Wind and cancelled fights

[bumbershoot]

You could be planning to fly out of an airport on a crystal clear day and have your flight cancelled due to weather...because of where 'your' plane is parked hours before its due to take off for you.

So true. Gorgeous lovely day in the Seattle area, walked into chaos at the airport. West coast was perfectly fine, but soooo many flights were canceled and delayed and changed because the planes couldn't get to us.


Oh I hope they have insurance.

 

[hsmamato2]

The other thing to remember about SWA is that they really don't operate like a lot of other airlines, and don't use a hub & spoke set up. So for SWA to keep as much on track as possible, it makes sense for them to cancel everything and start fresh, since that way the majority of the planes will be they need to be. (This is a woefully oversimplified explanation, but you get the idea).

I was wondering if it was something like this..... I just call it the price of flying SWA which is a great deal for us.... and we deal with it

 

[DebbieB]

One other thing about SW is they don't sign tickets over to other airlines if there is a delay or cancellation.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

One other thing about SW is they don't sign tickets over to other airlines if there is a delay or cancellation.

Yes, Southwest has no interline agreements.

 

[Disneytam]

Reading this thread with interest as we will be flying out of Albany NY on Sunday at noon nonstop to Orlando. I have been watching( ok really stalking!) the weather for Sunday and it looks like we are expecting another storm on Sunday with 3-6 inches. I'm flying Southwest and me question is one should we be able to get out and two is there any way to find out where my flight originates from? I don't think Southwest has a main hub so I'm trying to figure out if our plane will make it into Albany for us to be able to go on to Orlando. From what I'm hearing the storm is coming from the west (Buffalo) and not a Northeaster like we have been getting. Like everyone else I just want to get out of this darn snow and cold for a week!

 

[debster812]

Disneytam--I use www.flightaware.com which you can sometimes use to see where your flight is coming in from.

Good Luck getting out on Sunday! Keep an eye on SW's website as well, if they start offering to let you change due to weather, I would jump on it, and get an inexpensive airport hotel if you can get out earlier.

 

[Disneytam]

Disneytam--I use www.flightaware.com which you can sometimes use to see where your flight is coming in from.

Good Luck getting out on Sunday! Keep an eye on SW's website as well, if they start offering to let you change due to weather, I would jump on it, and get an inexpensive airport hotel if you can get out earlier.

Thank you. Now the weather report is calling for an inch or two of snow Sat. night changing to freezing rain Sunday am then changing to rain. I'll just have to keep watching and see what Southwest does. Luckily I'm only 45 min. from the airport.

 

[pinkerbell]

UPDATE - we did not get out had a rental car booked and decided to see what happened since the drive would be so long and very stressful with 8 (4 kids) people in a van driving nonstop for 24 hrs.

SW started cancelling flights to BDL 9from places like florida) early Saturday morning before the first drop of snow fell anywhere. It's not very reliable when you have thousands of people missing flights when the weather is still fine based on what might happen. All said and done we had a few inches of snow (but people think all of MA and CT are "Boston" which is a few hours away and they had more snow.

I have learned to never book during vacation again, we could not get a flight out for over 4 days. That airlines book to close and too tight and they can't have it both ways, if you want to cancel on the threat of weather, than be prepared to accommodate the thousands you displace. I do not believe any of this was safety related, I think it was a cost saving measure - and by many airlines, not just southwest.
I have watched the flights over the past 2 weeks and they are a mess across the board the minute you throw the word snow out. This is new england, it snows, if you cant handle it, don't operate during the winter. We had more cancelled flights last weekend, yesterday and today based on a few inches of snow. I KNOW the flights come from other areas, but I have inquired about the flights origination points and routes and it truly appears they are being cancelled on the threat of bad weather and not conditions at other airports causing delays or cancellations. I also noticed our flight was cancelled several times (7am) a friend told me it doesnt make it out much, so I was warned
We were lucky, my husband was able to work the week through and change his vacation time, but not everyone can do this.

Tips that might help others
That said, we had planned to do universal at the back end of our trip. IF we ever book during a vacation again, we will put our extra days on the front end so if we have weather issues, we can absorb those days with driving and still make our "major" vacation.

Shop Insurance - AAA offers insurance at a fraction of the cost and I have asked friends who have used it and they were very pleased with any dealing they had with the co that they go through.

