Any tips on how to deal with flight delays due to snow forecasted in the Northeast ?

[DVCindy]

Hi - We are due to fly out of Newark Tuesday evening (7:45PM).
The forecast for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday is not looking good. I have never had to deal with winter weather flight delays before and am looking for some tips or advice from anyone unlucky enough to have encountered this before !!!

So far, I have found out through Song that we can confirm an earlier flight (there is a 7:40 am and a 2:15pm that day) 3 hours before the flight is scheduled to leave if there are any seats available. My thought was if the kids are home because it is a snow day, we could head to the airport earlier instead of waiting all day at home for the 7:45 PM flight. Of course I have no way of knowing if this will improve our chances of getting out of Newark any earlier, but I figure it couldn't hurt. I'm thinking if the flights are backed up due to the weather, the flights scheduled for earliest in the day will go out first ... am I right ?? My biggest fear, of course, is that because we have a night flight, we may not get out at all until the next day and miss a whole day at the World ... not to mention eating our DVC points for the first night !!!

Any tips you can share with me will be greatly appreciated !!!

 

[CarolA]

Well, you may just have to wait this out.

Nope, the flights scheduled out earlier don't always go out earliest. First the plane has to get INTO the airport. So a lot depends on where the flights are. If the kids are out of school I would call Song that morning and see what is going on. Monitor your flight on the web and just wait and see.

Not much anyone can do about the weather.

 

[Lewisc]

Figure out how you're going to get TO THE AIRPORT. The lots may have a reduced number of parking places (piles of snow) and the friend you were counting on to drive you to the airport may not have a car that works well in the snow/ice.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by DVCindy
Hi - We are due to fly out of Newark Tuesday evening (7:45PM).
The forecast for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday is not looking good. I have never had to deal with winter weather flight delays before and am looking for some tips or advice from anyone unlucky enough to have encountered this before !!!

So far, I have found out through Song that we can confirm an earlier flight (there is a 7:40 am and a 2:15pm that day) 3 hours before the flight is scheduled to leave if there are any seats available. My thought was if the kids are home because it is a snow day, we could head to the airport earlier instead of waiting all day at home for the 7:45 PM flight. Of course I have no way of knowing if this will improve our chances of getting out of Newark any earlier, but I figure it couldn't hurt. I'm thinking if the flights are backed up due to the weather, the flights scheduled for earliest in the day will go out first ... am I right ?? My biggest fear, of course, is that because we have a night flight, we may not get out at all until the next day and miss a whole day at the World ... not to mention eating our DVC points for the first night !!!

Any tips you can share with me will be greatly appreciated !!!

If it were me, I would book a room the night before, take the kids out of school and go on the early flight.
I am also leaving Tuesday out of Hartford. I am watching the weather closely and I may just book a room the night before.

 

[seashoreCM]

For a Song reservation that his threatened by snow, you can also ask about flying out early on Delta flights that connect in Atlanta. No guarantees but it is worth a try.

If one flight is cancelled, only those people are affected and the next flight remains intact. It is not a domino effect that pushes each planeload of people to the next flight. Once in awhile it looks like two flights were canceled and one plane shows up ini that time frame with a newly invented flight number to take people on a first come first served basis.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

For those flying down in the evening, it is worth considering staying at an airport hotel for the first night rather than in the more expensive resort or DVC timeshare.

 

[Snoozan]

Now I have a question - if I have a ressie for a late afternoon flight on Song and it looks like there may be weather delays, can I get on the earlier flight at no extra charge? if there's room on that flight? The reason I chose the later flight was that it was about $60 cheaper. Will they put me on an earlier flight only due to weather?

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Snoozan
Now I have a question - if I have a ressie for a late afternoon flight on Song and it looks like there may be weather delays, can I get on the earlier flight at no extra charge? if there's room on that flight? The reason I chose the later flight was that it was about $60 cheaper. Will they put me on an earlier flight only due to weather?

