Travel in General and impacts that cancellations have.

[Sandy VDH]

Having had a recent set of cancellations and rerouting, I would again recommend to people if you have to be somewhere that is critical not to miss, like a cruise, or a long planned, hard to get vacation, considering flying in a day earlier at the very least.

Why. I was to fly from NYC to Houston, LGA airport to IAH airport on Friday early PM. Got on plane, sat on runway in queue to take off, had a brief 1 hour weather delay, that resulted in the crew timing out and us returning to the airport 3 hours later The queue was 27 planes long. Only flight departing the same airport pair also got cancelled within a few minutes of us returning to the gate. Not sure why, as it was already 2 hours delayed anyway. No flights available the next day from LGA. No replacement crew even attempted.

Get expensive cabs to EWR from LGA and get flights out the next day. Those flights also get cancelled. I get reroute EWR to LAX, LAX to IAH. Yes I flew from one coast to the other coast, just to fly back to Houston in order to get back on Saturday. My co-worked who had a later direct flight EWR to IAH has his flight cancelled too. But now no flights on Sunday available, he has to fly back on Monday. 3 days later.

So if you have to be somewhere critical, like make a cruise, consider getting in a day or two early. Having status can help. I am 1K on United, but my co-worker is NOT.

Just saying, "I warned you" if it does happen to you. Flights are so full these days a lot of the time, that any hiccup causes huge impacts to the schedule everywhere.

 

[dioxide45]

Just saying, "I warned you" if it does happen to you. Flights are so full these days a lot of the time, that any hiccup causes huge impacts to the schedule everywhere.

I always hear people say "you'll just get on the next flight". Often that flight is full or close to it. The airline would rather you just cancel and give you a refund. Airlines don't have good contingency plans.

 

[Ken555]

Completely agree. I’ve heard from others I know going on cruises that they are now planning on arriving two days before cruise departure just in case of an airline issue, while I also know some who like to gamble and continue to fly in on the exact day of departure (which I think it’s highly risky, but most of them…though not all…do make it on time).

On the same topic, I previously preferred to depart in mid afternoon or evening hours but now am booking morning flights. Morning flights are less likely to be canceled and offer more time to get to the destination without dealing with an unexpected night in a different city.

 

[geist1223]

Also if you Book an early morning flight and it is canceled you have a better chance of getting on another flight.

 

[Talent312]

Last year, we held our breath (figuratively) getting to Amsterdam in time for a cruise.
We planned to arrive the day before, but missed connections due to weather meant a delay of 24 hours. Luckily, the Amsterdam hotel allowed us to cancel w/o penalty and United still had seats.

These days, even if only driving a few hours to a cruise, I always plan to go the day before.

 

[WinniWoman]

Having had a recent set of cancellations and rerouting, I would again recommend to people if you have to be somewhere that is critical not to miss, like a cruise, or a long planned, hard to get vacation, considering flying in a day earlier at the very least.

Why. I was to fly from NYC to Houston, LGA airport to IAH airport on Friday early PM. Got on plane, sat on runway in queue to take off, had a brief 1 hour weather delay, that resulted in the crew timing out and us returning to the airport 3 hours later The queue was 27 planes long. Only flight departing the same airport pair also got cancelled within a few minutes of us returning to the gate. Not sure why, as it was already 2 hours delayed anyway. No flights available the next day from LGA. No replacement crew even attempted.

Get expensive cabs to EWR from LGA and get flights out the next day. Those flights also get cancelled. I get reroute EWR to LAX, LAX to IAH. Yes I flew from one coast to the other coast, just to fly back to Houston in order to get back on Saturday. My co-worked who had a later direct flight EWR to IAH has his flight cancelled too. But now no flights on Sunday available, he has to fly back on Monday. 3 days later.

So if you have to be somewhere critical, like make a cruise, consider getting in a day or two early. Having status can help. I am 1K on United, but my co-worker is NOT.

Just saying, "I warned you" if it does happen to you. Flights are so full these days a lot of the time, that any hiccup causes huge impacts to the schedule everywhere.

Omg. So sorry!

I am hearing of more horror stories just like this every day. One guy I know finally just got in his car after 2 flight cancellations and hours of wasted time and drove 1000 miles back and forth from New Hampshire to Louisville. Airline claimed it was weather.

One woman had to wait 3 days with little kids as her flights were cancelled only to be rerouted to an airport that wasn’t where her car was!

Then another trip she had the flight was cancelled twice so she drove from S. Carolina to Colorado and back!

Both American Airlines and no crew was the excuse.

