Pre-flying Ritual: Why I Diligently Check My Email The Night Before

Picture this:

It’s the eve of your 05:25 flight to Frankfurt. You’re all packed. You’re exhausted just thinking about how tired you’ll be in the morning but you’re prepared–that’s comforting enough for now.

Just before bed, you diligently check your email for a last minute upgrade, a bon voyage message from the airline or a social media update that you’ll probably put off till you’re bored waiting in the airport.

An email catches your attention. At 23:33, the night before your 05:25 flight to Frankfurt, it’s the airline, announcing that changes have been made to your booking. “This better be an upgrade,” you muse.

It reads:

Dear Passenger,

as you are affected by a flight irregularity we made the following changes to your itinerary:

If all of these details seem oddly specific, that’s because this exact situation happened to me not too long ago; thus, cementing my pre-flying ritual of checking my email frequently for flight updates and especially, the night before I fly.

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Even With A Good Pre-Flying Ritual There Can Always Be A Setback

My flight was canceled and I was chucked on to the next available one at 16:30–that’s eleven hours later than my original flight! Usually, I’m a pretty composed traveller but panic set in as I realised the annoying domino effect this change would create. The night before my flight I already knew that:

1. I was going to miss my connecting flight,
2. I would not be able to meet my friend in Germany as we had planned,
3. we were going to miss a day of travel in Prague and
4. lose a night in the hotel we had already paid for.

Ooft!

What I’ve Learned From A Cancelled Flight

• First mistake: I panicked
• Second mistake: I opted to grin and bear it
• Third mistake: I took the flight

Months later I was reminded of my error again. I received an email from a company encouraging me to use their service to seek compensation from the above airline.

The company would receive 50%–of course– if I was eligible. Well, soon after I applied with them I cleverly decided I’ll make my own claim and skip the middle man/woman.

I soon came to understand why people use such companies. It took weeks to hear back from the airline. I sent my request for compensation in two or three times because I thought maybe they hadn’t received the first one.

Finally, after nearly a month of waiting, I received a call. Although frustrating, I learned that in my situation:

one can only receive compensation due to a flight canceled by the airline if one refuses the new flight offered and requests a full refund. By getting on the flight one is disqualified from receiving compensation.

Ooft!

I would’ve been better off just refusing the flight offered, requesting compensation and checking Skyscanner for a quick deal!

Something else to consider if your flight has been canceled or delayed to the point that you miss a connecting flight is whether to accept a refund (or a number to call, website or e-mail address to seek compensation) or a flight credit. Choose wisely.

In the case of the flight credit, the condition could be that your acceptance of the flight credit relieves the airline at fault of all liability and prohibits you for seeking any sort of compensation in the future.

For a more detailed plan of action, check out Skyscanner’s expert advice!

Happy travelling (even when things don’t go to plan),

B the travelling MS X