It has been a hot minute since I last posted, and I am going to blame it entirely on the travel delays that I’ve encountered over the past few weeks (oh, and maybe my busy schedule too and a little hurricane called Florence). I’ve had a rough go with the travel these last couple of weeks,and then, here I was this morning – waking up at 4:30 am to catch my first leg of a three leg flight to India and I had a notification that it was already delayed two hours. Cue snooze button (because I was prepared y’all).
So now I am sitting in the airport contemplating life and this mysterious world of air travel, realizing (not for the first time) that the physical act of traveling is actually a huge pain in the butt! I have serious anxiety when it comes to traveling (why did I sign up for a job where I literally travel every week?). Prior to the start of my rotation and weekly travel, this was my approach for dealing with travel delays:
Lauren’s 5-Step Process for Dealing with Travel Delays
- Cry uncontrollably
- Curl up in a ball on the floor/in a chair
- Have a panic attack/meltdown in the middle of the airport for everyone to see
- Yell at the gate agent
- Cry again
Woe is me. Here I am in all of my glory. I am not especially proud of the way I’ve handled things in the past, but anyone with anxiety knows that most of it is completely uncontrollable.
BUT! Now that I am making on average one round trip a week, I have learned some ways to manage my anxiety when it comes to these travel delays that I seem to encounter on every. single. trip that I have scheduled.
Lauren’s Do’s and Don’ts for Travel Delays
DO plan ahead. Give yourself plenty of time in case there is a delay, a cancellation, a missed connection, etc. Plan to fly in the evening before you need to be somewhere, if possible. If your schedule doesn’t have a lot of flexibility and you are pressing up against a meeting time or commitment, communicate your travel plans to the people involved in case something happens and you can’t make it. When flying internationally, ensure you have sufficient layover time in case there is a cancellation or delay (hi – welcome to my morning).
DO plan for delays. In my experience, it is better to plan for the worst. Be aware of other flight options and know that you may have to be flexible to get where you need to go (I once flew from Virginia to Miami then the Chicago when my direct flight to Chicago was cancelled – horrible flight track, but it ultimately got me where I needed to go).
DO know that it’s okay to stress out (and cry if that’s your thing. We all know it is definitely mine), BUT
DON’T take your stress out on the gate agent, as frustrating as it can be. This is the prime example of “don’t shoot the messenger” and I can GUARANTEE that your agent didn’t personally delay or cancel your flight because he/she is out to get you.
DO acknowledge that you are stressed, frustrated, feeling all of the feelings to the gate agent and apologize if you raise your voice or get angry with them. Remember – it is not their fault and they are humans too.
DO ask your local airport about their rules and regulations. I just found out that little Norfolk closes its runway at 12:15 am each night, so if an incoming flight won’t make it, they will either delay until morning and stay at the departing city or divert to another airport. This information will be extremely helpful in planning my future itineraries.
DO contact their airlines and provide feedback about the way a situation was handled, whether positive or negative. And bonus – sometimes if you had a negative experience, they may provide some sort of compensation or bonus miles for your troubles.
DO use a travel credit card that has trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance so that you can avoid any out-of-pocket costs associated with your delays when they are not covered by the airlines (I’ve found that they are rarely covered by the airlines because it’s ALWAYS WEATHER RELATED). I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, which has amazing benefits, but tons of cards out there offer similar benefits. Even if you’re not a huge fan of credit cards, it’s worth the investment to have this coverage.
ABSOLUTELY DON’T be rude or raise your voice with other passengers. You don’t know each person’s individual situation and yes, while you may be affected by a delay, someone else may be affected worse than you are. Just two weeks ago, I was having a personal conversation with the flight attendant on a Southwest flight as I boarded, asking her a question because I was expected to have 10 minutes to make my connection, and I was going to be sitting at the back of the plane because the gate agent pulled me out of the boarding line up for something (the whole situation was very frustrating). For some reason, the woman in the front row joined in on my conversation and was very rude to me, stating that “everyone has connections to make and everyone is impacted by this delay.” My conversation did not involve her at all and she was in a much better situation than I was by being in the front row, so I don’t know why she felt the need to raise her voice to me just because I chose to ask the flight attendant a question. No matter what the situation is and no matter how stressed out you are, please please please keep your thoughts and comments to yourself regarding other passengers.
So this morning, I woke up to a message that my flight was delayed two hours, but that’s okay because I had planned for delays. I had given myself a nice 5.5 hour layover in JFK and was aware of other flight alternatives to get to NYC in case my flight was canceled (like it was when I was going to Australia). I was able to hit the snooze button and sleep for just a little while longer, knowing that it would alllll be okay. I’m currently stress-free, not frustrated in the least and HAPPY as I am about to board this flight and prepare for the wonderful 35 hours of travel that I have ahead of me!
