Travel Dispatch: Missed Your Flight? Here’s What to Do.
Plus: What to do if you lose your passport abroad.
Travel Dispatch
January 21, 2026

Even the most organized traveler can face enough setbacks, such as a snoozed alarm or traffic congestion, to meet a most unwelcome sight: a firmly closed boarding gate.

A missed flight doesn’t have to be a total catastrophe. Neither does being bumped off an overbooked flight, or losing your passport. Here’s what to do if you don’t get off the ground as planned.

An illustration of a man arriving at an airport gate that has a screen reading “Closed” at the counter. He is holding a cellphone with his right hand and putting his left hand on his head as a plane takes off above a control tower outside the windows.

Weston Wei

What to do if you miss your flight

An illustration in hues of blue, cream and brown of three air passengers expressing signs of dismay through body language while looking at a gate sign at an airport that says “completely full flight.”

Weston Wei

Overbooked flight? What you can do if an airline bumps you

A man is putting his left hand on his forehead in frustration as he looks over his wallet, key and credit card, with a suitcase and backpack on either side of him. The image of a passport is seen hovering over his head.

Weston Wei

Was your passport lost or stolen abroad? Here’s how to replace it

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