Travel experts spoke with Inside Edition about what to do if you find out your flight is not leaving as scheduled.
Extreme weather in addition to a shortage of air traffic controllers may cause airline delays and cancellations as the Fourth of July holiday approaches. AAA predicts record numbers of travelers this week. Inside Edition has some tips on what to do if you find out your flight is not leaving as scheduled.
Cyrus Sarkari, managing director of customer service for United Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport, gave Inside Edition some tips to help deal with delays. He says to download your airline's app.
"It tells you what's the status of your flight, where your airplane is coming from if it's delayed by how much," Sarkari says.
If your flight is delayed and you are given a new departure time, Sarkari says you should still get to the airport early.
"I would recommend at least 2-3 hours before your flight if you want to get here," Sarkari says. "You want to give yourselves plenty of time, the security checkpoints are going to be busy, the gates are going to be busy. You need to be as stress-free as possible."
Lifestyle and travel expert Carey Reilly says to check out FlightAware's MiseryMap.
"You can actually see where are the flight delays in different airports across the country," Reilly says. "You want to look at the weather, you want to look up the app, the actual airline app because that will tell you where was that aircraft before it came to your departure city,"
Reilly says she always tries to fly in the morning as early as possible.
She also says it is important to know your rights as a passenger. Reilly says you can look at the U.S. Department of Transportation Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard online which will tell you what you are entitled to, such as a food or hotel voucher, per airline if a delay occurs.
"Typically it's gonna be three hours for a domestic and six hours for international," Reilly says. "If there are cancellations, you deserve to have your money back and you deserve to have it fast."
The lifestyle and travel expert says packing your patience may help you avoid Independence Day headaches at the airport.
Travel experts say if you have the luxury of taking an extra day off, try to return on Monday, July 8 to avoid the large crowds.
