Another Day, Another 900 Flights Canceled
Passengers, stranded by the AA groundings, waited in line at O'Hare yesterday.
AP Photo/Paul Beaty
by Wendy Perrin
How much more can we take?! With today's cancellation of another 900 flights, American Airlines has now canceled about 2,400 flights since Tuesday.
This affects most people flying in the U.S.--not just AA customers--because the displaced passengers are jam-packing flights on other airlines and the cancellations are causing delays and missed connections throughout the country. The groundings are supposed to continue through tomorrow . . . but we may well be in store for more during the coming weeks, says The New York Times, as the FAA expands its scrutiny of the nation's airlines.
So what should you do if you're scheduled to fly when airplanes are being grounded--today, tomorrow, or within the next few weeks?
* Get to the gate on time.
Many flights will be oversold, with many people trying to fly standby and just waiting to snag your seat, should you arrive past the official boarding time for your flight.
* Try not to check luggage.
With all the delays and missed connections, checked luggage is more likely than usual to end up in Omaha or wherever else you're not. Limit yourself to a carry-on (in addition to your pocketbook or laptop case).
* Use a carry-on that is soft-sided and malleable (like a duffel).
With every seat filled and many travelers carrying their stuff onboard rather than checking it, the overhead storage space will be more limited than usual (especially since it's still overcoat season in many parts of the country). So make sure your carry-on can be stuffed beneath the seat in front of you. You don't want to have to gate-check it. If your carry-on is hard-sided and bulky, be sure to board the moment your row is called so you can get to the overhead bin first!
Anybody else have helpful tips to share?
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I have a tip! Have a friend or family member track your flight through the airline's website or through flight stats, because the sites seem to get the cancellations first before it's even announced at the terminal. Having messages sent to your cell phone helps too, those seem to go through before it's announced as well.
I was watching hubby's flight last month and I saw online that it was canceled before he even knew. I called him and he was like 'it still says it's on time on the board.' So I told him to go speak to the gate agent immediately and sure enough, it had been canceled and he was first in line to be moved to another flight :)
Posted by: tracker1312 | April 10, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Hi Tracker,
Your comment reminds me of another tip:
CHARM THE GATE AGENT!
Remember, it's the gate agent who holds your fate in his/her hands. So don't scream, whine, or be annoying. Instead, stand out from everyone else by being especially nice to the gate agent whose flight you want to get on.
Posted by: WendyPerrin | April 10, 2008 at 01:04 PM
One of your hints is to only take carry on luggage. I have sucessfully done this on occasion, but it is hard to find consistency in the size of the overhead storage space. Besides plenty of overhead room on the new Airbus 330 (but no space under the seats because of the entertainment system), what planes are recommended for reasonable overhead storage? I thought maybe seatguru would have broaches this subject, but I don't see anything there. Any thoughts? Lori B
Posted by: lorib | April 11, 2008 at 04:47 PM
Charming the gate agent works nicely :D
I charmed my way into a $250 travel voucher and First Class on a business trip last month. All for giving up my seat on a flight that was over-weight and leaving on a later flight.
I won't tell you that they printed me a boarding pass for First and then that someone screwed up and gave my seat away LOL, so I wound up back in Coach. However, they made up for it though by putting me in First Class on the way back. I had to speak to the manager at SFO to get them to do it, but they did it. Through all this I was nice and did not get angry once. Well, maybe a little but I kept it to myself ;) As your mama used to tell you, you attract more flies with sugar than with vinegar.
My mother-in-law too has managed to do this as well. She said people are pitching fits and screaming at the gate agent because the flight is canceled or delayed and she walks up and is all sweet and nice to the gate agent and next thing she knows, she's in First on another flight with a travel voucher to boot :)
Posted by: tracker1312 | April 12, 2008 at 02:01 PM