An airline employee has shared some of the ‘tips and tricks’ she has learned throughout her career when it comes to dealing with delayed and canceled flights, after the US was thrown into travel chaos this weekend with the suspension of thousands of flights by airlines like JetBlue, American, and Southwest.
Travel influencer Natalie Nicole Green, 33, from Nashville, Tennessee, works as a travel agent as well as a flight attendant for JetBlue Airways.
She recently went viral on TikTok after she revealed some of the secrets that she’s discovered over the years – including how to ensure that you are being compensated with the right amount of money if your flight is delayed and how to get up-to-date information on your aircraft.
Her clip has been watched more than 600,000 times, and many people were thankful for her advice – especially after more than 3,000 flights were forced to be canceled over the weekend due to bad weather.
Natalie – who has her own travel blog with her husband, Matt Houston, and has gained more than 18,000 subscribers on YouTube for documenting their trips – explained that customers should always Google ‘Bill of Rights’ along with the airline name when facing any problems, to ensure that they know their full rights as a passenger.
An airline employee has shared some of the ‘tips and tricks’ that she has learned throughout her career when it comes to dealing with delayed and canceled flights
Natalie Green, 33, went viral on TikTok after she revealed some of the secrets that she’s discovered over the years – including how to ensure that you are being compensated for delays
Her clip has been watched 600,000 times, and many people were thankful for her advice – especially after thousands of flights were canceled over the weekend due to bad weather
‘If your flight is delayed or canceled, always Google “Bill of Rights” and the airline name,’ she said.
‘It will let you know what your rights are as a customer and what kind of compensation you would get.
‘Being on the tarmac for an hour or in the airport for five hours – what do you get for that?’
She also suggested that customers download the airline’s app to ensure that they’re getting the quickest information for their flight.
‘You’ll probably get up-to-date notifications more than the airline employees,’ she added.
She told viewers that if they made their booking through a third party like Expedia or Priceline, they should contact them rather than the airline directly if they are facing any problems.
‘If you need to talk to somebody, always call who you booked through – trust me,’ she continued.
‘I don’t want you waiting on hold for five and a half hours and then they’re like, “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do, you booked it through Expedia.”‘
Finally, Natalie revealed that there’s a website called FlightAware which can tell you where your plane is, even hours before your flight.
She explained that keeping tabs on it early on can help you gage whether or not there’s going to be a delay far in advance.
Natalie explained that customers should always Google ‘Bill of Rights’ with the airline name when facing any problems, to ensure that they know their full rights as a passenger
Natalie has her own travel blog with her husband, Matt Houston, and she has gained more than 18,000 subscribers on YouTube for documenting their trips
She also told viewers that if they made their booking through a third party like Expedia or Priceline, they should contact them rather than the airline directly if they have a problem
‘FlightAware.com tells you where your plane is at in the sky. Is it on its way? Is it not on its way?’ she explained.
Natalie also revealed that there’s a website called FlightAware, which can tell you where your plane is even hours before your flight and help you gage whether or not there’s going to be a delay
‘There’s a little thing underneath that says, “Where’s my plane now?” You can kind of gage, am I going to be delayed today? Is it already delayed? It kinda helps you gage where you’re at.’
Many people flooded the comment section of the video with their gratitude, writing things like, ‘Thank you for sharing,’ ‘Really helpful,’ and, ‘Great tips.’
Others shared more information that they had learned themselves when it comes to flying, with one person writing, ‘Contract of Carriage. Definitely read up on that as it has your rights to travel as a passenger on an airline.’
‘Never book airline tickets through a third party,’ suggested another user.
Someone else said: ‘Also text customer service if available so you’re not on external hold.’
‘FlightView is another good one to see where your plane is at,’ added a fourth person.
On Saturday, more than 1,900 flights were canceled after a series of thunderstorms in Florida disrupted operations.
1,500 more were then canceled on Sunday, and 550 were canceled on Monday, according to FlightAware.
She also suggested that customers download the airline’s app to ensure that they’re getting the quickest information for their flight
Many people flooded the comment section of the video with their gratitude, writing things like, ‘Thank you for sharing,’ ‘Really helpful,’ and, ‘Great tips’
Others shared more information that they had learned themselves when it comes to flying
ThePointsGuy.com reported that Southwest was the hardest hit airline on Sunday, with 400 flights canceled in total, or about 10 per cent of its schedule.
JetBlue saw 373 cancellations that day – 34 per cent of its schedule – while Spirit canceled 308 flights, or 37 per cent.
American Airlines canceled 271 flights – or 8 per cent – while Delta, Alaska and United all canceled a few dozen each.
‘We have unfortunately had to cancel flights this weekend, and today’s cancellations will help us reset our operation and safely move our crews and aircraft back in to position,’ a spokesperson for JetBlue said on Monday.
‘We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and we are working to get them on their way as quickly as possible.’
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