Hack My Trip

Same day changes are offered by many airlines to allow you to move from one flight to another, usually but not always an earlier flight. Today I’ll discuss why these changes can be helpful for your travel schedule as well as how to find and request such a change. Each carrier has its own rules, which I summarize at the end of this post. In the meantime, I’ll use United Airlines as an example just to explain the process. This is my third year as a Premier 1K with United Airlines. I am embarrassed to admit I have not successfully used a same day change or same day standby very often. A major reason was that I don’t usually have that option. I pick good flights that I don’t want to change, or I go to places that don’t have … [Continue reading]

While most of the information will be old hat to some, Scott McCartney does a good job in today's Middle Seat column from The Wall Street Journal when describing strategies by airlines and passengers alike to reduce the stress of summer travel this year. Some things, like staffing shortages and warnings of delays are nothing new. I'm not sure that I would ever show up two hours early as some officials in Atlanta are recommending. But then again, there's a reason I don't fly Delta. I almost flew through Atlanta this year -- almost -- before I paid extra to travel direct on American instead. ;) What's more significant are some of the things the airlines are doing to prevent these issues from occurring in the first place. United has for … [Continue reading]