Airline workers don’t at all times have all the knowledge once they let you know the explanation for a flight’s delay or cancellation. Within the absence of particulars, they might blame it on “climate,” since it is a state of affairs the airline cannot management and for which it subsequently often is not liable. However, in the event you suspect different causes for the delay or cancellation, you might be able to use ExpertFlyer to get the actual purpose.
And the actual purpose could make a major distinction. For instance, the American Airlines customer service plan states:
“If the delay or cancellation is brought on by occasions past our management (like climate), you’re accountable for your personal in a single day lodging, meals and incidental bills.”
Nonetheless, if the delay or cancellation is brought on by components the airline can management (akin to crew or plane availability), it is a totally different story completely.
Every airline has totally different insurance policies, and a few nations even have laws that shield vacationers (akin to EU261). You may additionally have travel insurance or a credit card with trip delay protection.
So, now that you recognize why you would possibly must know what induced a delay or cancellation, here is the way you might be able to use ExpertFlyer to get this info.
What’s ExpertFlyer?
Earlier than we dive into the way to use ExpertFlyer to see flight delay or cancellation causes, let’s briefly focus on the ExpertFlyer product itself. ExpertFlyer is a product that many superior vacationers and journey brokers use to seek out awards and upgrades, test flight availability and see fare info.
ExpertFlyer affords a free tier that is primarily helpful for using ExpertFlyer alerts to secure a better seat. There’s additionally a Fundamental tier that prices $4.99 monthly (or $49.99 per 12 months) that permits you to set 4 alerts at a time. It additionally permits you to seek for awards and upgrades one date at a time (as much as 250 queries monthly).
Nonetheless, the true energy and usefulness of ExpertFlyer come from its Premium tier. This tier prices $9.99 monthly (or $99.99 per 12 months) however affords 200 alerts at a time (together with plane change alerts and schedule change alerts). Moreover, it affords the flexibility to seek for awards and upgrades in one-week intervals (with limitless queries) and entry to all accessible printed fare pricing.
Reward your inbox with the TPG Each day publication
Be a part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s specialists
You will want a Premium ExpertFlyer membership to see the explanation for a flight delay or cancellation. Nonetheless, you may enroll in a five-day free trial for Premium when signing up for ExpertFlyer, so you can use it throughout a brief time period for the aim of trying up info in your flight’s points.
Associated: Beginners guide to finding award space with ExpertFlyer
Find out how to use ExpertFlyer to see the explanation for a flight delay or cancellation
After getting a Premium ExpertFlyer account, you might be able to use it to see the explanation for a current flight delay or cancellation. To see if ExpertFlyer can see why your flight was delayed or cancelled, log in and click on “Flight Standing” on the left-hand navigation menu.
Enter the date, choose the airline after coming into its code and enter the flight quantity.
When you click on “Search,” a web page with flight info will load.
Click on on “View further feedback,” after which you may even see the explanation for the delay or cancellation.
Within the case of AA167 on Dec. 8, the delay was as a result of an plane gear swap earlier within the day that affected this flight. So, you can use this info in the event you wanted to show that the delay was inside the airline’s management and wasn’t as a result of climate or different components. When you discover the extra feedback obscure, chances are you’ll need to use a big language mannequin, akin to ChatGPT, to help in decoding the textual content.
Why ExpertFlyer won’t present your flight’s delay or cancellation purpose
Sadly, ExpertFlyer cannot present detailed flight standing info for each airline. And the reasons offered by some airways might be much less detailed than these offered by American Airways within the instance above. In brief, ExpertFlyer will solely show helpful flight standing feedback in case your airline publishes operational remarks and delay codes within the World Distribution System feed that ExpertFlyer can learn.
You’ll be able to often use ExpertFlyer to seek out the explanation for a delay or cancellation on an American Airways or Alaska Airways flight, however not on funds carriers or Delta Air Strains. The delay and cancellation causes yow will discover through ExpertFlyer for United flights are inconsistent, however generally useful. Nonetheless, in the event you’re on a world provider that makes use of Amadeus for its airport operations (akin to British Airways), you may probably be capable of see the delay or cancellation purpose.
Lastly, you may solely get flight standing info via ExpertFlyer for flights within the final seven days and the subsequent three days. However the info might not be accessible for flights operated by some airways in the event you wait greater than a day or so. Thus, in the event you expertise a flight delay or cancellation, it is sensible to instantly test the explanation in ExpertFlyer and take a screenshot, even in the event you do not count on to wish it.
Associated studying: