This travel tip is a reminder to stay grateful and to make lemonade when dealt a few lemons on our travels.
On a recent trip to Rhode Island, we were dealt a few lemons to say the least. First, while we had opted for an early afternoon arrival to make our leisurely 2-hour drive from Hartford to Newport, our airline had other ideas.
After our first flight was cancelled (post-boarding), the second replacement flight was also cancelled. We were then told to go to the counter to get rebooked along with 400 others. Fortunately, we were quick to grab two seats on the evening flight through the airline’s app. The stress continued as this new evening flight was also delayed multiple times getting us into Hartford just as the rental car counter was closing. Rather than do our 2-hour drive after midnight, we opted to get a hotel and drive the following morning.
Tip 1: Don’t risk your life driving in the middle of the night when tired just because you have a hotel booked! Yes, we had to pay for both rooms, but it would have been dangerous to make the drive late at night, so it was definitely worth it!
Driving back to Hartford post-holiday, we got a text message that our return flight the following morning had also been cancelled! Wow! We called right away and heard the cheerful voice tell us our wait would be 4 hours and that we could opt to have them call us back instead (they never did!). Fortunately, again, we were able to pull over and use the self-serve app to make changes. While no flights were available for the day we had planned, we were able to get a seat on the next day’s flight.
Tip 2: Download the apps for your hotels, airlines, and car rentals. Talking to someone on the phone is not always best (or fastest!). The apps are all offering more and more self-service options and we were glad to be able to select another flight and grab our seats directly from the app.
When I checked 30 minutes later, the seats on the other flights were no longer available. The apps help you move fast when you need to. I was also able to chat with the hotel (using their app) to extend our stay. While the car rental app didn’t offer a means to extend, we were able to call. Chat and self-serve are likely to come soon.
So, after the initial shock, disbelief, and yes, I admit some anger and frustration, we had to take a step back and decide what we would do with our extra day in Hartford.
Tip 3: Don’t waste your time in airport hotels doing nothing when delayed or cancelled. Make the most of the time and you may be surprised to find some enjoyable and interesting local attractions.
Returning to travel after many months of pandemic lockdown had us thinking and remembering only the good times associated with travel. We thought only of being magically transported to beautiful beaches and historic sites and had forgotten about the potential snags and wrinkles that sometimes occur. Now, more than ever, the airlines are also readapting to increased passenger loads and dealing with staff shortages so one should expect even more issues.
Conclusion
Ultimately, we must count our blessings. While being delayed or cancelled is frustrating, we are healthy, can afford to stay an extra night, and may even collect some insurance money for our added expenses. Moreover, instead of spending the day in the hotel fuming, we got to go out and enjoy the extra time. We got to see a side of Hartford that we would not normally have visited and ended up having a great time.
As I write this, we are landing in Miami one day late and one article on Hartford richer. We will however have to explain all this to our cat that was surely worried about our delay…