My blood started to boil the moment I picked up this week’s issue of New York Magazine with a timely cover story: “Airport Hell”.  If you’ve flown in the past six months without a delayed or cancelled flight, lost luggage or other airline mishap consider yourself lucky.  Locally, my three airports – JFK, LaGuardia and Newark – are considered the worst in the U.S.  But the problem is nationwide.  And hey, it’s not even winter yet!

If you’re like millions of cruisers, air travel will be the biggest hassle of your cruise vacation.   You live in the Northern part of the U.S. and must fly to take a ship from Florida, California or Hawaii or, next summer your sites are set on an Alaska or Europe cruise.  This has become a critical problem for cruisers because if your flight is delayed or cancelled you may miss the ship’s departure.  When that happens, it’s up to you to get yourself to the ship at the first possible port of call.   There are two actions you can take to greatly decrease the odds of your cruise vacation being ruined by delayed or cancelled flights.  Most importantly, plan on flying to the port a day early and spending a pre-cruise night in a local hotel.  The day of your cruise, rise at leisure, have breakfast and don your cruise attire.  You’ll board the ship relaxed and refreshed; in fact, I think you gain an extra day of vacation this way.  In addition, it’s critical to buy cruise insurance which protects you against the costs of missed flights, lost luggage and a host of unexpected problems that can arise. 

If you do need to fly from one of New York’s three airports, New York Magazine recommends Miami flights with the best chance of leaving on time.  From LaGuardia, American flight 2273, departing at 8:35 a.m. has an 87% on-time rate.  From Newark, American 1921, departing 6 a.m. daily, runs on-time 90% of the time.

Do you have any tips on ways to deal with this hellish air travel problem?      

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