What to Do if Your Flight Is Delayed or Canceled

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/travel/flight-delay-cancellation-tips.html

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As menacing clouds hung heavy over Lower Manhattan, I cruised toward the Holland Tunnel on my way to Newark Liberty International Airport. I refreshed the flight status for my United Airlines flight, and the airline’s app showed an on-time departure. Two minutes later, I refreshed it. A red bar suddenly appeared on my smartphone — the flight had gone from “on time” to “canceled.” A United rep confirmed by phone that my flight was, indeed, canceled, and I was rebooked on a 6 a.m. flight the following day. I apologized to my Lyft driver, who turned around and took me back to the hotel I’d left just 20 minutes earlier.

Cancellations and delays like that one can leave travelers feeling hapless and helpless. Weather and mechanical delays often leave passengers wondering what, if any, recourse they have. And while you’re typically at the mercy of the airline, there are a few tips for mitigating the pain.

Bad weather is not your friend, especially when it comes to delays and cancellations. While airlines may offer to pay for hotel and meals during an overnight delay when the reason is the airline’s fault — mechanical problems, for example — they typically will not do so when the reason is weather-related. Be prepared to fend for yourself. Use the airline’s app, call the customer service number or speak to a gate agent to figure out your options.

Flight schedules are not guaranteed, and under U.S. law, airlines aren’t obliged to provide any compensation for delays or cancellations — even when it’s their fault. And it can get much worse than a weather delay: In a particularly odd scenario earlier this year, Sun Country airlines canceled its final seasonal flights from Mexico to the United States. It refunded fares and left stranded passengers to find their own way home.

There are exceptions to the no-compensation rule. If your U.S.-based carrier is flying in from Europe, you follow European Union rules, which are far more customer-friendly. That means that if your flight from, say, Dublin to New York is canceled or delayed for more than three hours, you could be entitled to a 600 euro ($700) payout from the airline.

The other exception is if you’re involuntarily denied boarding, otherwise known as getting “bumped” from a flight, which may result from airline overbooking. If this happens to you and the airline cannot arrange to get you to your destination within an hour of your original arrival time, it’s required to compensate you in cash, up to $1,350, depending on the length of the delay.

Two more important notes: When a gate agent asks for volunteers to take a later flight in exchange for a voucher and you accept, you will not be entitled to additional compensation. Another thing to keep in mind is that the number of involuntarily bumped passengers has plunged since Dr. David Dao was infamously removed from a United Airlines flight last year. Between January and March 2017, 900 passengers were involuntarily denied boarding on United flights; this year during the same time period, only 27 people got bumped.

One exception to the bumped-passenger compensation rule is if you didn’t check into your flight on time (different carriers have different cutoffs). You should get into the habit of checking in the day before your flight. (You’ll typically get an email from the airline prompting you to do so.)

When you get wind of a long delay or cancellation, your first move should be to speak with someone — either in person, at the gate or on the phone. But phone waits can be epic when bad weather strikes an entire geographic region, as can in-person lines. While it isn’t foolproof, it’s never a bad idea to download the app of the carrier you’re traveling with. You can check departure statuses and sometimes easily change itineraries within the app itself.

Some credit cards, like Chase Sapphire Reserve and the United Explorer Card, offer a trip-delay benefit for common carrier travel (this would exclude things like taxi, commuter rail, and rental vehicle travel) purchased through the card. The delay threshold, which is 12 hours for some cards and six for others, will provide reimbursement up to $500 for reasonable expenses incurred during a delay. This includes lodging, food, transportation and other necessities. It’s worth noting that some high-end travel cards, like American Express Platinum, do not offer this benefit.

For my Newark cancellation, I filed a claim online through Chase Card Benefit Services (you can also begin your claim over the phone), which is administered by Allianz Global Assistance. You’ll need a considerable amount of information to collect on your claim, including proof of round-trip travel, your old itinerary, your new itinerary, credit card statements and receipts for expenses incurred. Keep itemized receipts for meals and don’t expect to be reimbursed for alcohol or gratuities. There’s no reason not to take yourself out to a nice meal, however: After my flight cancellation, I had a somewhat un-frugal late lunch at Balthazar that ran about $50 before tax and tip.

Sending credit card statements is an annoyance, as they sometimes won’t post for weeks after you’ve made a purchase. Some people put off filing a claim until their statements post and forget to follow through — which is exactly what insurance companies bank on. Don’t make that mistake: You can file your claim immediately, even if you don’t have all the supporting documents. You can submit them later, provided it’s in within the required time frame (in Chase’s case, 100 days).

You’ll need a statement from your common carrier stating the reason for the delay — again, not the most convenient thing to obtain. Write the airline’s customer service email address to request verification of why your flight was delayed or canceled. It may take one or two follow-up emails, but they should oblige.

Finally, persistence is the key with collecting on insurance claims. Photograph receipts and screenshot boarding passes. My claim, which was filed weeks ago with over a dozen attachments, still shows as “pending” in their system. I’ve called several times to follow up, and if I don’t hear back by the end of the week, I’ll call again.

Think you deserve compensation for something? Ask for it. When a mechanical issue forced an overnight delay on a recent flight to Los Angeles, I went to the podium and requested hotel and food vouchers. I received a $109 hotel voucher as well as three $20 food vouchers, redeemable within the airport and at the Holiday Inn Express where I ended up staying. This wouldn’t have happened had I not spoken to a gate agent and asked. The point is: While you may get turned down, you should always (politely) ask for what you think you deserve.

Airline customer service is a stressful job, and the vast majority of employees do their best to get passengers where they need to go in a timely manner. So when it’s your turn at the desk, take a deep breath, smile and remember that the person you’re speaking to did not personally cause that maintenance issue — or thunderstorm.