ATLANTA — Flying right now is stressful, to say the least, with thousands of flight cancelations and delays, frustrated passengers and airlines apologizing for the issue(s).
After covering these flight issues for a few weeks, I finally experienced my problems while trying to fly out of the Atlanta Airport.
Now, I’m lucky; I didn’t have to sleep on the airport floor, as some passengers reported. I was taking a solo flight, so there was no need to worry about children or family. And because I knew all the things that could go wrong, I saved up a little extra in case I had to pay to rebook a flight on my own.
Here are a few things I took away from my troubled flight to Maine.
Canceled flights
I booked a four-day trip to Portland, Maine, a few months ago. My non-stop Delta flight left at 11 a.m. Friday morning. I checked in on the app the night before and headed towards the airport at 8:30 a.m., but by 9 a.m., the flight was canceled.
There was no email or text from Delta; instead, I discovered the cancelation on the Delta app under my account.
An hour later, Delta rebooked my flight for Saturday morning to arrive in Portland around 6 p.m. I needed to be back to work on Monday and wanted a little more than a day away, so I rebooked for Friday at 1 p.m.
As I stood in line to check my bag for the second flight, the Delta agent informed me that flight was canceled. Again, no email or text from Delta.
I then tried booking with American Airlines, only to have that flight canceled and rebooked for Sunday. So I went to book with United Airlines for a flight that left on Saturday.
That Saturday morning, United Airlines texted and said the flight would be an hour late, but I'd still make my connecting flight.
LESSONS LEARNED: If you’re flying this summer, be prepared for last-minute flight cancellations with little warning. Be prepared to check different airlines for the same flight. Check everywhere to see if your flight was delayed or canceled. I was alerted in different ways by each airline, with Delta alerting me via the app, American via email and United via text.
Wait time for customer service
As I worked to book new flights, I called both Delta and American Airlines customer services lines.
Delta quoted a six-hour wait time and offered me the chance to leave my number, and someone would call back in about an hour and a half. Two hours later, a Delta representative called; I explained my problem, and they put me on hold. Two hours and 11 minutes later, they hung up without returning to the line.
American quoted me an 8-hour wait time, with a call back option for quicker response. But I just hung up because I figured out how I was getting to Portland.
Both airlines ended up canceling thousands of flights over the weekend, so, understandably, thousands of people were trying to get ahold of a customer service agent at the same time. I got my questions answered and new flights booked and refunds requested by utilizing both airlines’ apps.
Inside the Atlanta airport, lines were exceptionally long as people waited to talk to an agent about their flight cancelations.
LESSON LEARNED: If your flight is canceled, it may be quicker to resolve your issue by waiting at the airport to talk to an agent or to see how much you can get done by using the airlines’ mobile apps.
Refund process
By the time this was over, I submitted refund requests for three of the four flights via Delta and American. All my tickets were non-refundable.
Delta allowed me to cancel the flight (that they rebooked for me) on their app, but I had to submit a request for a refund/voucher on my own.
American allowed me to cancel the flight (that they rebooked me for) via their app, but they automatically sent me vouchers for my flights via email.
As of Monday morning, Delta issued a voucher for one of the two flights; the other is pending.
LESSON LEARNED: If you get a non-refundable flight, remember, you will probably only get a voucher. Each airline handled how they sent me the voucher differently, with one airline taking a little longer than the other. UPDATE: Although my tickets were non-refundable, I still submitted requests for a refund. As of Monday evening, both airlines refunded the total for the canceled flights.
Small airports
When it was time to return to Atlanta from Portland, I was booked on the first flight leaving the Portland airport on Monday morning. I got there at 4:49 a.m. for my 6:19 a.m. flight. And there was a long line to check in the bags for Delta. Only two people were checking folks in, leading to a 43-minute wait to drop off bags.
It got so close to takeoff, the agent called everyone forward who would be headed to Atlanta to get them moved through quickly. I got onto the plane 10 minutes before the doors closed. Delta’s app alerted me my bag made it on the plane at 5:55 a.m. for the 6:19 a.m. flight.
LESSON LEARNED: Even if it’s a small airport, like Portland, there may be staffing or computer issues, as well as delays and canceled flights. So, when they say get there two hours before your flight, make sure you take that advice this summer.
OVERALL LESSONS: These flight issues may not be resolved quickly this summer, so download the airline's apps. Pay attention to refundable tickets versus non-refundable. If your flight gets canceled and you need your money back (instead of a voucher), you'll want to book refundable tickets (or request a refund based on how the flight was canceled.)
Get to the airport as early as possible and keep a close eye on your email, text and app just in case your flight is canceled or delayed at the last minute. Each airline will handle things differently, so don't be surprised if your experience changes from one airline to the next.