Government shutdown - flights?

[hardcorestitch]

We are scheduled to fly out early Sunday morning from our small, local airport. We have a layover at a big midwest airport that is on the 40 airports list, and then we arrive at MCO at 1pm. Our small, local airport sometimes cancels flights even when the weather is great and there is no shutdown. As of right now, our flights are all list as "on time".

Our flight to WDW is a one way, so we have another one way flight home on 11/16. So, in theory, we could cancel our flight down, rent a car and drive the 19 hours to Orlando, have a magical week at Disney, and then fly home (assuming those flights don't get delayed/cancelled). Or, we can sweat it out and hope our flights are not delayed/cancelled on Sunday. If they are, I'm not sure what our next steps would be, but we'd probably not arrive on Sunday to check in and we might miss the Boardwalk part of our trip all together. We are supposed to check in to Boardwalk from 11/9-11/11 and then transfer to GF for the remainders of our trip. We have Boardwalk booked on cash, and our GF portion was booked on DVC points.

If we drive, we would need to leave early Saturday morning, so we can arrive at Boardwalk on Sunday for check in. What would you all do? We need to make a call today and I am a nervous wreck. I have no idea if I'm packing for a road trip or a carry on only flight; I'm an uber planner, so the agony of the unknown is killing me.

Disfriends, what would you do if you were in this scenario?

Just drive down. You may miss Disney’s BoardWalk in that case, but at least you’re not cancelling Disney completely. If you really wanted to dine at a BoardWalk restaurant, you can always return on a day when you’re not in the parks.

 

[sam_gordon]

We are scheduled to fly out early Sunday morning from our small, local airport. We have a layover at a big midwest airport that is on the 40 airports list, and then we arrive at MCO at 1pm. Our small, local airport sometimes cancels flights even when the weather is great and there is no shutdown. As of right now, our flights are all list as "on time".

Our flight to WDW is a one way, so we have another one way flight home on 11/16. So, in theory, we could cancel our flight down, rent a car and drive the 19 hours to Orlando, have a magical week at Disney, and then fly home (assuming those flights don't get delayed/cancelled). Or, we can sweat it out and hope our flights are not delayed/cancelled on Sunday. If they are, I'm not sure what our next steps would be, but we'd probably not arrive on Sunday to check in and we might miss the Boardwalk part of our trip all together. We are supposed to check in to Boardwalk from 11/9-11/11 and then transfer to GF for the remainders of our trip. We have Boardwalk booked on cash, and our GF portion was booked on DVC points.

If we drive, we would need to leave early Saturday morning, so we can arrive at Boardwalk on Sunday for check in. What would you all do? We need to make a call today and I am a nervous wreck. I have no idea if I'm packing for a road trip or a carry on only flight; I'm an uber planner, so the agony of the unknown is killing me.

Disfriends, what would you do if you were in this scenario?

I'm an optimist (for the most part). There are currently ~1100 flight cancellations for today. https://www.flightaware.com/live/cancelled/today. ~500 listed for tomorrow.

Are any of the flights your on on Sunday cancelled for today or tomorrow? If not, I would still hope for the best.

 

[DCLMP]

Hopefully in the clear...from United.
View attachment 1022579

There are still going to be a lot of delays just like there's been the last few weeks. I would mentally prepare for that.

 

[RedHead0186]

There are still going to be a lot of delays just like there's been the last few weeks. I would mentally prepare for that.

Excellent point. Just because someone's flight isn't cancelled as a result of the FAA 10% cuts doesn't mean that it won't be delayed (or cancelled for a different reason).

 

[gottalovepluto]

We are scheduled to fly out early Sunday morning from our small, local airport. We have a layover at a big midwest airport that is on the 40 airports list, and then we arrive at MCO at 1pm. Our small, local airport sometimes cancels flights even when the weather is great and there is no shutdown. As of right now, our flights are all list as "on time".

Our flight to WDW is a one way, so we have another one way flight home on 11/16. So, in theory, we could cancel our flight down, rent a car and drive the 19 hours to Orlando, have a magical week at Disney, and then fly home (assuming those flights don't get delayed/cancelled). Or, we can sweat it out and hope our flights are not delayed/cancelled on Sunday. If they are, I'm not sure what our next steps would be, but we'd probably not arrive on Sunday to check in and we might miss the Boardwalk part of our trip all together. We are supposed to check in to Boardwalk from 11/9-11/11 and then transfer to GF for the remainders of our trip. We have Boardwalk booked on cash, and our GF portion was booked on DVC points.

If we drive, we would need to leave early Saturday morning, so we can arrive at Boardwalk on Sunday for check in. What would you all do? We need to make a call today and I am a nervous wreck. I have no idea if I'm packing for a road trip or a carry on only flight; I'm an uber planner, so the agony of the unknown is killing me.

Disfriends, what would you do if you were in this scenario?

Regionals are getting hit harder than mainlines so that’s not in your favor BUT you should know tomorrow if not already. DL has completed cancellations for Friday & Sat but UA has made it through Sunday. Check with your airline and you might see if they’ve made an announcement on how far along they are.

 

[gottalovepluto]

There are still going to be a lot of delays just like there's been the last few weeks. I would mentally prepare for that.

Exactly. I’m not about to cancel my flights (west coast to WDW) but I’ve told everyone bring extra snacks, extra entertainment and board with your own water bottle in case of extensive sitting at gate.

