How to Handle a Missed Connecting Flight

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While missing a connecting flight has always been one of the top nightmares for travelers, the issues associated with them have only been accentuated in recent times. Previously, there were options to get you from point A to point B. However, many issues can lead to cascading delays and cancellations, with airlines not having a way to get you to your destination until the next day, or sometimes even longer, if you miss your connection.

You do everything in your power to prevent it from happening. You make sure to get to the airport early because of the delays at check-in and security. You finally get to your gate and find a seat, preferably near a power outlet (and not one of these). You hope there aren’t any yelling children around or adults talking with their phone on speaker. You start reading your book on your Kindle or iPad, or watch some cute cat videos on your phone, to pass the time. When it’s almost boarding time for your flight, there’s one small HUGE problem – there’s no plane at the gate. You think, “There’s no way we’re leaving on time, but if we were delayed, wouldn’t the airline tell us?” Well, not necessarily.

The feeling of dread sets in when you realize you only have 90 minutes to catch your connecting flight, and you’re not sure how long your delay will be. You’d stand at the counter to ask one of the employees, but you notice the line is already 15 people deep with fellow travelers who already had the same thoughts as you. If you’re waiting for the airline to let you know about a delay, you’re already WAY BEHIND THE CURVE.

It’s important to prepare for travel delays or cancellations, just like you would prepare for a snowstorm or hurricane. You need to do work ahead of time and download several essential travel apps that you can use at a moment’s notice.

Here are things you can do when your flight is delayed or canceled that will, hopefully, help you get to your destination:

Be Prepared

The first thing to do is check your flight status before leaving for the airport. There are many ways to do this but the easiest one is to use the airline’s app for your phone. I’d suggest downloading this before you even leave for the airport. It’s easier if you have your frequent flyer account in the app, but it’s not necessary to just check flight status.

For the rest of this example, I’ll use a flight we were once scheduled to be on, from Charlotte to Orlando. While the flights happened quite a while ago, the ways to keep yourself prepared haven’t changed.

We were flying on Delta and had a 90-minute connection in Atlanta. Everything looked fine until we got to the airport – that’s when things started to go sideways.

Keep Yourself Informed

Because we weren’t checking bags, we went right to security and then to our gate. When we settled down in our seats, I pulled out my phone to check our flight status using one of my favorite iPhone travel apps, FlightAware.

The app makes it easy to check your flight’s status. What I find really useful is the button on the top of the screen that says, “Where is my plane right now?” With this, you can track your inbound plane (the plane you will be getting on) as it flies to your airport. This was not what I wanted to see while I was seated at Charlotte Airport (CLT).  (Note: these screenshots are from after the flight)

So while the plane left on time, Charlotte’s new arrival time was 5:14 PM because of the weather. Considering that our plane was supposed to leave at 5:15 PM, I knew we would be delayed. We had a 90-minute layover in Atlanta, so even with a 45-minute delay, we should still make our next flight, albeit with a dash through the airport. Around 4:45 PM, the posted boarding time, I received a text message from Delta telling me the flight was delayed (I knew this about 15 minutes earlier; I had checked on my app). Shortly after that, the Delta agents announced our plane would be delayed (as if the concert of phone messages a minute before wasn’t enough) and our new departure time would be around 6:00 PM. They asked anyone with connecting flights leaving Atlanta before 7:30 PM to approach the counter so they could work to accommodate them on different flights.

Don’t Paint Yourself Into A Corner

I try never to book the last flight of the night, and I did remember there was at least one flight, maybe two, from Atlanta to Orlando after the one we were scheduled to be on. I figured if we missed our connection, we could make it onto one of those flights.

I next checked the status of our incoming connecting flight. Sometimes all flights are running late and you have nothing to worry about if you arrive late, because everyone else is, too. No such luck there.

Whether we were on it or not, it looked like our connecting flight would be leaving on time. There’s not much I could do right now. It looked like we would be fine, but I was still ready.

Everything went in order (as much as these things can during a flight delay) until we boarded our plane in Charlotte. It started off fine – everyone had managed to get into their seats and get all their carry-on baggage stowed. But that’s when the captain thanked us for our patience and informed us we were on a ground-hold. In short, we were all ready to go but didn’t have the clearance from Air Traffic Control to leave. The weather was still not great in Charlotte, and we had to wait about 15 minutes to be cleared to fly.

