Airline tips in times of Hurricanes

[marcij]

I just wanted to post the problems/solutions I had while trying to get home from the 8/7 Magic cruise. We came into port on 8/14 while the Orlando airport was closed. I called the airline I was flying on to check on my flight. The flight had been cancelled, but I was only given the option of rebooking out of Orlando for the following Monday morning. While I'd love to be "stranded" in Orlando, my boys started school that day, so I needed other options. Some Florida residents sitting next to me suggested I ask about options out of Tampa. I did and got a flight out for the next day. After hanging up, I decided to find out what other airports were reachable from PC and call back. I found a flight out of West Palm Beach for that afternoon, that would get my family home only a few hours after our original flight was due. Here's the kicker -- the airline didn't want to change me to that flight because it was over 100 miles from the Orlando ap. After several calls and speaking to a supervisor, I was able to get on that flight. (Which did leave WPB with 30 EMPTY seats!) I am an elite flier on this airline, and don't understand why they didn't give me the other options in the first place. I understand why they have rules, but it seems like when seats are available, in this kind of extreme weather condition, they would have been happy to make allowances. All this is to tell you that you do have other options, and if you think you will be in a similar situation to this, research them all and be prepared to keep calling until you get someone who truly wants to help you.

 

[rae519]

Thanks for that info - can you do anything about airline turbulance?!!! As we prepare to fly into Orlando on Friday for our 9/4 cruise, I can only pray that we don't get too much!

Rae

 

[marcij]

No -- wish I could. But I will send up a prayer. Good luck and have a great trip.

 

[SNicksed]

Just found this on the US Air site:

At the Airport


Weather Alerts

Due to severe weather conditions affecting the airports listed below, US Airways will allow passengers traveling to or from the these locations to change their flights. All changes must be made on or before the originally ticketed travel dates. Please check flight information for latest details.


Airports Affected by Hurricane Frances
September 1 - 4, 2004
Freeport, Bahamas
Governors Harbour, Bahamas
Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
Nassau, Bahamas
North Eleuthera, Bahamas
Treasure Cay, Bahamas
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
San Juan, Puerto Rico


September 1 - 5, 2004
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Gainesville, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Miami, FL
Orlando, FL
Panama City, FL
Tallahassee, FL
West Palm Beach, FL



Reaccommodation Procedure
Passengers originally scheduled to travel to or from the affected airports on the specified dates may change their itineraries. US Airways will waive the standard change fee, advance reservation or ticketing requirements.

The entire itinerary can be moved forward or delayed, up to seven days from the scheduled departure date. Certain restrictions may apply.

The full value of wholly unused ticket(s) can be applied toward the purchase of a new ticket(s) to an alternate destination, with travel to originate within seven days of the scheduled departure date

 

[SJCSuzy]

We had the same thing only on trying to get there. When I got up at 5am on Aug 13th I found out our flight later that day to MCO was cancelled. When I called AA I asked the agent if we could fly into West Palm Beach instead and she said no problem. We wound up with a pretty long layover but made it to Florida and drove up to Port Canaveral on Saturday monring.

I used to work in the airline business and have found it's best to find your alternatives and suggest they use those. Most agents seem only too happy to get you on your way with not much effort on their part. Often they won't look for alternatives too far away because they won't provide ground transportation and figure most people wouldn't want to pay for it. We found the rental car was actually a few dollars less than picking up in MCO.

Sometimes you do need to keep calling till you get someone to help but I've also found if you present your case to a supervisor in a calm and rational manner, explaining what you want most of the time you'll have good luck.

Hope this helps.