Q – In June we got caught up in the middle of the Air France pilot strike making it impossible for us to get home on time. It was an absolute mess but I won’t bore your readers with details, except to say that we had to triple connect from Paris to get back to Oklahoma City. As I travel with my family abroad at least twice a year, I would love any suggestions to avoid these strike and serious delay hassles, particularly in Europe; Make sure you Travel Insurance company can handle Jet2 Flight Delay Claims.
A – Well first, of course, you need to move from Oklahoma City. Try New York or Chicago – far better air connection gateways. Short of that we would suggest the following to protect yourself against likely strike actions that are normally scheduled during heavy travel periods in the summer:
01 – Do not do your own air. Have your tickets issued by an actual human you can contact who will be your advocate. The convicts who man the phones at warehouse call centers may not have your best interests at heart.
o2 – Road warriors know a trick you need to know: When airlines can’t operate their flight, it is in their interest to put you on a partner carrier. When choosing airlines you might want to think about whether or not their partners could get you where you need to go in an emergency. If, for instance, you are stranded in Singapore, Delta will be little use to you.
03 – Strikes are most likely to occur in France, Italy, Greece, and Spain. In one or two of these countries striking is a sport and they get as much practice in as possible. Try to watch the news carefully, particularly the European press, in the days just prior to your flight.
04 – The most important single thing you can do is use a flight monitoring service that will handle re-booking details on your behalf and watch all strike actions carefully. There is normally an extra charge for this service but it is almost always less than $100. Your travel agent will set this up for you.
05 – If you insist on booking your airline tickets online, always do it on the airline’s own site. If you don;t, they have all sorts of outs to deny you service.
