Being a regular traveler, you may often come across the dreadful situation of missing a connecting flight, or sometimes even a boarding flight. It is most likely that you lost track of time and just couldn’t make it to the airport on the requested time. There are two possibilities behind the flight leaving you while it takes off. It is either because of your laid-back attitude and mismanagement that you arrived late at the requested gate, or it was totally because of the mechanical problems in the plane, or any other technical issues on the part of the airlines. What should you do in such situations?
● As soon as you compose yourself, rush to the ticket counter for help. Also, try to find others who are in a similar situation; being in a group will fetch you faster results.
Following are the circumstances wherein you have missed a flight and what you should be doing then.
● Be calm and polite to the airline personnel; getting irritated will increase problems instead of solving them. Remember, it is not the airline’s fault that you didn’t turn up on time.
What to Do
This situation might occur due to some technical problems, or crew unavailability. Hence, the airlines may take the following steps to assist you:
● Most airlines will rebook you on their next flight that is available.
● If you missed your scheduled flight because of weather problems, the airlines will usually rebook you on the next flight but won’t probably pay for the meals and accommodation.
● In case you have missed a connecting flight, your luggage will continue its journey without you. You can approach the ticket counter to just confirm whether they can help to retrieve your baggage — the chances are very less though. However, if you have missed a boarding flight, but the plane is still to take off, you are probably lucky to retrieve your luggage with the assistance of the airline personnel.
What to Do
Recheck and keep checking the departure gate information on departure boards that are put up at several locations throughout the terminal.
A gate change can happen even at the last moment on a short notice; hence, don’t rely on the information printed on your boarding pass.
What to Do
● Make it the rule of thumb to be at the airport at least 1 hour prior to a domestic flight and 2 to 3 hours before the international ones.
● Another thing you can do is to visit the authentic websites that tell you about the waiting time at the security checkpoints around the country.
● A travel agent might also be in a position to inform you about the potential logjam at the checkpoints.
● Although these will be approximate details, it will at least give you a rough idea about the situation rather than being totally incognizant about the matters.
● Secondly, be in touch with the gate agent for the latest updates about the flight timings.
What to Do
● If you can’t afford to get bumped from a flight, arrive as early as possible to the airport. If you are taking a popular route, then you cannot be late to the airport, because the chances of getting bumped are more with such routes.