This is why I have anxiety on our upcoming trip to Italy. And we are going the day before the tour but have to spend 6 hours on a layover with just one flight scheduled where we want to go. And our flight from Boston to get there is at night as it is. In many ways I’m sorry we are going just because of flying.

One thing I know I’ll never fly again after this.

 

[jp10558]

I'll try and keep this in mind. I hope I keep having luck out of EWR and United.... I do want to go places I have to fly to like Europe or the Caribbean or it'd be impractical to drive to like California. I have started (planning on) just driving as far as New Orleans, but with breaks along the way, at least an overnight in a hotel or two, but also maybe putting in week timeshare stays on the way to and from ~ halfway.

 

[moonstone]

I always hear people say "you'll just get on the next flight". Often that flight is full or close to it. The airline would rather you just cancel and give you a refund. Airlines don't have good contingency plans.

So true!
We were booked on a Delta flight at 6:00am last Jan.1st from Toronto with a 1hr connection in Atlanta then on their 1 flight a day to Belize City. We have done this flight a few times with no problems. Since we arrive at ATL on an international flight and leave on an international flight our arrival and departure gates are usually quite close (next to each other one year), the 1 hour connection time isnt a problem.

The Toronto weather was good last Jan.1st but we were still scheduled to be deiced, which is normal. About 5:50 the cabin crew announced that since everybody had boarded and almost everybody was seated, we would be pushing off a few minutes early just as soon as the fuel truck and crew were done. But we didn't push off early. I looked out the window at the fuel truck and employees who were still milling around at our scheduled departure time. Then other vehicles and more employees started to arrive, I knew something was wrong. We sat there for about 30 mins (now sweating about making our connection) when the pilot made an announcement that the fuel folks had over-filled the tanks and now were draining the excess fuel off then we should be able to leave. At least another 30 mins passed and all fuel vehicles had left and the pilot made another announcement that now the tanks needed to be inspected for damage due to overfilling, then some engineer had to sign off on the findings! We waited and waited, it was now past 9am and we had definitely missed our connecting flight. Another hour or so passed and then an airline employee made an announcement that desk agents were now on the plane to help folks with missed or tight connections and anybody in that situation should activate their call button which we did. An agent arrived at our seat within a few minutes with a tablet and asked to see our boarding pass. He checked our info and said oh yes, you've definitely missed the Belize flight and there are so few people on this flight and your Belize flight we wont be putting a 2nd flight on, so you have 2 choices, Delta can put you on a flight from Atlanta to Houston and then on a code share flight with United from Houston to BZE (and hope you make the United's flight to Belize), or Delta will put you on tomorrow's flight and put you up in a hotel for tonight. We chose the later thank goodness because we didn't take off until 11:30, and we would have missed the United flight from Houston. When the agent went to book us on the next day's flight he said it was a good job we were sitting near the front of the plane as there were only 5 seats left on that flight and they'd probably be gone by the time he and the other agent worked their way to the back of the plane.

So we finally took off at 11:30am for our 2 hour flight to Atlanta, starving since Delta had only offered us a glass of water during our 5.5 hours on the tarmac, and we had hoped to grab some breakfast to go in ATL at 8am. We arrived in Atlanta, lined up for almost an hour to get our hotel voucher and found that the hotel they booked us into didn't have a shuttle operating on New Years Day! We asked the agent at the Delta desk how we were supposed to get to the hotel and she said taxi or Uber! I asked if they going to pay and she said well we are giving you a hotel and money for meals! Sheesh! I looked at the hotel's location on Google Maps and saw that there was a Hilton next door that had a shuttle, so we jumped on it then walked to our hotel. What an ordeal!!

Of course we had offered to gate check our carry on bags since there was nothing in them that we needed for the flight and no valuables. They were going right on through to BZE with our checked bags. When we got to ATL we asked if we could get our carry-ons back since they had our night clothes, a change of warm weather daytime clothes and our toiletries bags in them. We were told it wasn't possible and the hotel would give us some toiletries, which they did. From now on I will also pack a change of clothes, or at least some underwear, and a deodorant, in my personal item bag!

The only good thing out of the fiasco was that we were now arriving in Belize on Jan.2nd and their bus system was back to operating on regular schedule so we could take a bus up to our apartment for $9.US each instead of a $200.US transfer service.

Travelling by plane is always such an adventure!


~Diane

 

[WaikikiFirst]

We were booked on a Delta flight

You had me at DELTA. There is nothing the airline industry can do wrong that delta cannot do wronger. I guess in "Best Things About Living in The Bay Area", #6 might be "almost zero reason to think about flying Delta". Somebody else goes there just as well at just as nice a price so ______ Delta.
How many of my 5 worst airline experiences were on Delta? 4 of them.

