Worried about Plane Change in Chicago, in January!

[ChicosWife]

Last February, I was on a cross-country trip with the kids, using SW. We were scheduled to leave Wednesday, connecting in Houston. The previous Saturday, they started predicting "Snowmageddon." I called SW, but since no advisory was issued, I couldn't change without paying the difference in fare (x3 was significant). I kept following all day Sunday, still no advisory. First thing Monday morning, I called again, was again told if I changed I would pay. I checked their website, and their social media. Their social media accounts were getting blasted by stranded passengers in the midwest and southwest, but still no advisory. I posted to their FB wall, pointing out that Delta and American had already issued advisories, were they planning to? I got a message back that they were, that I should call again. I called, was told no advisory, asked them to check with a supervisor as I had a message that they were issuing one. Agent came back on the line, told me they were, but it hadn't posted yet, but since I was on the phone, she'd go ahead and move me to a flight on Tuesday at no charge. I got 3 seats on the first flight out on Tuesday, and was told there were only a few seats left on that flight. We got to the airport at 530am. We were the only flight that took off on time that day, and by lunch, all flights were cancelled. Our airport was closed through Thursday night (small, Southern airport). The news was full of stories of stranded passengers. We were able to enjoy our trip, and even got an extra day out of it, because we were prepared to leave ahead of schedule and because I kept harrassing SWA. If you are prepared and vigilant (and maybe prepared to pay extra to change to another flight if absolutely necessary), you should be ok. Have a great trip!

This is 100% true. I broker aprrox 1,350 flights in to Chicago in January for a corporate meeting every year. We do not allow any of the attendees to fly in on Southwest (or any other flights in to MDW) because of the issues at Midway and the lack of service and advance planning on SWA's part for travel advisories. O'Hare does a much better job of keeping flights moving. Often times, we have more issues with storms affecting flights coming in from other parts of the country that cause delays or cancellations because the plane that was supposed to come in to Midway for the departure could not leave its destination.

FWIW, I have NEVER had an issue getting in to Chicago (ORD) on a flight from San Diego, but almost always have an issue leaving ORD in January. If it were me, I would allow more than 24 hours to get to my destination or attempt to move my connection to Phoenix or Dallas Love if I could and avoid Chicago Midway.

The issue isn't just with how Chicago deals with the weather. The issue is everywhere else. If the plane cannot get to Chicago, you cannot go on easily.

I walked into seatac a few years ago for a flight to SNA. OK so it was 3 flights; traveling on miles and the cheapest one was Sea to PDX to somewhere to SNA. Walked into madness. Beautiful wonderful day in SEA! Utter madness on the east coast. So many planes couldn't get out of their airports the night before, so we had no plans for our flights. Ended up getting it all switched, had a different CA airport to switch in after PDX, was delayed and had obnoxious layovers, but it worked out. If I had had somewhere to be in a timely manner it would have been even harder!

I live in the Chicago area and almost exclusively fly SWA. I prefer the ease of Midway over ORD. I did miss a cruise several years ago in December when a storm hit the area and not a single flight got out of Midway until late that evening (day of the cruise). I learned several lessons about flying out early, purchasing trip insurance, being more vigilant watching the weather ahead of time, etc. so I will never end up in that exact situation again! To the OP, you're being smart already by looking ahead and getting great info here so my bet is you'll arrive just fine, but IMHO it can't hurt to look into any options for arriving earlier or switching airlines so you fly into ORD. As much as I prefer Midway under normal circumstances, it can have more issues with weather locally and if problems arise once you're there, you have fewer options than if you're at ORD.

I would leave 2 days early to be safe, especially with the winters we have been having the last few years. This also gives you a chance to drive, worse comes to worse.

Spend the extra day at one of the WDW parks.

AKK

All these stories were too scary for me! I went ahead and changed our flights. Now our plane change is in sunny San Diego! Of course, any freak storm could affect the flight over to Orlando, at least, I am shifting the odds in my favor, of not getting stuck in Chicago! Thank you all for your stories and feedback!

 

[MUN]

All these stories were too scary for me! I went ahead and changed our flights. Now our plane change is in sunny San Diego! Of course, any freak storm could affect the flight over to Orlando, at least, I am shifting the odds in my favor, of not getting stuck in Chicago! Thank you all for your stories and feedback!

Not to worry you, but who knows where your plane that you're picking up in San Diego is coming in from? If there is winter weather in Denver for example, and your San Diego to Orlando flight is coming in from Denver, well then you could have an issue. Hopefully, you won't have plane issues and you will have a wonderful vacation!

MUN

 

[bceagle76]

Our flight changes planes in Chicago. I am really worried about getting delayed in both arrival and then in departure. I don't want to miss our boat! Any experience with this, from anyone?

No worse in January then dealing with T Stroms in the summer
always a risk

 

[ChicosWife]

Not to worry you, but who knows where your plane that you're picking up in San Diego is coming in from? If there is winter weather in Denver for example, and your San Diego to Orlando flight is coming in from Denver, well then you could have an issue. Hopefully, you won't have plane issues and you will have a wonderful vacation!

