Delta today is an example of why not to fly in the day of

[BigredNole]

The outage at Delta today is the definitive reason why you should not fly in the same day. This would completely ruin your vacation. Yes, if you have insurance you get your money back. However, you don't get your vacation back.

 

[wilkeliza]

Same thing happened on South West no too long ago too. I wonder what the airlines did before all the major systems updates. Seems like there should be a backup way to check people in and track who is where and issue tickets. If there isn't airlines should start looking into one since these outages are happening more and more (or at least they seem that way).

 

[BigredNole]

Airlines don't really care. There is nothing they have to offer other than getting you on another flight in case of a system wide outage like this. You are simply stuck at their mercy.

 

[AquaDame]

Faulty network router supposedly caused SouthWest's woes and now a power outage at headquarters for Delta? Thats it? I'm in IT for a much smaller company and this would not stand here. Redundancies out the wazoo are the standard nowadays, I wonder how bad their budget has been?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Faulty network router supposedly caused SouthWest's woes and now a power outage at headquarters for Delta? Thats it? I'm in IT for a much smaller company and this would not stand here. Redundancies out the wazoo are the standard nowadays, I wonder how bad their budget has been?

I find it odd that two major airlines have had system-wide outages within a few weeks of one another, especially since I agree with you that there should be redundancies which would keep a faulty router or power outage from causing problems of this magnitude. I wonder if these airlines weren't hacked and they don't want it leaked what the real cause of the problem was.

 

[olookasquirrel]

Totally agree, and it goes double for winter time. Either last year or the year before, there were epic storms in the northeast right after the holidays. We were heading out when flights had resumed, but the woman next to us had had to wait 5 days before they could get her on another flight.

After that, my rule became - leave early enough that you can realize flights are not happening and drive. That first part is key, as the recent southwest outage featured stories of folks spending 6+ hours being told they were merely delayed, and would be leaving any minute...

 

[bethy]

We are flying in the day before but I am still nervous. We couldn't do earlier due to my kids missing too much school for this trip already. And then we live across the country so driving will never be an option. we have insurance but in the moment that honestly wouldn't make us feel much better if we missed the boat. Ah well - chances are we will be fine!

 

[Laundress]

OP ..I had the same thought today. very stressful scenario. Insurance is a must.
But sometimes life is so complicated you have no other choice than to fly day of.

 

[MeliMel702]

This is why I'm considering flying two days ahead. Figured we can have a relaxing day at the beach and last minute shopping before the trip!

 

[jerseygal]

We are flying in the day before but I am still nervous. We couldn't do earlier due to my kids missing too much school for this trip already. And then we live across the country so driving will never be an option. we have insurance but in the moment that honestly wouldn't make us feel much better if we missed the boat. Ah well - chances are we will be fine!

Can't do much more than flying in the day before, should give you a "cushion" for delays. Can NEVER understand why people don't pay for travel insurance. It is " peace if mind" for all of our trips, truly never know. Enjoy!

 

[disneyholic family]

The outage at Delta today is the definitive reason why you should not fly in the same day. This would completely ruin your vacation. Yes, if you have insurance you get your money back. However, you don't get your vacation back.

this is exactly what i wrote to my daughter yesterday....yes another reason why you should never ever ever ever fly in on the same day as your cruise!! weather, strikes, mechanical issues were always enough for me....but this is another one that i never thought of!!

we always fly in at least 3 days in advance, but we're coming from half a world away...

.

 

[Starwind]

Hence why we fly in 3 days before: enough time to get in the car and drive (only one driver) if we had to + flying in winter, from Canada.

SW

 

[lorimay]

This really made me nervous. For our next cruise in April we are only flying in one day ahead, we usually do 3-5 days before but our son is getting married on the 28th and we are flying early morning the 29th for a cruise on the 30th. I am hopeful that there are no issues for us.

 

[hamm1207]

Time to spare, travel by air! We always fly in the day before, and we try to fly in the morning so that there are more options if something happens with our flight.

 

[OKW Lover]

Airlines don't really care. There is nothing they have to offer other than getting you on another flight in case of a system wide outage like this. You are simply stuck at their mercy.

The airline also wants you to fly on them in the future so they will do everything logistically possible to minimize the bad effects. With this kind of major outage however, there are bound to be people who can't be accommodated.

 

[disneyholic family]

i'm not blaming an airline.....things happen....
and because things happen, and ships leave when they leave, i try not to leave things to chance and get there at the very least 3 days early...
i forgot another reason...volcanoes (and i had never considered that one until that volcano in iceland decided to blow its top and mess with the flight schedules like crazy.....and in that case, i don't think 3 days would have been enough!!!!)

 

[RedSox68]

What happened to the Passenger Bill of Rights? I thought that was being implemented to protect passengers from this crap. Some analyst this morning on the Today Show said that Delta needs to update bring their equipment and bring it up to current standards so this doesn't happen again! What a mess.

 

[disneyholic family]

What happened to the Passenger Bill of Rights? I thought that was being implemented to protect passengers from this crap. Some analyst this morning on the Today Show said that Delta needs to update bring their equipment and bring it up to current standards so this doesn't happen again! What a mess.

but this doesn't help you if you scheduled yourself to arrive the same day...
anyone who does that, has no one but themselves to blame for missing the boat....so to speak...

 

[Neptune's Fork]

But sometimes life is so complicated you have no other choice than to fly day of.

Generally agree, although this is the kind of vacation that come hades or high water, you need to make the time to get there with an emergency cushion. If it were just a typical beach vacation, then yeah, stuff happens, no big deal.

 

[Control4Hermosa]

i'm not blaming an airline.....things happen

? People get fired for "things happening". Delta, like any other large corp. has outdated procedures, equipment and staff. A Disney Cruise Line ship operates tighter than a single airline flight. There is little to do, as travelers, other than post here about how defects in a system, anyone's system, impacts you. Roll of the dice folks