Lastly,
by Monday I was sick with the flu and by Tuesday my dd 9 had strep through. DH is sure we would have been sick on the cruise and killed each other! My fever was sky high and I had the house close to 80 was under a mtn of blankets and was still freezing. So Insurance is necessary for more than not making you vacation, but also good to have if you take ill on your vacation.

for those wondering about losing our $$$$ Carnival made us a very generous offer for a future cruise and I was THRILLED!!!! they owed us nothing and I personally know of others who also missed this crusie so I know they must have had a lot of vacant rooms and still gave me excellent customer service.

We are now booked out of Baltimore (driving down the day before (5 hr trip and not during vacation!) and have purchased insurance

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

And lastly don't book a flight the same day your cruise leaves because that leaves you no room for error.

 

[pinkerbell]

And lastly don't book a flight the same day your cruise leaves because that leaves you no room for error.

Not sure if I mentioned this here or on another board but last year we were lucky we did book the same day. Our flight was the first one out after days of cancellations. Those who were cancelled didnt get out withing 3 days just like we couldn't get out within 4 days this year Our flight was SUnday at 7 a.m. and we could not get out before Wed the soonest with limited flights . When booking during a busy time (our spring break) all flights are booked for days. That is why we will either chose ports we can drive to or add at least 3 days to our trip on the front end. In this area booking a day or two or even three is not a safety net and may bite you as well. Unless you are willing to drive should there be snow. Vacation locally

The sad thing is, this will prevent many from booking DIsney vacations during break in the future (we know a few families who didn't get out who were planning disney trips) but will be great for the cruise industry that leaves from several ports all withing driving distance. Like I said, this isn't a fluke, last year there were flight issues during both our flights out during Feb and APRIL vacations so we can no longer say it's uncommon, but more the way our winters are evolving.

Hope this info helps anyone planning vacations in situations similar to ours

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

......

SW started cancelling flights to BDL 9from places like florida) early Saturday morning before the first drop of snow fell anywhere. It's not very reliable when you have thousands of people missing flights when the weather is still fine based on what might happen. All said and done we had a few inches of snow (but people think all of MA and CT are "Boston" which is a few hours away and they had more snow.

I have learned to never book during vacation again, we could not get a flight out for over 4 days. That airlines book to close and too tight and they can't have it both ways, if you want to cancel on the threat of weather, than be prepared to accommodate the thousands you displace. I do not believe any of this was safety related, I think it was a cost saving measure - and by many airlines, not just southwest.
I have watched the flights over the past 2 weeks and they are a mess across the board the minute you throw the word snow out. This is new england, it snows, if you cant handle it, don't operate during the winter. We had more cancelled flights last weekend, yesterday and today based on a few inches of snow. I KNOW the flights come from other areas, but I have inquired about the flights origination points and routes and it truly appears they are being cancelled on the threat of bad weather and not conditions at other airports causing delays or cancellations. I also noticed our flight was cancelled several times (7am) a friend told me it doesnt make it out much, so I was warned ......

The airlines don't cancel flights without having a good reason. They loose a lot of money canceling flights, they don't save it! They do accommodate those whose flights are delayed or cancelled (for any reason). They issue waivers for flight changes in advance of predicted bad weather. You were warned (by me!) when you started this thread that you should be concerned and to change your flight. The people who change the earliest get accommodated sooner. Yes, it can take days to get on another flight after another storm, but what do you expect the airlines to do?

I'm not sure what you mean about never booking during vacation (?)

My tips - get travel insurance, don't travel the day of your cruise, book an airline which has interline agreements with other airlines (not Southwest, Frontier, etc), and keep an eye on weather conditions. If your airline is allowing free changes and the weather prediction is bad for your day of travel, change your flight.

 

[pinkerbell]

The airlines don't cancel flights without having a good reason. They loose a lot of money canceling flights, they don't save it! They do accommodate those whose flights are delayed or cancelled (for any reason). They issue waivers for flight changes in advance of predicted bad weather. You were warned (by me!) when you started this thread that you should be concerned and to change your flight. The people who change the earliest get accommodated sooner. Yes, it can take days to get on another flight after another storm, but what do you expect the airlines to do?

I'm not sure what you mean about never booking during vacation (?)

My tips - get travel insurance, don't travel the day of your cruise, book an airline which has interline agreements with other airlines (not Southwest, Frontier, etc), and keep an eye on weather conditions. If your airline is allowing free changes and the weather prediction is bad for your day of travel, change your flight.

