Traveling During the Upcoming Holiday Period? Do These Two Things NOW

Many people will travel later this month to visit family or go on a sunny (or snowy!) vacation.

It’s a wonderful but admittedly stressful time of the year.

Family drama, packed airports and airplanes, depleted bank accounts, maybe some elite status goals missed (though there’s still time for the last one: get in touch today with point.me!)

And the airport is not where you want to learn there were changes made to flight schedules and/or seat assignments. Especially because those modifications likely happened weeks or months ago.

That is not the way to have yourself a merry little Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, or whatever you do, my friend.

Trust me.

So, with that in mind, here are two fast, simple things you can do now to make your holiday travels a little smoother.

Check Your Flight Schedule

If you’re like me and booked your holiday flights earlier in the year, your itinerary likely changed.

(By the way, this isn’t reserved for just the holiday period. Airlines change their flight schedules year-round. So, this is good practice in general.)

Some schedule changes are a few minutes here and there. Others are more drastic — several hours to maybe a day. (Though the latter isn’t common.) Plus, your flight numbers might’ve changed.

You’re sometimes notified of these changes. The airline may send you an email. If you booked your trip through an online travel agency, that company may give you a heads-up, too.

But that assumes two things: 1) those messages are actually sent and 2) you actually see them. Maybe they end up in your spam folder. Or your email provider decides those are better suited for your “Promotions” or “Social” tabs that you check every few months.

One of my brothers-in-law and his brood are traveling later this month. I booked their tickets a couple of months ago. Right as rain, their return trip changed. (For the better, actually.)

So, please, please, please, check your upcoming flight itineraries right now. It would really stink if you showed up at the airport for your originally scheduled 11:30 AM flight — but didn’t find out until that day it was moved to 10:30 AM.

And if your trip changes significantly (like 90 minutes cumulatively), you’re likely eligible to call the airline and change your itinerary to whatever you want. So, if you booked some awful trip because it was the most affordable option, find a schedule you actually like and tell the airline to move you to that one.

Confirm Your Seat Assignments

Here’s something else to double-check: your seat assignments. Those can change from the time you book until soon before your trip.

Two family members are traveling right now — and didn’t check their seat assignments in the months leading up to their trip. They had a little surprise waiting for them when they got to the airport.

Airlines may change the aircraft for your particular flight. Say you were booked on a 757-200. If that route is selling particularly well, the airline may trip to swap it to something like a 757-300. Your seat assignment will probably change.

Or if the reverse is true, you might be down-gauged to an A320. You might be kissing that exit row or other special seat goodbye if you don’t act quickly. (The aircraft models were general examples. No need to jump down my throat about Well, Delta or American would never do that because…)

That’s no problem if you don’t care where you sit. But if you’re traveling with family and/or are picky (like me), keep an eye on your seats.

Final Approach

You can save yourself some grief by taking a minute or two to check your flight schedule and seat assignments. It’s quick and easy. Do it ASAP so you can make any necessary changes NOW — instead of experiencing unpleasant surprises at the airport.