Do airlines put people up overnight for cancelled flights anymore?

[TaraPA]

Just curious - not debating it. I've often heard or read where an airline would pay for a hotel for the night if they cancel a flight - but I've never seen it in print anywhere that they would do so. If they do - is there a written rule about it - such as "xyz time must elapse between the cancelled flight & the next available one"? I'm assuming that in the contract of carriage as long as they get you from point A to point B, they've covered themselves.

DH travels every week for work by air & has had many missed connections & cancelled flights, and on Thursday he was stuck in Philadelphia overnight. The airline would not reimburse anyone that was stuck since the next available flight home was the same day - he landed in PHL (from ORD) at 1am (4 hours delayed!) and the next flight out was 9:35am the next morning - but technically, the same day. Thankfully he works in Phillly & knows his way around, so he got a cab to a hotel nearby & stayed the night. It stinks that it was almost $200 in cab fare, food & a room but it is what it is, it happens.

I'm just thinking if that happened to a family with young kids or an infant, or someone unfamiliar with the airport area -are they just left stranded at the airport during the overnight hours to wait for the next flight - even if it's over 8 hours away? At what point does (or doesn't) an airline help with lodging? Had his flight from ORD not been 4 hours delayed, he would have been left to his own devices from 9pm-9am...fine for him as a business traveller, but boy would that stink if there were kids involved!

 

[Orlando Vic]

i do not have the answers you seek, but if your DH travels that much, he should start closely following Flyertalk forums. A place to start "might" be here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz-176/

 

[TaraPA]

Thanks Vic - I'll have to check out that link myself, he's already off on another trip (Orlando of all places - it's killing me that he's there & I'm here!) - he'd say he has no time to breathe let alone read a forum! I might get some useful info on there to give him.

 

[Jestocost]

What compensation is provided depends on the reason for the cancellation and how long the passenger will be delayed. If it's a cancellation for weather, for example, generally nothing will be provided.

 

[TaraPA]

I don't know for sure what the cancellation was for. When I clicked online once the flight status changed to "cancelled" it said cancelled due to mechanical failure on incoming flight, or something to that effect.

 

[DebbieB]

Just curious - not debating it. I've often heard or read where an airline would pay for a hotel for the night if they cancel a flight - but I've never seen it in print anywhere that they would do so. If they do - is there a written rule about it - such as "xyz time must elapse between the cancelled flight & the next available one"? I'm assuming that in the contract of carriage as long as they get you from point A to point B, they've covered themselves.

DH travels every week for work by air & has had many missed connections & cancelled flights, and on Thursday he was stuck in Philadelphia overnight. The airline would not reimburse anyone that was stuck since the next available flight home was the same day - he landed in PHL (from ORD) at 1am (4 hours delayed!) and the next flight out was 9:35am the next morning - but technically, the same day. Thankfully he works in Phillly & knows his way around, so he got a cab to a hotel nearby & stayed the night. It stinks that it was almost $200 in cab fare, food & a room but it is what it is, it happens.

I'm just thinking if that happened to a family with young kids or an infant, or someone unfamiliar with the airport area -are they just left stranded at the airport during the overnight hours to wait for the next flight - even if it's over 8 hours away? At what point does (or doesn't) an airline help with lodging? Had his flight from ORD not been 4 hours delayed, he would have been left to his own devices from 9pm-9am...fine for him as a business traveller, but boy would that stink if there were kids involved!

It depends on the reason. If it was mechanical, they should have provided a hotel & meal voucher. If it was weather, they are not required to provide anything. If it was mechanical, I would write and ask for reimbursement.

 

[goofy4tink]

A few years ago, we were flying home from Ft Lauderdale on NYE. It was snowing at home...lightly but still snowing. There had been no cancellations. But as we approached Ct, we were told that we had to divert to Philly...seems a plow had hit something on the runway at TF Green that we needed in order to land. So, to Philly we went. We had two choices...get off the plane, get a room for the night and get on a flight home the next morning, with no checked bags, or stay on the plane, return to Ft Lauderdale, get our checked luggage off the plane, get a room for the night and fly home the next morrning. SW offered us nothing, other than the flight home the next day. We had to find a room, on NYE, at about 4pm...not so nice to say the least.
I'm not sure whether our issue was weather related or mechanical since it was a piece of equipment on the field that was broken. Who knows. SW didn't much care about us...they just wanted that plane back in Ft Lauderdale that afternoon.

 

[Coll0610]

A few years ago we missed our connection in Atlanta due to weather. It was the last flight to Orlando that night, so we were stuck for the night. Airtran gave us a number to call, which was some sort of clearinghouse for discounted hotel rooms near the airport. I think we paid about $65 for the room, and all the hotels they used had free shuttle service to the airport.

 

[ironz]

Even if the airline doesn't give you compensation (and definitely don't expect any for weather related cancellations), if you end up in a hotel, ask if they have a rate for "distressed travellers" or something like that. If you explain that you had a flight cancelled, or missed a connection, sometimes hotels (I would imagine particularly around an airport) are in a position to help you out. It might not be much, but even if you save 10 or 20 dollars, that's something.

Also....with regards to the level of help you may receive....being a frequent flyer with status in one program or another, or with status in a hotel chain's frequent guest program...may make some travel-related issues go a little smoother.

 

[mgrebenc]

My BIL, just last week was put up at the Hilton airport hotel on his flight home from a golf trip, mechanical problems. He also was given a food allowance. He was sleeping in luxury, eating Sticky Fingers, definitely made a lousy situation bearable.

 

[ToyStory]

A few years ago we missed our connecting flight in Atlanta due to the fact our plane was late leaving Orlando and it was the last flight. Delta gave us a voucher along with everyone else on the plane to the same hotel. We had to pay $69.00 for the room.

We only had our carry on bags and couldn't get our checked bags. We got stuck in a foul smelling room, had to sleep in our clothes and our flight home was at 7:00 am. By the time we got to our room it was almost midnight. We should have just stayed at the airport.

We now only fly non-stop after that experience.

 

[TaraPA]

Even if the airline doesn't give you compensation (and definitely don't expect any for weather related cancellations), if you end up in a hotel, ask if they have a rate for "distressed travellers" or something like that. If you explain that you had a flight cancelled, or missed a connection, sometimes hotels (I would imagine particularly around an airport) are in a position to help you out. It might not be much, but even if you save 10 or 20 dollars, that's something.

Also....with regards to the level of help you may receive....being a frequent flyer with status in one program or another, or with status in a hotel chain's frequent guest program...may make some travel-related issues go a little smoother.

They did give out a toll-free number to call for distressed travelers to get discounted rooms - but every single hotel was full. Thankfully he does have status at Marriott & went there, but it wasn't close to the airport. He does have status on the airline but he said by that time it was 2am & there were just as many other stranded flyers with status & the airline pretty much threw the toll-free number at them for discounted rooms & left. I'm sure they didn't want to be there at that hour either.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You can check your airline's policy for travel disruptions on the airline web site. For example, here is United's policy:

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,53028,00.html?&navSource=Qgo&linkTitle=qid2682

You can get a more detailed explanation of your airline's policies by reading their Contract of Carriage, also available on their website. Example:

http://content.united.com/ual/asset/UA_COC09Mar11.pdf

 

[malibuconlee]

If he's traveling for work did the company not reimburse for cab and hotel costs? My DH's does.

In fact weather delays messed with the 3 flights it takes to get him home from his El Paso trips. Delayed from ELP to DWF, DFW delayed to STL and got in hours later than the last flight to Forney Field. He had his company travel dept reserve him a car and he drove just far enough away at midnight to not have to deal with rush-hour traffic. Slept for 4 hours in the hotel and was already at work when I called to find out where he was!

He will be reimbursed for the rental car and the hotel room. He still made it to work before the first flight here would have gotten him in.

 

[TaraPA]

If he's traveling for work did the company not reimburse for cab and hotel costs? My DH's does.

In fact weather delays messed with the 3 flights it takes to get him home from his El Paso trips. Delayed from ELP to DWF, DFW delayed to STL and got in hours later than the last flight to Forney Field. He had his company travel dept reserve him a car and he drove just far enough away at midnight to not have to deal with rush-hour traffic. Slept for 4 hours in the hotel and was already at work when I called to find out where he was!

He will be reimbursed for the rental car and the hotel room. He still made it to work before the first flight here would have gotten him in.

Yes, he put it all on his expense account, so no worries.

 

[Rpsemont]

We volunteered for a bump 1/2 through a trip home a couple years ago.
We had flown MCO - BNA, then got bumped on the BNA-BDL portion (voluntarily) Because they could not get us to BDL that night, we got our $200 each flight credits, $84 flight credit which was refunding what we paid for the ticket, and they put us up at one of the airport hotels for the night that they use for the flight crew. We probably should have asked for a food voucher, but didn't and that was OK, too.

If I flight is cancelled for weather issues, I don't think they have any obligation (or inclination) to pay for a hotel for you. Of course, they always treat first class, or full fare, or frequent flyer passengers differently.

 

[AllyBri]

We had a flight out of MCO on Christmas morning at 8am, we are on our way to the airport and my phone rings, the flight has been cancelled, they will put us on the noon flight.
I asked why and was told the pilot for some reason was not able to get to to MCO, I also asked the TA and GA, both said the same thing. Being Christmas they had no other pilots on hand.
What surprised us was if the flight had been delayed 4 hours we would have been given $50. credit, but because it was cancelled, we received nothing.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If I flight is cancelled for weather issues, I don't think they have any obligation (or inclination) to pay for a hotel for you.

They don't.

I asked why and was told the pilot for some reason was not able to get to to MCO, I also asked the TA and GA, both said the same thing. Being Christmas they had no other pilots on hand.

A crew shortage or crews "timing out" (cannot fly any more hours) is not an uncommon reason for flights to be delayed or canceled.