Direct Air - Worcester, MA - Winter

[Bowen9475]

Does anyone have experience flying Direct Air out of Worcester during the winter? How is it handled if the plane can't leave due to bad weather? Are you rescheduled on a later flight or can you get your money refunded? We are thinking ahead to next February school vacation week. They have a great sale going on right now. We would love to take another cruise but if the flight is delayed/cancelled and you don't get there before the cruise departs you miss out. Any information? Thanks!

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Does anyone have experience flying Direct Air out of Worcester during the winter? How is it handled if the plane can't leave due to bad weather? Are you rescheduled on a later flight or can you get your money refunded? We are thinking ahead to next February school vacation week. They have a great sale going on right now. We would love to take another cruise but if the flight is delayed/cancelled and you don't get there before the cruise departs you miss out. Any information? Thanks!

If someone is going on a tight deadline, such as going on a cruise, it could be a risk to take Direct Air in the winter. What would you do if there is a problem?

Personally, I would try to leave more options flying out of an airport where there are multiple airlines.

 

[deedeetoo]

Many years ago my dh used to fly out of Worcester for business (not Direct Air) and finally realized that that airport was terrible for weather delays. After having flights cancelled and then being forced to drive into Boston and rebook real time (not just once), he abandoned trying it. We don't even consider Worcester because of his bad experiences. Just my opinion but I wouldn't take a free ticket out of there. I don't need that hassle on my vacation.

 

[sshaw10060]

I would avoid it in winter. Snow is going to mess up anyone, but the airport has a bad habit of being fogged in for several days at a time especially in the winter. Since Direct Air service is limited you haev to wait it out. I had one friend spend three extra days in orlando waiting for the fog to clear. If it were summer I would give it a try, but not during the winter and I live only 20 minutes away.

 

[dgaston]

I've flown Direct Air 3x and am booked again in May. We rarely have been on time. We flew out Dec 26 in 09, and the fog kept the plane circling -- finally flew to Boston, refueled, and was able to land about 3 hours late. Our return flight was delayed for several hours as well.

If SWA is too expensive (flies out of Manchester, NH or Providence RI) look into Jetblue out of Hartford. We flew them last December, and will probably book them again for November '11 when the schedule comes out.

 

[Bowen9475]

We have gone to Florida for the past several years for February school vacation. We have always flown Southwest in the past and have luckily never had any weather delays. Right now, with the sale Direct Air is having, we would be able to fly Sunday to Sunday for $1000 for 5 of us. We would never be able to touch that price on Southwest for those days and I really would love to avoid having our kids miss any extra days of school - our oldest will be a high school freshman. I know the chances you take when flying from the Northeast in February. I really wanted to know how weather delays/cancellations are handled by Direct Air. Would we be able to get a refund or at least rebook the flights for a later date? If we had trip insurance for the cruise and did not lose money if the flights were cancelled, we would really only be out the vacation and it might be worth trying Direct Air. The prices are really tempting.

 

[deedeetoo]

I think you missed the point of several responses. Weather may be bad - but planes will still be flying out of Boston, Providence, and Manchester, while Worcester will be closed. Worcester closes much more frequently than other area airports. Southwest may be flying of of Providence with no delays, while you are sitting in Worcester with a cancelled flight. The problem isn't flying in the Northeast in February, but rather flying from Worcester in February.

 

[kat3668]

Here is the policy....

CANCELLATIONS, CHANGES OF DATES AND REFUNDS: The price of tickets for Charter Flights is non refundable. Reservations may be changed or cancelled prior to departure to receive courtesy credit towards a future Charter Flight, subject to availability, for a fee of $100.00 per Passenger. Cancellations prior to departure result in a courtesy flight credit which may be used for travel on Charter Flights up to 365 days from date of original travel, in the amount of the Charter Flight price, less the applicable cancellation fee. Participants who notify Direct Air in advance of departure may cancel their reservations and receive a voucher credit toward future flights after payment of a non-negotiable $100.00 cancellation fee per passenger. Participants who do not notify Direct Air in advance of their flight forfeit their right to a refund or flight credit for future travel. Voucher credits issued for future charters have no actual cash value. The right to a refund, if participant changes plans is limited but includes the following rights: a) Participants who pay by a credit card may receive a full refund until an operator-participant contract is accepted at time of booking or signed. b) Participants may receive a full refund, less a $25 administrative fee, upon providing a substitute Participant to Direct Air, or upon DA finding a substitute for you. Direct Air reserves the right to accept or decline a Passenger as a Participant of a Charter Flight or to change or withdraw a Charter Flight, subject to the provisions in this Agreement regarding major changes or cancellations by the operator. Refunds will be made within 14 days after cancellation or substitution. This applies to Direct Air giving refunds within 14 days if DA cancels.

 

[formill]

We have gone to Florida for the past several years for February school vacation. We have always flown Southwest in the past and have luckily never had any weather delays. Right now, with the sale Direct Air is having, we would be able to fly Sunday to Sunday for $1000 for 5 of us. We would never be able to touch that price on Southwest for those days and I really would love to avoid having our kids miss any extra days of school - our oldest will be a high school freshman. I know the chances you take when flying from the Northeast in February. I really wanted to know how weather delays/cancellations are handled by Direct Air. Would we be able to get a refund or at least rebook the flights for a later date? If we had trip insurance for the cruise and did not lose money if the flights were cancelled, we would really only be out the vacation and it might be worth trying Direct Air. The prices are really tempting.

You do know Direct Air charges for each bag plus seat selection? So $79 flights are more like $114 and Southwest and Jet Blue seem to come pretty close to that per person? I would not fly them in the winter have flown with them before and will do so again but only in good weather times. Their sales seem very frequent so I think you have plenty of time to decide- this latest one was just extended and they have half price deals a lot too.

 

[Bowen9475]

I think you missed the point of several responses. Weather may be bad - but planes will still be flying out of Boston, Providence, and Manchester, while Worcester will be closed. Worcester closes much more frequently than other area airports. Southwest may be flying of of Providence with no delays, while you are sitting in Worcester with a cancelled flight. The problem isn't flying in the Northeast in February, but rather flying from Worcester in February.

I think you missed the point of my question. I understand that we would be more likely to get out of a bigger airport. I just wanted to know what Direct Air's policy is if they have to cancel a flight due to weather.

 

[Bowen9475]

Here is the policy....

CANCELLATIONS, CHANGES OF DATES AND REFUNDS: The price of tickets for Charter Flights is non refundable. Reservations may be changed or cancelled prior to departure to receive courtesy credit towards a future Charter Flight, subject to availability, for a fee of $100.00 per Passenger. Cancellations prior to departure result in a courtesy flight credit which may be used for travel on Charter Flights up to 365 days from date of original travel, in the amount of the Charter Flight price, less the applicable cancellation fee. Participants who notify Direct Air in advance of departure may cancel their reservations and receive a voucher credit toward future flights after payment of a non-negotiable $100.00 cancellation fee per passenger. Participants who do not notify Direct Air in advance of their flight forfeit their right to a refund or flight credit for future travel. Voucher credits issued for future charters have no actual cash value. The right to a refund, if participant changes plans is limited but includes the following rights: a) Participants who pay by a credit card may receive a full refund until an operator-participant contract is accepted at time of booking or signed. b) Participants may receive a full refund, less a $25 administrative fee, upon providing a substitute Participant to Direct Air, or upon DA finding a substitute for you. Direct Air reserves the right to accept or decline a Passenger as a Participant of a Charter Flight or to change or withdraw a Charter Flight, subject to the provisions in this Agreement regarding major changes or cancellations by the operator. Refunds will be made within 14 days after cancellation or substitution. This applies to Direct Air giving refunds within 14 days if DA cancels.

Thank you. I had actually seen this information but I don't understand if this tells you what happens if they cancel a flight due to weather. Do they automatically give you a refund or might they choose to put you on a later flight?

 

[Bowen9475]

You do know Direct Air charges for each bag plus seat selection? So $79 flights are more like $114 and Southwest and Jet Blue seem to come pretty close to that per person? I would not fly them in the winter have flown with them before and will do so again but only in good weather times. Their sales seem very frequent so I think you have plenty of time to decide- this latest one was just extended and they have half price deals a lot too.

I have flown with Southwest many times for February school vacation week and have never been able to get decent prices for the weekends of the vacation week. We have always needed to leave a few days early and come home a few days later. I am really trying to avoid our kids missing any extra days from school.

 

[goofy4tink]

If DirectAir cancels due to an equipment issue, they will 'try' to get another plane there. For weather you're on your own so to speak. I'be flown out of Worc....and will be flying DirectAir out of Worc this Thursday. But I wouldn't chance it from Nov-March. Too chancy especially when heading to a cruise. We are cruising on Sunday........if there were to be an issue with our flight, we could just drive and still be in time for the cruise.
I don't think they do much in the way of refunds for weather.