Thirsty-six hours… It took us 36 hours to get home from Malaga Spain to London Ontario. I am fully aware we are continents away from each other but our trip home from Capetown South Africa took us 25 hours. What was the 11 hours difference? This is post-pandemic travel. Although we are still suffering through this world pandemic, the toll that it has taken on staffing, scheduling, and security will be affecting us the whole summer (if not the foreseeable future). In order to help you avoid some of these delays, I created a list of tips on traveling stress-free post-pandemic.
Tips on Traveling Stress-free
1. AVOID air travel altogether
Although the price of gas is sky high, you may be better suited to drive. Having a family of four in one car is significantly cheaper than flying a family of four (no matter what cheap-airfare-airlines might lead you to believe). If you can manage 6-9 hours driving – with stops along the way, this may be a better bet for you. No security line, lost bags or missed connections.
2. Fly SOONER
If you have a milestone event to attend (wedding, graduation, cruise) and you have to be there on a particular day, don’t take any chances, fly out early. Create a buffer day or two so if your flight gets canceled or pushed back, you can still make it to the important event.
I was at Toronto’s Pearson International airport listening to a gentleman complain that his delayed flight made him miss his connection to the cruise ship. He was counting on getting there the same day it sailed… bad idea.
Stay an extra day and relax, enjoy the port city you are leaving from or get acclimatized to the area before the cruise or festivities start. You will attend the wedding refreshed with stress-free travel.
2. Fly EARLY
Because I fly out of a regional airport and usually have to go through Toronto, I always try to catch an earlier than necessary flight. This gives me the option of being bumped to a later flight and still making the connection.
As a rule, always fly first thing in the morning. If something went wrong the night before, they have usually figured it out by the first-morning flight. If that flight is late, then every subsequent flight will be affected.
Chances are if you are on the first flight, you will likely be on time. Yes, that may mean an early arrival at the airport but there are fewer people to contend with, fewer lines and fewer hassles.
3. Book an airport HOTEL
One year we were flying to Palm Springs with the weather wreaking havoc we decided to drive to Toronto, leave our car at the hotel, and make sure we caught the flight in the morning. The airline had canceled the flight from London to Toronto and we had to quickly let them know we would drive ourselves to Toronto and continue on with our proposed itinerary.
By booking an airport hotel that lets you park your car there, you are basically saving money on daily parking at the airport. The additional cost was worth knowing we would be able to take an airport shuttle, leave our car and get a good night’s sleep before the cross-country flight. BOOK The hotel – just make that part of the cost of stress-free travel.
4. Sign up for SMS and/or email notification
On my most recent trip, I found out at 11:30 am that my 6 pm flight to Toronto was canceled via a text message. That one text message set into motion what would become hours of stressful re-booking flights, frantic last minute packing and lost baggage (more on that later).
This text message made me leave work unexpectedly and head to the airport immediately. I knew if I was to salvage this itinerary, I had to act fast – before they canceled the entire flight itinerary. Unfortunately on my way to the airport, they did just that but offered us an earlier connecting flight.
Text messages also provided up-to-date information on flight status, delays, and cancelations so you can proceed quickly to make necessary changes. I promise you, this will happen. Be prepared to pivot and make alternate changes.
4. DOWNLOAD the airline APP
Downloading the airline app can also be key to stress-free travel during covid. Most airline apps can do everything you need to do on the website: check-in, issue electronic boarding passes, and keep track of your luggage, flight delays, and flight changes. If you need to make changes to your itinerary, you can also make them on the airline app.
On certain flights, you can also get last minute upgrades and seat selection.
5. Book directly with the AIRLINE
As tempted as you are to book through third party apps or websites, all airlines will always keep their loyal customers happy. If you book directly with the airline, you are more likely to get on that next flight.
Although we flew on frequent flyer points, we had to make all arrangements through Air Canada once we were stranded in Copenhagen. SAS’s hands were tied as the original booking was through Aeroplan when we were flying with SAS from Copenhagen to Malaga. Since it was Air Canada that canceled that leg of the flights, it was also Air Canada that got us back on those flights without additional costs to us!
