Tag Archives: travel delays

Is Mother Nature Really To Blame For Airline Weather Delays?

Weather history was made this evening in Wisconsin. A rare series of January tornadoes ripped through a county just south of where I live, demolishing buildings and houses, downing power lines and leaving more than a dozen people injured. The ferocious storm also caused delays at area airports including Milwaukee and Chicago’s O’Hare. Totally reasonable. However, there have been many times when I wondered if airlines were telling the truth about weather delays. For example, a couple of weeks ago United Airlines cancelled 1,200 flights and blamed various winter storms for doing so. But then, a couple of days later … Continue reading →

Mother Nature vs. Holiday Travelers

Score one (hundred) for Mother Nature. This past weekend holiday travelers were slaughtered by snow, ice, fog, and high winds that crippled airports from coast to coast. I too have spent the past few days dealing with horrific weather conditions that have blasted the Midwest portion of the nation. Luckily, I didn’t have to travel too far from home for Christmas, but, unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of simply staying in my house until the inclement weather passed either. All tolled (according to news reports) more than 25 weather related traffic deaths have occurred in the upper Midwest during … Continue reading →

Conquering Boredom At The Airport

According to travel experts, we’ve officially hit the midway point of the busy summer travel season. If you’ve made it to your vacation destination without dealing with delays then consider yourself lucky. The latest airport survey results reveal that airline confusion coupled with Mother Nature’s wrath has wrecked havoc on many families’ travel plans. If you haven’t taken off on your summer vacation yet you might want to consider these helpful tips regarding what to do if you face the unfortunate position of getting stuck in an airport. Airline Clubs. Passing time in a swanky airline club can be a … Continue reading →

Avoiding The Bummer Of Getting Bumped

Have you ever been bumped from a flight? If you have never experienced this extreme inconvenience—brace yourself—travel experts say if you plan to fly somewhere this summer the chances that you may be denied boarding is sky high. As if the headache-inducing delays and thousands of pieces of lost and damaged luggage wasn’t enough to contend with, now we have packed-to-the-max planes to stress us out. Frankly, I’m not surprised that the likelihood of passengers getting bumped is rising. After all, the number of fliers is steadily increasing (a lesson I learned the hard way just a few months ago). … Continue reading →

Preparing For Travel Delays–Part 2

In my previous blog: “Preparing For Travel Delays,” I provided tips on how to avoid having to spend the night at the airport because of unexpected delays. To review the first three tips click here. Otherwise, here are a few more ideas that may save you from pulling out your hair when you hear an airline representative repeat (for the 10th time) that your flight is “experiencing a slight delay.” Tip #4–Know Your Options and Act Fast This is a tip I got from watching CBS’ “The Amazing Race” contestants. When the players get to the airport they always make … Continue reading →