 

[ScoopKona]

This is where not being handcuffed to an itinerary pays dividends. And if I *was* handcuffed to an itinerary (I lost a bet or someone pointed a gun at my head and demanded I go on a package tour), I would be sure to arrive at least a couple days early so I could get a little exploration in on my own and have some cushion. The tighter the itinerary, the more of a cascade of failures it becomes when any single part of the trip is delayed or canceled. And what's the point of a vacation if it's nothing but stress and worry?

The "take the first flight out" strategy has worked well. It's not foolproof. But if there's no airplane at the gate for my 6am flight, I know about it BEFORE I head to the airport. That's better than being at the airport two hours early and learning that the plane was diverted to Atlanta due to a supercell storm at DFW and nobody is going anywhere this afternoon.

And finally, Wee Willie Keeler's baseball advice also makes dandy travel advice. Just replace "hit" with "visit." For instance, I wouldn't take a trip to Paris right now, even if it was free. And I love visiting Paris. But I don't love crowds. The larger the crowd, the more I don't love it. Every sufficiently-large group of humans will reach a tipping point where people cease to be individuals and instead act like herd animals. When that happens, it becomes a nightmare to mooooove from place to place. Wait a few months, and I'd gladly take that trip. There's nothing quite like visiting an Olympic city a few months after the games are over. I highly recommend it.

 

[JudyH]

T

Omg. So sorry!

I am hearing of more horror stories just like this every day. One guy I know finally just got in his car after 2 flight cancellations and hours of wasted time and drove 1000 miles back and forth from New Hampshire to Louisville. Airline claimed it was weather.

One woman had to wait 3 days with little kids as her flights were cancelled only to be rerouted to an airport that wasn’t where her car was!

Then another trip she had the flight was cancelled twice so she drove from S. Carolina to Colorado and back!

Both American Airlines and no crew was the excuse.

This is why I have anxiety on our upcoming trip to Italy. And we are going the day before the tour but have to spend 6 hours on a layover with just one flight scheduled where we want to go. And our flight from Boston to get there is at night as it is. In many ways I’m sorry we are going just because of flying.

One thing I know I’ll never fly again after this.

Take lots of extra clothes and meds with you in carryon just in case luggage doesn’t make it right away.

 

[Talent312]

I remember almost fondly how we ran thru the Madrid airport to make a connection to Toulouse, France, but our luggage did not. We waited patiently for our luggage to appear and when it did not, found a place to report it using a screen in French.

So, we washed our undies in our hotel room and bought toiletries from a pharmacy across the street. With a rental car, we found a Walmart-type store and bought ill-fitting clothes. Wearing those, we went on a wine tour. At least the wine was good and our luggage turned up after the tour. We kept the clothes as souvenirs.
.

 

[gln60]

T

Take lots of extra clothes and meds with you in carryon just in case luggage doesn’t make it right away.

I would never even think about keeping my meds in my luggage…meds always stay with me in my carry on…with at least 4 days extra.

 

[Luanne]

T

Take lots of extra clothes and meds with you in carryon just in case luggage doesn’t make it right away.

I don't take lots of extra clothes as my carry on is a backpack and is already pretty full, but I have started bringing clean underwear and a small emergency kit since my luggage has now been delayed twice. Putting the clothes I'd word the day before back on wasn't too bad, but it was having to use the same underwear......ugh. One trip my luggage was delayed in Quebec City, the second time both dh and I had luggage delay of 5 days in NYC. Thank goodness for Macy's! We were reimbursed on both trips for the items we bought.

 

[Superchief]

I still remember one of my European trips prior to 911 when international travel was more civilized. I had a morning flight from Zurich to Turin for a meeting, and then was flying to London Gatwick that evening. I was on Swissair to Turin and BA to London. When I arrived in Turin, they did not have my luggage. I filled out the paperwork and went to my meeting. When I arrived back at the airport, I was informed that they found my luggage, but it was in London. That was one of the few times that airline errors actually worked in my favor. I never could figure out how my bags ended up in London.

 

[mbh]

This is exactly what we did on our last trip. We were due in Fairbanks from the DC area on July 10 to start a tour.. We got there on the 9th just to be sure. On the way back we had a Delta canceled flight which resulted in an extra day in Anchorage, so you never know.

