A connecting flight and a flight delay! How to survive? :)

Flight delay, cancellation or diversion happen quite often, and the more you fly, the greater the chance that it will hit you as well. And it’s half bad when you’re already on your way home, but what to do when, due to a delayed flight, you miss your connecting flight and your travel plans go awry?

We’re not old-timers when it comes to flying, but we’ve done a lot of flying. We have flown low-cost airlines, cruise lines, charters, and looking at our experience, we can write that there is no rule when it comes to different airplane adventures. Delays and diversions happen in both low-cost and traditional airlines. They happen often and it is worth being prepared for them.

We can always take a precautionary approach: buy only combined tickets, or take a large safety margin in case of delay. In the case of connecting tickets, it is the carrier that must ensure that you arrive safely at your destination so in case you miss your connecting flight it will guarantee you a seat on another plane, and if necessary it will accommodate you in a hotel, provide you with a meal, toiletries, etc.

We, a few years ago, used additional insurance with a credit card – for each flight or baggage delay of more than 3 or 4 hours, we got money from the insurance. Believe us, it happened several times that the amounts from the insurance covered our airfare ;) And we can’t hide the fact that this gave us a certain comfort, because we knew that even if something happened, we were protected and would not come out badly. Well, but nothing good lasts forever and the insurer withdrew this offer (maybe we took too much advantage? :) )

We didn’t find anything else noteworthy, so we dropped the subject of delay insurance, assuming that, after all, the airlines must pay compensation in case of flight delays…. Just wish they were so cooperative!

Our story

We could describe a dozen stories about lost luggage, delayed or diverted flights, but there is one that particularly stuck in our minds.

We flew to the Canary Islands and bought separate tickets through an intermediary – we flew from Warsaw to Fuerteventura by charter, and then by local airline to Tenerife. According to the plan we had 5 (in words: five!) hours to change planes, so really something bad would have to happen for us not to make it…. Of course, as you can guess on this plane we didn’t make it. And it all started in Warsaw…

We had a 6 a.m. departure. Already on our way to Warsaw around 3 a.m., we wondered if the surrounding dense fog would ground the planes. When we arrived at the airport the fog continued to linger, but according to the departure board there were no problems…. only that it was still a while before the first departures of the day, and apparently the airport staff waited until the last minute for the weather to improve. Unfortunately, after a short time, each subsequent flight on the departure board changed its status to “DELAYED.”

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Nothing for us… after all, we have plenty of time, and the fog will not last all day. The fog may or may not disappear, but that doesn’t mean the plane will be waiting for us at the ready at the airport ;)

When we heard announcements two hours later (around 8 a.m.) that more planes were ready for boarding we eagerly awaited the opening of our gate. Unfortunately, it turned out that our plane is not yet in Warsaw! The plane was scheduled to arrive from Wroclaw, and it was there that it waited until weather conditions improved in Warsaw. So we were in for another hour of delay….

The fellow passengers started to get nervous, but they were in a slightly different situation. Most had purchased vacations and travel agents made sure that the coaches in Fuerteventura were waiting for them. We had to take care of our change on site ourselves. Wasting no time, we called the hotline of either the broker or the local airline trying to find out if we could rebook our flight for a later one. Fortunately, it turned out that by buying from an intermediary we were guaranteed a higher flight option with the possibility of changing to another flight at no extra charge. The only problem was finding free seats, but this they could not guarantee us over the phone. A little comforted because we would get around the extra cost after all, and a little saddened because we reckoned that we would even face a night at the airport if there were no seats on the plane for us, we waited for our plane to arrive.

Meanwhile, the airline gave us sandwiches, juices, water. And now, in retrospect, we think to ourselves that we were in a comfortable situation anyway…. We were flying without children. Keeping toddlers busy for 4 or 5 hours can be tough. Since we have been traveling with children there have been delays or diversions, but as a rule we were constantly on the move, staying overnight in a hotel near the airport, something was happening, and here the passengers were waiting for any news, with only what they took for hand luggage.

At the end of the day, after 5 hours, we finally heard that the plane that would take us to the Canary Islands had landed in Warsaw and we could immediately pack on board. For many, it was a relief, because here is the vacation about to begin for them, and for us, the stress of whether we would make it on the last plane of the day between the islands and whether there would be seats for us (we had already started looking for ferry options ;) ).

When we landed on the ground we started sprinting here to the Binter Air window to get us on any plane to Tenerife. It turned out that there would be seats for us on the last plane of the day! We were overjoyed!

And it may not be the most sensational airplane delay in our travel history, plus it ended quite well, but for that time we had a lot of fear and concern that we would have to combine and face additional costs. In fact, these were the first such adventures where the rest of the trip was at risk. Having insurance gave us peace of mind, because we knew that if anything happened we would be covered for rebooking costs, but on this trip we no longer had insurance.

Compensation for delayed flight

After returning home, we decided to try to fight for compensation for this flight. We knew we might not make it because of the weather conditions, but still, if the plane had been in Warsaw since the morning, we would have flown out with a maximum 2-hour delay.

At the same time, it turned out that our colleague had been in a similar situation a month earlier, only that his delayed flight was a return flight and the cause was a technical fault. He blazed a trail for us, consulted with wise heads, the Consumer Ombudsman, and when he got a negative decision for the nth time he went to a company specializing in compensation for a delayed flight.

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We moved along the same path. Initially an e-mail, then a letter, one, two, three…. Each time the decision denied, justifying the weather conditions. We let it go. We wasted time writing letters and sending them, the matter dragged on for some 6 months and finally left their decision unanswered.

And a colleague at that time received compensation! And ok, the situation was different, but looking at how fast the case has progressed since he “sold” his case to specialists, we regretted that we didn’t do it that way too.

Because maybe in our case nothing would have worked out, but either the situation would have been clear from the beginning, or all the paperwork and formalities would have been taken care of by someone for us.

These days, not a week goes by without someone asking us about some kind of travel insurance, especially in case of flight delays or lost luggage. We are also getting more and more inquiries about whether we would help win something with the airline or if we can recommend someone who would. We in this matter trust specialists, and certainly at the next such situation we would immediately report it to a company that knows how to proceed.

A delayed or canceled flight imposes an obligation to compensate passengers. If you’re looking for a company to help you with this, take a look at the DelayFix website. All you need to do is fill out the application form located there, and DelayFix’s team of experienced attorneys will win compensation from the airline on your behalf.

In addition, we invite you to participate in a contest – organized by DelayFix. To participate, all you need to do is fill out the form at https://utknieci.delayfix.com/ and answer the contest question: What would you do while waiting for a delayed flight? The authors of the five most creative answers will be rewarded with INSTAX cameras! Good luck!

The entry was created in collaboration with DelayFix.