What should I do if industrial action affects my travel plans?

If you’ve been unlucky enough to be caught in a strike or industrial action that resulted in a cancelled flight, you’ll know what a stressful situation it can be.

But there are steps that can be taken to ensure disruption is minimised and answers are available to questions like:

• Will I still be able to travel?

• Is there an alternative travel option?

• How long will this last?

Often, the panic at the threat of a strike will be enough to motivate the relevant parties to find a satisfactory resolution before action is taken.

But when that doesn’t happen and a strike goes ahead, cancelling your flight(s), what can you do?

Will I be charged further?

As frustrating as it seems, the first few days when a strike or industrial action is announced are the most uncertain for customers and corporate travel companies.

Airlines will typically issue directives outlining how passengers can use their existing purchased tickets without incurring any unnecessary charges.

Unless you’ve purchased a fully flexible ticket incorporating a complete refund, these directives must be adhered to to avoid penalties.

Airline reluctance to refund or change flights is an all-too-common reality unfortunately, however unfair it may seem.

Contact your corporate travel agent

The first and most important step, is to get in touch with your agent or booker.

Even if they don’t have immediate concrete answers in terms of what the airline will do, they will outline possible options and outcomes.

You’ll be put at ease by discussion with an experienced and capable professional and be able to put potential alternative plans in place.

Likely outcomes

Typically, most airlines will allow you to change to an alternative flight at no extra cost in the result of industrial action, provided the cabin is the same.

Some will allow and arrange travel with partner airlines provided such occurrences have been agreed prior to travel.

For a rare last resort, carriers may book another airline that doesn’t form part of their alliance – but this is uncommon due to the costs incurred.

The likely winners in the result of a strike are few and far between but we do recall one notable occasion where we were able to deliver value.

Three of our corporate travel customers in possession of non-refundable tickets discovered a month before that they would need to cancel their trip.

We advised them not to until the last minute, in the hope that a significant schedule change would occur and form grounds for negotiation with the airline.

Instead, an unforeseen strike was announced and the outbound flight was cancelled, with the client receiving a full refund on all three tickets.

Obviously such occurrences can’t be planned for but do further highlight the importance of talking through all your options with your corporate travel booker.