Flight delayed with a connection: what to do first

Subtract your new arrival time from your connection's departure time, then take off the gate cutoff and the walk. If what's left is thin, join the airline's service line and call or open the app at the same time, and ask for one specific flight. Get a name and a reference before you leave the desk.

This is written for travelers on U.S. airlines who booked a connection. It can't tell you what your airline owes you for a meal or a hotel, because that depends on the airline and the cause of the delay, and it says nothing about compensation.

Example: is the connection really gone?

Say your first flight was due at 13:40 and now lands at 14:40. Your connection leaves at 15:05. The delay was 60 minutes, and the layover was 85, so at first glance you have 25 minutes. That isn't the real number, so work it down.

The arithmetic, line by line

An illustration. The gate cutoff and walk times are assumptions to replace with your airline's and your airport's.

What to do, in order

The line and the phone run in parallel. Whichever answers first wins.

1. While still in the air

   Ask a flight attendant whether the connecting flight is holding or whether other passengers are on it. They sometimes know.

2. On landing

   Open the airline app before you stand up. Rebooking is sometimes offered there before an agent is free.

3. In the line

   Join the service or transfer desk queue, even if the gate might still work. You can always leave a line.

4. In the same minutes

   Call the airline from the queue. The phone and the desk are separate lines.

5. Before you reach the desk

   Decide what to ask for: the next flight, a different routing, or a night in a hotel.

6. Before you leave the desk

   Get the agent's name and a reference for the conversation, and ask for anything agreed in writing.

Same ticket or separate tickets

This decides most of what follows. If both flights are on one booking, a missed connection caused by the first flight's delay is normally the airline's to fix, and it will rebook you on its own flights, at no extra charge. JetBlue's own help page, for instance, says delayed or canceled passengers can rebook on another flight at no additional cost within five days, through its app, Manage Trips or by contacting it.

If you booked two separate tickets, each airline treats its segment as its own trip. The second airline may treat you as a no-show, and you may have to buy a new ticket. That's the risk of self-connecting, and it's worth knowing before you're in the line. Look at how you booked before you call, and say plainly which it is.

What to say

Say what happened once, in order, then say what you want. Leading with the ask makes the conversation longer.

Meals, hotels and what you're owed

Whether you're offered a meal voucher or a hotel depends on the airline's own commitments and on the cause of the delay. Ask the question plainly, get the answer in writing, and keep receipts for anything you buy. Compensation is a different question, and it depends on where you flew, which airline and sometimes the fare, so it doesn't belong at the desk. If the delay is long enough that you'd rather not travel, that's a refund question, and what to check when a flight changes gives the definition the U.S. rule uses.

What to have in hand

What can go wrong

• You wait in one line and never call. Do both, and if someone is traveling with you, have them hold the place in line while you call.
• You ask for help without saying what you want, and you get a vague answer. Name a flight.
• Your bag was checked through and you're rebooked on a different route. Ask where the bag will go.
• You arrive late and the hotel has released your room. See what to say when the hotel can't find your reservation.
• Something went missing in the scramble. See what to have ready when a passport, wallet or phone is lost.

Questions about a missed connection

Where a Companion helps

Travel Companion has a flight-problem walkthrough you open from the booking. It asks what happened (delayed, canceled, going to miss the connection, a bag problem), what you need to happen, and gives you an opening line to use or replace, with a short list of what to have in front of you and what to ask. It never mentions compensation or rights. It also keeps the references you typed in. That last part is the catch: it holds only what you entered beforehand, so put the references in before you leave. If you record the flight's new time, it shows what was booked after it. The printable trip book is blank paper, for when the phone is the thing that failed.