1. If your flight is delayed or cancelled, DON'T...

如果你的航班晚点了或者取消了，不要……

Wait in the long line with everyone else trying to get out of the same city at the gate or ticket counter.

不要和所有那些想要出城的人一起排在大门前或者售票窗口前。

Instead, call the customer service number to the airline. We get you re-booked too.

请拨打航空公司的客服电话。我们会帮你改签的。

"We also don’t need the whole story on what happened. Just your record locator. Seriously, seconds matter here."

“而且我们并不需要听你讲述整个事件的完整经过。只需要你的订单编号就行了。说真的，我们这里的每一秒都很宝贵。”

"While you are talking to us, we can literally¹ see that the next plane only has 10 seats left and see the number dropping as other agents snatch those seats up for whoever is on the phone with them.

“你跟我们讲话的时候就能看到，下一班飞机只剩10个座位了，而且随着工作人员把这些座位分配给那些正在跟他们通电话的人，剩余座位的数字还在不断下降。

"Skip the explanations or the yelling about being cancelled."

”所以请跳过解释环节，也不要因为被取消而大叫大嚷。“

2. That flight you booked is in fact probably...

你预订的那班航班实际上可能……

Overbooked. This may seem unfair, but it's actually done out of necessity.

可能是超售了的。这看起来可能并不公平，但这都是迫不得已。

This is because airlines have to factor in everyone who won't make it to the airport on time, "because they are lost, overslept, or changed their minds.

因为航空公司得考虑到那些最终没能准时到达飞机场的人，”他们可能是迷路了、睡过头了，或者单纯改变主意了。

"Then factor in all of the people who miss the flight because of a delayed connecting flight. Airlines have to over book flights because if they didn't they wouldn't make any money and would be flying half empty planes."

”然后还有那些因为前一个航班晚点而没能赶上这个航班的乘客。如果这些座位空着，那航空公司不光赚不到钱，而且还得把空着一半的飞机送上天，所以航空公司必须超售。“

3. Which means...

这意味着……

"A lot of time you might be able to get a first class seat at a huge discount within 24 hours of your flight leaving."

”你常常可以在你的航班起飞前的24小时内花很低的折扣订到一等座。“

This, of course, depends on first class not being sold out, and if there aren't too many premium² frequent fliers to upgrade.

”当然，前提是一等座还没有被卖光，而且并没有太多高频乘客等着升级。“

If this is the case, "call your airline’s customer service number within 24 hours of the flight departing to check."

如果是这种情况的话，”请在航班起飞前24小时以内拨打航空公司的客服电话来核准。“

4. One last thing about hot drinks

最后还要说说关于热饮的事。

"Don't ever drink the coffee on the plane"

”永远不要在飞机上喝咖啡。“

"There is a reason airplane coffee gets a bad rap. It isn't made with bottled water, and let's just say that the airplane's potable water isn't very desirable."

”飞机上的咖啡名声不好是有原因的。因为他们不是用瓶装水冲泡的，而且飞机上的饮用水本身也并不是什么好东西。“

"The valves for cleaning out the lavatory³ waste and filling the clean water are very close to each other and sometimes serviced by the same guy...at the same time."

”冲厕所的水的阀门和净水的阀门靠得很近，而且经常是由同一个人、在同一时间控制的。“