Your happy, excited, overjoyed – at the thought of your impending holiday.
But what happens when the Weather Gods or worse are against you?
For not the first time and certainly not the last in February 2014 Mount Kelud volcano on Java Island exploded with red-hot ash and rocks spewing into the sky. Hundreds of thousands of villages were covered in the thick grey ash.
It was hard to believe that 3500km away here in Australia we were affected as well – though obviously not in the same way. South East Asia is our favourite holiday destination.
Thousands of people around the country could not board their flights – they were cancelled. There is nothing anyone could do; it was just not safe for aeroplanes to fly through thick ash as it causes the engines to stall.
Of course, as soon as the ash clouds cleared airlines were up and running, frantically trying to get everyone to their destination.
But what happens to you whilst you wait for the airline to get you up in the air.
Delayed Flights
When making your flight bookings:
- Have travel insurance. With that said many travel insurance policies do not cover for “weather events” (ash cloud is a weather event not a natural disaster) so check your policy.
- Ensure you provide the airline with you contact details.
- Keep up to date with information through the airline’s website, Facebook page and Twitter.
- Keep your cool and communicate calmly with the airline. They don’t want to disrupt your travel plans any more than you want them disrupted.
- If you are away from your home town and delayed overnight the airline should provide accommodation and transfers.
- Consider using a travel agent for your booking. Having that extra person on the ground fighting for you can help.
What about connections
- Look for travel insurance that includes “delayed flight” or “missed connection” coverage.
- If you have connections with the same airline or airfare then the airline will sort this out. (Please note discount carriers may not adhere to this as each airfare is sold separately.) If you have a connecting fare with another airline then you may have forfeited your second fare.
- If you are connecting to a cruise:
- Consider purchasing a cruise fare. This airfare is usually purchased with the cruise and often in conjunction with the cruise line. The cruise line will help you out with reconnecting with the cruise.
- If possible try to fly to your cruise destination point a couple of days early to counter any issues of delayed flights or lost luggage.
- Again consider booking through a travel agent
A Final Note
Look volcanic eruptions are few and far between. However, flight delays due to weather are not. So be mindful of this when booking your family holiday.
I get that when you’re booking your family holiday you want the best deal possible – so do I. Always compare the prices of organising the holiday yourself to packages your agent can put together. Sometimes the agent can get you a bargain, sometimes you might like to organise some of it yourself and other times the deals with the airlines or hotels directly are just too good to refuse. Weigh up the pros and cons for YOUR family.
Travel Insurance is something that really should travel with regardless of whether your flight delay is covered or not. But check out the fine print and shop around. Choose a policy that best suits YOUR family and YOUR needs.
Have you ever been delayed due to a weather event? What happened?
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We recently only just made a connecting flight and it was very stressful. It’s a great idea to have a plan ahead of time.
Making connecting flights is always a worry if you book each sector yourself. Typically you should allow at least 2 hours between each flight, of course if you have booked the connection as one fare then the airline may hold the connecting flight for you or they will ensure you are booked onto the next flight.
We had our return flight home from Italy cancelled a few years back when one of the Iceland volcanoes exploded. We ended up getting the train home – at great cost. Our travel insurance initially refused to pay as it was an act of God! They paid some money in the end, and then a year later we got sent, out of the blue, a ‘goodwill gesture’ from the airline (who had also refused our previous claim).
What a wonderful surprise Christine. When I was doing the research for this article I read about how alot of people discovered that travel insurance had the loop hole of volcanic ash being a weather event not a natural disaster.
Such great advice, I would never have thought of getting a cruise fare. Now to save up for a cruise!
xx
I’m with you on that thought about saving for the cruise Lisa – one of the family holidays on my bucket list
I hope you got to enjoy your holiday at a later date. Thanks for the tips- we don’t fly often and are often daunted by all the rules and regulations.
You’re welcome Annaleis
timely tips for us, we’ve just booked Tokyo Disney for later in the year and it’s our first big overseas trip with our son (4), it’s amazing how much you forget to think about when you haven’t travelled overseas for a few years!
I’m envious Kyla would love to take my son to Disneyland.
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I think travel cancellations are hard to deal with, a friend of mine missed out on half his family holiday because his passport did not have six months validity on it – I think you need to just do the best you can within the situation xx Josefa #teamIBOT
Oh that is a rookie mistake. One of the reasons for using a travel agent as they check these things, you could also refer to smartravel.com.au or our tips on planning.
I’m glad I read this because next year I’m planning a big family trip away, our first ever! And I’ll be hitting you up for advice that’s for sure! Emily xxx
A big family trip sounds exciting Emily. Don’t forget you can also subscribe to Toddlers on Tour for our FREE monthly e-newsletter so we are foremost in your mind when planning the BIG TRIP. http://toddlersontour.com.au/e-newsletter-subscription/
I’ve never flown – never had a reason to! – But wow some great advice for anybody who travels or wants to travel!!
MC #teamIBOT
Thank you Miss Cinders
Weather delays are the worst! These are great tips though.
I so agree Jessica
I experience a serious of delayed flights. For me I can managed it but when I travel with family and with the kids I sometimes ends up disappointed. I can’t blame them – kids are hyper and not very patient. This is great tips, thank you for sharing mate. I hope for the next vacation we will have – no more delayed flights. Fingers crossed.
I have to agree Mark delays are bad enough but add kids to the equation then it can VERY trying.
Great advice for when things go wrong flight wise. We’ve only experienced a delayed flight twice and each time we had a travel agent fighting for us to either get on the next flight out or a partial refund. It was definitely helpful as if I had to deal with it on our own we probably would have lost our cool
I agree Cheryl, a good travel agent is definitely worth it
I always forget to check for weather clauses on my travel insurance, thanks for the reminder! Thanks for joining in my #wednesdaywanderlust link party
As you mentioned on your post Malinda travel insurance is a definite must, however it is also important to take note of the fine print and understand exactly what you are and aren’t covered for.
Hi Sally, The real problem with weather (or volcano) interruptions is that so many flights are grounded that half the world seems to be clogging phone lines, assistance counters and the internet trying to get information. We once spent a very sleepless night in Denver because our teenage son, who was flying to join us on holiday, was delayed in Sydney. It meant he would miss his connection and I didn’t feel happy about him being stranded in LA on his own. The irony was that his plane had a mechancal fault but the Chilean Volcanoes were erupting and causing chaos across the world – it made it very difficult to get through to anyone who could give us information on his flight status.
So true Lyn. I think this is when social media actually has a real benefit – the person caught in the mishap can just post a status update to let everyone know they are OK or use PM to let loved ones know of their new flight details.
That is a good tip about the cruise fare — i hadn’t thought of that. I always tell myself to buy insurance for our winter break vacations because you never know when a NYC snowstorm will gound your flight to the Caribbean. I never actually do and one of these days it will bite me, I’m sure!
Well crossing your fingers has worked so far Eileen 😉
Flight delays are one of my worst nightmares. Even if you have insurance, it’s so much time consuming to try to get your money back and sometimes it doesn’t even work. It happened to me with a connecting flight that I missed because of a delay. I would rather have my trip cancelled all together than have to wait for hours in an airport not knowing whether I’m still going or not.
So true Anda, no one wants flight delays and the headaches that continue after the fact. Just best to try and keep a bit of a sense of humour for something you have no control over.
My parents were supposed to fly from Europe back to Texas, but 9/11 happened the day before their departure. They said that they were lucky in that they could hang on to their hotel rooms. They saw many delayed travelers desperately trying to find lodging since all flights were grounded.