Before you leave
- get nexus/goes - never wait in line for north american customs ever again...need i say more?
- have a fully charged cell phone or money for a pay phone
- bring a wireless device - access to the internet can be useful when you need hotel or airport information
- ensure you have the number of the airline you are flying and the numbers of the code shares (or that someone who will help you has this information)
i.e
united/continental and air canada code share - one airline may help you or may tell you to call the other
have all numbers on hand and check your itinerary before you leave for the relevant airlines
for anything to do with aeroplan have aeroplan's number and air canada's number in addition to the airlines you are flying
- make sure you have your confirmation number and that it's easily accessible
- do a bit of research - if you have a tight connection check alternate flights that you could switch to, being prepared on the phone means quick phone calls and efficient service
- use a travel credit card with interruption insurance - not necessary, but can be useful for the odd hotel, if you travel a lot this can be very helpful
If you're stuck
- call the airlines! calling gets you better service than talking to someone on the ground, people on the ground often have no idea what is going on and they tend to finger point and ship you around to various desks or tell you to call the airline
- leave someone your travel plans, if you are stuck somewhere and the rest of the airport is stuck too the wifi and cell networks will be very busy, having a friend outside the chaos can be very helpful, especially if they are in another time zone or country
- be proactive! if you know that you're stuck, consider making a hotel reservation immediately, if you know that you are going to be stuck try to change your flight before you get stuck, try to get on an earlier flight - don't wait until you are stuck or your entire flight will be trying to rebook at the same time!
Stuck in Toronto
- the only people that can get you out of the US security zone is a member of the airline you were suppose to fly - so find someone and ask them to let you leave, customer service will just send you to one of them anyway, so try a representative first
- if you need a new boarding pass you can get customer service to print them for you
- if you have lounge access they can usually only help you with their specific airline (i.e MLL air canada only) and they are usually only helpful when you spell out everything for them, so arrive prepared