As a rule, I will book with the airline directly 99% of the time. The last 1 percent is when we book via our frequent flyer program and their Star Alliance partner.
Remember, flights are FULL. If a flight is oversold, and no one volunteers to give up their seats, who do you think is the first to be bumped? It should not surprise you that the family that saved a few dollars by using sites like Expedia, Kayak, Skyscanner etc. Traveling stress-free means planning with the big picture in mind.
6. Longer layovers are BETTER
In the last two months, I have been through 8-9 airports (due to connections), and they were all busy, very, very busy. Some of these airports had gates that felt like they were miles apart. More than once I was running (full-on-take-my-breath-away-sprinting) for a flight. Ninety minutes is not enough to make those connections. With frequent delays due to lack of ground crew or having to get a new crew, you will be leaving later than expected.
Consider a minimum of 2.5-3 hours of connecting time at a minimum. Even our five-hour layover in Denmark got shrunk down to 2 hours and we still almost missed our connecting flight.
7. Be grateful for all AIRPORT employees
Remember not all that you see on the internet is a true representation of what transpired at an airport but know this, airlines are woefully short staffed and by token, many are over worked. In Canada, flight staff tap out at 13 hours so if flights are delayed, they must not exceed this time. Have a little patience when a new flight crew has to be called in to replace the other one. Even that can be difficult because at times there are not enough crew for back up.
A lack of ground crew kept us on the tarmac after our nine hour flight from Zurich to Toronto. Without flight crews you cannot park planes, get your luggage on/off, or process travelers at the gate (and in winter de-ice planes).
Once they had us at the gate, we were held back again because there were not enough customs agents to process the plane as other flights had filled the waiting area. This was the first time we had customes agents verify our passports and ArriveCan app. at the gate. Three agents cleared hundreds of us in minutes. Desparate times call for desparate measures.
8. Mind your MANNERS
No matter how frustrated you are, please remember many of these delays are beyond the control of airport employees. If they seem indifferent or uncaring to you, know that you are the 100th person that has asked for help, pull them aside or interupted them on the way to a well deserved break. Yelling at them will not help anyone and they will be less likely to help you out.
Insider’s Tip: Also, look for other areas for flight information and help. In Pearson’s Terminal 1 there is an Air Canada Customer Service desk beside Gate D4. Instead of asking for help at the general concourse area walk a bit futher to the D gates on the first floor.
(this desk is less busy than the one on the concourse level)
On a side note: DO NOT pass the time buying drink after drink. You will not be able to get on a flight drunk. Trust me, the agents know when you are drunk and you will get kicked off the flight. This will take time so you are making enemies of every other passenger and flight crew. You’ve waited this long don’t blow it on drinks because they will not likely calm you down.
9. Brink a CARRY-ON
I made the fatal mistake of checking in my luggage on our flight to Spain. As I waved goodbye to my bag, little did I know I would not see it until my return home 12 days later. Our luggage had a grand vacation in both the Copenhagen and Malaga Airports – they vacationed – just not with us.
This created a level of stress I have not experienced in a long, long time. There were toiletries, undergarments, basic t-shirts and shorts to buy. We lost a few days just searching for clothes that fit me. Thank goodness for the backpacks we received on our trip. We managed 12 days with two backpacks and a Longchamps bag each. Seven cities, one rental car and seven hotel stays later we survived without our luggage – easy travel it was not!
10. BUY INSURANCE
No matter how long or short your vacation is always buy travel insurance. For one year’s coverage (with multiple international flights), I am coverd for just over $300 dollars. This covers both full health insurance (should I need to stay in a country due to illness – including COVID-19), delayed or lost luggage or flight cancellation. It is worth every cent that I paid for it!
Traveling stress-free and air travel in general is going to be challenging. This does not mean you shouldn’t do it, it means you need to take precautions (and a good dose of patience) with you when you make plans.
The bottom line is this:
- fly early in the morning
- bring a carry-on
- book with the airline directly
- prepare to pivot
- be nice
- Bon Voyage
Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.