Flying Delta - planning for the worst

[Raya]

We are flying Delta for our upcoming cruise. We set our travel to arrive early on Sunday morning (1am) for a Monday departure (must be on the boat by 2pm). Given Delta's recent troubles, I'm trying to plan for a serious delay. We have travel insurance through Disney. What should I have with me in case we get delayed past the ship departure?

What happens when someone is delayed like this? Is there a way to meet the ship at the next port?

 

[jdb in AZ]

I would be a worried wreck about the situation, but fortunately there's still a few days for Delta to get their act together. Hopefully your flight will be fine.

 

[Bethanie1]

I am in same situation... Hoping best for us both!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

You are flying this coming weekend? I would expect most flights to be back on time by then. Delta seems to be recovering more quickly than SW did when this happened to SW a few weeks ago. I always pack everything I would need for 24 hours in my carry on, plus all prescription medication (not just a 1 day supply). With the recent issues, I might pack an extra couple outfits, but that's about the extent I would deviate from normal.

 

[Dug720]

We are flying Delta for our upcoming cruise. We set our travel to arrive early on Sunday morning (1am) for a Monday departure (must be on the boat by 2pm). Given Delta's recent troubles, I'm trying to plan for a serious delay. We have travel insurance through Disney. What should I have with me in case we get delayed past the ship departure?

What happens when someone is delayed like this? Is there a way to meet the ship at the next port?

Hopefully you're traveling with actual passport and not "passport cards" or the birth certificate/ID combo. With an actual passport you should be able to (not sure of expense or how travel insurance handles it) fly to the next port of call. But if you don't have a passport, you're out of luck - you wouldn't even be able to get on a plane to another country without one.

 

[RedSox68]

Is Delta offering any alternatives -- like booking you other another airline just in case?

 

[kamik86]

Where are you flying from/to? That partially matters on options as well.

One thing is to have an idea of what other things may work out for you. Example if your leaving from Florida and your flight is cancelled check to see if they still can get you to Atlanta or can get you there sooner. Delta flies a ton to Atlanta so its an option. At that point you are close enough to rent a car.

You already did the most important thing... you gave yourself 24 hours wiggle room, which makes options like the above work.


The only reason I have never been stranded in an airport is when my flight to BWI arrived after my flight to Albany left instead of rushing to the gate for the last plane to Albany to try to get on with everyone else (after being half way back int he plane) I realized there was no way there would be space.

So instead I went up to the gate of a flight going to hartford. I live 1.5 hours from Albany and 2 hours from Hartford. I got home that night (ok technically at like 1 AM the next morning but still better then some other options)

 

[dclpluto]

Are you getting in 1 am Sunday or 1 am Monday? I know you said Sunday. But when it's a little past midnight a lot of people say the wrong day.

 

[MUN]

We are flying Delta for our upcoming cruise. We set our travel to arrive early on Sunday morning (1am) for a Monday departure (must be on the boat by 2pm). Given Delta's recent troubles, I'm trying to plan for a serious delay. We have travel insurance through Disney. What should I have with me in case we get delayed past the ship departure?

What happens when someone is delayed like this? Is there a way to meet the ship at the next port?

Where are you flying to and what cruise are you on?

 

[BigredNole]

If you are flying soon, I would be worried. The reason is Delta has an obligation to those that were grounded already. They are going to be on the first flights. If you can get on a flight any where close to FL, that would be huge. You can rent a car to drive the rest of the way. If I were any where within a 16 hour drive at this point, I would drive instead of rely on Delta. Also look into other airlines to see what they have available.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are flying Delta for our upcoming cruise. We set our travel to arrive early on Sunday morning (1am) for a Monday departure (must be on the boat by 2pm). Given Delta's recent troubles, I'm trying to plan for a serious delay. We have travel insurance through Disney. What should I have with me in case we get delayed past the ship departure?

What happens when someone is delayed like this? Is there a way to meet the ship at the next port?

I'm not sure how DCL handles it, but most major cruise lines do not allow just meeting up with the ship in the next port on a closed loop cruise.

