Probably the most common reason a flight is cancelled is weather.  Sometimes this is pretty obvious, like if you’re sitting in the middle of a snow storm, and no one is moving anywhere.

Sometimes you look outside, and it’s sunny and calm.  How can the flight be cancelled for weather like that?  Think about it.  The weather might be occurring somewhere else.  Maybe there are severe thunderstorms on the East Coast, and that’s where the flight is coming from.  Maybe the flight is coming from sunny Florida, but it’s coming THOUGH a hub in the middle of one of those storms.  Maybe there is a sandstorm in the Sahara or a typhoon in Japan.  Weather anywhere in the world can affect your flight if it is a long haul flight.

Another reason flights may be cancelled is mechanical problems.  If this is the case, you want them to cancel, but it’s hard not to feel frustrated anyway.

Or a flight could be cancelled because there have been delays, and now the crew has been waiting for too long.  There are rules about when they can fly and when they can’t.

If your flight is cancelled, the second you hear that your plane is not going anywhere, call the airline’s toll-free number.  (It’s a smart idea to have it programed in your cell phone.)  Get into the line at the counter, especially if it’s fairly short, but make that call while you’re standing in line.  There’s a good possibility you’ll get rebooked more quickly on the phone than at the counter where a couple of overwhelmed airline employees are being swarmed by a plane full of disgruntled fliers.

Ask what your options are.  Actually, it pays to have an idea of alternatives before you get to the airport.  True, most times you won’t need to use the alternatives, but with cancelled flights, the sooner you can act on those alternatives, the more apt you are to get on your way while everyone else is still looking them up.

Most airlines will rebook you, with no fees or penalties, on the next flight on which space is available.  Not necessarily on the next flight… the next flight on which space is available.  During holiday periods or really bad weather situations, this could be more than just hours.  If you seen the news the last few years, you know it can even be days!

If the wait seems too long, ask the agent if there might be a seat on another airline.  Remember they are in competition, but airlines will often endorse your ticket to another carrier to try and get you on your way in a timely fashion.  You’ll have the most luck if the flight is on a partner airline.

If these things don’t work, suggest solving your flight problem by connecting through another city or going to another airport.  Remember, all of these suggestions only work if your cancelled flight is pretty much an isolated situation.  If all the airlines are canceling flights, as they must in bad weather, ….patience is the only thing that will work.

If you’re going on an impromptu trip, you can look and book at the last minute, but if you HAVE to be there for Christmas or Mother’s Day or a wedding or that cruise, booking a flight at least six weeks ahead is probably a good idea.

Internet booking gurus suggest the best time to shop for your flight online is a Monday or Tuesday.  Airlines typically lower fares early in the week and raise them again toward the weekend.  Start your quest for booking a flight with a search engine that does a comprehensive fare search…. on a site like Kayak.  This should return a list of flights with the best schedule and price.

If you want to save money, consider driving to a smaller airport.  Airfares can be cheaper from those outlying airports and parking may be cheaper too.  If your time off allows it, try to fly on non-peak days.  (For instance — in the U.S., avoid the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after… those are definitely PEAK travel days and will be the most expensive.)

Don’t think only the broad search engines are the place to look.  Check airline sites in your search for booking a flight.  Airlines pay commissions to other booking engines, so more and more they are posting the best air fares on their own sites.  There may be specials that other search engines can’t find.  These specials often pop up for a short time, and they’re usually not advertised.

It’s best to avoid itineraries that involve several connections or several airlines.  Every stop and connection is a possible problem for missed connections.  You might save a couple of dollars if every thing goes right, but you’ll have a real headache if things go wrong…. and if you’ve got to be there, a couple of extra bucks for a non-stop or direct flight is well worth the peace of mind!  Get up early and catch the first flight… it’s the one that is least likely to be delayed.

If you MUST be there for that holiday or wedding or cruise, we suggest booking your flight at least 24 hours before you need to be there.  If you have a connection, make sure there is enough time to get to the next plane… even if the first one is delayed.  Look for a minimum connection time of two hours.

Weather delays happen summer or winter and the airlines are not responsible for these.  They will not compensate you.  They will try to get you on the next available flight, but that might not be until the next day, and if you haven’t allowed enough time, you may miss the boat or the wedding.

Be smart when you’re booking a flight online, and your holiday will get off to a good start…. and you’ll get home on time.

Empty your pockets of loose change.  Wallets and cell phones should go into one of those little bins they provide also.  Remember heavy watches, bracelets, and belt buckles can set of the alarm, so take those off, and stow them in your carry-on bag before you get to the front of the line or put them in the bins.

Consolidate books and snacks so you won’t have as many things to gather back together once you’ve been screened.

In the United States, you have to take your shoes off.  Slip-on shoes will come off and go on faster.  Zippers and laces will slow you down… have your shoes untied or unzipped before you get to the front of the line.  (Take care when you put them back on that you don’t trip before you’re put back together!)

Have your one quart/one liter plastic bag with your liquids, creams and gels out of your carry-on, and put it in a bin.  Remember each liquid should be 3 ounces/100 ml or less, right?  There shouldn’t be any loose liquids in your carry-on bag.  If you have “medically necessary” liquids or baby food, in most countries, those can be outside of your plastic bag allowance, but you must notify a screening officer.

