Dealing with Delays

Text by Lena Gidwani Translation by Emma Xu Illustration by Liu Tian

Dealing with Delays

Text by Lena Gidwani Translation by Emma Xu Illustration by Liu Tian

Over the last decade, China has held the fl ag for being the fastest growing outbound tourist market in the world.

Yes, we're fl ying more than ever before, and it's about to get a whole lot busier. With eager airlines cashing in on the expansion and airport-building frenzy,competitive fares and more passengers going on overseas shopping sprees and mass sightseeing tours, the world's become our oyster. But with such tremendous growth, the local aviation sector is getting a bit of a reputation for what is perhaps the most inevitable factor of all: fl ight delays.

If you're nodding in silence, you're not alone. Flight delays are certainly bad news but it's important to know in full faith that everything is being done to get you to your destination in the quickest time possible. Knowing the difference between things you have control over and those you do not is the key to saving yourself tons of time, sweat and tears.Here are our top three tried-and-tested ways to deal with fl ight delays…

COLUMNIST'S PROFILE Lena Gidwani is a resident of Guangzhou for 13 years, selfconfessed networker,magazine editor and an avid writer.Lena Gidwani，網絡工作者、雜志編輯、作家，在廣州居住13年。

1.Get Creative

If your fl ight is delayed, you can seek out another way of getting to your destination, especially if it's urgent. Sometimes, it's just better to give up(that's the spirit!) and travel onwards a different way and sort out the formalities later. Don't forget to call/email/message whoever you need to, and remember to stock up on those tax-free perfumes from the duty-free shop.

2.Catch up on work, sleep or TV

Unless you have a (genuine) special consideration that applies to you, use the extra time as an opportunity to do what we all should do more of:relaxing. And cleaning up your inbox. Everyone needs perspective, and you're a human, not a machine. Everything seems better after a nice walk around, some comfort food, drinks and rest.

3.Do your Due Diligence

Check the small print on your ticket under the'Contract of Carriage' to see what's covered, and fi nd out if you can seek compensation or not. Got travel insurance? Well done! If not, just relax. Find ways to keep yourself busy, and you'll fi nd that time will fl y, even if you're not.…

Remember, fl ight delays are not the end of the world, and it's out of your hands. It will make things easier to show a bit of goodwill and think about how to better utilise the time. And in the greater scheme of things, it really will be all right in the end…

延誤自救手冊

過去十年，中國人在出境游方面一次次創造紀錄。

現代人的飛行頻率比起以前已經高出很多，但接下來，航線還會更加繁忙。航空公司積極增加機組，城市忙著新建機場，而游客們熱衷海購和旅游——遠方變得越來越觸手可及。

然而，盡管航空業發展飛速，目前飛行這一出行方式依然無法擺脫“容易延誤”的標簽。

遭遇航延的時候，每個人都免不了懊惱，我也一樣，因為沒有人愿意在候機廳里浪費時間。但懊惱是沒有意義的。要知道，為了盡快送你到達目的地，所有人都在努力。下面三個建議可供你在延誤的時候參考：

1.及時補救

當你的航班延誤了，特別是在你趕時間的情況下，你可及時更換為其他交通方式。有時適當的放棄是必要的。先上路，隨后再辦理退票手續都來得及。

2.休息一下

如果沒有特別安排，延誤的時候可以利用這段時間放松一下，比如回復郵件、看看書或是追追電視劇。平時忙碌工作的你，也許難得有放空自己的機會，何不在候機廳悠閑地散個步，吃點東西，喝杯咖啡？

3.尋求索賠

你的機票下方有個“運輸合同”，小字部分寫著承保信息，你可以看看自己如何尋求賠償。如果你有旅行保險，恭喜你。如果沒有，也無須焦慮。不如利用這時間，讓自己忙起來，時間很快就會過去。

航班延誤不是世界末日，如何把生活中的小尷尬變成小確幸，便是考驗你的智慧了。