Playbook
My flight keeps getting delayed
Rolling delays are the most exhausting disruption because you never get permission to act. The airline pushes departure 40 minutes, then another 40, and you keep hoping. The skill is knowing when to stop waiting - and that decision should rest on facts, not hope.
⏱
Decide your walk-away time NOW, before the next delay announcement. Write it down.
1
Find out where your actual aircraft is
A delay is usually caused by the inbound plane being somewhere else. If you can see it has not left its previous city yet, you know the delay will grow - whatever the board says. This one fact turns guessing into knowing.
Say this, word for word
Do you know where the inbound aircraft is coming from, and has it departed yet?
2
Set a personal deadline and commit to it
Pick a real time - "if we have not boarded by 6:45, I switch plans" - and mean it. The most common regret in a rolling delay is having waited past the moment good alternatives still existed.
3
Check whether the delay threatens a connection
If this is the first leg of a multi-leg trip, the delay may already have killed your connection even though nobody has said so. Get ahead of it: ask to be moved to a later connection now, while seats exist, rather than after you land.
Say this, word for word
With this delay I will misconnect in [city]. Can you protect me on the later connection now?
4
Know the compensation thresholds
In the US, a domestic flight delayed more than three hours entitles you to a cash refund if you choose not to fly - six hours for international itineraries. In the EU and UK, delays over three hours on covered flights can trigger substantial cash compensation - often several hundred euros. Most travelers never claim it.
EU/UK compensation is separate from a refund and is payable even if you still take the flight. Keep your boarding pass.
AirHelp pays TripHero a commission if you use them. Our advice is never influenced by who pays us.
5
Reposition rather than wait, when it helps
Sometimes the answer is a different airport rather than a different flight. If a nearby airport has an on-time departure and you can get there in an hour, that often beats waiting out a rolling delay.
What most people get wrong
✕
Waiting indefinitely because each individual delay seems small. They compound.
✕
Not checking where the inbound aircraft is - the most predictive information available to you.
✕
Missing the three-hour refund threshold because nobody mentions it.
✕
Failing to protect a downstream connection while seats are still open.