Like so many that flew on July 19, 2024 – my planned trip getting home was interrupted.
With two hours left in my flight from Copenhagen into New York I received the above message. As expected, JFK resembled some post apocalyptic scene with hundreds of people lost, unsure what to do or where to go. Airport staff were overwhelmed. Contacting the airline via their 800# required a 2+ hour hold time. With no where to go, travelers were huddled into every corner of the airport, waiting for a message they were able to get a flight to their ultimate destination.
Trying to talk to an agent was impossible. Hundreds of people were queued in a line, desperate to get assistance. My grandmother was in the air on 9/11. Her plane was grounded in Texas and she was expected to figure out what to do with herself until her flight could resume. She didn’t. Most of those in the airport that night didn’t. Would you know what to do?
I write this a week later so you can learn what worked for me so hopefully it could benefit someone in the future. These lessons were learned many years ago when a massive fire forced an evacuation of my community and I was forced to figure out lodging for a week.
Before you travel, I make sure the most current version of all the main hotel brand apps are on my phone. You do not want to be forced to do an update before allowed to use it, all while hoping you get data on your cell. Load Uber and Lyft. I then add a third-party hotel app which will help me determine which hotels are closest to me (Kayak is a good one). Do load FlightAware which is great in that it allows you to locate anywhere in the world your plane is – allowing you to see if a previous delay could impact your departure. Rome2Rio is a wonderful app which will provide a list of all transportation methods to your destination and the cost of each. Citymapper is a must as it will use your phone’s GPS to navigate you to a destination in a city. It works if you’re walking somewhere or even want to take the subway. Very important should you end up in an unknown city.
To make life easier there’s a folder I open displaying all these items.
If you’ve already checked your airline’s website and realize you can’t get a flight home, get a hotel fast. Standing in JFK, realizing there is no available option for five days, I opened Kayak to see what hotel inventory remained. Anything semi-near the hotel was booked. I need to travel 15 miles, into Manhattan (which is an hour drive). With a few hotels recommended from Kayak, and seeing the prices for a same-day stay in Manhattan, I went to the various hotel apps. AAA may not be needed for your car but it is for travel perks!
All the major hotel brands will let you locate rates using special code. Entering the AAA rate dropped the Kayak prices by more than half. The generic travel apps like Kayak won’t let you see the discount rates. Don’t be afraid to open them all and search rooms with the discount options.
Book the room to a credit card only! Use that same card for everything I’m going to outline below. What we’ll do at the end of this won’t work if you use a debit card. Take the time before you travel to see if any of your credit cards offer any sort of travel protection / insurance. If one does, use that card for the below scenario. If none do, pick any – but use a credit card!
Get yourself to that hotel. Uber / Lyft / taxi it to your stay. At check-in, explain to the person the fact you’re semi-stranded and you may need to extend the stay a night or two beyond the original booking. You may find they will offer you their emergency stay / displaced traveler rate. Once this resulted in a rate 1/5th the published price.
Get into the room. Begin looking for flights home. When anything reasonable becomes available, grab it. You’re fighting for the same seats as everyone wanting to talk to an agent at the airport or on the 800# .
Eat. You don’t realize it at the time but travel disruptions stress the body and you need to give it fuel. SAVE ALL DINING RECEIPTS. Once you flight is rebooked, contact the hotel front desk to confirm your check-out date.
On check-out date, get an itemized receipt. Place it somewhere safe. Uber / Lyft / taxi back to the hotel. Fly home.
Here’s where things get a little time consuming. A few days later after you’re back in your normal routine, contact the airline. They all have FAA-required compensation policies for those impacted by service interruptions. Policies all have some common features but some have extra perks.
All will require proof of payments for items resulting in their issues. Begin that form, scan and attach your dining, hotel, transportation receipts.
When you’re done with the airline, contact your credit card. Ask them what items might be refundable. They’ll see all your charges on their card. You might be asked if you’ve contacted the airline, be honest. What you’re doing on this call is informing the credit card of the possible need to be reimbursed for items the airline won’t cover. Debit cards never provide reimbursements for travel interruptions.
Now you wait. In most cases you’ll be refunded all expenses that resulted in the airline not getting you home in time. Below is proof of the deposited reimbursement. These steps do work if you retain all the receipts.
Hope you’re never in this position but if you are you’ll be prepared.