How to Handle Flight Delays & Cancellations

As we move into the summer months, airports, airlines, and government agencies are going to have to keep up to demand to avoid the same widespread issues that we saw in Summer 2022.

In the event of a flight delay or cancellation, the best practice is to know how to find solutions quickly when you’re in the midst of the situation, and getting reimbursed for any damages after the fact.

The former allows you to take initiative for yourself instead of waiting for the airline to take care of things for you, and can even be a hidden opportunity to improve your trip by getting better aircraft, routings, or timings.

Meanwhile, the latter ensures that you’re made whole for any damages you’ve suffered, especially in the face of an airline industry that’s not always the most willing to own up to its own mistakes.

Before Your Trip: Strategies for Anticipating Delays

The best way to deal with delays and cancellations is if you can proactively avoid them in the first place, or take steps in advance to make your life easier in the event that they occur.

Credit Card Insurance

The anticipatory strategies begin with choosing the right credit card on which you make your booking. Most premium travel credit cards will provide a pretty strong travel insurance coverage on any flights booked directly using the card, including benefits like flight delay compensation and trip interruption insurance.

However, if you’re booking a flight on points, you’ll want to understand which credit cards provide insurance on award travel, as there are quite a few subtleties between the major credit cards in terms of when the coverage kicks in.

For example, the American Express Platinum Card’s strong insurance package won’t apply to your flight booked on Aeroplan points, even if you charge the taxes and fees to the card. For these bookings, you’ll have to use a core or premium co-branded Aeroplan card from TD, CIBC, or Amex.

Alternatively, you could use the National Bank World Elite Mastercard, which covers award tickets booked using any type of points currency.

If you’re paying cash for flights, you’ll just want to make sure you’re getting the best possible insurance coverage for your flight by strategically choosing which credit card to use. 

Once your flight is booked using the right credit card, you now have the peace of mind knowing that you can make some insurance claims in case that…