daily Dash: August 24, 2022}
IN THE NEWS:
- Kobe Bryant Day
- National Emory Day (the name, not the University)
- National Waffle Day
IN THE WORD:
Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything – Oswald Chambers
IN MY LIFE:
After speaking in Michigan, my connecting flight in Chicago got delayed and, ultimately, cancelled last night. I had a horrible taxi ride, but eventually made it to a hotel around 1 AM, only to have to get back to the airport at 8 AM.
Thankfully, I made it home today, but I’m not quite working with all cylinders in tact. The saddest part to me is that I arrived too late and left too early to eat any of my favorite Chicago foods 😞
After everything I’ve gone through the past 24 hours, I have a few tips from experts to both avoid flight delays and how to save your sanity if your flight is delayed or cancelled.
Top 2 Tips for How to Avoid Flight Delays
Book flights as early in the morning as possible
Once a delay happens, the rest of the flights that day feel the effect. The earlier you fly, the less chance you have to be a victim.
Fly direct/non-stop
While this doesn’t necessarily mean your flight won’t be delayed, it stacks the odds in your favor. And if you are delayed or cancelled, at least you’re not in a completely strange city (meaning either you’re in your hometown or somewhere you were just visiting).
Tips for When Your Flight Gets Cancelled
Find a Different Gate Agent
As soon as we were told to get off the plane because our flight was cancelled, everyone on board rushed to the gate agent where we boarded. I knew my chances of getting on the next available flight was slim if I stayed there, so I went to a neighboring set of gates to get help. The first agent was unable to assist, but eventually I found someone who could.
Find a Customer Service Desk
If you’re flying out of an airline’s hub like I was (I was flying American in Chicago. The same could be true for Delta in Atlanta, for example), they often have customer service desks set up in the middle of their main terminal. This keeps you from having to go back to ticketing or finding another gate agent.
Use a Call Agent or App.
Download the airline’s App before your flight to make sure you stay as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, the App still said my flight was delayed even after it was cancelled, so I needed to look elsewhere for help.
Even though it was so late that the aforementioned customer service desk was closed, they had telephones there that connected me directly to an operator without having to wait at all. They not only booked me on a flight faster than if I’d waited in line at my gate, they also assisted me with booking a free hotel and getting meal & transportation vouchers.
PRAYER FOCUS: Patience
I kept my cool most of yesterday until I was, quite literally, “taken for a ride” in a Chicago cab. I pray you all can exhibit more patience than I did last night.
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Hope you have a great day, make sure you make it great and don’t forget to tell someone you love how you feel about them!
