Flight cancelled again? Try these tips.

Life Kit

NPR

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Kids & Family, Education, Business

4.3 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Air travel can be frustrating. According to the Department of Transportation, in 2024 flights were delayed about 20% of the time and there were over 400 tarmac delays of three hours or more for domestic flights. In this episode, learn what you can do ahead of time to avoid delays, get ahead of drama in the terminal when your flight is cancelled and strategies for getting refunds quickly (like referencing the Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.
0:05.7	Hey, it's Mariel.
0:07.6	I was on my way to the airport last weekend when I got an email from the airline.
0:13.4	Your flight was canceled, the subject line said.
0:16.5	Our apologies.
0:17.7	They couldn't find a flight to rebook me on, so I'd have to call them about my options,
0:22.3	and presumably wait on hold for Lord Olenos, or cancel my trip.
0:29.2	Luckily, I was only about a 15-minute drive from home. Although rerouting back to my
0:34.2	residence in the ride share app proved impossible, and the driver couldn't
0:37.6	think of any options besides dropping me on a random street in Brooklyn with my suitcase.
0:42.3	And here I was thinking technology is supposed to work for us, not the other way around.
0:46.7	Compared to some people, though, I had it easy.
0:49.9	So I was halfway to Hawaii with my partner and my two kids.
0:53.7	This is travel journalist Amelia Edelman.
0:56.1	We were on our layover in Los Angeles, where we met up with my brother and his wife, who were
1:01.6	joining us for the next flight to Kauai.
1:04.5	We'd been in L.A. for just a few hours, and we got the alert that our flight was canceled.
1:11.0	So all six of us rebooked for the next day.
1:14.2	But when the next day came,
1:15.9	only my brother and sister-in-law were allowed to board that next flight.
1:20.0	Sorry, we overbooked.
1:21.8	That was all the customer service rep told me,
	...

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