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There are several advantages to booking a flight that has connections, with the two main ones being price and convenience. For these reasons, I will book a flight which has connections, but connecting flights are cheaper and more convenient for ONE major reason; they open up a greater possibility of delayed and, in some cases, even missed travel.
I first experienced the misery of a ‘hiccup’ in my travel plans due to a poor connection when I was just barely 18 and traveling alone for the first time. My plane was still circling above, in a holding pattern, when my connecting flight departed below. With the threat of flying without fuel, my plane was diverted to an alternative airport. Twelve hours past my originally scheduled time, and three plane rides later, I finally arrived at my destination. Back then, I simply turned over my paper ticket, called the airline’s 1-800 number from a pay phone, using my calling card, and the customer service lady actually rebooked all of my travel for me. Today, unfortunately, airlines do not operate the same.
Recently, we were scheduled to connect, on our way to Boston, through Toronto. We had a rather long layover and, after our unsuccessful attempt in catching an earlier flight, we proceeded to wait the four hours until our flight. After three and one-half hours, it was posted with a delayed status. Soon, the gate agents started asking the massing crowd, if there would be ONE passenger willing to give up their seat for a $300 voucher and a seat out on a plane departing the next morning. A passenger near us went up to investigate the offer and discovered that the flight out the next morning was a connecting flight, taking a total of 10 hours of travel to reach the one and a quarter hour by direct flight, Boston airport. No one accepted the offer. Ten minutes later, the next offer came out for a $500 airline voucher, free hotel room and a seat on a direct flight the next morning. The lovely lady next to us took it.
The delayed time of 30 minutes soon became another 30 minutes and then another 30 minutes. I knew there was bad weather in Boston and began to doubt that the flight would actually happen. Then, by a miracle, they changed our status to boarding and we all piled on, only to hear from the captain, once we were all settled in our seats, that we were still delayed. We sat on the plane for over an hour before the captain finally said, our flight had been cancelled. We were instructed to leave the airplane and contact a customer service representative who would assist us with rebooking.
Interestingly, there were no customer service representatives who were willing to assist us with any rebooking and if you called the number provided by the airline, you were connected to a recording telling you to wait and then, after about 20 minutes of no one coming on the line, were told to please try again at another time and then disconnected.
Ultimately, unwilling to spend an additional $2,000 to rebook ourselves on a flight departing three days later, we rented a car and set out, at 11:45 pm for the 10-plus hour drive home. At that point, we had been travelling and awake for nearly 22 hours. It was a long night and we learned a valuable lesson; when a flight is overbooked, and they make a good offer to give up your seat—take it!
Cancelled! Cancelled!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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