{"id":3421,"date":"2021-12-28T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/?p=3421"},"modified":"2023-04-18T12:02:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T18:02:41","slug":"quick-tip-for-expiring-airline-vouchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/28\/quick-tip-for-expiring-airline-vouchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Hacking on Expiring Airline Vouchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h4>\n

Reader Ryan reached out to me and asked if I had any thoughts on how to book a flight for the same day that might be cancelled. I loved this question, because it\u2019s exactly the kind of out of the box thinking that makes some travel hackers extremely successful. <\/p>\n

Why did Ryan want to do this? The short answer is that airlines that cancel flights are, in most circumstances, obligated to give you a refund for a cancelled flight if you ask, and for other instances you can get a newly issued travel voucher with a new expiration date far out in the future. So, it\u2019s a nice hack for extending an expiring voucher.<\/p>\n

Finding Flights Likely To Be Cancelled<\/h4>\n

Over the 2021 holiday season, it seems like you\u2019ve got about a one in five shot<\/a> of having your flight cancelled without doing anything special, but normally that\u2019s not the case. You can still tilt the odds in your favor though. To find flights that are likely to be cancelled:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Check Flightaware\u2019s misery map<\/a> for the top three miserable airports<\/li>\n
  2. Check the FAA\u2019s national air status map<\/a> for the top three airports experiencing traffic management issues<\/li>\n
  3. Combine the above to come up with a route that passes through at least two of those airports, and even better a connecting flight in a third<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When I looked for Ryan yesterday, Seattle (#1), Denver (#2), and Atlanta (#3) were having major issues, and Ryan\u2019s expiring voucher was on Southwest. With Denver and Atlanta being Southwest hubs, I guessed the best option would have been either: SEA-DEN or DEN-ATL; but even better yet: SEA-ATL-DEN or SEA-DEN-ATL.<\/p>\n

    By the way, if you really want to tilt the odds in your favor, see where each individual flight is coming from on Flightaware<\/a> and book one that\u2019s already delayed or cancelled upstream. I didn\u2019t do this yesterday though because I was in a hurry.<\/p>\n

    How\u2019d That Work Out?<\/h4>\n

    Let\u2019s see how I did:<\/p>\n