Flight Cancelled or Bumped From Your Flight?
I don't remember ever having my flight cancelled but my recent experience was a great brush-up on the skills required to cope and move forward through a (basic) maze of travel arrangements.
So you get bumped or your flight is cancelled. Do you just sit there and wait for some agent to call your name, hoping for the best? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I don't know about you but I'm not about to passively allow someone to take control of my day, or my life for a day, by sitting on my hands.
1) Your flight is cancelled, you're bumped, the flight is rescheduled (or whatever)
2) Wait for the first announcement. You'll probably hear something like, 'We are sorry for any inconvenience (really?) and we are working to re-schedule every passenger. Please come forward when your name is called..." With information this vague, this is your cue to go into action.
3) Call the airline's central reservations number and explain you're flight was cancelled and ask them to re-route you. Be patient. This person on the phone is your best bet to getting your issue resolved, promptly, before you end up at the end of the line behind all of the other passengers. At very least (and if they have limited control over booking flights so close to departure) you can hear what the various options are...write those down. While your at it, ask the agent why the flight was cancelled, just to make sure the "computer story" reflects the story the gate agents are telling. If the story differs notably, that's your opening at a later date in the event there is some personal financial fall out as a result of the cancellation. In my case, the stories matched (equipment maintenance). I was able to verify the story a third time by asking the co-pilot of my plane what was going on while, by chance, we were standing in the same line to eat during my wait-and-see period.
4) Call the rental car agency to give them an update on your arrival. Remember car rentals are on a 24-hour basis. In my case, I was booked through an opaque third-party (Priceline) but I could still cancel my car reservation in the event of a cancelled flight, provided I could prove the flight was cancelled. In fact, they offered on my call to cancel right then but I had to tell them I didn't know if was going to get out or not. I can't stress enough that you need to know the basics of your contractual obligations, or where to find the details.
5) Call the hotel and let them know you might not be able to check-in due to your cancelled flight. Ask them to clarify their policy for your circumstances. Let them know you will call them with an update.
When I finally got called to the counter, more than an HOUR after the original departure time, I was instantly given two boarding passes to connect through another (major) airport. I told them that didn't work as I had to be at an event way before the ultimate arrival time and asked them to put me on standby for the earlier (non-stop) flight. THIS is why you want to know your options before you get called back to the counter, so you're educated and have some control, instead of putting your life in some stranger's hands.
That said, I updated the hotel as well as the car rental agency that I MIGHT get on my flights and gave them the updated ETA. I promised to follow-up with both of them in the event I could not get on the standby flight.
Bottom line is be prepared, pay attention, and show kindness and good faith to all concerned parties. After 30+ years in hospitality, I know kindness and a sincere attitude will always get you farther (with significantly less stress) than being irrational or unreasonable. It's amazing what hospitality people WON'T do when someone is nasty and even more amazing what hoops hospitality people will jump through to make you happy when you act appropriately and let them do their jobs. They know the system, you don't.
So you get bumped or your flight is cancelled. Do you just sit there and wait for some agent to call your name, hoping for the best? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I don't know about you but I'm not about to passively allow someone to take control of my day, or my life for a day, by sitting on my hands.
1) Your flight is cancelled, you're bumped, the flight is rescheduled (or whatever)
2) Wait for the first announcement. You'll probably hear something like, 'We are sorry for any inconvenience (really?) and we are working to re-schedule every passenger. Please come forward when your name is called..." With information this vague, this is your cue to go into action.
3) Call the airline's central reservations number and explain you're flight was cancelled and ask them to re-route you. Be patient. This person on the phone is your best bet to getting your issue resolved, promptly, before you end up at the end of the line behind all of the other passengers. At very least (and if they have limited control over booking flights so close to departure) you can hear what the various options are...write those down. While your at it, ask the agent why the flight was cancelled, just to make sure the "computer story" reflects the story the gate agents are telling. If the story differs notably, that's your opening at a later date in the event there is some personal financial fall out as a result of the cancellation. In my case, the stories matched (equipment maintenance). I was able to verify the story a third time by asking the co-pilot of my plane what was going on while, by chance, we were standing in the same line to eat during my wait-and-see period.
4) Call the rental car agency to give them an update on your arrival. Remember car rentals are on a 24-hour basis. In my case, I was booked through an opaque third-party (Priceline) but I could still cancel my car reservation in the event of a cancelled flight, provided I could prove the flight was cancelled. In fact, they offered on my call to cancel right then but I had to tell them I didn't know if was going to get out or not. I can't stress enough that you need to know the basics of your contractual obligations, or where to find the details.
5) Call the hotel and let them know you might not be able to check-in due to your cancelled flight. Ask them to clarify their policy for your circumstances. Let them know you will call them with an update.
When I finally got called to the counter, more than an HOUR after the original departure time, I was instantly given two boarding passes to connect through another (major) airport. I told them that didn't work as I had to be at an event way before the ultimate arrival time and asked them to put me on standby for the earlier (non-stop) flight. THIS is why you want to know your options before you get called back to the counter, so you're educated and have some control, instead of putting your life in some stranger's hands.
That said, I updated the hotel as well as the car rental agency that I MIGHT get on my flights and gave them the updated ETA. I promised to follow-up with both of them in the event I could not get on the standby flight.
Bottom line is be prepared, pay attention, and show kindness and good faith to all concerned parties. After 30+ years in hospitality, I know kindness and a sincere attitude will always get you farther (with significantly less stress) than being irrational or unreasonable. It's amazing what hospitality people WON'T do when someone is nasty and even more amazing what hoops hospitality people will jump through to make you happy when you act appropriately and let them do their jobs. They know the system, you don't.
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