Never Be Passive At An Airport When Things Go South

From Twitter/X yesterday afternoon

With the 250th Independence Day period next week, there will be millions of Americans heading to the airports and inevitably giant problems with develop -- especially if the weather is bad.  The airlines do everything they can to fill flights to 100% -- which means there are few extra seats for you if your flight is cancelled. 

More than ever, you cannot afford to be passive in these situations. You are far more likely to get a successful or somewhat successful resolution if you 1) research and 2) speak-up.

With regard to the above, AA Flight 2117 is from DFW to Orlando. It was delayed more than four hours and -- more often than not -- those delays only get worse. The other flights to Orlando are also delayed. 

If I were at DFW, and considering the flight is not supposed to take off until significantly after midnight, I would be worried my flight will be cancelled after all of that waiting. Then, things could turn into days of waiting and frustration!

So, here's what I would do:

1. Research: Flights to the Tampa Airport are all on time. Per Mapquest, it takes 29 minutes to drive from the Orlando Airport to Disney World. But, it only takes 1 hour (exactly) to drive from Tampa's Airport to Disney World. 
2. Research: Does your rental car company in TPA have cars available that can go to Orlando for reasonable price? If yes, then....
3. ACT: Go to AA's customer service desk, gate, wherever and ask if they can switch you and your bags to a TPA flight. Generally, the answer will be "yes." That opens up a seat(s) on the delayed/cancelled flights (makes the airlines' agent happy) and gets you out of a mess! Remember to allow enough time for the bags to be switched. Try not to depart unless 90 minutes have elapsed. 
4. ACT: If they switch you, call back the rental car company and switch your reservation. 

Airline agents hate it when people go up to just complain but they are generally happy to do things like this because it benefits them and the airline!

Where we stayed -- free -- on Kauai. See below. 

Absolutely True Story: We were on a United flight out of Kauai and it was obvious the flight attendants were doing their best to try to stall the 20 minutes needed to "time out" so they could spend the night on the island. So, I...

1. Researched: Usually, in these cases, they will try to send the original flight out the next day at some ungodly hour like 6am. I checked to insure the scheduled next afternoon flight had good seats still available. It did. I also researched online what hotels United booked for its employees when flights were cancelled. They would probably put at least some of the passengers in those same hotels. 
2. Positioning: I hung around the plane's open door -- we were sitting at the gate and had been for two hours -- so I would be the first to the customer service counter when the flight was officially cancelled. A few minutes later, the PA crackled to life with a frustrated captain, "Ah...ladies and gentleman, I'm sorry...."  On the word, "sorry," I was out the door, down the jetway, and on the way to customer service. My wife knew what to do -- we had discussed it -- but knew she didn't have to hurry with the carryon bags of hers that I couldn't carry. 
3. ACT! I was first to arrive. I took two of the limited seats on the afternoon flight the next day and got us booked at what was then the swanky Marriott Resort on the water in Lihue. The customer service agent thanked me for not making her guess what I wanted! We got to have another day relaxing at United's expense. Other than waiting about 45 minutes for our bags, it was perfect. 

Never be passive! Be polite and tell the airline what you want to occur. You'll be surprised (if it is reasonable) how often you'll get it. 

One last thing: If you are involuntarily bumped you are entitled to cash not a crummy travel credit. The rules are here.

Good luck and happy vacationing!!