A travel expert has offered their top pieces of advice for people flying this Christmas who are fearful they'll be caught up in strikes.
Over the next three weeks the UK will be hit by a string of industrial walk-outs over pay and working conditions.
RMT Union rail workers, PCS union Border Force members and Unite baggage handlers are among the transport workers who will be forming picket lines.
Manchester Airport was the first to admit that flights may be cancelled and delayed as a result.
Evan Day, KAYAK UK country manager, spoke to the Mirror and shared some words of wisdom for those who will be flying on strike days and advice about preparations they can make ahead of time.
Buy a flexi-cancellation ticket
During the Covid lockdowns many airlines began offering tickets with a large amount of flexibility if customers needed to rebook.
Due to the rapidly changing border laws of other countries and the UK, whether or not passengers could legally fly changed day-to-day.
That golden era of flexible travel (which admittedly had some other fairly significant downsides ) may be behind us, but that doesn't mean you can't get the same benefits for a price.
"You can get flexi-cancellation tickets, whether as part of the standard base price or as an add on," Evan said.
"It offers flexibility in terms of changing date of the flight. We have some useful filters on kayak which means you can search for flexible flights."
Evan also recommended booking tickets through a credit card to speed up the refund process and to offer you "an extra layer of protection".
If you do end up claiming for a refund rather than an alternate flight, he advises asking for money rather than a voucher so you have more flexibility later on.
Purchase travel insurance
There are certain protections offered to passengers who are affected by strikes and weather events, with customers sometimes able to claim compensation under EU law adopted by the UK.
However, a good insurance policy can offer you extra protection and more peace of mind.
"I would recommend purchasing travel insurance as you can get really good ones quite cheap now," Evan said.
"There are insurance packages that will cover for strikes and weather events."
Make sure you read the policy carefully before committing as some will have exemption clauses around industrial action and events outside of the airline's control.
Contact your airline
Evan recommends contacting your airline before heading to the airport, as they should have the most up to date information about the state of the flight.
Most airlines have an online live chat as well as email and phone customer service for those with a query.
If your flight does get delayed or cancelled, then having familiarised yourself with UK law and the airline's specific policy ahead of time may proof to be a useful move.
While you can ask for an alternate flight if yours is cancelled, often the rush to secure this will be significant as you're competing against a plane load of similarly spurned passengers, so speed is of the essence.
Travel with hand luggage
Around 350 Menzies Aviation employees plan to strike at Heathrow Airport starting at 4am on December 16 for a 72-hour period.
Even if you're not travelling during this period of baggage handler industrial action, then the impact of Border Force strikes may cause delays and cancellations which impact the swift return of your bags.
To avoid being stuck in the arrivals hall staring at an empty conveyor belt, packing light and only having a carry-on bag may be the way to go.
Purchase fast track
Border Force workers represented by the PCS union are going on strike on eight days over the Christmas period, affecting Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester airports, as well as Newhaven port.
There is a good chance this will lead to longer queues at security.
Evan recommends buying fast track to avoid having to wait if the queues at the airport are long.
"One thing you can usually purchase is fast track security lanes where you can skip the queue," he said. "It can give you that peace of mind."
