Ed Perkins on Travel: Avoiding an Airline Mess

Flight cancellation is awful for anyone who experiences it. NicoElNino/Shutterstock

You either experienced the July airline meltdown or read about or viewed some of the grief it caused, and you’re wondering what to do to make it easier if it happens again. The short answer is “not much.” It seems that airline computer systems are not the most robust on the planet, and if they’re down, you can’t even reach the airline to try to arrange a fix. You have to wing it—not a very helpful suggestion, but a realistic one.

In reviewing your options, start with figuring out exactly what your airline owes you. And here, the airlines draw a big distinction between difficulties caused by something within their control and those caused by some external cause. Specifics are included in each airline’s contract of carriage, but the Department of Transportation (DoT) conveniently posts a “dashboard“ showing what each of the 10 large domestic scheduled lines and their regional partners offers in the event of significant controllable cancellations and delays. DoT defines a significant delay period of three hours. All lines promise to rebook you on one of their own flights and all promise a meal or meal voucher. All except Frontier promise a hotel room if the delay extends overnight.

The DoT dashboard covers only what you’re due if the delay/cancellation is caused by a “controllable” problem. And airlines are pretty good at defining problems as not under their control. When almost everyone’s computer system goes down, that’s probably not controllable, but if only one airline has IT problems, that’s probably controllable.

The DoT dashboard reflects what an airline owes you if you wish to keep trying to get to your destination. If the airline cancels your flight, for any reason, controllable or not, you can refuse its suggested alternative and get a full cash refund. If the problem is not controllable, that’s all you get if your airline cancels.

Keep in mind that trip-interruption insurance won’t save your day or ease the snarl. It pays for extra expenses of getting you home but it doesn’t find the airline seats you need to get there. As I’ve noted so often, insurance helps with the money, not the experience.

Overall, my approach to a snarled airline system is to get my refunds, cancel downstream reservations, and go back home until the snarl is resolved. If you can’t do that, you have to tough it out—or else rent a car to complete your trip, if that last segment is short enough.

The DoT dashboard covers only domestic airlines. If you’re on a flight within the European Community (EC) or originating in the EC on any airline, and into the EC on an EC-based airline, EC Rule EU261 requires your airline to provide additional compensation and assistance, including cash compensation. Moreover, the rule limits what an airline may claim to be non-controllable. Overall, EC flyers are better off than those in the United States. The Points Guy offers a good summary of the benefits of EU261.

If you haven’t firmed up plans for a late-summer or fall trip, you’re probably considering ways to minimize risks—personal and financial—of some future meltdown.

• The best way to minimize risks of dealing with a snarled system—for any reason—is to avoid connecting flights or, at the least, avoid the largest mega-hubs. News reports clearly revealed that the worst grief in the recent meltdown struck travelers at hub airports. So even if nonstops are more expensive or require using less convenient airports, avoiding a hub connection or a hub is a big plus.
• The best way to avoid financial risk is to minimize prepayments and deposits that are either nonrefundable or carry stiff cancellation penalties. If you can’t avoid having a lot of money up front, buy trip-cancellation insurance.

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