CNN
—
Computer glitches. Staffing shortages. Awful weather. Holiday crunches. So many things can cause a flight to be delayed or canceled.
And this July 4 weekend is set to be a record breaker.
Friday is expected to be the busiest day of the holiday weekend at airport security checkpoints. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 2.82 million people, surpassing the current single-day travel record from June 16.
Friday is also set to exceed the busiest travel day of the holiday weekend in 2019 (July 7), when TSA screened 2.79 million passengers.
Thousands of flights have already been canceled this week, with many thousands more delayed.
It’s no wonder travelers are wary about making it to their destinations on time – or at all.
Here’s some general advice for navigating the system when flights are delayed or canceled.
Days ahead of the now-infamous December 2022 bomb cyclone, many US airlines offered their passengers a chance to change their flights for no fee.
When you know a major weather event is forecast, hop on those waiver offers quickly, said Scott Keyes, the founder of Going.com (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights). The early birds have the best choices of the remaining worms (that is seats and flights).
As bad as it is to find out your flight has been delayed for a long time, or worse, canceled, it’s better to find out from the comfort of home or a hotel room and make new arrangements from there.
“Check your flight status before you go the airport. Most of these notifications are not happening at the last minute,” said Keyes. “Save yourself the drive to the airport.”
Keyes told CNN Travel in an interview that you should sign up for airlines’ free text alerts on the status of flights when you buy your ticket. You should also download your carrier’s app.
You can also put your airline and flight number directly into a Google search bar to retrieve the status that way. That’s also handy for friends or family who are on standby to pick you up.
Keyes also suggested checking the website FlightAware to track larger flight trends across the country.
Sometimes, the delays and cancellations happen after…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CNN.com – RSS Channel – Travel…