Keep Informed

We eventually were cleared to take off at 6 PM. With the additional delay, we’d be at a real risk of missing our connecting flight.

When we hit cruising altitude, the captain told us that despite his attempt to make up some time, he couldn’t do much on a short flight since we were flying into a strong headwind. I was fortunate that the Delta plane we were on had Wi-Fi. This meant that I could start looking for options as soon as we were over 10,000 feet.  If the aircraft weren’t Wi-Fi enabled, I would have been working on options the second we landed and could turn off airplane mode on my phone.

Know Your Options

I spent almost the entire flight figuring out our options. Knowing that sometimes you can use the official app on the Wi-Fi for free, I was able to do most of what I wanted with just Delta’s app, but I would have gladly paid for Wi-Fi access if I needed to. It would be a small price to pay if it helped me get home that evening. When I opened the Delta app on my phone, I immediately received a pop-up box offering to re-book me on different flights because of my delay. I thought this was a fantastic feature until I was shown the options, all of which were for flights the next day. Staying overnight in Atlanta wasn’t the preferred outcome, so I kept looking. I used the app to search for flights leaving Atlanta that night. Neither of the later flights to Orlando showed up (I guess they were all sold out), but there was a flight from Atlanta to Tampa leaving later that night. I filed that away in my head, as it’s only about an hour’s drive, and if need be, we could rent a car or even Uber back to Orlando.

The Delta App has another excellent feature that shows how to get from your arriving flight to your departing flight. It provided step-by-step directions with an approximate time. We were departing from different yet adjacent terminals. So we’d have to get from our plane to the underground train over to the next terminal, then to the gate. It was estimated at 10 minutes. I knew exactly how to get there, so there would be no wasted time.

Here was my plan for when we landed:

1. Sprint Walk as fast as we could to the gate and hope we make the connection.
2. If we missed the flight, find the nearest Delta Sky Club and see if they could get us on stand-by for any other flights that night to Orlando or even Tampa since the agents who work there tend to be the most knowledgeable for solving problems. (I had access to the Sky Club with the American Express Platinum Card.)
3. If there were no flights that night, find a hotel near the airport so we can get some sleep before having to fly out at 6 AM the next morning (and keep my receipts to make a claim with my credit card travel delay coverage).

Follow Your Plan (And Know Your Travel Buddy)

While we waited for what felt like forever for our fellow travelers to gather their belongings and leave the plane, we confirmed our plan. We pulled our bags from the overhead and were on our way. Off the plane, onto the jetway, into the terminal. Left turn. Find an escalator to train. Walk down the escalator to the train, and the train doors close.
@!#?@! Sorry not sorry for the Q*Bert reference.

Quick decision: should we walk it? I looked up and it said, “NEXT TRAIN 50 seconds” That was the longest 50 seconds in history. On the train. Off the train. Up the escalator, walking up (no time to waste), walk the 4 minutes to gate A5.

At this point, I realized that no matter how hard Sharon tried to keep up with me, my long legs would get me to the gate quicker. Using that to my advantage, I just went, jogging the rest of the way to the gate. A11, A9, A7,  The door is still open and people are there! Breathe, breathe. Almost There! A5!

Me: Can we still get on the plane?????

Delta Agent: Sure. Where are you coming from?

Me: Charlotte! Gate B18! (breath). My wife is right behind me. Wait a second.

Delta Agent: Oh, the way you’re huffing there, I figured you were coming from the E Gates.

Forgive me for not laughing at her ATL terminal humor. At the time I still was catching my breath and looking for Sharon. She finally arrived, and we were allowed onto the plane after having to gate-check our carry-on bags because we were told the overhead bins were full (they weren’t, but we weren’t in the mood to argue).

We spent the next 10 minutes catching our breath (and the next 10 trying not to heave from the guy in our row spitting the juice from his chewing tobacco into a Gatorade bottle he brought with him for just such a purpose. Reminder, please don’t be this guy or gal on the plane). In all, we were grateful we could make it home on time with no further problems.

Final Thoughts

To be prepared for delays, it helps if you have these things:

• Your smartphone (fully charged)
• The app of the airline you’re flying with is installed on your phone.
• FlightAware

With these tools, you should be able to stay ahead of most other travelers. That means you’ll have a greater chance to get to your destination with a minimum of inconvenience.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary