Swiftlydoesit Life & Insurance

What to do when your flight is delayed

June 9th, 2008

It’s what we all look forward to, our holidays.

You’ve done the hard part - you’ve chosen where to go, you’ve booked your holiday and you’ve bought your Travel Insurance. You’re all packed and at the airport in plenty of time, you’ve done everything that you need to do and all you are waiting for now is to be called to your gate. But you don’t get called and then you hear the dreaded announcement that your flight is delayed.

I think that we have all experienced being delayed at one time or another, whether it is before we are on the plane or once we have landed due to baggage going missing. But what do you do while you are waiting?

Unfortunately airports view you as a captive audience and so many of the activities that you can do involve parting with money.

Some of my top tips for passing the time are:

Eating and drinking - some airports like the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow have some fantastic restaurants including a Gordon Ramsay so you can now dine in style while you wait. Be careful how much you drink though as you may not be allowed on your flight if you have one too many.
Shopping - there are usually a selection of shops at airports where you can buy books, food for the flight, jewellrey etc.
Go online - surf the net, catch up on your emails or edit your Facebook account.
Read books or magazines - don’t wait till you are lying on a beach to relax, lose yourself in a good book and you’ll forget where you are (even if only for a short time).
Sleep - you can always catch up on some beauty sleep, particularly if you have had an early start. I found this article entitled How to Sleep in an Airport which gives some good tips.
People watch - sometimes there is nothing more interesting to pass the time then to people watch. Give it a go you might be quite amused. At Stanstead airport some people put on a rather unexpected performance to amuse the travellers, vist this link to view it on You Tube.
Listen to music - ipods are great, all your favourite tracks in one place.

If you have any more great ideas, let us know.

Entry Filed under: insurance, holidays, travel