With Southwest Airlines’ travel disruption, many travelers have experienced disruptions to their travel plans that leave them helpless and unclear on how best to proceed with them. These disruptions to the travel schedule not only cause a ripple effect of delays throughout the day, but can also lead to missed connections, lost time, and financial losses.
Financial Ripple Effect of Delay and Cancelations
At 3 am on October 2021, my brother’s flight for his cruise trip from Denver to Orlando was canceled, forcing him to spend six hours speaking with customer service over the phone trying to resolve this issue. 
He told me he spent over $400 on a Delta Flight that would leave for his cruise the day prior. Additionally, he experienced trouble booking an Orlando hotel room and lost money with that reservation as well as needing to rearrange childcare arrangements for himself and his daughter.
Rapid Rewards “A-List Status” didn’t do him much good either. According to him, after flying Southwest more than 200 times and always being satisfied with their service; hopefully, this is really a huge disappointment. The emotional impact is tremendously stressful.”
Between December 24, 2022, and January 2, 2023, over 15,000 Southwest flights were canceled. During one of the year’s busiest travel seasons – leaving thousands more travelers scrambling. When my flight from LaGuardia to St Louis was grounded due to this crisis, my only solution was to rent a car and drive almost 1,000 miles instead.
Options to Mitigate the Risks of Flight Disruptions
There were thousands of canceled flights. Many angry passengers were affected. Millions of separated bags. In most cases, travelers were unable to travel on their original flight, while others had to wait hours to be rebooked. The disruption resulted in a lot of confusion and inconvenience for travelers, with many left feeling frustrated and angry.
What is Travel Interruption Insurance and Why Is It Important?
Airlines only refund your flight ticket; some don’t refund even the connection tickets you booked together. They cannot be held accountable for hotel rebookings, rental reservations, or non-refundable expenses (like loss of luggage and delays). The best way to protect yourself from such risks is by investing in trip interruption coverage insurance. This post includes real adventure stories, plus links to our trusted partners so you can directly access them!