The system is still operating, it’s just slower.

 

[japanese maple]

Woohoo! We landed! 20 minutes early!

 

[Little E]

@gottalovepluto @sam_gordon @hardcorestitch @Keladry84 Thanks, all, for your input. We are flying Delta, and so far our flights are listed as on time. But I know a lot can change between now and early Sunday morning. DH and I have decided we'll make a call of drive or fly by 11 am this morning. At this point, the only thing I know for sure is if we choose to drive, then our flights will go off without a hitch, and if we choose to fly, then our flights will be totally screwed up.

 

[RedHead0186]

@gottalovepluto @sam_gordon @hardcorestitch @Keladry84 Thanks, all, for your input. We are flying Delta, and so far our flights are listed as on time. But I know a lot can change between now and early Sunday morning. DH and I have decided we'll make a call of drive or fly by 11 am this morning. At this point, the only thing I know for sure is if we choose to drive, then our flights will go off without a hitch, and if we choose to fly, then our flights will be totally screwed up.

Murphy's Law at it's finest!

 

[Keladry84]

DH and I have decided we'll make a call of drive or fly by 11 am this morning. At this point, the only thing I know for sure is if we choose to drive, then our flights will go off without a hitch, and if we choose to fly, then our flights will be totally screwed up.

Yep, I think you nailed it!
Good luck with the decision, and no matter what, safe travels!

 

[Amyshubby]

What's the cancellation policy? Unless there's something written where they'll refund you if you have to cancel, they don't have to give you anything. Being Disney, I think there's a good chance they will, but wouldn't assume anything.

Can't you change SW for credit if necessary?

Not sure the cancellation policy. We booked the lowest price tickets, but the policies keep getting updated because of the shutdown. We will keep monitoring the situation.

We might be able to get credit from SW. I'm not as worried about the return flight. At that point, I will have already been to Disney!

 

[Amyshubby]

Not sure if people caught this, but although the news keeps reporting a 10% reduction in flights, it's actually just 4% right now. It won't increase to 10% until next Friday. Means less chance of a problem for people next week (not much of a silver lining, but it's something). Hopefully, things will be worked out by then.

 

[hardcorestitch]

@gottalovepluto @sam_gordon @hardcorestitch @Keladry84 Thanks, all, for your input. We are flying Delta, and so far our flights are listed as on time. But I know a lot can change between now and early Sunday morning. DH and I have decided we'll make a call of drive or fly by 11 am this morning. At this point, the only thing I know for sure is if we choose to drive, then our flights will go off without a hitch, and if we choose to fly, then our flights will be totally screwed up.

11am PT? It’s already 11am Disney World time.

 

[Little E]

@hardcorestitch I'm a midwest gal on EST...so I'm always on WDW time!

And, for the record, when DH and I talked at 11 am EST, he still wanted to hold out hope for our flight, while I want to just get on the road. Happy medium is that I rented a car, but he doesn't want us to cancel our Delta flight quite yet.

Interesting data point: I priced out car rentals last night at 10 pm, and the quote I got was $373 plus tax. This morning at 9:30 the price was up to $473 plus tax. And at 11:15 am when I actually rented the price I paid was $646. So, if you're on the fence about renting a car, do it sooner rather than later. I think folks are really scrambling right now.

 

[gottalovepluto]

@hardcorestitch I'm a midwest gal on EST...so I'm always on WDW time!

And, for the record, when DH and I talked at 11 am EST, he still wanted to hold out hope for our flight, while I want to just get on the road. Happy medium is that I rented a car, but he doesn't want us to cancel our Delta flight quite yet.

Interesting data point: I priced out car rentals last night at 10 pm, and the quote I got was $373 plus tax. This morning at 9:30 the price was up to $473 plus tax. And at 11:15 am when I actually rented the price I paid was $646. So, if you're on the fence about renting a car, do it sooner rather than later. I think folks are really scrambling right now.

Hertz reported reservations over the past 2 days for 1 way rentals have spiked 20% so this is not at all surprising.

 

[gottalovepluto]

AA says their cuts are focused on high frequency routes and they are looking to avoid cutting routes that only run 1-2x day.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Not sure if people caught this, but although the news keeps reporting a 10% reduction in flights, it's actually just 4% right now...

Correct. It's 4% Fri, 5% Sat, 6% Sun, etc until 10% hits next week.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Reports DL has started Sun cancellations.

If you want to get a feel for how the airline you're tracking is handling this I highly recommend the Flytertalk Forum for your airline where you will find a thread on current operations, responses to 10% cuts, something like that. People are discussing similarities, patterns, etc (FT has some Serious flyers, they tend to know their stuff). For instance the DL thread just had someone post some interesting charts showing time of day cancellations (mostly mid-morning around 10am, very few late afternoon/evening cuts) link.

 

[DCLMP]

Reports DL has started Sun cancellations.

If you want to get a feel for how the airline you're tracking is handling this I highly recommend the Flytertalk Forum for your airline where you will find a thread on current operations, responses to 10% cuts, something like that. People are discussing similarities, patterns, etc (FT has some Serious flyers, they tend to know their stuff). For instance the DL thread just had someone post some interesting charts showing time of day cancellations (mostly mid-morning around 10am, very few late afternoon/evening cuts) link.

I love flyer talk. Very helpful looking for award space too.