 

[brp]

Definitely this. We just wrapped up a cruise on the Dalmation Coast for a friend's 50th and definitely did this. The cruise picked up on July 28 (although didn't leave that port until July 29, so we really had even more time).

We few to LHR on July 25, to arrive July 26. Our flight to Split, Croatia was scheduled for July 27 morning (we were in too late so had planned to overnight near LHR). Well, BA cancelled that and put us on a flight (Croatia Airlines) 10 hours later. That was 1.5 hours late, but we did get there on 27th, albeit much later. At worst, even if we had to go 28th morning, it would have worked. So plenty of buffer, to be sure.

Cheers.

 

[thechief118]

We had a ski trip to Steamboat Springs, flying CLT - DFW - HDN (Hayden / Yampa Valley) and there is only one direct flight DFW - HDN, so if you miss that you either have to try to get on next day or try to get to Denver and drive 3 hours. When we booked the flights we had the "just right" amount of layover time - not too long, not too short. Until AA changed the flight times, and layover getting there was under an hour. I researched my contingency plan, looked at open seats on flights to Denver, was ready to change rental car, etc. Luckily it all worked out. But was the most nervous I've been since we flew out on Saturday of Easter weekend and was shocked when we encountered ridiculous security lines (with what should have been plenty of time to get through.) I've noticed my work travel in the last year or so more small delays and issues, and one time running thru a terminal, and definitely full flights. So what used to be the ability to "get on the next flight" has pretty much evaporated. CLT here has been a mess the last 2 weeks, people waiting 24+ hours to try to get places.

Last cruise we took we drove to FL from NC, but did it the day before and used a FNC for a hotel stay just to be safe.

Plan accordingly...

 

[PDX Matthew]

Doing some research on weather patterns in your flight path can be very helpful when planning an itinerary. In winter, heavy snow can play havoc with schedules, so if you’re flying in winter, avoiding the northeast and Midwest is optimal. In summer, it’s tornados, and microbursts that cause issues, so flights earlier in the day are best. I’ve found that at many airports, the first flight of the day will leave, but traffic and crew issues can delay flights later in the day.

Another thing to research if you’re inclined to is what airlines are doing with their planes. I used to fly between Toronto and LaGuardia regularly, and discovered that their was a specific American Airlines flight that they would only cancel in the most extreme circumstances because they needed to fly the plane on to Miami, so I always tried to book that one.

If you’re flying on busy routes where weather delays are not common, e.g. LAX to SFO, or you’re flying in autumn or spring, it is fine to rely on the airline schedule, but I would always want to be in a port the day before sailing for a cruise (although I haven’t cruised in 16 years). Similarly, I like to avoid airlines that are notorious for cancellations. We’re flying Hawaiian to Maui in September (from Portland Oregon), Hawaiian rarely cancel these flights and Portland and Maui are unlikely to have bad weather necessitating flight cancellations. We prefer direct flights to connecting flights, so we tend to avoid Alaskan Airlines as they will cancel and reroute you via Seattle or Honolulu if it suits them, then we lose half a day of vacation.

 

[ABCTravels]

Flying has become extra unreliable lately. Our college son was with American Airlines out of Boston last weekend. They cancelled a flight at 3am, after 10 hours of delaying it incrementally, had no rebooking available for days, and no hotels, no food vouchers. United had one seat left on a flight nearly 14 hours later for about $700 more than we paid for the American ticket, but we paid it because we had no other choice (we were not in a position to drive there and get him, and he's too young to get a rental car.)
He commented that a large number of people were blowing up inflatable air mattresses from their carry ons and bunking in for the night. I thought that was genius! I may start carrying one as well In total, he was stuck in that airport for a day and a half. It makes us rethink flying anytime we can endure the drive.

 

[WinniWoman]

Flying has become extra unreliable lately. Our college son was with American Airlines out of Boston last weekend. They cancelled a flight at 3am, after 10 hours of delaying it incrementally, had no rebooking available for days, and no hotels, no food vouchers. United had one seat left on a flight nearly 14 hours later for about $700 more than we paid for the American ticket, but we paid it because we had no other choice (we were not in a position to drive there and get him, and he's too young to get a rental car.)
He commented that a large number of people were blowing up inflatable air mattresses from their carry ons and bunking in for the night. I thought that was genius! I may start carrying one as well In total, he was stuck in that airport for a day and a half. It makes us rethink flying anytime we can endure the drive.

This is absolutely insane! As for the inflatable mattress- ok- interesting idea until someone rips you off while you are sleeping.

But honestly- I don't do camping and why the hell should people have to pay enormous sums of money for that kind of treatment? OMG!