Let's face it: Americans are obsessed with cars and road trips. Who can resist the call of the wide-open road? But one cyclist organization is imagining a different way to see the country — and it just made a huge addition to its network.
24.01.2025 - 22:05 / cntraveler.com / John F.Kennedy / Gilbert Ott
What happens if you miss your flight? It's a question I found myself frantically asking just a few weeks ago. I'd made mistake after mistake in my commute from North Brooklyn to John F. Kennedy International Airport—missed one train, boarded the local of another rather than the express—and was cutting it closer than I ever had before. I did not find out the answer firsthand because, thankfully, I made it on board after a proper sprint through Terminal 4.
If I had missed my flight, what fate would have befallen me? The answer depends on several factors ranging from my excuse (was it weather, traffic, or my own folly that caused me delay?) to the airline and the type of ticket I purchased.
Also impacting a traveler's prospects once a flight is missed? Our own attitudes and approaches—namely, the way that we speak to the agents who are in a position to help us. Gilbert Ott, spokesperson for airline reward platform Point.me, says, “You're at the mercy of the airline and any DYKWIA behavior is unlikely to help. Try to be accountable, even if circumstances like a ‘flat tire’ were extraordinary, and instead focus on a desire to find solutions.”
Below, we take a deep dive on what goes down if you miss your flight, and get some tips on how to avoid such a situation in the first place. For more on what happens if you miss your connecting flight, read on here.
This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
Additional reporting by Blane Bachelor.
Most airlines have some sort of “flat tire” rule in place that allows agents to re-book passengers on the next available flight when they miss their own due to reasons outside of their control—a flat tire, sure, but also anything like a public transit issue, weather event, or other unforeseen incident that causes you to just miss your flight. Some airlines write them down and make them official, others don't. In any case, a passenger's best bet at success in a flat tire scenario is to approach the gate agent without entitlement. “The fact is that the airlines don’t care why you don't show up at the gate,” says Michelle Couch-Friedman, executive director for Elliott Advocacy, a Washington-D.C.-based consumer advocacy nonprofit. “There really is no differentiation between getting held up with TSA or sleeping too long. The passenger is responsible in both of those.”
American Airlines, for example, has a set policy in place that allows passengers who miss their flight to stand by for the next one if they meet at least one of the following criteria: the passenger arrives after the cut-off for check in but within 2 hours of the posted departure time; the passenger arrived at the wrong airport with a mobile boarding pass; the passenger
Let's face it: Americans are obsessed with cars and road trips. Who can resist the call of the wide-open road? But one cyclist organization is imagining a different way to see the country — and it just made a huge addition to its network.
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