That is something your airline could answer better. My gut says you will incur a charge IF it is your choice, if it is because of a delay and the airline wants to change you, then, I doubt there will be a charge.

 

[NotUrsula]

What I have encountered on many flights (not Song, though, they don't fly my routes) is that getting advance information from the gate is extremely difficult; they play the whole "will it or won't it" thing very close to the chest, not that that is entirely their fault, of course, they have to wait from updates from the flight controllers. If you've heard there are delays and try to get a new estimated departure time before heading to the airport, you will probably be told to show up at the scheduled time anyway. So you do that, and when you get to the gate, you're told that the flight hasn't left the west coast yet, and it will be at least 3 hours until it arrives. So you wonder if you can leave the airport and come back later, go see a movie or something to kill the time. Not good, they might give your seat away if the flight is cancelled and they have to rebook all the passengers on another flight. I've sometimes sat at gates for up to 10 hours, being told about every hour that the flight will be another hour or so, before finally being told that the "delayed" flight will not be departing after all.

IME, if you want to try to get seated on an earlier flight as a hedge against the cancellation of a later one, the only way it will happen is if you are at the gate; they almost never will do that over the phone. Also, if you want to try that, be sure to have a day's change of clothing with you in your carryons; your checked luggage may stay on the original flight.

One thing that you absolutely should do is program the airline's reservations number into a cell phone, make sure that it is charged, and have it with you in the gate area. If there is a flight cancellation, those who call to get re-booked are more likely to get out that day than those who stand in line at the counter.

BTW, if you want to read a really great article about how airlines deal with weather delays, the Chicago Tribune did a feature series a while back that won a Pulitzer. It's a bit of a worst-case scenario, but it's very well-written: it is the 4 stories at the top, under "The Longest Day":
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2001/explanatory-reporting/works/
BTW, the delay featured in this report didn't happen in winter; it happened because of thunderstorms. You can get weather delays anytime, though winter is worse because of the whole de-icing factor. Ironically, the day featured in these stories was September 11th, 2000. If you read this, remember that O'Hare is a REALLY huge hub, so delays there are often worse than anywhere else. Also, this was before the world of passenger aviation changed for good; there are far fewer flights scheduled each day now than there were back then.

 

[DVCindy]

Thanks very much for the replies everyone !

As of now, I have a room booked for Monday night. If I find out early enough on Monday that Tuesday will be a snow day, we will head out and stay at the airport Monday night .

According to a Song agent I spoke with yesterday, they do not do standbys at the airport at all. They ask you to call exactly 3 hours before the scheduled departure time of the flight you would like to be switched to. If at that time there are any seats available, they will confirm you for that flight with a $25 fee.

Snoozan - This may work for you... if there are available seats. They have some details about this policy on their website, or just give them a call. They explained my options very clearly and were very nice.

seashoreCM - Thanks for the tip about checking Delta flights ... hadn't thought about that angle !

NotUrsula - Thanks for the tip on calling the reservations center on my cell phone instead of going to the counter - will definately be doing that if necessary !!! I will be reading the article you mentioned, too !

You're all so helpful here ... Thanks !

 

[DisneyKidds]

Will they put me on an earlier flight only due to weather?

Yes.......................if the weather is going to be bad enough.

This story may be long................but bear with me as it may help you guys. We had to deal with a major snowstorm affecting the New York area (whole Northeast corridor) when we were supposed to return from Orlando back in early December. You remember that 2+ foot doozy. We were scheduled to fly back on the Saturday. Due to the fact that there was no doubt about whether or not it was actually going to snow, I knew for certain on Friday that there was no way our Saturday flight was going to go anywhere. Delta (we were on Song) couldn't tell me that. Afterall, as of Friday our flight was still scheduled and "on time". It really hadn't started to snow yet, but being a frequent flier I knew that flights were going to be cancelled. I didn't want to be stranded in Orlando on Saturday without a flight so I had to do something..................but what? Well, I learned a little about Delta policy....................and it isn't all bad.

