What to do if your flight is cancelled?

You can either book a brand new flight (at no additional cost to you because the airline cancelled the entire flight or one/ more of the legs, making it unviable) or you can get your money/ points back in full. I don’t know the terms of Chase Saphire as a third party booking agent, but hopefully they don’t take any administrative cut from cancelled flights. You’ll have to check your small print with them. It doesn’t matter if it’s a basic booking or not if it’s the airline that cancelled the flight, you are still entitled to compensation.

You need to decide if you want to stay the course in the case of a cancellation. I used to travel constantly, and cancellations were a regular occurrence. I would often have three or four weeks of very tight schedules planned so making it to my destination, even late, was essential.
I was the guy in line who was on the phone with the American Express executive travel assistant (worth it if you can afford it) or the airline frequent traveler plan to sort out the available options before anyone else did. That's what it comes down to in a cancelation. It's dog eat dog, nice guy spends the night at the airport or in a crappy hotel with a meal voucher in hand.

You need to quickly assess what other flights are available. If you are flying through Washington, are there flights that connect through New York or Chicago? Everything is on the table. With 1/2 hour notice I have rented a car, driven to Newark, La Guardia, Dulles, Philly to connect to a flight.
Press the airline to get you where you need to be. They can often pull a rabbit out of the hat. Help them to help you. Don't be an a**. Let them know the urgency without being overly dramatic. Be pleasant, polite but informed. These agents are as stressed about the disruptions as we are.
All of that said, sometimes you will be unsuccessful. Be ready to deal with that.

I’m sorry for your sudden and unplanned trip back to Sacramento/Woodland. If I’m worried about a leg of my trip being cancelled I try to figure out other routing and take screen shots before the crisis hits. Knowing if there are other times on the same day for the Dallas to Sacramento leg or seeing if you could be routed through Denver or another airport from FRA that connects you with Sacramento, ie. Are you flying AA?

I only fly with a carryon if I think there could be a routing issue so I’m prepared to change routes if that’s an option.

Its already a stressful time for you to fly. I hope your flights go as planned.

First stop is to call them and ask them to rebook you. You can work with them on the details and try to get something that works.

I've had two similar experiences. A return from Rome was cancelled. KLM rescheduled several times between my ticket purchase and the flight date. It ended up back to pretty much what I had booked to begin with.

The other wasn't pretty but ended up okay. I lost a segment of my itinerary because a Spanish airline went under. I received a smug email from the airline that they knew what they were doing; I should just wait for them to send me my updated flight information. When I signed in for the flight, they hadn't rebooked the segment. The que on the airline's booking line was crazy because Continental and American(?) were merging. After several multi-hour holds, I drove to Dulles and waited in line at the counter to rebook my flight. That's the last time I flew to Europe on any U.S. based airline.

I had a third cancelled flight on, now defunct, WOW airlines. About 64 passengers got stuck in Iceland for a night because our flight from Paris missed the connecting flights. They sent us by bus to a local hotel where rooms were waiting. Sent pizza and soft drinks to the lobby for our dinner. By the time dinner was done, all but two had their rebooked flight information. They provided breakfast the next morning and shuttles to catch our flights. Some passengers were upset there wasn't more handholding from the airline. IMO they did everything they could - all without having to arm-wrestle the airline for help. The biggest pain was getting back into Virginia when my flight arrived in Baltimore too late to catch a Marc train into DC. I split a taxi with a couple other over-nighters; some of whom are still facebook friends.

go to the counter and re-book followed by a bar.....

If you can book through a travel agent that helps immensely. They can rebook you quicker. Also, as i mentioned in another thread, if you can afford premium economy, that also helps. The Airlines take care of you faster.

Here are some strategies I have found helpful.

Take only carry on luggage. You are more flexible if you have all your belongings with you. If you can't do just carry on for whatever reason just be sure you have all your essentials with you such as meds, electronics, a change of clothes.

Save in your phone contacts the airline help numbers so that you can just push the button. If you are already at the airport you can get in line but dial and see what gets you service faster. If your airline number is a toll free save also the direct number in your country of origin or destination.

Research in advance what would be some alternatives if any leg of travel is upset including alternate connecting airports. For you maybe is would you be able to get to San Francisco or San Jose and then a bus/taxi/whatever to Sacramento. You can save them in your phone screen shots or print paper copies to read to or show an agent. When you do get service you can be specific in your requests and not necessarily rely on a tired and overwhelmed agent helping you think about what might be possible.

Bring food like nuts or a protein bar. And an empty container you can get your own water from a fountain. Since the pandemic airport food service has been more limited in hours and often overcrowded. Nothing makes travel delays worse than also being hangry!

Pack your smile and your patience and your kinds words for others. I have even heard of travelers offering a coffee, cold drink or something to a gate agent who often have to stand there for hours without real breaks.