Have a plan when you put things into bins on the screening belt.  If you put things through the screening in the right order, you’ll be able to put yourself back together faster afterward.  Here’s a good way to do this.

First put your shoes, coat and your carry-on “personal item” (usually your smaller bag) in the first bin.   They will come through the x-ray first, and you can be putting them back on while you’re waiting for your other items to be screened.

If you’re carrying a computer, put your carry-on bag for your laptop in the bin ahead of your computer, then when your computer comes through, you’ll have the laptop bag ready to slip the computer right into it.

If it’s going to take you a long time to put your shoes back on, collect all of your belongings and move to the side so the line doesn’t get jammed up.  There are usually a few chairs against a wall nearby where you can sit down and put yourself back together.

You will annoy your fellow travelers AND the screening agents if you stand there and try to put those shoes on…. leaving your bin on the screening belt with others backing up behind yours.  Airports report that almost half of all security checkpoint bottlenecks are caused by people putting themselves together after screening without moving to the side…. don’t let this be you!

Do you have any good tips for getting through the airport security checks easer? Leave us a comment below.

You can get the report at cruise.firsttimersrulebook.com

Ok, I don’t see any flight status here. What’s up Google? The good news is the first search result is for flightstats.com to tell me about the flight. Ok, flightstats.com 1 – Google 0.

Let’s try another flight. I’ll go to one of the next flights which is Delta 1137 coming in from Atlanta. The flight hasn’t even taken off yet (it’s only 8pm here). Let’s see what Google has to say.

Ok, this looks more like it. Google tells me it’s on schedule. That’s good news. This feature was just released so I’m not surprised that it has a few bugs. If you are heading to the airport this could be a quick way to see if your flight is delayed. It’s interesting that Google links you to flightstats.com anyway. I give credit to Google for making things easier. Too bad there isn’t a single place to find all these shortcuts that Google offers. That sounds like a good future post

Some tips that I thought were great:

Bring along some clear plastic baggies. You can help speed up through the line by making use of some simple sandwich baggies when going through security. Place all allowable liquids in your carry on into one, as well as all items from your pockets into another so they’ll be easy for security to check and easy for you to keep track of.

Dress appropriately. This may sound like a silly bit of advice, but you’ll save yourself a great deal of trouble if you aren’t wearing something that just screams “troublemaker” or makes you look suspicious. You’ll undoubtedly be subject to greater hassles from security and maybe even your airline, as passengers have been removed from planes for wearing clothes that were too sexy or offensive. It may be unfair that security gets to police your fashion choices, but you’ll move through much more quickly if you work with it and not against it.

Anything that saves time and reduces stress at the airport is a great thing.

Do you have any tips for dealing with airport security? Leave a comment below and share them with us.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you are searching for ‘Caribbean vacation deal’ in Google. When you hover your mouse cursor over the link you’d like to visit in Google a new icon will appear:

When you hover your mouse cursor over the blue icon, a new window will appear in your browser window and display the page:

You can browse the site from within that window or if you move your mouse cursor away from the window it will automatically close.

You can also lock the window on the screen by clicking on the lock button in the upper right of the window

If you would like to save that page for later (kind of like a temporary bookmark) you can click on the stacks icon on the left side of the window and save it.

Once you save the page in your stacks a new window will appear on the right side of your browser window where you can see all of your saved pages and visit them by simply clicking on the image

This cool tool has made my online searching and shopping much easier and I use it every day. I know I will be putting it to good use as I do my Christmas shopping.

You can download the add-on for Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari. Check out the Cooliris homepage for more details as well.

Do you have a cool tip for searching and shopping online? Please share it in the comments below.

Happy searching!

Some people like to wait to the last minute to find a place to go on vacation. I have a few friends that prefer this method but they make the best decisions when they are under pressure and in a time crunch. Last minute vacations are not for everyone, but can certainly add a new level of adventure to the trip. One of the benefits of waiting until the last minute is getting great deals on a last minute vacation.

Waiting until the last minute can also help you decide on a destination. Finding the best deal at the last minute can leave your trip to chance. I have done this a few times (especially when shopping for a cruise) and it adds a level of excitement to your trip. Not only do you have no idea where you are going until you book your trip, you also don’t have to wait to leave.

I’d love to hear from you.. What do you think makes a great last minute vacation? Is it the deals you can find at the last minute? Do you have a certain ritual that you follow in planning your last minute trip? Please leave a comment and let me know your idea of a great last minute vacation.

In the Google search box just type in your from and to cities. Check out the example below, flying from Miami to Grand Cayman.

The first search result includes a Departure and Return date. Fill out your desired dates and the search criteria for Cheap Tickets, Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, Priceline, and Travelocity are already filled out.

If it’s a search you do often you can bookmark the search to make it even easier:

Miami to Grand Cayman

The next time you are looking for a last minute flight or just shopping around for airline tickets, give this a try. I’d love to know what you think of this method. Leave me a comment below.