What To Do If Flight Is Canceled

An overview of passenger rights from Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga. The long-awaited holiday is just around the corner, you arrive at the airport and the flight is delayed. This usually puts a damper on the good holiday mood. If you are lucky, you only have to wait a little longer and can kill the time in the duty-free area with the numerous shops. If you are less lucky, you might have to wait several hours. In the worst case even the flight is cancelled. Air travelers find themselves in these situations again and again, be it because of technical problems of the airline, bad weather, an ash haunting volcano or, as at present, a strike of the flight personnel.

Even if these events are beyond our control, we can still control our reaction in these situations and thus exert a decisive influence on further developments. How we react influences how quickly we find a new flight or an alternative travel option, whether compensation from the airline is possible and, above all, our stress level.

Your air travel rights

We’ll give you tips on what to do when the worst-case scenario occurs and show you an overview of your passenger rights. If all this doesn’t help, you can search for alternative travel options on our website GoEuro.de! The article is divided into different areas of the journey, which you can access directly via the following links:

Before departure

Before you start, you should inform yourself well. What is the weather like and is there any bad weather forecast that might affect the flight, or is there an event that requires a change in itineraries? In the past, machines were often left on the ground due to snowstorms or ash-spitting volcanoes, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks. Often there is an early warning about imminent weather changes. Strikes by airport and airline personnel are also usually reported in good time. Strike plans are usually published a few days in advance, so that you can prepare for them and possibly plan an alternative route.

In the event that the flight is cancelled or delayed, in order to protect yourself from the financial consequences, you should in any case take care of appropriate insurance before the trip. However, the German insurance jungle is often opaque and one does not know which insurance is the right one: travel cancellation insurance or travel interruption insurance. In general it can be said that the travel cancellation insurance only applies in case of unforeseeable events in the private environment of the travellers, a travel interruption insurance, on the other hand, also insures in some cases the travel interruption due to force majeure, such as bad weather or strike. It is therefore essential to inform the insurer whether, for example, forces of nature and unforeseen events are also insured. In an emergency, this saves a lot of trouble and possibly also a lot of money.

It is also helpful to check the flight status regularly. Especially if technical problems become known only at the last minute, it is good to know if the flight plan is on time or if there are delays on previous flights or if the flight has been cancelled. The apps of some flight providers as well as independent websites like FlightAware can help.

Only traveling with hand luggage makes you much more flexible. Because if the big luggage is already checked in and you are rebooked for another flight, it takes half an eternity to get your luggage back or to redirect to the new plane. And maybe one stands then at his destination completely without luggage there, because something went wrong with the diversion. If, on the other hand, you are only travelling with hand luggage, you can take the new flight quickly and easily. Moreover, one should start every flight well organized. It is best to store all relevant information including the phone number of the airline in one place. Apps such as TripIt.

If you are travelling with children, you should also think about suitable employment opportunities, because if the flight is cancelled, there can be long waiting times. To counteract boredom, it is best to have a few snacks, a drink and, of course, some toys. This not only saves nerves, but also your wallet if you don’t have to shop in the overpriced airport shops.