The summer of 2022 saw all sorts of travel chaos and it looks like the summer of 2023 is going to be the same way. There’s still staffing issues and even more people are traveling now. No matter how hard you try, there’s a chance you’ll still deal with flight cancellations and delays. However, there are a number of things you can do to avoid this chaos or at least lessen its impact on your travel plans.
1. Take an early flight
While thunderstorms can happen at any time of day including the morning, they typically occur later in the day. This is because it usually takes the entire day for the sun to heat up the air causing the warm air to rise. When it meets the cold air in the atmosphere, this leads to instability. Since weather is a big factor in flight cancellations, flying as early as possible can help you avoid these problems.
The other benefit to flying early is that if your flight is canceled, you have the entire day to try to find a new flight out. If your flight is later in the day, there will be a lot of other people in front of you for the handful of standby seats. In addition, there may not be any more flights out. You’ll then be stranded at the airport all night.
2. Leave yourself more time if you have a wedding, cruise or some other event
If you are flying out for some type of event with a specific date, I would give yourself two days if possible. I know this isn’t always easy for people to take this time off but one day is just not enough with everything going on in the summer.
3. Avoid New York City Airports
EWR, JFK and LGA are restricted in the amount of flights that can take off. On top of that, they are very busy airports. On June 21, 2022, News 12 New Jersey published an article that quoted United’s CEO. He said that EWR (a United hub) has more flights than the airport can handle. Part of the problem is that air traffic control is understaffed. This leads to flight cancellations. Almost exactly a year later, United had another meltdown in EWR. United blamed the FAA and the FAA blamed United. While these things can happen anywhere, it’s worse in the NYC area.
Even if your flight isn’t canceled, it could take your flight more than an hour to take off. The captain telling you that we are number 28 for takeoff is not uncommon at these airports. This could cause you to miss your connection.
Google flights actually allows you to exclude certain connecting airports. Unfortunately, a ton of flights connect in NYC airports so I suggest you first run a search including those airports and then re-run the search excluding those airports. If the price difference isn’t incredibly high, it might be worth connecting in another airport like BOS or IAD.
4. Avoid tight connections
A lot of people hate tight connections because they think they are going to miss their flight. This rarely happens in my experience (in normal times) as the airlines plan for this. However, with everything going crazy in the summers, you might not make that 38 minute connection. I would make sure your connection is at least 2 hours.
5. Use the Airline’s app
If you don’t fly much, downloading yet another app can be annoying but when it comes to flight delays and cancelations, you can often use the app the rebook your flight. It’s much better than waiting on a huge customer service line.
6. Rebook your flight in advance
Weather isn’t always predictable but sometimes you’ll get a notification that your flight may be impacted by weather and you can change your flight at no cost. If your schedule allows, you should definitely take advantage of this.
7. Get in line but call customer service
If you have to get in a long line to speak with someone to rebook your flight, do it but while you are waiting, call customer service. In my experience, it’s much easier to reach someone by phone. Of course, if the airline is having a meltdown, it’ll be impossible to reach anyone.
8. Stay calm but take charge and find your own flight
If you have to speak with someone in person or over the phone, stay calm and be polite. Remember, the person you are speaking with did not cause your problem and they are not in charge of anything. They are just doing their job. However, you also cannot trust that they know what they are doing.
When I have been in this situation, I used Google Flights to see what is available. It’s easy to do, select one way, today’s date and type in the origin and destination. Once you see the flights that are available, try to book the flight but stop short of completing it. This will help confirm that there are actual seats on the flight. Note the flight number.
When you talk to someone, you can tell them that you saw seats available on flight number X going from A to B, can they please check that? You’d think they’d see that flight already but quite often, they don’t.
9. Anticipate problems
I once had to fly from Munich to EWR with a connection in DC. There was a huge storm in DC so I knew that flight was going to get canceled. I found a flight from Munich to London to Chicago to EWR. I called United and had them change it around. They thought I was weird but whatever. By the time I got to Chicago, I checked the DC flight and sure enough it was canceled. I would have been stranded there all night. I may have got home a little late but it was better than sleeping at the airport all night.
10. Don’t be afraid to use your status
If you have any type of status with an airline, don’t be afraid to mention it. It certainly can help. Most airlines even have a special phone number for their best customers. That number can help you get someone on the phone a lot faster.
11. Ask about being booked on another airline
The major airlines have agreements with each other so that they can put you on another airline’s flight if there are no alternatives. However, they really don’t like to do this and it is completely at the airline’s discretion. This is your last ditch effort to avoid spending the night at the airport. As I mentioned before, be sure to have the flight number ready.
If you are told that you are out of luck and there is nothing they can do for your until tomorrow, you can then say, can you put me on this other airline? There is availability on flight number X going from A to B. That’s worked for me. Again, the nicer you are the more likely you are to get this.
12. Avoid Low-Cost Carriers and Southwest Airlines
I know this is going to trigger some people, especially the Southwest Airlines fans, but Spirit, Frontier, Southwest Airlines and some other airlines do not have interline agreements. If they can’t get you home, no one else will unless you pay for it. United, Delta and American Airlines are your best bets in the summer.
13. Go to the airline’s lounge
If you have lounge access, the staff there can help you rebook your flight. They aren’t just there to check people in. The line should be much shorter than what everyone else has to deal with.
14. Call the airline’s international number
While you want to make sure you aren’t going to run up a huge phone bill, see if you can call one of the airline’s international numbers for free. The hold times should be much shorter.
15. Get a credit card with built-in travel protection and learn how to use it
A traveler’s best friend is the Chase Sapphire Reserve. It has some of the best travel protection programs in the industry. Check all of your cards to see what they include and if you should get another card with better protection. Understand what’s covered and how to submit a claim before you travel. This way you won’t be scrambling trying to figure this out when you’re stressed out.
Conclusion
If you are flying at all in the summer, there is a good chance you’ll run into some issues one way or another. Hopefully these tips will help you get to your destination without much of a delay.
Such great helpful information! As a person who does not fly a lot, bumps in the experience can seem mountainous! Bookmarking to re-read just prior to my next flight!