When should I book my flight for Step 2 CS

[Dantrolene FC]

I am trying to decide when to book my flight to take Step 2 CS. I have 2 questions: which day should I fly out? And should I buy travel insurance?

I will be taking my exam on a Friday and will fly out of a regional airport which is prone to flight delays. My airport only has 2 flights per day, and I would be leaving on the afternoon flight, which is much cheaper than the morning flight. I am worried that either (a) My flight might gets delayed, I arrive late the night before my exam and have to take the exam with little sleep. Or (b) my flight gets canceled, I miss the exam and have to reschedule for a later date and pay a bunch of fees.

I don't know the exact on-time% for my airport. But recently, my parents' flight was canceled for my sister's graduation and they had to drive 10 hours to barely make it on time. And my friend's vacation flight was canceled on both the departure and return flights a couple weeks ago. I also just checked today's schedule and the flight I would be taking was delayed for 3 hours.

My test will be on a Friday. Should I book my flight for that Wednesday and plan on arriving a day early so I have wiggle room but also have to pay for an additional night in a hotel? Or should I book the flight for Thursday and arrive on Thursday evening and hope my plane doesn't get delayed or canceled?

Also, is it worth buying travel insurance? Would travel insurance pay the rescheduling fees for Step 2 CS if my flight was canceled?

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[ciestar]

Definitely book that flight for Wednesday

 

[Dantrolene FC]

I would 100000% book your flight for Weds. That's what I did and I'm really glad. I flew in a full two nights early, spent the day before chilling in my room, going to a museum, and getting a massage, and was fresh and ready for my exam. Slept better because it was my second night in a strange place instead of my first and I hadn't spent the whole day running around like a crazy person trying to catch planes and find luggage. This exam is a mental game more than anything. To perform well you need to be fresh and relaxed, not frantic and scatter-brained. Anything you can do to improve your chances of success will be worth it.

Also worth noting - If you have to reschedule your test, it will likely be months before you can get another spot, and then another month or two before you get your score. Certain specialties/programs will not rank you if you don't have a passing CS score by the rank list deadline, and even if they don't, you don't want to give programs any doubts about you having your ducks in a row in time to start residency. It's worth the $200 or whatever a hotel room will cost you to not screw around with your scheduling for this exam.

Thanks for the advance. After writing my post, arriving a day early seems like a much better idea for the reasons you stated. In the grand scheme of things, it's only an extra $150 or whatever a hotel room costs. If my flight was delayed and had to reschedule or failed my exam due to fatigue, I'd hate to not match over trying to save $150.

 

[Premed2295]

Which is cheaper
1. One night of a hotel
2. Rebooking flights, rebooking the exam, paying for the hotel you didn’t stay in, possibly losing a higher paying residency?

Book Wednesday night