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The busiest travel season of the year — summer — is almost here. And airlines like JetBlue are already confronting a sky-high list of challenges combined with demand that’s taking off. That can add up to a lot of delays and cancellations. But a former airline pilot offered some insider tips to help you get where you’re going on time.Kathleen Bangs knows her way around the skies. She flew for two commercial airlines and is now a spokesperson for the flight-tracking website Flight Aware.Her first tip sounds obvious, but plenty of people still don’t do it: book directly with the airline. Skipping those travel booking websites eliminates the middleman.”I think if there’s any kind of snag it’s so much easier to actually get somebody who can make a decision that will help you” if you book directly, Bangs said. “It’s so much easier and faster to negotiate with them.”She says that same advice goes for booking a hotel or rental car.Tip two: Fly nonstop, even if it costs more. Fewer flights means less chance of a delay.”Once I get on that plane, I know there’s a 99.999% chance we’re not going to divert,” Bangs said of nonstop flights.Tip three: Book a morning flight. “One of the things we’ve really studied at Flight Aware is time of day, and we can prove that, statistically, the early bird does get the worm in terms of flights,” Bangs said. With a morning flight, Flight Aware says chances are your plane is already at your airport, there’s a lower risk for severe weather and you’ve got more backup options.”You want to be on that first or second flight out in the morning because if there’s delays, if there’s significant weather in the area, things are going to cascade,” Bangs said. “And your chances of getting a flight later really diminish as the day goes on.”Tip four: Use a flight tracker, like Flight Aware, at the first hint of a delay. That can tell you where your incoming plane actually is. Flight Aware pulls its data from a number of sources, including directly from air traffic control, which means they can provide the time the airline believes you’ll actually take off.”If you’re at the gate and your airplane is supposed to be at the gate in 20 minutes, but you look in Flight Aware and you see it’s still airborne and not landing for 90 minutes, that gives you more information,” Bangs said. “You’re better armed to make a decision at that point what you want to do.”Tip five: Get covered. Buy travel insurance that includes trip delay coverage, which will help cover your expenses if you get stuck somewhere. You might already have that coverage in your wallet. Some airline co-branded credit cards or American Express cards offer several hundred dollars to pay for a hotel or meals if you’re stranded.”If you get the right credit card you’re already automatically covered if you purchase your travel on that credit card,” Bangs said.Here’s one more tip that does come with significant added cost and is only necessary if you really need to get somewhere – perhaps for a cruise departure or a wedding: consider booking an insurance flight. That means booking a second ticket, on a different airline, a few hours after your original flight. If there’s a significant delay or cancellation with your first flight, take the backup one. If not, cancel it for a future credit. The airlines now let you cancel most tickets for travel credit as long as you cancel before the flight departs.Watch the video above for the full story.
The busiest travel season of the year — summer — is almost here. And airlines like JetBlue are already confronting a sky-high list of challenges combined with demand that’s taking off. That can add up to a lot of delays and cancellations. But a former airline pilot offered some insider tips to help you get where you’re going on time.
Kathleen Bangs knows her way around the skies. She flew for two commercial airlines and is now a spokesperson for the flight-tracking website Flight Aware.
Her first tip sounds obvious, but plenty of people still don’t do it: book directly with the airline. Skipping those travel booking websites eliminates the middleman.
“I think if there’s any kind of snag it’s so much easier to actually get somebody who can make a decision that will help you” if you book directly, Bangs said. “It’s so much easier and faster to negotiate with them.”
She says that same advice goes for booking a hotel or rental car.
Tip two: Fly nonstop, even if it costs more. Fewer flights means less chance of a delay.
“Once I get on that plane, I know there’s a 99.999% chance we’re not going to divert,” Bangs said of nonstop flights.
Tip three: Book a morning flight.
“One of the things we’ve really studied at Flight Aware is time of day, and we can prove that, statistically, the early bird does get the worm in terms of flights,” Bangs said.
With a morning flight, Flight Aware says chances are your plane is already at your airport, there’s a lower risk for severe weather and you’ve got more backup options.
“You want to be on that first or second flight out in the morning because if there’s delays, if there’s significant weather in the area, things are going to cascade,” Bangs said. “And your chances of getting a flight later really diminish as the day goes on.”
Tip four: Use a flight tracker, like Flight Aware, at the first hint of a delay. That can tell you where your incoming plane actually is. Flight Aware pulls its data from a number of sources, including directly from air traffic control, which means they can provide the time the airline believes you’ll actually take off.
“If you’re at the gate and [the airline says] your airplane is supposed to be at the gate in 20 minutes, but you look in Flight Aware and you see it’s still airborne and not landing for 90 minutes, that gives you more information,” Bangs said. “You’re better armed to make a decision at that point what you want to do.”
Tip five: Get covered. Buy travel insurance that includes trip delay coverage, which will help cover your expenses if you get stuck somewhere. You might already have that coverage in your wallet. Some airline co-branded credit cards or American Express cards offer several hundred dollars to pay for a hotel or meals if you’re stranded.
“If you get the right credit card you’re already automatically covered if you purchase your travel on that credit card,” Bangs said.
Here’s one more tip that does come with significant added cost and is only necessary if you really need to get somewhere – perhaps for a cruise departure or a wedding: consider booking an insurance flight. That means booking a second ticket, on a different airline, a few hours after your original flight.
If there’s a significant delay or cancellation with your first flight, take the backup one. If not, cancel it for a future credit. The airlines now let you cancel most tickets for travel credit as long as you cancel before the flight departs.
Watch the video above for the full story.
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