“Thousands of flights are delayed or cancelled as holiday travel kicks off.
As of Saturday night, nearly 650 flights in the United States had been cancelled and more than 5,200 flights within, into or out of the country had been delayed”
These headlines from the daily Business Standard speaks volumes about the current travel situation. Read this blog to know more & useful tips to handle it :
Holiday season has already begun in the US, that along with the easing of travel restrictions people are ready to pack their bags and take off on those long awaited vacations. Air travel has skyrocketed like never before after an all time low period in the last two years.
In the midst of all this euphoria, though the traveling scene is not too good as airlines and airports are struggling to keep up with the increase in demand. Flight cancellations, delays, long waiting hours, have been rampant. Moreover, there’s a shortage of trained personnel – pilots and technical staff. Adding to the woes of travelers is a lack of proper arrangement at airports!
This is specially so for Europe and America. A chaos had been predicted by travel industry experts but no one was prepared for this turnaround. Most television channels and print media (CNBC, Business Standard) are abuzz with news of air travel mess.
All these setbacks are attributed to the pandemic days, when airlines and airports were compelled to downsize their workforce. Now, with a sudden surge in travel it’s become difficult for them to cope up. Most employees who were laid off diverged into other fields leading to a scarcity of trained staff and workers.
So, if you are one of those who is all set to jet off, then here are some guidelines to make air travel easy for you. WSJ Travel Columnist Dawn Gilbertson has the below list of advice to overcome any problems :
- Plan and come prepared for any kind of eventualities – cancellations or delays. Check your flight status before starting for the airport. Keeping yourself updated surely saves time and takes the edge off stress.
- Act quickly – on getting to know about flight cancellation/ delay don’t just wait ! Check online for other options. Upload the airlines app and find out what’s happening.
- Technology has come to our rescue in varied forms. A relatively new system ` Reserve your spot’, where you can ignore the long lines and get to the front of airport security for free. Make use of this , you just need to book online prior to your journey.
- If nothing works out, reach out on social media platforms like twitter. It’s quite effective.
- In case of flight cancellation, don’t accept a refund. Rather ask for a rebooking of tickets. You never know how much fare the other airline would cost, it could be two or three times higher!
- Finally, carry an abundance of patience. Have a backup plan to banish disappoinments.
As travel returns swiftly, don’t let any of these impediments spoil your holiday euphoria. Let your vacation be a pleasant experience , with these helpful solutions .
‘
Dream| Discover | Travel | Bliss