While your scenario sounds wonderful and may be a situation you have had, it is clearly differnt from mine. I do not question others accounts of what happened. I take them as truth. My account is :
My flight and many others WERE cancelled - MOST before the snow started falling anywhere on the East coast. I was not given a reason for these cancellations despite repeated requests so I could educate myself on weather, mechanical etc. for futire consideration. All said and done depite predictions of a Blizzard in the East we had about 3 inches in the west. Hearsay is that when the numbers get crunched, the airlines just don't want to send flights into possible bad weater and risk them being out of use. What I would like is for the airlines to be more forthcoming so their patrons can me educated decisions when planning. Vacations aren't cheap nor is 8 people flying, the customer should have the right to know.

The moment we theoreticaly "COULD" change our flight, i tried, others had been changing already from the previous day and there were still backed up from previous storms. (we've had snowfall every few days for some time now) There were NO other flights avaiable for 2, 4 or 8 people, should we draw straws and hope we all make it on seperate flights? - 4 children also, so we had to travel by two's at least. Not an option.

My new practice will be to never book during school vacations - there is NO room for leway on either side booking early or late, as I indicated we lucked out booking for the same day last yr as we were on of the first flight out after a storm and those who booked early with cancelled flights could not get out like we could not this trip.

That is why, for us, we will book in the future when there is more availabilty on other flights, which is not during school vacation weeks. It was not just Southwest that cancelled and we don't have a large airport so there are fewer "catch a ride on another airline" options. Across the board the airlines could not accomodate travelers.

So while I agree what you suggest sounds great, it's not a better choice, they both have risks where we are

AND YES! get insurance

 

[msmayor]

My flight and many others WERE cancelled - MOST before the snow started falling anywhere on the East coast. I was not given a reason for these cancellations despite repeated requests so I could educate myself on weather, mechanical etc. for futire consideration. All said and done depite predictions of a Blizzard in the East we had about 3 inches in the west. Hearsay is that when the numbers get crunched, the airlines just don't want to send flights into possible bad weater and risk them being out of use. What I would like is for the airlines to be more forthcoming so their patrons can me educated decisions when planning. Vacations aren't cheap nor is 8 people flying, the customer should have the right to know.

You say you want airlines to be "more forthcoming" but in fact the traveling public already knows that flights get canceled in bad weather to keep equipment in use. Putting planes in areas of bad weather risks even LONGER delays and problems. Keeping them out of bad weather areas increases the chances they get back on track quicker.

 

[pinkerbell]

Never ASSUME anything you know what that does don't you Many people, including many experienced travelers I know are very frustrated that the suggestion of snow is cancelling flights much more frequently not an actually snow occurrence. Maybe your weathermen are right all the time, but ours are not. Not even close. You know what else they say, "I you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything" some people like accountability, others do not i guess, especially when hard worked for vacation time and money is on the line
Again, I try not to question others experiences, wondering why a few here are so quick to dispute rather than provide informative feedback and sad this thread has taken this turn

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Not sure if I mentioned this here or on another board but last year we were lucky we did book the same day. Our flight was the first one out after days of cancellations. Those who were cancelled didnt get out withing 3 days just like we couldn't get out within 4 days this year Our flight was SUnday at 7 a.m. and we could not get out before Wed the soonest with limited flights . When booking during a busy time (our spring break) all flights are booked for days. That is why we will either chose ports we can drive to or add at least 3 days to our trip on the front end. In this area booking a day or two or even three is not a safety net and may bite you as well. Unless you are willing to drive should there be snow. Vacation locally

.

The sad thing is, this will prevent many from booking DIsney vacations during break in the future (we know a few families who didn't get out who were planning disney trips) but will be great for the cruise industry that leaves from several ports all withing driving distance. Like I said, this isn't a fluke, last year there were flight issues during both our flights out during Feb and APRIL vacations so we can no longer say it's uncommon, but more the way our winters are evolving.

Hope this info helps anyone planning vacations in situations similar to ours

It does not have to be a weather issue that can delay or cancel a flight. You could have mechanical issues with the plane. The flight crew for your flight may not make into the airport leaving you stranded till they either arrive or the airline can round up a crew to fly that flight. Just because your plane has been sitting at the airport over night does not mean that the crew assigned to fly that flight has also made it to the airport. Which could be the reason they canceled your flight. The flight crew may have been coming in the night before from an area that was already getting bad snow therefore they never made it to your airport. There could be a security issue at the airport and they evacuate the airport till a complete check of the airport can be done. Which means everyone will have to be rescreened by security. Therefore it is not advisable to fly in on the day your cruise leaves especially during the winter months