MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Are you packing a suitcase today by chance? Checking in online? Maybe keeping an eye on airport traffic? If so, you are not alone. This year, AAA, the American Automobile Association, projects that holiday air travel will set a new record, almost 6 million people flying within the U.S. to their Thanksgiving destinations. Getting there could be tricky, though. According to forecasts from California to Boston, winter storms could jam up travel on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Scott Keyes is founder of the travel app Going, and Scott joins us now with tips for what to do if your air travel does not go precisely as planned. Hey, Scott.
SCOTT KEYES: Thank you so much for having me, Mary Louise.
KELLY: I want to start, just lay on us your top tip for travelers on the day of their flight. And if you're about to tell me arrive at the airport early, I will tell you to get in line because my mother has beaten you...
KEYES: Oh, goodness.
KELLY: ...Calling and reminding me of this.
KEYES: Well, I've got a couple of young kids, so I think I'm allowed to trot out that dad advice, but I'll give you something else. My top tip is if your flight gets delayed or canceled, don't just stand in line at the airport because empty seats are first come, first served. So what you want to do is, when you're standing in line, you want to also pull out your phone, give a call to the airline, but also download the airline's app because they have gotten much, much better in the last year or two at rebooking yourself for those empty seats. If you can get it quickly, you're going to be the lucky recipient of an earlier flight.
KELLY: Checking a bag, I'm guessing you're going to tell us not a great idea if you can possibly help it.
KEYES: If you can avoid checking a bag, that's going to be best. If it happens that your flight is delayed or canceled and you need to switch to another flight, it's going to be far easier if they don't have to also try to find your bag in the belly of one plane and switch it to a new plane. It might happen that there's only 15 minutes until the next replacement flight, and that gate agent is going to ask you, Mary Louise, do you have a checked bag? If so, we might not be able to get you onto that new flight.
KELLY: The weather - obviously, we can't do anything about the weather, but we can check the weather. And if we check it and it ain't looking great, what do we do?
KEYES: So the best thing that you can do is to check if the airline is giving weather vouchers. Oftentimes, they will let you switch any flights free of charge if there's going to be bad weather at those airports. You know, you can oftentimes switch specific airports, you can switch which days you're traveling on. It's worth getting in touch with the airline and seeing if you can switch, and in many cases, especially with bad weather, they'll make that switch without charging you a penny.
KELLY: OK, so for future, probably too late for most of us this week, but when it comes to booking flights without delays, any final tips?
KEYES: There are two types of flights you can book that give you the best odds of an on-time arrival, the early morning flights and the nonstop flights. So early morning flights tend to have a 25 percentage point higher on-time arrival than afternoon flights because your aircraft is already at the airport. It's been parked there overnight. It's ready to go.
KELLY: So you don't get caught up in the whole incoming flights being delayed and therefore delaying your flight and all the bump-on effect?
KEYES: Exactly. We've all been there at the airport where it's sunny outside, but it says our flight is delayed, and the reason why is because of a snowstorm in Denver where our aircraft is coming from.
KELLY: Yes, I have been on that flight so many times (laughter).
KEYES: It's infuriating. The second one is nonstop flights. Not only are they more convenient, but if you've got a connection that's, let's say, an hour-and-a-half and your connecting flight gets delayed by two hours, well, you're going to miss your layover. And so that's why those nonstop flights are really worth a premium because they're much more likely to get you where you're going and really put yourself at the best odds of getting home safe and on time.
KELLY: Scott Keyes is the founder of the travel app Going. Thank you.
KEYES: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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