Tag Archives: delays

Avoiding Delays

Airport delays can be a costly inconvenience. I once shelled out more than $250 to pay for meals, ground transportation, clothing and a hotel room during an 18-hour delay that eventually turned into a cancelled flight. Of course, that paled in comparison to the emotional and physical price I paid when the cancellation caused me to miss my beloved grandmother’s wake. Thanks, American Airlines. My sad story is just one of thousands that are logged each year with the promise from airline execs that they will work to improve on-time reliability. According to a recent report from the Department of … Continue reading →

Travel Tidbits: How Do I Get A Seat and Not Taking It Sitting Down

HOW DO I GET A SEAT? You don’t have to be a frequent flier to know that flying anywhere during the busy summer travel season can cause major stress. Couple a ton of seasonal travelers with seasonal thunderstorms and you’re looking at the potential for some major delays or cancellations. Which begs the question, with airplanes bulging with passengers, when flights are canceled, what becomes of the thousancs of stranded passengers? And what happens when all those displaced fliers have to compete for just a few extra seats on later flights? Individual carriers follow their own rules on figuring out … Continue reading →

Airline Delays—Will This Make A Difference?

A few weeks ago I shared the unpleasant (that’s putting it mildly) experience of enduring a 5-hour delay at Chicago’s O’Hare airport with my 3-year-old. By hour three I had all but exhausted our entertainment options and tried not to glare at the United Airlines employee who kept repeating over the intercom that our flight would be departing “in approximately 15 minutes.” (Mind you she repeated this every 15 minutes for three hours.) Hours four and five of our delay were even worse as they were spent in the plane on the tarmac. (Have you been there? Have you been … Continue reading →

Preparing For Travel Delays

The spring storm that delayed our return from Easter vacation last week (we got stuck on the Illinois-Wisconsin border in 9 inches of snow and 45 m.p.h. winds) has finally hit the East Coast. Currently, the area is experiencing vicious winds, heavy snow and large amounts of rain. And, according to meteorologists, it’s only going to get worse. That’s bad news for travelers (the Boston Marathon is tomorrow), especially ones scheduled to return home today (according to news reports, more than 500 flights have already been cancelled). Mother Nature is often the blame for travel delays, and when bad weather … Continue reading →