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Samantha Brown’s Top Tips for Avoiding Flight Delays

Published

2 years ago

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Source: Samantha Brown

As the host of Samantha Brown’s Places to Love on PBS, Samantha Brown is used to jet-setting around the globe – and, as many of us have experienced this summer, dealt with flight issues.

However, the travel guru sat down with MarketWatch to talk about all things travel and let readers in her top tips to avoid flight delays.
“The first thing you want to do is book the earliest flight you can, and that’s a 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. flight,” Brown told MarketWatch. “It is hard getting up at 3, 4 a.m., but it is absolutely worth it. That’s the plane that [always] leaves. All these problems happen later in the day [with] more traffic, more delays.”

Secondly, Brown recommends booking a straight-through flight whenever possible.

“If you can go direct — and I know for some people this just isn’t possible — it is worth the price,” Brown suggests. “Absolutely pay for a direct flight if you can, even if it’s paying for a direct flight and maybe renting a car and driving an extra two hours.”
Brown told MarketWatch that she recommends booking your flight directly through the airline.

“I’ve never booked with a third-party site,” Brown revealed. “You have a lot more credibility. You are higher in their list of valuable customers. And if something goes wrong, they are the people you call, and they will pick up the phone and they will be able to change your flight that has been canceled or delayed. If it’s a third-party site, that is not going to happen, and it’s really hard to find out who you do call.”

And if your flight is canceled, Brown suggests using social media to your advantage.

“Last piece of advice — and it’s always really worked for me — I use Twitter to get in touch with customer service if my flight is canceled,” Brown told MarketWatch. “That’s the very first thing that I do. You can direct [message] every single airline on their Twitter feed. Send them your confirmation code, saying, “My flight’s been canceled. Can I get on the next flight?” and they are able to book you. I do that as I’m getting in line if I’m at the airport. While you’re in that line, you’re tweeting.”

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