Many of you read this column as subscribers to JoeSentMe, one of the great newsletters for frequent travelers. This week another contributor to the site, Will Allen, writes about the success he had in canceling a long planned trip to Europe due to an unexpected health issue. He canceled over a half-dozen hotels, an Airbnb, several rail tickets, airline tickets, and a cruise, yet was only out of pocket for $540, much less than the cost of trip insurance. He was very lucky.
In contrast, this past week my brother-in-law, Bob, was not so lucky when his travel plans were disrupted through no fault of his own. He had made plans to join a family reunion in Bozeman, Montana, a destination we selected five months ago, because it’s an attractive vacation spot, and easily accessible from around the country.
Bob decided to leave several days earlier and fly to Jackson Hole from his home in Rochester, NY, spend a few days at Yellowstone, and then drive on to Bozeman. But the evening before his early morning departure, American Airlines canceled his flight without warning or explanation. When he called them, they were unable to provide any alternative flights for days.
He looked for other flights, but the few he found were prohibitively expensive or fully booked, and could find no way to get there. He had reserved hotels in Jackson Hole and Yellowstone that were cancelable up to three days in advance, but his flight cancelation occurred within that window, so he was out $800, unable to persuade the hotels to issue a refund.
He ended up flying several days later directly to Bozeman and rented a car there. But because it was a last minute rental, he paid $1200 for 6 days. This compares to $450 I paid, because I had reserved months earlier. So, American Airline’s flight cancelation cost him more than $1500 in hotels fees and the last minute car rental.
With planes flying at near capacity, especially during the vacation season, these disruptions are very common, subjecting travelers to uncertainties about whether their plans might suddenly be disrupted and be out thousands of dollars. Bob could have taken travel insurance, but it would not have covered his rental car penalties.
The social app Threads is filled with similar stories, some much worse, where passengers were left stranded for days and were poorly treated by the airlines. Here’s a typical example:
Is there anything we can do about this? While cancelations are unpredictable, we can check a flight’s on-time record before booking and find the most reliable ones, as I do using this Flighty app:
When connecting to another flight, try to begin your trip on the first flight of the day, when your plane will at the airport the evening before and more likely to leave on time. Opt for at least 1-1/2 to two hours between connecting flights, not the hour that most airlines use. And never expect an itinerary with three segments to ever go as planned.
We do need a Dept. of Transportation regulation that requires airlines to pay passengers a sizable amount, say $1000, if they fail to get them to their destination within 24 hours of the original reservation, and an additional $1000 for each day’s delay. Exceptions could be made for weather delays, but not for anything under an airline’s control, such as crew scheduling or maintenance.
For now it’s clear that we can no longer depend on the airlines to get us where we want to go or cover unexpected costs when they screw up. They could care less and have no shame. It’s up to us to plan carefully and fend for ourselves.
- * Note: Is it Caceled or Cancelled?
Which spelling is correct? The answer depends on where you call home. According to Grammerly, “Canceled or cancelled is the past tense of the verb to cancel. Both spellings are correct; Americans favor canceled (one l), while cancelled (two l’s) is preferred in British English and other dialects. Canceling/cancelling and canceler/cancellerfollow the same pattern. However, cancelation is rarely used (though technically correct), and cancellation is by far the more widely used spelling, no matter where you are.”