Time was, it was fine and you could do that. The problem lies in the fact that if even one passenger embarks the ship in a port other than the regular embarkation port, it changes the itinerary (as far as customs/immigration goes) from a "closed loop" itinerary to a "foreign" itinerary. The paperwork necessary for processing everyone on a foreign itinerary cruise is more involved than the paperwork for a closed loop cruise, and most cruise lines just don't want to undertake it anymore.

Now, rarely, exceptions are made. But I'm not sure that "delayed flight" would could as an extenuating circumstance. But, maybe, if the air flights were booked through DCL.

 

[Dug720]

If you are flying soon, I would be worried. The reason is Delta has an obligation to those that were grounded already. They are going to be on the first flights. If you can get on a flight any where close to FL, that would be huge. You can rent a car to drive the rest of the way. If I were any where within a 16 hour drive at this point, I would drive instead of rely on Delta. Also look into other airlines to see what they have available.

When did it change that airlines were auto-bumping other passengers with reservations to accommodate technical/mechanical/weather issues?

As far as I knew those on the cancelled/missed flights will likely be priority on stand-by lists after all available seats have filled, but other passengers were not auto-bumped before the airline asks for volunteers.

At least that was how it's always worked in the past when I've had those issues - I've been booked on the first available flight and given the option to be on stand-by for any flights in between while maintaining my new reserved seat in case stand by ends up what it usually is (you end up standing there going "Bye!" as the plane doors close).

If there aren't enough volunteers at the max the airline will offer, THEN they would begin bumping guests who have not yet checked in - but only to cover overbooking, not to allow people on stand-by to have a seat over those who had booked the flight.

Has it changed to where they now bump anyone booked and checked-in just to let people who missed flights on?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

When did it change that airlines were auto-bumping other passengers with reservations to accommodate technical/mechanical/weather issues?

As far as I knew those on the cancelled/missed flights will likely be priority on stand-by lists after all available seats have filled, but other passengers were not auto-bumped before the airline asks for volunteers.

At least that was how it's always worked in the past when I've had those issues - I've been booked on the first available flight and given the option to be on stand-by for any flights in between while maintaining my new reserved seat in case stand by ends up what it usually is (you end up standing there going "Bye!" as the plane doors close).

If there aren't enough volunteers at the max the airline will offer, THEN they would begin bumping guests who have not yet checked in - but only to cover overbooking, not to allow people on stand-by to have a seat over those who had booked the flight.

Has it changed to where they now bump anyone booked and checked-in just to let people who missed flights on?

I don't think that's what they do, either. I agree with what you've described as the "normal" procedure. I can't imagine that they would just randomly bump people off just to accommodate the people who've already been inconvenienced by the problem. That would mean twice as many people mad at you.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

When did it change that airlines were auto-bumping other passengers with reservations to accommodate technical/mechanical/weather issues?

As far as I knew those on the cancelled/missed flights will likely be priority on stand-by lists after all available seats have filled, but other passengers were not auto-bumped before the airline asks for volunteers.

At least that was how it's always worked in the past when I've had those issues - I've been booked on the first available flight and given the option to be on stand-by for any flights in between while maintaining my new reserved seat in case stand by ends up what it usually is (you end up standing there going "Bye!" as the plane doors close).

If there aren't enough volunteers at the max the airline will offer, THEN they would begin bumping guests who have not yet checked in - but only to cover overbooking, not to allow people on stand-by to have a seat over those who had booked the flight.

Has it changed to where they now bump anyone booked and checked-in just to let people who missed flights on?

I don't believe there has been a change. I'm fairly certain that how you've described it is the current procedure. As long as Delta's fleet and crew are in the proper position by the time the OP flies and there are no further glitches, the OP should have a relatively normal flying experience.

 

[kamik86]

If you are flying soon, I would be worried. The reason is Delta has an obligation to those that were grounded already. They are going to be on the first flights. If you can get on a flight any where close to FL, that would be huge. You can rent a car to drive the rest of the way. If I were any where within a 16 hour drive at this point, I would drive instead of rely on Delta. Also look into other airlines to see what they have available.

Flights dont work like this.

Made up times/numbers example:
If flight A at 8 AM with 130/150 people booked is cancelled and there is a flight B at noon with 120/150 people booked then what happens is:

30 people from flight A will be booked and get a seat on flight B. (How those people get picked I don't know) may just be whomever is fastest but there may be a priority).

