10 Essential Tips If You’re Flying This Winter Season!
Winter is upon us, and in fact it seems like it’s arrived early. That means flight delays and cancellations.
Air travel is something of a gamble during winters, especially if its foggy outside.
During this holiday season if you’re planning to fly , just make sure you keep one simple thing in mind, which is “Anticipate”.
To make sure your vacation gets off to a good start, here are 10 essential winter air travel tips that you must know.
1.Cushion Your Travel Schedule
Balance the possibilities of delays or cancellations against the importance of your arriving on time.
If you have a can’t-miss meeting or famiy celebration pad your schedule to allow for a major air-travel mishap.
That may even mean travelling a day earlier. Recovering from delays or cancellations can involve extra hours, and an extra day of travel should be kept in mind while booking a flight.
2.Try To Book Non-Stop Flights
This is a must during winters!
Even if most flights to or from your home airport or destination airports require connections, consider combining different modes of transport.
For Instance, if you only have connecting flights from your city airport to you destination, you can drive to an airport near your city which has direct flights to your destination.
3.Startegize To Minimize Risk
Delays and cancellations have a domino effect throughout the day.
On most routes, book yourself on flights as early as possible since the later in the day, the worse the situation gets.
However, do this according to the weather pattern of your city. For instance Delhi is prone to early morning fog, in which case you should book yourself on mid-morning or midday departures.
4. Get to The Airport Earlier Than Usual
Heavy fog and traffic jams as a result of bad weather mean potential delays as you travel to the airport, and you don’t want to arrive too late to check-in or be stuck in a line at security.
Because cooler temperatures mean that everyone will be wearing more layers which also means longer lines at security, as it will take each person a few minutes more than normal to get themselves and their belongings through security.
5. Check-In Online
Almost all airlines now allow online check-in either through a website or an app at least 24 hours before your flight time.
You will be able to select your seat, pay any baggage fees, and provide contact information where you can be reached if there are any disruptions to your flight.
Plus, checking in online allows you to skip the check-in lines altogether and head right for security when you arrive if you don’t have a check-in bag.
6.Keep In Touch With You Airline
Blizzards, fog, freezing rain- there are so many winter-related events that can cause flight delays or cancellations.
Avoid waiting at the airport, or arriving for no reason, and check the status of your flight about an hour before you plan on leaving for the airport.
Also, make sure the contact info you have provided can be checked regularly or easily accessed. That way you will receive any flight status updates as soon as they happen and not only when you are in front of the screens at the airport.
7. Check The Forecasts
You can sometimes spot delays before your airline officially lets you know about them.
That means keeping tabs on weather forecasts several days in advance for any airport you plan to use—departure, hub, or destination.
8.Have A Plan B
No matter what, you can’t avoid all problems!
Figure that something might go wrong, and be ready with your own alternative schedule rather than waiting to see what your airline offers.
The earlier you start to change, the more likely you are to avoid extended delays. In any major weather event, you airline is likely to waive re-ticketing fees, so be ready.
9. Be Ready To Ask For A Refund
If your flight is severely delayed and no longer want to make the trip, or your flight has been cancelled, you can ask for a full refund.
Airlines often allow you to change your flight to when the weather clears, though if you’re so delayed that there’s no point going, get a full refund instead.
10.Buy Travel Insurance
People don’t realize this, but travel insurance offers free compensation for weather delays and cancellations.
It also covers your emergency medical care (in case you fall sick during your travel) and loss of belongings while travelling.
If you didn’t buy travel insurance, check your credit card rewards. Apart from providing airline miles, they also do cover you during your air travel snarls.
So, the next time you book your ticket, Download the AirWhizz app and apply for a travel insurance with us. We at AirWhizz have partnered with prestigious travel insurance companies such as HDFC Ergo to help you plan for any unforeseen changes that might occur.
