My Mom's Tips: Make the Most of Cancellations and Delays

Flight delays and cancellations are definitely a downer. I've had big box airlines and discount airlines cancel and delay my flights. It happens.

Other than waiting and praying you can get on another flight, you don't get squat on the big box airlines.

One time, on our way to sunny Orlando, our flight with Frontier was delayed 6 hours. It was a bummer and we missed dinner at an amazing Irish restaurant in Disney Springs. But on the flip side...they gave us each a voucher for $100.

We flew to North Carolina for free, and on a weekend! And still had money to spend on baggage. As a note: you have to spend your voucher at one time and you don't get any of it back.

The second time was a major bummer. Our flight was actually cancelled. They tried to reroute us, but there was just too many people. We could wait until Tuesday for a flight back to Columbus (it was Sunday). And we knew that was a no-go.

Because we needed to get home ASAP, we rented a one-way van for a $150 plus gas. It was a 16-hour drive from Orlando to Columbus, but worth it for a free trip. Frontier returned our flight fees ($35 each round trip) and gave us each a voucher for $150. We used that to explore Las Vegas for a week!

Turn those lemons into lemonade! If you are heading somewhere important (such as a cruise) and you don't want to miss it, be sure to schedule all your flights for the day before.

I've flown over 20 times with Frontier and Spirit and we've only have had those two problems. However, when there was a problem, they made sure to compensate us for our troubles!

Have you ever had a flight delayed or cancelled? What did the airline do for you?