Follow these tips to avoid getting burned by your airline next time you book a flight
When Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights over the last few days for as-yet-undetermined reasons, the company via Twitter invited customers to re-book flights on Southwest’s website.
The tweet got more than a thousand comments, most from disgruntled customers stranded at airports across the country. They chronicled technical difficulties with the company’s website and app, customer service phone line wait times of up to 12 hours and days-long stays at hotels far from home.
To avoid adding your story to the list, here are a few tips for weathering the tumult of the airline industry from Bill McGee, an airline passenger advocate with Consumer Reports and former dispatcher and flight operations manager.
Take the earliest flight of the day
Airlines no longer do much overnight flying, so planes are serviced and ready to go first thing in the morning, said McGee. The Department of Transportation releases “on-time” data each month, and the numbers continue to show early morning flights are most likely to take off without a hitch.
“The fact is that the curve of delays just increases throughout the day,” he said. “When you have these cancellations and when you have crew shortages and craft shortages, they’re like dominoes. Now you’re consolidating flights and you’re canceling flights. That just continues to domino throughout the day.”
If there is a nonstop option, book it
“It’s not a good time to shop for lower cost connecting flights,” McGee said.
To reduce the chance of having to deal with delays and cancellations, opt for the nonstop flight. A travel day with multiple flights just increases risk of delays.
“I’m always looking for bargains,” he said. “It’s one of the things I do, too. But these days, I would not put the cost above getting there quickly and safely.”
Keep an eye on expiration dates
While consumer advocates like McGee pushed for airlines to be required to refund pandemic-affected travel, “that hasn’t happened yet,” he said.
For customers forced to cancel a trip due to the coronavirus pandemic, airlines mostly provided flight vouchers, and many have expiration dates.
If you have to cancel travel, ask for a voucher and “make sure the expiration dates work for you,” McGee said.
If you get burned, take to Twitter
“Social media shaming works for airlines,” McGee said. “Not always and not with all airlines, but we have seen it work.
He’s often asked about this tactic at webinars for consumers and recommends giving it a try.
“Consider using Twitter in particular but also Facebook to say, ‘Here’s my story at airline XYZ,’” he said.
Throughout the day Monday, Southwest started responding to commenters on its feed, inviting them to direct message their confirmation number to the company’s Twitter account.
“It’s another tool in the toolbox, social media shaming, but it’s too bad you have to get to that.”
