Passengers at RDU experience travel headaches as flights canceled nationwide

MORRISVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Ramon Alonso had to come back to Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Monday night after his flight to Tampa was canceled Sunday.

"They canceled it early in the morning," he said. "Then they rescheduled it for today but they were going to send me to New York and they canceled the flight in New York so I was going to be stranded there for four days."

Ramon also missed a day of training for work and ended up on a different airline Monday.

He, like millions of others, was caught up in the travel headaches happening across the country.

Krystle Rose and her four children ended up sleeping in the airport at Dallas Love Field the other night.

The Fuquay-Varina family had issues on their way to Lubbock and there were no hotels available.

"Booking the first flight of the day gets it out of the way," said Eric Rosen, director of content at The Points Guy. "You might have to roll out of bed very early but chances are your plane is already at the airport.

In addition to snagging the first flight, Eric said to try not to check your bags, keep the information you need at your disposal including the airline's app and try and build in more connection time for your layovers.

Also, try to go standby if you can and build in an extra day of travel at the end of a trip.

Rosen also said to be kind to the folks working at the airlines because they are doing the best they can.

"Treat others how you'd want others to treat you," he said.

Kris Ritter was heading back to Detroit on Monday with her husband.

Her daughter had her flight back to Michigan canceled while she was waiting in line at security at RDU.

"What it says is if we're going to travel this summer and for the holidays in the fall, you need to be prepared to get delayed and have a plan," she said. "Don't panic, have a plan and you may need to have an extra day to get home."

Rob Stern, the founder of Rob Plans Your Trip, said you should be willing to fly to a nearby city and know what ground transportation there is to get home.

It might be a bus, train or Uber.

"This could mean flying to Charlotte or Greensboro if you can't get back to RDU," he said. "Airlines are rarely responsible for any secondary expenses other than offering you a full refund for cancellations."