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| Holiday Weekend Flight Hassle |
| by Brian Kelly |
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This past weekend, I flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where I stayed at the Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve and had an amazing stay (check out my pinned Instagram story to see the experience).
While the resort stay was seamless, my flights were not.
I was booked on a United 767-400 from Newark to San Juan, which offered lie-flat seats. That’s certainly a nice enough seat for a roughly four-hour flight, but unfortunately, my flights suffered a series of mechanical issues that affected my trip. In the end, both coming and going my originally scheduled plane required a swap to a different aircraft type.
My outbound flight was delayed about two hours, but the return flight was worse. On the return, our flight was initially delayed two hours … but that grew to an additional 6 1/2 hours due to the plane having mechanical issues. Ultimately, United had to swap in another plane, this time a 767-300 that it flew in from Dulles International Airport to get us home.
That originally scheduled respectable 5:30 p.m. return time back in Newark on Memorial Day turned into landing at 1:30 a.m. Let’s just say the middle-of-the-night drive home from Newark to Pennsylvania that was waiting for me was not pleasant, to say the least.
Afterward, United sent an automated email offering me the choice of 8,750 United miles or a $175 e-certificate because of the long delay. I found both offers to be a bit insufficient for that long of a disruption. Of the two, I’d go with the $175 e-certificate, as it’s tough to get more than 2 cents per United mile these days.
Since my experience certainly won’t be the last long delay or cancellation of the summer, here’s how to get compensation when things go wrong. Spoiler alert: You don’t have to accept the first offer the airline gives you. Don’t take no for an answer — always request more compensation if you feel it isn’t adequate. However, in my case, they rejected any more compensation but said they would “pass the feedback along.” It never hurts to try!
1. First off, know your rights.
Sadly, in the U.S., we don’t have a passenger bill of rights, like in the EU, though there is now an Airline Customer Service dashboard and growing pressure from Washington for airlines to step up more when delays and cancellations happen. No airline offers cash for delays in the U.S., but Alaska Airlines and JetBlue automatically offer credit or travel vouchers for delays of three hours or more. If you’re flying to or from the European Union, EU261 compensation kicks into effect. Here is our guide on what qualifies for this compensation, but for long delays and cancellations, you’re owed 250-600 euros in cash compensation for your troubles, based on the distance of your flight.
2. If a bad delay or cancellation happens to you, send an email to the customer care or customer relations department within the airline with the details of your experience.
Keep it short and simple with dates, flights and confirmation codes, and ask for appropriate compensation. If you have elite status, your compensation may be higher than if you don’t.
You can always see what the airline offers and then reply with what you think is fair if you aren’t sure what to ask for. If the airline doesn’t respond to you, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will force the airline to respond to your inquiry within 30 days.
3. Book with a credit card that has trip delay or interruption coverage that will pick up related expenses (see our guide here).
Sadly for me, I had used my American Express Business Centurion Card to pay for my flights, but I had booked them as two one-ways. I often do this to give myself more flexibility in case I want to make changes to the itinerary. Amex only covers delays and cancellations if you book a round trip, so I sadly lost out on $500 in coverage that would have paid for my Uber, meals and other expenses incurred during the delay.
I used my Amex Business Centurion Card for these flights because I used Amex Pay with Points to book, and you have to use that card to get the 50% points rebate (which essentially makes my Amex points worth 2 cents each when buying airfare). In the future, I’ll probably book round trips when possible so I’ll have this coverage.
When not using Pay with Points, I’ll buy flights using the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which covers up to $500 per ticket for delays of six hours or more or requiring an overnight (even on one-ways) and offers 3 points per dollar on travel charges.
Travel has the potential to be bumpy this summer with record numbers of travelers taking to the skies, inevitable storms and staffing shortages in air traffic control, so make sure you know the rules of your airline and always ask for appropriate compensation when things do go wrong.
The information for the Amex Centurion Card and Amex Centurion Business Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Give back, win big
Last but not least, we are kicking off Pride season in a big way – by giving you the chance to plan the trip of a lifetime with 1 million Chase Ultimate Rewards points!
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All you have to do to enter for a chance to win is donate at least $10 to help TPG support Rainbow Railroad, a dedicated team of human rights defenders and advocates on the front lines of the fight for global LGBTQIA+ rights.
You don’t even need to be a Sapphire card member to win the grand prize — though here at TPG, we strongly recommend that you have one of these cards. There’s even a handy guide that helps you decide whether the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve is best for you.
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All sweepstakes entries must be made by 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 30 to be entered for a chance to win the grand prize before the winner is drawn on July 31.
Donate now for your chance to win!
Have a great weekend,
BK
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