MUN

True, we can only hope for the best and hope that SWA makes other arrangements if our San Diego plane is stuck elsewhere.

 

[MunFam]

True, we can only hope for the best and hope that SWA makes other arrangements if our San Diego plane is stuck elsewhere.

I'm sorry to tell you this...but they won't. They cannot really just put a different plane on the flight itinerary because one is stuck somewhere. You should be able to see where your plane originates from. They usually fly the same routes every day. Your very best bet is to allow 2-3 days for advance travel. I have been at the San Diego Airport (my home) and watched a lot of people stuck without planes because the plane never came in form a stormy state and it was continuing on to somewhere like Mexico or Hawaii. If your plane makes it in to San Diego on time...you will 99.9% take off on time or within a few hours of your scheduled departure time, so that part is in your favor. We don't really have "weather" here other than some fog delays for maybe an hour or two early in the morning, so at least you know if you make it to San Diego...and your plane makes it to San Diego, you will likely get out. The other good news, in your favor, is that there are Ontario, Jon Wayne (Orange County), Long Beach and LAX all within about 2 hours drive from here, so if you really get in a jam, you can get on another SWA flight after an expensive cab ride or train ride or one way rental car or you could even book with another airline at another airport to get to your destination on time and pray your trip insurance covers it.

There was a family on our WBPC cruise that allowed something like 36 hours advance arrival and they live on an island in Canada. It got fogged in...and after many, many delays and finally getting off the island and then getting to their first connection...then having a delay there, they changed to a flight in to Orlando and drove a rental car the 3 or 4 hours the next morning...they made it to Miami! But it definitely was not the way they wanted to start their vacation.

 

[MUN]

I'm sorry to tell you this...but they won't. They cannot really just put a different plane on the flight itinerary because one is stuck somewhere. You should be able to see where your plane originates from on flighttraker.com. They usually fly the same routes every day. Your very best bet is to allow 2-3 days for advance travel. I have been at the San Diego Airport (my home) and watched a lot of people stuck without planes because the plane never came in form a stormy state and it was continuing on to somewhere like Mexico or Hawaii. If your plane makes it in to San Diego on time...you will 99.9% take off on time or within a few hours of your scheduled departure time, so that part is in your favor. We don't really have "weather" here other than some fog delays for maybe an hour or two early in the morning,

Didn't they move an NFL game to Phoenix one time because of California wildfires? Do you know if that impacted plane travel?

 

[MunFam]

Didn't they move an NFL game to Phoenix one time because of California wildfires? Do you know if that impacted plane travel?

Oh yes, I think that was in October 2007...I was evacuated at the time. I am not sure what plane travel was happening as far as smoke/visibility was concerned. The airport was not in any sort of fire danger. I *think* it was an air quality issue, but I am not 100% sure.

According the the Cedar Fire's 2003 impact study (another terrifying fire to live though!) "47 cancelled flights and 37 flight delays occurred as a result of decreased visibility on October 26, 2003". But historically, that was the worst wildfire in the history of California..."A total of 375, 917 acres were burned in San Diego County, 3,241 homes were lost, and sadly 16 people lost their lives, including one firefighter. At the peak of the fires, 6,635 crew were fighting the blazes."

I would not worry about a San Diego wildfire at all...and I for sure would not worry about it in January...October, kind of sort of maybe, but not even on the radar in January

 

[phinz]

You should be able to see where your plane originates from on flighttraker.com.

http://www.flightaware.com. Flight Tracker is owned by Orbitz. The link posted will take you to a parked/squatter site, and Flight Tracker will just try to sell you tickets.

 

[MunFam]

http://www.flightaware.com. Flight Tracker is owned by Orbitz. The link posted will take you to a parked/squatter site, and Flight Tracker will just try to sell you tickets.

Sorry about that. I use the app based software and its always been good to me. Didn't realize the website was bad. I also use Flight Aware app, but sometimes its not accurate.

I will go edit my OP.

 

[darkwing818]

I would leave 2 days early to be safe, especially with the winters we have been having the last few years. This also gives you a chance to drive, worse comes to worse.

Spend the extra day at one of the WDW parks.

Excellent advice. We've been delayed numerous times (January & February flights), Chicago, Dallas, Hartford, Rochester & its never fun. Heck; now that we drive (11 hours from TN.) we still try to leave at least 2 days prior to our cruise departure & stay at WDW.

 

[emilymad]

Another thing to check is the exact wording of your travel insurance regarding to weather delays. A lot of travel insurances doesn't kick in until you have been delayed 24 or 48 hours. We fly from Philly in January so we always make sure our travel policy allows for immediate weather delays. We also prepare to change our flights to a day or two earlier at our cost if necessary. We always fly in the day before but in January that might not be enough.

