What to do if you miss your flight

Fly quite often and you may miss your flight one day. It may be your fault, or maybe it escapes you.

In turn, much depends on how quickly you work through the seven stages of grief. Because the faster you go through shock, disbelief, denial, guilt, and anger, and feel accepted, the sooner you can undertake the ultimate task of rectification, known to science as "pulling fat fire".

Depending on the circumstances, you may not have a strong hand, but in some cases, there are strategies that can help you reach your goal without major expenses.

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The first step

If you are on your way to the airport, as soon as you realize you are not going to fly, contact your airline customer service department. Breathe slowly and evenly, channel your inner Buddha, no matter what it takes to stay calm and establish the reason for your absence.

If you are an elite airline traveler in question, mention this fact, because every little detail you can use to tip the hand of fate in your favor will count.

If you are at the airport, have checked in and have gone through security and are still missing your flight, it is more serious. Since you are in a secure restricted area, you must now leave this area. Find an airport information desk or, if not, the ground staff of your airline. If you have checked baggage, it will have been unloaded and you will have to pick it up.

If you went through immigration, you are officially out of the country. Since you are now looking to re-enter, you will still have to go through immigration.

Rate type

The higher the price you paid for your plane ticket, the more likely it is that the airline leaves you a little bit of time. It also depends on who you bought the ticket from. If it was the airline, you have a better chance of getting a favorable result than if it had been purchased from an online travel agent.

A full fare purchased from your carrier means that the airline will probably book you on the next available flight, but who buys such a ticket unless someone else pays? Like me, you've probably opted for the cheapest, non-refundable ticket, but that does not mean you've made your dough.

A number of airlines will re-book you for a fee, and this will again depend on the price of the original ticket. Expect to be in a hurry. On a discount carrier, the cost could even be higher than the original ticket price, but it could be cheaper than buying a last minute ticket.

Reason for missing your flight

This could affect your airline's reaction to your fate. Be careful though, the recording staff has heard all the excuses in the book and really does not care.

Airlines care about performance on time. Getting this plane to the hour means that they get where they go when they want, the following flight schedules are not wasted and everyone is happy.

In comparison, the reason you are late for your flight is simply not satisfactory and they are not about to disrupt the schedules that suit you. But it's not out of the question to book you on another flight again, and a good reason for your late arrival will help your case.

A passport that you have forgotten at home until halfway to the airport, a child inadvertently left in the same circumstances or a medical emergency are all reasons likely to elicit a little sympathy.

Confuse AM and PM, come to the wrong airport, claiming that your emotional support animal was falling apart or that you had not heard any boarding announcements because you were listening to the noise canceling headphones were some of the excuses given by the passengers. All are lame and do not deserve sanitation.

In a recent case, a Spring Airlines flight between Bangkok and Shanghai was delayed by 30 minutes when an anxious passenger attempted to prevent the crew from closing the door. The reason? His daughter was shopping duty-free.

The flight finally left without them.

In the United States, during the 2018 wildfire season, the closure of roads due to smoke and fire was a popular excuse for late passengers at Los International Airport Angeles.

Some argue that US airlines have a "dead tire" prison exit card for passengers who miss their flight. Introduce yourself at the check-in counter after your flight closes, tell them that your ride has a flat tire en route to the airport and that, provided you are there within a reasonable time after the departure of the flight, the airline will reserve you again. flight later. It sounds like an urban myth, but it's worth a try. Expect your eyes to fall behind the counter

Travel insurance

If you missed your flight for reasons beyond your control – traffic, storm, a tree fell on your driveway – a travel insurer could help you if your airline did not want to.

Financial compensation will only occur sometime after the fact. In the meantime, it is up to you to negotiate a solution at the lowest possible cost. Buy a business class ticket on the next available flight and your insurer may not consider that you have done everything in your power to limit the damage.

If you have a connecting flight

If you do not make your first flight, the airlines generally provide that all the flights connecting with the same reservation are also canceled. In this case, you must also inform the airline operating the connecting flight that you are not on board.

The ultimate cure

Charter an airplane. That's what made a leader of American Express Travel when she slept and missed her planned flight between Darwin and Kununurra. She accepted a twin-engine post from Darwin to an isolated breeding station in the Kimberley, where I was at the time.

Must have cost a bomb to Amex, but it's good to know where all these costs are going.

– traveler