All 120 people who originally booked flight B will fly on flight B (as long as flight B still goes as planned which will we will assume for this example) as long as they check in on time.

If 5 of those 120 people are late adn don't check in by the cutoff time (I think something like 10 min before scheduled departure) then 5 more people from flight A will get added to flight B.

The other 95 people from flight A may still be at the airport waiting as flight B leaves and will have to try and get on the next flight until there have been enough seats.

So if the OPs flight isn't cancelled she wouldn't be bumped because someone elses flight was cancelled.

However, lets say another issue caused Flight C after that to also be cancelled. Those people are in a much worse sitation as now all those people from flight A are ahead of them on standby and its going to take them that much longer to get out.

This last part matters to the OP because if her flight is cancelled for any reason it could be a long time to get on another one since so many other people are also waiting for flights. So having non flight options may be a good thing if possible.

 

[Dug720]

Flights dont work like this.

Made up times/numbers example:
If flight A at 8 AM with 130/150 people booked is cancelled and there is a flight B at noon with 120/150 people booked then what happens is:

30 people from flight A will be booked and get a seat on flight B. (How those people get picked I don't know) may just be whomever is fastest but there may be a priority).

All 120 people who originally booked flight B will fly on flight B (as long as flight B still goes as planned which will we will assume for this example) as long as they check in on time.

If 5 of those 120 people are late adn don't check in by the cutoff time (I think something like 10 min before scheduled departure) then 5 more people from flight A will get added to flight B.

The other 95 people from flight A may still be at the airport waiting as flight B leaves and will have to try and get on the next flight until there have been enough seats.

So if the OPs flight isn't cancelled she wouldn't be bumped because someone elses flight was cancelled.

However, lets say another issue caused Flight C after that to also be cancelled. Those people are in a much worse sitation as now all those people from flight A are ahead of them on standby and its going to take them that much longer to get out.

Thank you! That's exactly how I thought it worked. You explained it so much more clearly than I did!

 

[BigredNole]

Not exactly true. That would be true for a single flight or a few flights. This is not the case with EVERY flight down. The plane that is sitting at the terminal is still the flight of the original passengers. They simply are not going to route planes around to every airport simply because people have a ticket for flight XYZ123.

In general, your assessment is correct. If a flight is delayed or canceled, that is the case. When 50,000 flights and an entire airline is grounded, no go.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Not exactly true. That would be true for a single flight or a few flights. This is not the case with EVERY flight down. The plane that is sitting at the terminal is still the flight of the original passengers. They simply are not going to route planes around to every airport simply because people have a ticket for flight XYZ123.

In general, your assessment is correct. If a flight is delayed or canceled, that is the case. When 50,000 flights and an entire airline is grounded, no go.

Once the flight is cancelled, the plane no longer "belongs to" the original passengers. They will reroute planes in order to get their fleet repositioned to where they need to be, but if there is a future flight scheduled and an appropriate plane is at the appropriate airport, the passengers scheduled for that future flight fly before the passengers on the cancelled flight are accommodated.

 

[Raya]

Where are you flying to and what cruise are you on?

The Alaska cruise leaving Monday 8/15. We fly into Vancouver (the port we're disembarking from) arriving at 1am Sunday morning. We booked the flights ourselves and made a point of having 36 hours between our arrival and the last option to depart. Hopefully that will be enough, since it seems like if we miss the boat there's no way for us to go on any portion of the cruise.

Is there a special number for emergencies on my paperwork? Should I assume DCL is aware of the situation or call to warn them?

 

[Bethanie1]

The Alaska cruise leaving Monday 8/15. We fly into Vancouver (the port we're disembarking from) arriving at 1am Sunday morning. We booked the flights ourselves and made a point of having 36 hours between our arrival and the last option to depart. Hopefully that will be enough, since it seems like if we miss the boat there's no way for us to go on any portion of the cruise.

Is there a special number for emergencies on my paperwork? Should I assume DCL is aware of the situation or call to warn them?

We are on the same cruise as you. We had DCL book for us and I am still worried. We fly in LATE Sunday night, so I am jealous of your arrival time, but no other way with work. I am hopeful that things clear up by Sunday for everyone! Is your flight direct?