What's the best strategy when an airline disrupts your journey?
In hindsight, booking three connecting flights on two airlines was an overly optimistic move. My Expedia reservation was to take me from Lisbon to Vancouver, changing planes in the Azores and Toronto. What could possibly go wrong? Hmm.
After a delayed arrival to Toronto and an agonisingly long wait to clear customs and immigration, I'm informed I've missed the flight to Vancouver. It's late at night, I'm exhausted and my suitcase is missing. So, now what?
"Other than an airline misplacing your bag, there's really nothing more frustrating during a journey than missing your connection," says Chris Chamberlin, senior writer and editor at Point Hacks, a website about air travel. "What happens next though can depend on so many things - how you've booked, where you're travelling to, which airline(s) you're flying with, and sometimes, even your frequent flyer status."
While passenger rights can vary significantly from country to country, Chamberlin says if you have a valid ticket you should rightly expect to get to your destination, even if there are a few bumps along the way.
Every connection is different, every itinerary is different.
In general, it's the responsibility of the airline that caused the disruption to sort out your mess. If you can't get hold of someone from that airline, you could instead try speaking with staff from your onward airline.
In my case, the move that yielded the best results was demanding to speak to someone from the airport's interline department (that's industry-speak for the department that handles the needs of passengers travelling on itineraries with multiple airlines).
"There's no hard and fast rule," Chamberlin says. "Every connection is different, every itinerary is different, and every airport is different."
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Sarah King from Expedia agrees the airline-ticketing staff are usually best placed to book you on another flight in real time. "If they are not able to rebook you and you have booked with Expedia, contact us immediately so that we can help you find the best option," she says. Whether or not the cost of overnight accommodation (if required) will be covered, depends on the airline's policy, says King. Interline staff at Toronto airport booked me on a flight the next morning, then organised a hotel room, meals and transfers. In some parts of the world, you may be able to claim financial compensation, beyond accommodation costs, for significant disruptions to travel plans.
Chamberlin says it's worth noting that if you have two or more flights booked separately, the airlines are not obliged to do anything for you if a delay on one sector causes you to miss the next flight.
"Book connecting flights on one combined itinerary wherever you can," he says. "If you can't do it yourself, a travel agent may be able to. It can really take the stress out of flight disruptions."
