The Top 6 Things to Note Concerning a Change to Your Scheduled Departure
Here’s how not to be taken unawares the next time you have a significant flight delay.
One of the great things about writing a travel blog is that it gives me the excuse to travel. In fact, in the last 5 months, I’ve travelled back and forth to Ghana 5 times.
Now, the thing about such frequent travel to and from the same start and end destination, is that either the airlines get it right every single time and your travel is uneventful, or you have a situation like I did which is currently taking the media by storm, and trending all around the world, including as far as Australia, as you can see from the links below:
With all the media attention that my story has received, it’s got me thinking not just about
special dietary requirements when travelling, but also more broadly about the top 6 things to note concerning a change to your scheduled departure.
After all, when it comes to going abroad, there are so many considerations, however, no
amount of planning can prevent the inevitable from happening whether that’s falling sick,
getting injured, changes to flight schedules, cancellations, checked luggage being lost or
delayed. If you do happen to have the unfortunate luck of a delayed flight, then here is some useful information for you to know:
1. Eat a hearty meal beforehand:
Now, for those passengers that do not have special dietary requirements, eating beforehand may seem like a moot point especially because aside from budget airlines, an in-flight meal is almost certainly guaranteed as part of your ticket when traveling on a long-haul flight.
Although this may be the case, when your flight is delayed, there will obviously be a greater wait before you receive your meal. Since there is truly no such thing as a guaranteed flight departure, we at My Great Holiday recommend that you err on the side of caution by eating and drinking your fill before heading to the airport and making sure to bring suitable snacks that you can easily bring with you onto the plane.
I’ll talk more on food a little later.
2. Finding out your flight is delayed before heading to the airport:
For international flights it is recommended that you arrive at the airport 4 hours before your flight departure and 2-3 hours for domestic travel. However, regardless of where you intend to travel, always allow plenty of time to get to the airport.
Now, although airlines typically ask for your email address and phone number, realistically speaking whether or not you receive flight notifications depends greatly on the airline you’re traveling with and their level of efficiency.
Bearing this in mind, we recommend typing the words “flight” followed by your flight number into Google for up-to-date information on the status of your flight e.g., flight KL0590.
Do, however, ensure that the flight departure time corresponds with your flight ticket as there may be multiple flights with the same flight number leaving on your day of departure.
If, for some reason you see the notification that your flight is delayed or cancelled, it is still
advisable that you contact your airline immediately. By doing so, you are saving yourself an unnecessary trip to the airport. But more importantly, you are verifying the accuracy of the information.
Now, if you are indeed able to speak with an agent of your airline who confirms that your
flight is delayed you have three options:
1. Wait until the rescheduled flight.
2. Head to the airport to speak directly to a ticketing agent.
3. Request over the phone an alternative flight date and time.
Consequently, the advantage of getting to the airport as early as possible gives you a
greater chance of getting on another flight leaving the same day, because of the likelihood that the check-in is currently open and there are still empty seats available.
3. Arriving at the airport to find out your flight is delayed:
In the unlikely event that you cannot reach your airline ticket agent or have not checked your flight status before heading to the airport, upon check-in you will then be informed of the delay. Now, depending upon your type of passport and destination your options will vary. If, for example, you are traveling on a British passport from Accra, Ghana, to London, England, then you may be rebooked onto a new non-direct flight with KLM. Where traveling on another airline is not possible, you will instead have to wait until the rescheduled flight.
4. Carry snacks to eat on the plane:
I unfortunately learnt the hard way where this is concerned on a recent KLM flight from Accra Ghana to London Heathrow. After my Kenya Airways flight was delayed from 10pm to 4.30am the following day, the airline made reasonable adjustments by moving me onto a KLM flight at 11pm that same evening. Due to severe allergies to egg and dairy, I informed the KLM ground staff of my vegan dietary requirements. They then immediately telephoned the relevant department to organize getting a special meal onboard my flight. Later, at the departure gate I was informed by KLM ground staff that a vegan meal had been prepared and was on the plane. Upon boarding, the KLM ground staff again reiterated to me that a vegan meal was on the plane, before immediately backtracking and saying that the cabin crew would do their best to accommodate me on the flight.
Suffice to say, although I did not starve, from the overwhelming media attention I have
garnered, it seems that the selling point of my story was that on a flight travelling 7,400km the “hot meal” I received consisted of a cup of nuts, a peeled tangerine, and some pineapple pieces, followed by another cup of nuts, a banana and a few more pineapple pieces. I should point out here that at no point during the 6-hour flight did I receive a cold vegan wrap despite all the newspaper articles stating otherwise.
The lesson to be learned here for those passengers with special dietary needs is to always carry snacks and food with you on every flight, because the sad reality is that when you travel on a plane other than the one that you were originally scheduled to fly on, it is highly likely that you will be inadequately catered for.
Furthermore, even when you have pre-booked your meal within the airline’s designated time frame this still does not guarantee that you’ll receive your requested food, because it may not be placed on the plane, and if it is, it may deliberately or negligently be given to another passenger.
In such situations, as was my experience, you may be given fruit and nut, unless you have a nut allergy and then you would pretty much be doomed. Therefore, learn from my mistake and always adequately pack sufficient food or snacks to tide you over for your entire flight just in case.
5. Don’t expect a complimentary seat upgrade:
Ground staff can very easily say what you want to hear because they are not traveling on the flight with you. Therefore, take any promises they make concerning immediately rectifying your situation with a pinch of salt.
Now, without meaning to sound harsh, when you finally board your flight don’t expect any
sympathy from the cabin crew as flight delays or cancellations are far from an anomaly, let alone pre-ordered food being missing from the plane’s inventory. A polite and courteous attitude definitely goes a long way; therefore, we would always recommend that you treat all members of staff with dignity and respect as although they are there to serve you, they are really just doing their jobs and don’t deserve for you to take the brunt of your frustration out on them.
Don’t allow the experience of your delayed flight to be reason enough for you not to enjoy the flight you are on, because no matter your attitude it will not change the reality that you are not on your original scheduled flight.
6. Anticipate multiple layovers:
This may not always necessarily be the case, however, accept the very real possibility that when bumped onto an alternative flight you may have multiple layovers. For example, if traveling from Accra, Ghana to London, Heathrow your flight if non direct may stop in Amsterdam and then France before taking you to your final destination. Traveling between 4 countries in such a short space of time will understandably be tiring, notwithstanding the very real possibility that your checked luggage may get left behind at any of the destinations.
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