Things to Do When You Know Your Flight Is About to Be Canceled

Like tens of thousands of other travelers this winter, Reuter’s Lauren Young had to deal with attempting to fix her travel plans after her flight was canceled due to bad weather. Young runs through the various things she should have done when she started to receive travel advisories, namely, she should had rebooked her flight:

Avoid the after-the-fact scramble by changing your flight as soon as a weather emergency pops up. When airlines issue travel advisories, they want you to rearrange your plans, says Jason Cochran, editor-in-chief of the travel website Frommers.com.

“It is easier for them if passengers get out of the way” of a storm, Cochran notes.

That’s what my boyfriend did. He rebooked a flight to Los Angeles a day before the snow storm hit for no extra charge.

Keep in mind that once a travel advisory is issued, you have to act fast, particularly if you are flying on a peak travel day.

Another option: Fly standby, although that can be tricky if you have kids in tow or when lots of people are scrambling.

Young also points out that our new favorite way to get customer service, Twitter, is kind of a wash in the event of deteriorating weather conditions. But if you don’t think you received adequate service, file a complaint with the airline — there’s a good chance you’ll get a travel voucher out of it.

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