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Have a flight in the next week or so? As dozens of major airports have implemented a government-mandated 4% reduction in flights, it’s possible you may not have the smoothest travel experience. “You really have to be an informed traveler right now,” Clint Henderson, managing editor of The Points Guy travel site, told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield yesterday. Here are some of his tips: Track your flight — not just from your departing or arriving airport, but also look to see where it is coming from beforehand, because that prior airport might be experiencing delays. Have your airline’s app installed but also keep their customer service number saved in your phone so you aren’t scrambling if you need help. If you have a lounge membership, the customer service agents there might be able to assist as well. Make sure everything you are booking is refundable. Build in some wiggle room time when headed to your flight. Have a backup plan, such as booking a rental car. With Thanksgiving and the holiday season on the horizon, Henderson says it’s possible residual impacts could linger, even if the shutdown is resolved soon. He suggests considering options other than flying, such as taking Amtrak or driving to your destination. Disgruntled travelers across the US will face more disruptions to their plans this weekend, as airlines cancel hundreds of additional flights and delays continue to mount due to air traffic controller staffing shortages amid a government shutdown with no end in sight. More than 1,700 flights were canceled from Friday through Sunday, data from Cirium shows, as airlines start to implement a 4% reduction in domestic flights at 40 of the busiest airports mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Meanwhile, Republican and Democrats were in negotiations yesterday but they are yet to result in a final product – a funding package that would include a stopgap funding bill as well as a small package of some full-year funding bills. The Senate is expected to return today at around noon, when Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his leadership team hope to have made some progress with Democratic negotiators on that funding package to end the shutdown. We’ll bring you the latest on these stories throughout the day.
