Image : Shutterstock

If you had plans to travel to Europe this summer, and especially over the next month, then Trump’s latest travel ban has likely caught your attention.



Starting Friday, the 30-day ban restricts non-US citizens from flying into the United States if they have visited a number of countries in Europe over the past 14 days. Specifically, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Advertisement

The idea behind the ban is to help curb the spread of coronavirus. While you’ll technically still be able to get back into the US should you decide to take that European vacation (don’t), you should also expect the number of flights between Europe and the US to be dramatically reduced. That means your flight also has a pretty solid chance of being canceled.

It’s a situation that has driven a lot of people to try and contact their airline today and consequently has caused some pretty solid wait times to speak to a human in customer service. Some people are reporting wait times of 4 hours or more. Not exactly ideal.

If you’re trying to contact your airline about a flight issue, you have a few more options than just calling that main customer service number.

Log Into y our ai rline’s w ebsite or a pp

If you’re just looking to change your plane ticket, you can probably do that without the assistance of a human being. Just go d irectly on your airline’s mobile app or website. Almost every major airline is waiving change fees for flights that are set to occur between now and March 31st.

Advertisement

Check your airline’s website for its specific policy. Right now, you may want to consider canceling your ticket entirely or rescheduling your flight for the fall rather than just bumping it to after the current travel ban ends.

Advertisement

This is an evolving situation, for sure, and while most airlines are waiving change fees right now, they’re only allowing you to make one change to that ticket in most cases. That means if you change your flight to a time that ends up being a bad choice as well, you won’t be able to swap it again down the line.

Use the dedicated “elite line”

If you have status with the airline you’re flying, then you may be able to use a phone line dedicated specifically for elite travelers. While those phone lines probably have a significant wait time as well, the line is likely to be a bit shorter than if you’re calling the main line.



Advertisement

Eight Best Frequent Flyer Programs You can earn free travel and other benefits when you accumulate all your miles from one frequently… Read more

If you don’t have elite status but you have a friend or coworker that does, you can also ask them to call on your behalf. Your mileage may vary with this approach, but in most cases as long as your friend has the appropriate status to be using the number then they can ask the agent to help you once they’re finally connected.



Advertisement

Try T witter

The customer service agent s running your airline’s Twitter account have the ability to do most of the same things that someone can do when you call in.

Advertisement

If you have a general question about your booking, then Twitter might be your best course of action here. Through a DM you can also potentially change or cancel your flight and handle most everything else you would over the phone.



Like that main phone line, Twitter reps are overwhelmed right now as well, so be prepared to wait for a response.

Advertisement

And if you don’t need to talk to your airline right now, you might be better off waiting a few days to contact them. Every mode of communication is likely to be swamped today since the travel ban is so new— if you’re able to give it a few days you could potentially shave hours off your wait time.

Source: Lifehacker.com

Powered by NewsAPI.org