Connections are bound to connect people. Sometimes, when connections don’t serve the purpose that they are intended to, the whole picture gets spoiled. With these connection citations, I am trying to connect you to the transits - “the connection points”.
Unless you are travelling to a major city with a huge airline hub, you will have to take these connection flights to fly from your place to the destination. There is always a chance of missing those connection flights if not planned properly. To ensure a smooth connection, we would recommend:
Avoid being tightly connected:
If suppose, you are travelling via Heathrow airport, which is one of the world’s busiest airports, you may end up walking to the departure gate, if in case the transportation factor between terminals is missing. Though they operate buses every six to ten minutes between terminals, passengers may find it difficult to commute to the gates for their outbound flights. With such constraints ahead, one cannot chose connecting flights with a transit time of 90 minutes. So, we would suggest you allow yourselves a minimum of 3 hours to connect to your destinations. This will not be a problem since most of the aerodrome allow up to 6 hours for connections to be made.
Baggage Transfer:
When you are not on a long trip, you won’t be carrying a lot. When you are overloaded, you are inviting trouble, if your airline doesn’t provide you the baggage transfer facility.
When your baggage is checked through to the destination at the departure airport, then you don’t have to collect baggage at transit hub since that will eat up a good amount of time from your pockets. Be sure to choose an airline that offers this baggage transfer and save time.
If these two trepidations are given sheer importance then your connection flight becomes pleasant..!!
At the worst case, if it happens for you to miss your connection flight, then what do you do? You still have a chance to fly at no additional cost. Take a look at how can this be possible?
Demand a seat to fly:
If a planned delay or cancellation of one flight segment causes you to miss your connection flight which you have booked under one booking number, then you can, by all means, demand for a seat in the next available flight. You are just a phone call away to avail this service, if you are expecting a delay. Once you land at the transit, you should look for your airline’s travel desk and follow the procedures to board the next available flight. As simple as that J
How do you manage the delay?
“Time and tide waits for none” marks the significance of time. Few things go out of control and this sort of delay falls under those few things. You will always have to be prepared to face the consequences of it. A few steps that you could take to manage this delay:
Drop by the Duty-Free shops:
Be it window shopping or shopping, for sure, it kills a lot of time. And if you have got women with you, you are already done for the dayJ. With kids onboard, the play becomes even more interesting. With women shopping and kids weeping, you can’t complain about killing time J
Plan for your stay at the hotel:
If the delay is going to be for 2-3 hours then waiting at the travelers lounge makes sense. But for a delay of more than 6-7 hours, the airline takes responsibility in arranging suitable accommodation for its passengers and incur transportation charges to the place of accommodation. Heathrow airport doesn’t have a place to stay during nights within their premises and hence in case of delays, airlines are bound to look for hotels nearby.
To be prepared, in case of such delays, let us carry an additional attire. Two pairs of clothing’s shouldn’t make much of a difference.
Hope that sums up the strategy to keep your flight pleasant through the transit!!! Safe journey!!!