Study Abroad Q&A: What to Do If You Miss Your Connecting Flight

If you’re traveling long distances, your itinerary is most likely full of connecting flights. Ideally you’d like your travels to run smoothly, but we’re going to tell you right now that’s probably not going to happen. Don’t let it freak you out — it’s part of the experience and makes you a savvier traveler in the end! 

When I traveled to Seville, Spain, for the first time, I had connecting flights in London and Barcelona. My flight leaving from Chicago was delayed, which caused me to miss my flights in London and Barcelona. What a disaster! Fortunately, I wasn’t traveling alone because that would have been a lot more frightening!

While missing your flight in another country can be stressful, below are a few tips you can use prior to traveling to make it less nerve-wracking if it does end up happening!

• Print out 2 copies of your itinerary (in case you misplace one on your journey).
• Have all customer service phone numbers of the airlines you’re flying handy in case your connecting flight is late at night and nobody’s at the counter in the airport.
• Have the contact information of whoever is picking you up at your final destination available and make sure they have your itinerary prior to your travels.

What do you do if you miss your connecting flight?

Luckily, as long as the delay was the airline’s fault (for example, weather conditions or mechanical issues) the airline will be responsible for booking you on the next available flight.

If this is going to cause you to miss another connecting flight with a different airline, the best thing to do is to assess the situation and see if there is any possible way you can make that flight. If it’s completely impossible, and the airline that is re-booking your first flight can’t help you re-book your second connecting flight, you should then find that airline’s customer services stand and let them know what happened. They will help you and rebook you.

If the missed connection is your fault (because you did something like spend too much time talking to a cute boy in the airport), you should still go to the airline’s customer service desk and they will help you rebook. The difference is you probably won’t be their number one priority… and you might have to pay a fee.

Don’t forget: If somebody is picking you up at your final destination, you should let them know about the changes once you’ve figured everything out.

The most important thing to remember is to stay calm and know that you’ll eventually make it to your final destination. Safe travels!