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Passengers unlucky enough to have a flight delayed or cancelled may want to heed the tips of these expert travelers.
Frequent traveler Mike Kelly says he regularly comes to the aid of people who suffer from nightmares while traveling.
He recently helped a friend who was stranded in Europe after the Microsoft CrowdStrike outage, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Kelly gave her friend advice on what to do next.
Here’s a rundown of the key points he says to remember, along with tips from other travel professionals:
Frequent flyers have shared tips on how to get compensation for delayed or cancelled flights
Document details
Frequent traveler Mike Kelly advised his friend to document every detail of his itinerary.
Kelly advised his friend to document every detail of the flight he had initially planned to take using screenshots on his phone.
He first told the stranded traveler to create a PDF file and attach it to his compensation refund request.
These screenshots can be anything from airplane technicians working on the aircraft to text alerts confirming that a flight is delayed or cancelled.
In addition to the screenshots, Kelly told his friend to write down everything an airline official said during the commercials to present as proof of the problem.
Remember the law
A new law that went into effect on July 25 requires airlines to provide refunds to all passengers who booked flights that were delayed or canceled.
The Biden-Harris administration announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a ruling on refunds for passengers whose flights were delayed or canceled last April.
“Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them, without headaches or haggling,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
‘Our new rule sets a new standard for requiring airlines to quickly provide cash refunds to their passengers.’
The new rules allow travelers to receive a refund if their flight is canceled or “significantly changed” if they choose not to use other transportation or travel credits offered.
This is a new rule that came into force just a month ago.
It applies to travellers who experience difficulties such as cancelled flights or delays in departure and arrival times exceeding three hours domestically or six hours internationally.
“I think it’s a real win for the consumer to get a quick refund and have a transparent way to get it resolved,” said frequent traveler Kristen Feavel. KSBY Last April.
Credit cards
Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders can receive up to $500 to cover unreimbursed expenses if their flights are delayed or cancelled
Most credit card companies offer trip delay insurance – a travel insurance benefit that helps cover travel-related financial losses.
Travelers who purchase their airline tickets with an eligible credit card will automatically receive a refund if a trip is delayed for a significant period of time.
Some of them might also prefer to get travel credit cards, where cardholders can earn points or miles on travel expenses through purchases.
Frequent traveler and founder of Points by J, Jess Bohorquez, praised her Chase Sapphire Preferred card for helping her out.
“The fact that points are flexible and can be used with a ton of different airlines and hotels gives the average traveler a better chance of finding an amazing deal to redeem our points for,” he said. Travel + Leisure This month.
Bohorquez and other travelers who hold those cards are covered for non-reimbursed expenses if their trip is delayed more than 12 hours or requires them to stay overnight somewhere.
These expenses can be used for meals and hotels and could be up to $500 per ticket.
Have a backup plan
A columnist was in a rush to find her mother a hotel room earlier this month after her connecting flight was cancelled.
Backup plans could help ensure that a traveler can recover from an imperfect situation related to their flight.
Columnist Dawn Gilbertson found herself in a hectic situation trying to make sure her mother could fly to Connecticut earlier this month.
Gilbertson revealed that she rebooked her mother’s United Airlines flight twice in two days due to crew and weather conditions.
Unfortunately, the elderly woman’s connecting flight was also cancelled and with no backup plan, Gilbertson scrambled to find a hotel where her mother could stay.
His mother was lucky enough to get her money back for the flight disaster, but Gilbertson was forced to use loyalty points to pay for the hotel room.