Essentially, when there is an imminent snowstorm that is going to severeley affect area airports, Delta will allow you to make changes without charge or penalty. Once the decision is made by Delta and the affected airports are determined (they will have a list), you can switch to available seats on earlier or later flights. We called early afternoon on Friday and I switched us to an early afternoon Sunday flight. We snagged the last 4 available seats on any Sunday flight going back to NY. There was no charge for doing this. Turns out our Saturday flight was indeed cancelled................and the Sunday flight we were on was the first to get out since late Friday night. Had we not made the change that we did on Friday we would have been in line with all the other people who's flights were cancelled and we wouldn't have been able to get on a plane until Monday evening.

So there is hope........................and you are planning ahead. That is good. The trick is probably going to be the severity of the storm, whether Delta considers is a weather emergency, and when exactly they make that decision and determine the affected airports. Right now the storm doesn't look to be as nasty as they seemed to be making it out yesterday, but who knows how that will change. Here is what I'd do.

Check with Delta OFTEN on Monday as to the status of the airports and flights. Tell them your concern regarding your Tuesday flight. Ask them if there is anything you can do. So long as they continue to give you the "call three hours before for standby" policy they probably haven't declared a weather emergency and you can stick with your plan. On the other hand, if they have determined that the weather is going to be severe enough, they may allow you to make a change like we did. I'd suggest being prepared to jump on a Monday evening flight before the weather gets messy.

I hate having such uncertainty when flying, but at least you are thinking ahead and if you can be flexible and things go the right way you may be able to minimize the impact.

If you don't get on a Monday flight and they start cancelleing Tuesday flights, call as soon as you can and try and reschedule yourself on a Wednesday flight. This way you might possibly have a seat on a flight Wednesday (if the weather clears) while everyone else who's flight is cancelled Tuesday is scrambling for a seat.

Call the airline often. Tell them your concerns. Ask them what your options are. I think Delta is very good in these situations. Good luck.

 

[DVCindy]

DisneyKidds -

Can't thank you enough for your advice !!!

I was able to make a change to our flights and we are now flying out tonight !!! I checked the Delta website and they had a weather advisory for all the affected airports and info on how to reschedule without penalties, etc. I would have never known about the possibility of this happening if you didn't reply to my post ... thank you so much !!!! I hope we made the right choice ... wish us luck at the airport today !!!

I just created a new post alerting others traveling Delta today and tomorrow ... hope I can help someone out, too !

Gail ... not sure if Hartford was on the list of affected airports yet but it's worth taking a look at the weather advisory on the site.


Cindy

 

[DisneyKidds]

Cindy....I was hoping things would work out that way for you. Good luck getting out and enjoy your extra day at WDW!!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by DVCindy
DisneyKidds -

Can't thank you enough for your advice !!!

I was able to make a change to our flights and we are now flying out tonight !!! I checked the Delta website and they had a weather advisory for all the affected airports and info on how to reschedule without penalties, etc. I would have never known about the possibility of this happening if you didn't reply to my post ... thank you so much !!!! I hope we made the right choice ... wish us luck at the airport today !!!

I just created a new post alerting others traveling Delta today and tomorrow ... hope I can help someone out, too !

Gail ... not sure if Hartford was on the list of affected airports yet but it's worth taking a look at the weather advisory on the site.




Cindy

Cindy,
Thanks, I am on my way to the site now. I did book a room for tonight one mile from Bradley. I appreciate your OP and the heads up. Have a great vacation, see you there.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would second the idea of just going to the airport early to stand by for an earlier flight. Most likely the airline will put you on the earlier flight if possible, when you point out the imminent snowstorm. The airline would rather get some passengers out of the way instead of have to worry about rescheduling everybody if flights are cancelled.

Keep this a secret: If you do try to stand by early but are refused available seats only for want of more fare or fees, and then your real flight was cancelled for a foreseeable reason including weather, it is now a fact that the situation was not beyond the airline's control. This does not guarantee you compensation but you may very well have a case. IMHO you do not have to pay the change fee first and get a refund only if your actual flight was cancelled.