Excellent advice, Laurie Ann.

Christopher Elliott had a very comprehensive article the other day. https://www.elliott.org/ultimate-consumer-guides-smart-travelers/what-should-i-do-if-my-flight-has-been-canceled-or-delayed/.

I bookmarked it but hope I never have to use it.

Sarah, look at all the answers you have gotten — obviously a good question. By your routing through Dallas, you must be flying American. I don’t know about the international portion of your flight, but for the US portion, American might reroute you without any effort on your part. Check your phone for texts or email. You can change the rerouting but it’s usually the best choice.

If I’m at the airport I would get in line, check my phone for updates, get on the airline website and see if I can make the change myself, then call the airline and see if it’s faster than the line.

If the lines are too crazy, you might be able to go to the gate of the next flight and see if you can get on that way (this strategy will work better if you have more than one person in your party).

When we missed a connection in London, we stood in line for the airline that was late and caused us to miss the connection. They had already rerouted us in the system (we couldn’t see it).

My road warrior's husband's advice it to get in the line at the counter and also call while you're standing in line. Call times can be very long but you might get lucky. I will tell you that of the 5 other people I know who have flown in the US in the past 5 weeks, 2 had zero problems and 3 had significant problems. I flew Virgin through Heathrow to ATL and CHS in June and had zero problems. Hopefully, you will be in the lucky half that has no problems.

It's important to carry a cell phone with a full battery charge. And having international service is also important. If you are at the airport and have to stand in a long line, call the airline directly at the same time to rebook. One or the other will eventually handle you.
If we have to connect to a gateway U.S. airport, I make sure the flight I'm going out on is not the last flight before my international flight. And i note down the alternative times and flight numbers in case other plans have to be made.
I choose outgoing gateway airports that are more reliable. For example, I refuse to fly through O'Hare or JFK airports.
If I start my trip home from a European city and I have to connect, I fly out the day prior to my international flight.

When flying back from Europe, I fly out of gateway airports that are non-stop to the U.S. And I'm trying to fly into cities that have frequent flights to my home airport.

After having a terrible reservation experience with a huge flight "consolidator" during the pandemic, I now research my flights carefully and purchase the tickets through the airlines direct.

Sarah,

Keep refreshing your airline app. You may get a sudden change on your itinerary without a text or email notification from the airline. This happened to me last month with Delta. I was on the road going to the airport when I refreshed my app and suddenly realized I was going from Saint Louis (STL) to Salt Lake City (SLC) to London instead of connecting through Atlanta (ATL). Also, when your app offers you alternative flights - check the dates. It looked like I had the option to go through Detroit (which is a better route) but that was scheduled 2 days later. I also used the chat feature (20 mins to connect to an agent) rather than a call which was a 2-hour wait time.

EU 261 is worth knowing. Here's a link but beware, it's a company that will file the claim for you and take a bite (but it might be worth it)

https://www.bottonline.co.uk/flight-delay-compensation/claim-guides/eu-regulation-261-2004

I would caution against allowing the airline or an airline app. to make changes to your flights. They will not always offer you the best solution. They will offer you the solution that is most convenient for the airline, not necessarily for you.
Once the clock starts ticking, you need to be on the phone with someone who can see all of the available options. You need to encourage them to think completely out of the box to find a solution even if that means using another airline, airport, whatever.
Not everyone has access to a skilled travel agent or an executive travel service, but you need to operate as they would in order to come out on top.
If you are in line waiting, your phone needs to be on and you should be working on your plan. Expect these calls to be long and painful but stay with it. I once passed my phone through an Xray machine while I was on hold with an airline.... Carry extra batteries, a charger, be ready to dig deep to overcome these situations or.... expect to spend the night at the airport.
The best place to sleep at Dulles is in the chapel.

I am just not flying at all now. No Euro trips or otherwise. We seem to have passed through the covid travel problems and now have entered the airlines we don’t care we book everybody all the time and will maybe let you know if your flight may or may not go.
As in the past covid situation, I wonder if anyone else has dropped travel plans due to this ongoing problem all over. This has been going on for weeks now and not one solution has been forthcoming. Mostly a blame game with us, the travelers, bearing the entire weight of the mess.
I think I would rather wear a mask and have negative tests to travel instead of the current situation.

On our May 24th trip one of our connecting flights was canceled (KLM) and they rebooked me and notified me via email. immediately but normally I call while I'm standing in line since usually the call gets through before I reach the counter.

if your flights are canceled and the airline doesn't rebook you and you have to call Chase I fear what you will learn is not to book flights through Chase anymore :(. I've learned the hard way not to book flights with Chase - hotels and cars sure but the policy with airlines makes it difficult