After decades of traveling, we’ve had our shares of ups and downs. While we’ve learned a lot from dealing with airport nightmares, the anxiety of these scenarios repeating themselves is always in the back of our minds. You can take some steps to minimize the chances of these issues occurring. However, the reality is they’re really out of your control.
We wanted to provide some tips in this post to help you deal with these scenarios. Unfortunately, these issues seem to be happening at a higher rate today than they had years ago. We wouldn’t change our life of travel for anything in the world and if you follow our posts you know we’ve had some amazing adventures. We want to travel all over the world so airports are a necessity. Although we hope you haven’t experienced these airport nightmares yourself, having a little knowledge of what to do if they happen is important.
Luggage Delays/Lost Luggage:
There’s no worse feeling when you finally arrive to your final destination, ready to begin your vacation, and your checked bags never show up. The one bright side to all of the baggage fees currently being charged by airlines is many of us try to just do carry-ons. This strategy can help in many ways:
- Get in and out of the airport more quickly
- Cuts down on a chance of losing your luggage
- Helps you travel more efficiently while on vacation
- Makes packing for your trip easier
However, sometimes you can’t avoid checking a bag. When this is the case the following steps can reduce the chance of you dealing with any airport nightmares as far as your luggage is concerned.
- Attach a luggage tag on your bags that includes contact info that is legible. Don’t rely on the airport sticker alone
- Try to reduce the number of connections you make. The more times your bags encounter people, the higher the chance of them getting lost or delayed.
- When connections are unavoidable, try to stick with the same airline. If you only have to communicate with one carrier, it can save you a lot of hassle.
- Pack essentials and at least 1 change of clothes in your carry-on bag.
By The Numbers:
The information below are the numbers for baggage issues in 2022. Luckily the issues are minimal when considering the total amount of people flying. This is of little help though if one of the bags in question is yours.
- Total Number Of People Flying: 3.42 Billion
- Total Number Of Missing Bags: 26 million
- Percentage Delayed: 80% or nearly 21 million bags
- Percentage Damaged Or Pilfered: 13% or slightly under 3.5 million
- Percentage Lost and Not Recovered: 7% or slightly under 2 million
Delayed Bags: Next Steps
If the unthinkable happens, your first step should be to remain calm. There is a good chance your bag will turn up soon so try not to let it ruin your vacation. Check out the list below for some helpful tips to assist you.
- Speak with a representative at the airport.
- Collect as much info as you can about the flight including the following:
- The flight number
- Departure and arrival cities and any cities where you had layovers
- Gate Info: Departure gate is most likely on boarding pass unless there was a gate change. Check out the arrival board at the airport to see which gate you came into.
- Info about the representative that assisted you. Including their name, ID number (if applicable), and the time you spoke with them.
- Fill out a Delayed Baggage Form as soon as possible. You can find these airport specific forms online.
- Make sure you are diligent with following-up with the airline. This is the best way to stay on top of it.
- Know your rights: the following link details the airlines’ responsibilities and liabilities as per the US DOT.
- You may be eligible for compensation depending on the length of delay. Check out the link provided for details on this compensation.
Airport Nightmares: Flight Delays/Cancellations
It seems that lately you hear a lot of issues about flight delays and cancellations. There are a number of reasons why this occurs but weather, mechanical issues, and staffing issues are the most common. Whether heading to your vacation or coming home and exhausted, these airports nightmares are enough to give you a migraine. Again these issues are out of your control, but the following steps can at least help minimize the impact on your trip.
- Designate travel days for nothing else other than travel. Try not to have big plans lined up around the arrival of your flights.
- Consider direct flights or a limited number of layovers.
- Take longer layovers. Quick layovers, especially in larger airports, leave you no wiggle room for delayed flights. This can cause you to miss your connection and have significant impacts on your plans.
- Booking flights earlier in the day. By booking early flights you may be able to avoid the domino effect that happens once flights start being delayed.
By The Numbers:
The following info was based on the US DOT numbers for 2023.
- Total Number Of Flights: 6,831,347
- Percentage On-Time: 78.22% or 5,356,705 flights
- Percentage Delayed: 20.25% or 1,386,699 flights
- Percentage Canceled: 1.28% or 87,943 flights
Know Your Rights:
If you experience a significant delay or a cancellation all together you may be entitled to compensation. Meal vouchers for delays over 3 hours or hotel vouchers for delays overnight are the most common. However, if your flight is cancelled and you choose not to travel because of it, you are entitled to a full refund of the flight price in most cases. If you decide to travel, airlines are obligated to get you on another flight as soon as possible. Most airlines will also consider getting you on a partner’s flight if they foresee a significant delay on their own airline.
If your flight is overbooked and you volunteer to be bumped or you are bumped involuntarily you may be entitled to some extra compensation depending on the circumstances. Generally, you can’t be bumped once you’ve boarded the plane but this isn’t always true. The following link on the US DOT website describes in detail the responsibilities of the airlines in these situations and the amount of compensation you are entitled to.
Wrapping Up:
Hopefully you have never experienced any of these airport nightmares, but it is good to be aware of how to handle the situation before they happen. We’ve learned a lot the hard way unfortunately. With the knowledge we provided, you can easily maneuver around these issues and possibly get some kickbacks as well!
As always, thank you so much for visiting our site and we hope that we are able to help you through some of these difficult issues. If you would like to hear more about our personal struggles with these issues check out our podcast episode on this topic. Wishing you safe travels filled with amazing moments…take care!
