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For those in the travel industry, the expression “the early bird gets the worm” can be translated into “the first to act gets the seat.” This was true on my flight home on the popular Johannesburg-Newark flight when there was a United Airlines cancellation two hours before departure with 250 people on board.
Flying to South Africa from the United States is challenging, with only two non-stops. Not taking those flights and connecting through Europe means losing vacation time with poor connection options.
Last summer, we booked an amazing two-week trip to see Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Kruger National Park.
Travel lemonade is a new feature of Nonstop Points, discussing ways to turn a negative situation into a positive one. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, as the saying goes.
Preface
The two direct flights to Johannesburg (one from Atlanta and one from Newark) are typically some of the most expensive tickets you can buy from the US. Luckily, United Airlines was running a promotion, and we secured $800 roundtrip tickets from Newark to Johannesburg, which is a great bargain.
Adding a leg could be costly if you don’t live around New York or Atlanta. For instance, if we added a portion from D.C. to Newark, prices shot up another $400.
Buying two roundtrip tickets made the most sense since the DCA-EWR round trip was only $150. That little trick for a family of four saved us $1,000 in savings compared to buying one ticket to South Africa. Remember to call United to connect the tickets, which helps with baggage. Another option is to take Amtrak to Newark since the airport has an Amtrak station.
Lemons: United Airlines Cancellation
Flying home, when we arrived at the Johannesburg airport, we noticed the United ticket counter had a line of at least 100 people wrapped around the terminal. That spelled trouble; to make matters worse, there was no preferred line.
We immediately asked around and found out that our flight was canceled. The pilots had contracted Covid, meaning the plane could not fly out. United was going to bus all passengers to a hotel for three nights until United could fly another crew to South Africa to operate the flight back to the U.S.
Making Lemonade
We needed to move quickly, and waiting in line would not cut it. Knowing there was only one other nonstop to the U.S. leaving that night, the Delta flight to Atlanta, we knew we were racing against time to get seats.
Luckily as a Silver Elite member (thanks to my Marriott Titanium status), we had access to the preferred line. We quickly called and got a hold of an experienced United phone representative. At the same time, we headed to where Delta was checking in people for their Atlanta flight.
Working diligently and patiently with the United agent, she secured us four seats on the flight to Atlanta thanks to the two airlines’ interline agreement. We were lucky to get seats since the A350 operating the route is weight-restricted due to the high altitude of JoBurg, meaning they cannot sell every seat.
Sweet Summer Lemonade
When we got to the front of the Delta line, there was no better feeling than to see those four tickets coming out of the ticket machine. It’s like watching someone squeeze fresh lemons at the county fair and turning them into sweet Lemonade.
However, our journey was not done because the phone agent could only get us confirmed on the flight to Atlanta. When we got to Atlanta, they had no record locator to book us on the next flight to DCA. Luckily, due to our credit cards, we had access to the Delta Lounge, where an experienced agent could secure the four tickets on the ATL-DCA flight with the assistance of another United phone representative.
Once we got home and slept, it was time for some compensation. Due to the inconvenience to United, we submitted a form and were awarded $200 each in travel credit.
That is making lemonade out of lemons….
The Last Point
When a flight gets canceled, don’t panic and certainly don’t just wait in the long line, where people will secure all the seats before you can get to the front. Know your options and move quickly. As the saying goes, “the first to act gets the seats,” which was the case for our United Airlines Cancellation.
Nonstop Points would like to hear from you. What would you have done differently? Comment below!
Nonstop Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Nonstop Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. This post may contain affiliate links; please read our advertiser disclosure for more information
For those with a leisurely schedule, they also got lemonade by being able to stay in Jo’burg for 3 additional days. Maybe they could visit the only two seat Me-262 jet fighter in the world. Many were built but only one survived World War II and post war to end up saved in a museum.
This! I understand everyone’s schedule and job may not allow it, but when a similar thing happened to us in Istanbul UA offered to put us on another airline via another connection city to LAX. (I was 1K at the time and we were in business, so UA actually tried to help :-)). Instead, I asked when the next UA flight would happen and offered to save them money by waiting for that one if they paid my hotel and food plus a travel credit… they agreed and we got an extra few days in Istanbul which were fantastic. Everybody won. 🙂
Since United is part of Star Alliance and Delta is part of Skyteam, I did not know that they had an interline agreement (i.e. outside of those in their respective alliances).
I often book international flights from NYC because ATL flights are so expensive. I did not know that you could call the airline and have them combine the two tickets. Does that provide protection in the case of a flight disrupton? And allow for baggage to be checked through to the final destination?