Advice for Travelers

Experts advise travelers with flight reservations over the next few days to call their airline to make sure they have a seat.

Ed Perkins, a consumer advocate for the American Society of Travel Agents, said that once travel resumes, it is unlikely that flights will be overbooked with passengers delayed by this week’s suspension of air travel.

That’s because cancellations by those discouraged from traveling will likely offset any increased demand caused by passengers from canceled flights, he said. Furthermore, normal airline policy does not give bumped passengers preference on later flights.