Flight Gurus. What to do if Flight Canceled?

[js]

Hi.

Flying out in ten days on United.

Can someone please let me know how to be proactive if I find out that my flight is canceled?

What exact steps in what order should I take either at home or if it happens at the airport. We are fluing EWR (Newark) to TPA (Tampa).

Thank you so much!

 

[EACarlson]

Beforehand the only thing you can really do is set up the expectations in your mind of what you're willing to accept. How far out of the way are you willing to go? How long of a layover are you willing to take? How short of a layover can you accept? Are you willing to run from one terminal to another to make a connection? Some of those minimum connection times are insane. Are you willing to fly through Dallas or Chicago if that gets you there the soonest? Or would you rather wait a few more hours to get a more direct route?
The best thing you can do if you find out before heading to the airport is look online and find out what routing you can book right then that works best for you. You can even do this while you're waiting on hold, have flight numbers and any layover points written down. When you get to an agent calmly explain what happened and give them the flights you want to be rebooked on.
If you're at the airport when the cancellation happens, run, don't walk, to the check in counters. Then pull out your phone and find what works for you. Agents are much more willing to make something happen if you have the city pairs, flight numbers ready to go for them.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

If you are really worried you may check out this service
Cranky Concierge Air Travel Assistance, specifically their Flight Monitoring service

 

[Mamabun]

Once your flight is cancelled, you may be immediately rebooked on an alternate flight (with United, I’d say that’s actually likely). So it’s important that all members of your party are linked together so you all get rebooked to the same flights. If you didn’t buy your tickets all together in one transaction, I’d call the airline now and have them link them.

Also, put the United app on your phone, logged into to your account with notifications on. That’s often the first way I find out about cancellations.

You want to be ready to make decisions and changes asap after you find out it’s cancelled. Be familiar with the United schedule, or just print it out ahead of time to refer to if you need it. That way you can know right away if what they rebooked for you to is acceptable. If it’s not, act quickly, get on the phone to United, go to manage your reservation online, get on a chat with United, or if you are at the airport, get in line at a ticket counter or gate agent. Your goal is to rebook on better flights as fast as possible. You are competing with all the other displaced passengers, so acting quickly can be really helpful.

Here’s a webpage with some useful info from United about changed flights
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/help/faq/schedule-changes.html

and here’s a page with some contact info including how to start a chat, which can sometimes be the fastest
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/customer-support.html

Hopefully, you don’t need any of that info and you’ll have an uneventful flight.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Flightaware was also very helpful in January when a bunch of flights were being cancelled.

 

[gottalovepluto]

UA cancelled my flight home a couple months ago. The automatic rebooking was not acceptable to me so I immediately searched on their app and found one I was fine with and went straight to chat gave them my name, confirmation number and what flights I wanted instead. They responded within 30 mins and rebooked me on the flights I requested (at no additional charge). Very happy with their chat system.

 

[js]

Beforehand the only thing you can really do is set up the expectations in your mind of what you're willing to accept. How far out of the way are you willing to go? How long of a layover are you willing to take? How short of a layover can you accept? Are you willing to run from one terminal to another to make a connection? Some of those minimum connection times are insane. Are you willing to fly through Dallas or Chicago if that gets you there the soonest? Or would you rather wait a few more hours to get a more direct route?
The best thing you can do if you find out before heading to the airport is look online and find out what routing you can book right then that works best for you. You can even do this while you're waiting on hold, have flight numbers and any layover points written down. When you get to an agent calmly explain what happened and give them the flights you want to be rebooked on.
If you're at the airport when the cancellation happens, run, don't walk, to the check in counters. Then pull out your phone and find what works for you. Agents are much more willing to make something happen if you have the city pairs, flight numbers ready to go for them.

Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time to spell it all out for me.

If you are really worried you may check out this service
Cranky Concierge Air Travel Assistance, specifically their Flight Monitoring service

I am going to check this out right now. Thank you.

Once your flight is cancelled, you may be immediately rebooked on an alternate flight (with United, I’d say that’s actually likely). So it’s important that all members of your party are linked together so you all get rebooked to the same flights. If you didn’t buy your tickets all together in one transaction, I’d call the airline now and have them link them.

Also, put the United app on your phone, logged into to your account with notifications on. That’s often the first way I find out about cancellations.

You want to be ready to make decisions and changes asap after you find out it’s cancelled. Be familiar with the United schedule, or just print it out ahead of time to refer to if you need it. That way you can know right away if what they rebooked for you to is acceptable. If it’s not, act quickly, get on the phone to United, go to manage your reservation online, get on a chat with United, or if you are at the airport, get in line at a ticket counter or gate agent. Your goal is to rebook on better flights as fast as possible. You are competing with all the other displaced passengers, so acting quickly can be really helpful.

Here’s a webpage with some useful info from United about changed flights
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/help/faq/schedule-changes.html

and here’s a page with some contact info including how to start a chat, which can sometimes be the fastest
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/customer-support.html

Hopefully, you don’t need any of that info and you’ll have an uneventful flight.

Thank you. Your post is very helpful. I will call United and make sure we are all listed as traveling together.
My dh and I are traveling with another couple but my dh and I are on two different ressies. When the flight/plane time got moved, my dh and I were no longer sitting together, since we aren't listed as traveling with each other. I will call them today. Thank you!

Flightaware was also very helpful in January when a bunch of flights were being cancelled.

I will also look at this website. Thank you very much!

UA cancelled my flight home a couple months ago. The automatic rebooking was not acceptable to me so I immediately searched on their app and found one I was fine with and went straight to chat gave them my name, confirmation number and what flights I wanted instead. They responded within 30 mins and rebooked me on the flights I requested (at no additional charge). Very happy with their chat system.

Thank you. From what I have been reading, the chat option seems to be quicker, is this correct?
Can I find the chat on my United app? I will look and thank you VERY much!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time to spell it all out for me.



I am going to check this out right now. Thank you.

Thank you. Your post is very helpful. I will call United and make sure we are all listed as traveling together.
My dh and I are traveling with another couple but my dh and I are on two different ressies. When the flight/plane time got moved, my dh and I were no longer sitting together, since we aren't listed as traveling with each other. I will call them today. Thank you!

I will also look at this website. Thank you very much!

Thank you. From what I have been reading, the chat option seems to be quicker, is this correct?
Can I find the chat on my United app? I will look and thank you VERY much!

More menu (3 dots) > Contact Us > Message US

 

[suemom2kay]

I fly pretty frequently on United for work and haven’t had any issues other than the normal weather related issues on occasion.