Tips For When Flights Get Canceled and Delayed
Tips For When Flights Get Canceled and Delayed
Another FREE download and more helpful tips just for you
A Gift I Hope You Never Need…But Grab it Just in Case
Like so many Americans, I bet there’s a good chance that you have a getaway planned sometime this June, July or August. Just check out these stats from vacationer.com…Summer Travel Survey 2022 — Nearly 81% to Travel, 42% to Travel More than Last Summer, Nearly 51% to Fly on a Plane, 80% to Road Trip. Clearly, we are all feeling braver, safer and ready to hit the beach. But when an entire nation decides to hit the road all at once, both good and bad are sure to happen.
So far, this year’s summer travel news has been overwhelmed with stories of canceled and delayed flights due to the increase in travel and a low number of airline workers due to Covid-era recovery. I really hope none of you have found yourself stuck, diverted, or in a position where your long-awaited flight plans have drastically and unexpectedly changed.
In the spirit of wishing you a fantastic summer holiday and at the same time, preparing you for those worst-case scenarios, I created for you another download. This time it’s entitled, “5 Steps to Immediately Take if Your Flight Just Got Canceled.”
This is a FREE download I hope you never need, but you’ll be so glad you read it if you ever find yourself in this extremely unwanted situation.
Travel Tip of the Day: When Flights Get Delayed in Europe (EC261)
I LOVE, love, love this one!!! I literally MADE money on a trip to Europe with my daughter, Claire.
During the Christmas holiday in 2018, I traveled with my daughter, Claire, to Europe. We started in Prague, Czechia, and made our way through Bratislava, Slovakia, Graz, Austria, Ljubljana, Slovenia and Venice, Italy. It was the perfect European Christmas Market extravaganza.
As you know, I’m a super thrifty traveler. What might sound financially extravagant was actually an incredibly inexpensive trip. I believe we spent a total of about $1400 for 12 days, including our “almost free” frequent flyer flights.
The Venice leg of the trip was only supposed to be an overnight stop before flying out the next day. Unexpectedly, our time there was extended by two more days due to London Gatwick Airport (the airport we were flying through to get home) closing due to some unknown person flying drones near the runways.
Long story short, we DID have to pay for an additional hotel night in Venice. But upon arriving home, because the EC261 law had taken effect, and after filing a bit of minimal paperwork, a hefty $1282 was soon deposited into my checking account. SCORE!!! More Venice AND cash!
What is EC261?
Here is a link to all the details.
Basically, if you’re delayed three or more hours within the EU, you are entitled to compensation unless the delay was caused by “extraordinary circumstances,” including weather, political strife or air traffic control decisions that are out of the airline’s control.
In our case, a drone issue was certainly out of their control, but the ensuing days it took to get flights moving again fell into that gray category of reimbursable.
Bottom line…if you ever experience your flight delayed or canceled in the EU (28 European countries), file a claim. Contact your airline when you get home, and they will be able to lead you in how to file for EC261 compensation. It’s 100% worth it, and it absolutely works!
NOTE: EC261 is still in affect in the UK even after Brexit.
What I’m Consuming This Week
Netflix
I’m admittedly very late to the game on this one. I hated Schitt’s Creek for 3 seasons, and yet I couldn’t stop watching. Now I’m in love and I don’t want it to end!
Book
Challenging, freeing and goooooood!
Travel Site
This is my fave…especially for international “here to there” trip planning. In my opinion, Rome2Rio’s standout feature is mapping international travel while providing every transportation option (train, bus, rideshare, flights, ferry, etc) with links and cost. It’s a one-stop shop for getting really close estimates of what your in-country travel cost and time schedules from “here to there” will be. Rome2Rio is not so special when it comes to US travel. We drive and we fly. Google Maps and Google Flights are good enough for US travel purposes.
Happy Travels!
Amy