 

[professorandmom]

My daughter (pictured with Mini on left) successfully did the unthinkable (for DIS boarders): she flew in the day of a Wonder cruise in December, from Midway...yes, it can be done but it is risky (and I was nervous the whole time)...when it all goes well then it was the right decision, when it fails, then it was the wrong decision...good luck

 

[phinz]

Excellent advice. We've been delayed numerous times (January & February flights), Chicago, Dallas, Hartford, Rochester & its never fun. Heck; now that we drive (11 hours from TN.) we still try to leave at least 2 days prior to our cruise departure & stay at WDW.

We leave TN (same amount of time, roughly) a day and a half ahead of time. Get as far as we can the first night and then, depending on where we stopped for the night, try to get to Port Canaveral the aftenoon before to watch the ships leave from Fishlips.

 

[Kae]

Midway over O'hare any day.

 

[MillauFr]

Midway over O'hare any day.

I understand at Midway planes have more difficulty in bad weather because the runways are very short. They don't want to slide off the end of the runway. It is much easier to land at O'Hare in bad weather because of this.

 

[WildEyed]

I am sorry to tell you that we had a huge problem with flying through Chicago in January 2013. We were due to arrive in Orlando via Chicago on January 3 for a cruise departing January 4.
Due to huge storms all over the eastern US and Canada, our flight was CANCELLED (along with thousands of others). We were lucky enough to have used a local travel agent, who called us on Jan 2, and then managed to get our family of 5 on a red-eye connecting through Houston, leaving the night of Jan 3 at midnight instead. That was the last flight possible for us to make our cruise, and from the sounds of it not all of their cruise clients were so lucky.

The flight itself was a nightmare with 3 young kids. We arrived in Orlando at around 11 am, got straight into our hired car, and were driven to the port. We managed to get on the ship at around 2:30. I was so tired that I slept most of the first 24 hours on the ship.

I, too, was stalking the weather forecasts in the days leading up to our departure. Stalking didn't really help though! The storms still came and the flights were still cancelled. I was grateful to have a travel agent who booked our flights, as the hold waiting times for United were over 2 hours due to the thousands of others trying to rebook!

I don't want to stress you out but I agree that it's a big disappointment to miss something you've planned for even if trip insurance covers it!

Because of this, I now always plan to arrive 2 days before the cruise departs, and in the winter I'll try to fly through Houston or LA. (we are from western Canada). Bad weather can happen everywhere, but having the extra day cushion would open up a lot more options if you had to deal with this situation. We had a relaxing extra day in Miami earlier this year, it helped set the mood for our cruise!

 

[dittymau]

Stressed out over something 6 months from now is not good! I know many have tales of missed and cancelled flights (I as well) but if you look at the DOT stats website, January 2015 - rough months in the Chicago area, Southwest flights were on time 77.69% of the time, with 4.88 % delay due to carrier issues, air traffic control, late arriving aircraft, make up most of the delays, only 0.55% for weather delay, and 3.28% cancelled flights.

With that said, and not knowing where your ordinating city is, the stats are in your favor based on past history. If you want to increase your odds, book as early a departure as you can, and you will have less chance of a delay due to incoming aircraft...

 

[phinz]

if you look at the DOT stats website, January 2015 - rough months in the Chicago area, Southwest flights were on time 77.69% of the time

Man. If I only showed up on time to work 77.69% of the time, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have to worry about being to work at all before long.

 

[ChicosWife]

I am sorry to tell you that we had a huge problem with flying through Chicago in January 2013. We were due to arrive in Orlando via Chicago on January 3 for a cruise departing January 4.
Due to huge storms all over the eastern US and Canada, our flight was CANCELLED (along with thousands of others). We were lucky enough to have used a local travel agent, who called us on Jan 2, and then managed to get our family of 5 on a red-eye connecting through Houston, leaving the night of Jan 3 at midnight instead. That was the last flight possible for us to make our cruise, and from the sounds of it not all of their cruise clients were so lucky.

The flight itself was a nightmare with 3 young kids. We arrived in Orlando at around 11 am, got straight into our hired car, and were driven to the port. We managed to get on the ship at around 2:30. I was so tired that I slept most of the first 24 hours on the ship.

I, too, was stalking the weather forecasts in the days leading up to our departure. Stalking didn't really help though! The storms still came and the flights were still cancelled. I was grateful to have a travel agent who booked our flights, as the hold waiting times for United were over 2 hours due to the thousands of others trying to rebook!

I don't want to stress you out but I agree that it's a big disappointment to miss something you've planned for even if trip insurance covers it!

Because of this, I now always plan to arrive 2 days before the cruise departs, and in the winter I'll try to fly through Houston or LA. (we are from western Canada). Bad weather can happen everywhere, but having the extra day cushion would open up a lot more options if you had to deal with this situation. We had a relaxing extra day in Miami earlier this year, it helped set the mood for our cruise!

Yikes! Glad you made it on time!

 

[ChicosWife]

After hearing your stories, I am worried that I should change our flights again so that we are in Florida 2 days early!