Jan and Feb Travellers by Air - What's your backup plan?

[Jasmin1]

We have no backup plan. It's to far away to drive, so def. not an option. We are flying out of Portland, OR on 1/27 and stopping in Chicago. The Chicago part def. worries me. The original booking was suppose to go to Denver (prob. just as bad as Chicago) instead, but the airline changed it. I'm just wishing for the best.

 

[rigs32]

It's the reason why I will pay a little extra for direct flights. I figure it's much more likely for me to run into trouble if I have to connect in a hub city. I live in a snowy area, so much safer to wait for the runway to clear in our smaller airport than to try and drive through snow.

My last trip was Dec 2008. It was a snow storm when I landed, but the plane did land, and there was a work party 2 miles away (and a couple blocks from my place), so I called and asked someone with 4WD to pick me up since taxis were all busy.

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our transportation board.

 

[n2mm]

We always have a backup plan. First off, we check the weather at home and make sure there is nothing causing delays. If it is snowing, we will not leave the resort until we know if our flight is leaving. We do not check our luggage if there is any doubt. I carry my DVC numbers and have an AP. I can try to call members services to see about getting a room if I need it, or I can check on AP rates. I carry my blackberry and my netbook with me when I travel. I'm find if I have to stay longer. This has happened to me only once and the resort had no problem extending our stay until we could get another flight home (at the same rate we had). If I absolutely had to get home, then I would look into renting a car one way and drive back to the Wash. DC area. I make sure I have National rental car phone number and member ID; DVC phone number and ID; and the phone number to call WDW for any AP rates. Also have the airline phone number and FF numbers. I think the most important thing you can do is not check your luggage at RAC if you think there is a possibility your flight might be cancelled because of weather at home. On the flip side, I just hold my breath that nothing delays my departure TO WDW. I have been able to leave earlier when bad weather was predicted to arrive on the day of my flight. The airline wavied the fees and we managed to get a room for another night. This wasn't due to snow, it was due to a hurricane approaching my home area.

 

[jmkjr72]

no back up plan here we live in ne wi so if a storm came thru bad enough to shut the airport down we wouldnt be driving anywhere any ways

just hope to get stuck in fl

 

[canwegosoon]

a couple years ago we arrived at mco to throngs of people stuck from cancelled flights one day earlier-we barely made our plane. My back up is rental car-we always have one on hold to get home. Many times driving out on all major highways can get you close to your destniation(mine is 24 hours away). I do not fly legacy carriers so I figure the car is a cheap back up and can always be cancelled.

 

[princesswendy720]

We got 30 inches of snow this weekend and have a cruise on the dream and post cruise stay booked in February. I'm very nervous but I've only ever had problems getting back. If I saw a big blizzard in the forecast I supposed I'd try to leave earlier or (maybe) try to drive it. More likely we would rebook the cruise and try to make it down for the Disney part of the trip.

 

[Brian Noble]

I have a trip booked for late Feb/early Mar. I'm not driving from Michigan, period. If the airline can't get me there, I'll go another time.

 

[uva185]

I would just completely reschedule a trip if it looked like I would be delayed more than a day or two. No need dealing with the airport chaos. 9 times out of 10 hotels are understanding if you need to cancel because of a flight cancellation.

 

[dudspizza]

Here's a discussion on the Transportation board that, fortunately, I've never had to use.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1363416

Bill Fom PA

I have personally used this thread in my favor........

We personally don't have a backup plan, but we pack our patience, good attitudes, and take it as it comes.... two spring breaks ago MSP was hit by a major storm...... Northwest was grounding all flights, but Airtran worked hard and got us in the air..... we got to MCO a few hours late, but we got there..... we are flying March 10 this year....... no snow storm, please!

Duds

 

[debster812]

We go to FL every February (President's week/Feb School Vactation), sometimes to WDW, sometimes just to my parent's house in Ft Myers, sometimes both. Flights out of the Northeast are PACKED. We got hung up in the storm last February. My cousin and her family travel the same week. When flights started to get canceled last week, my cousin called us, and we made the executive decision to drive. 4 adults, 3 12 year olds in a Chevy Tahoe for 29 hours. Would I do it every year? NO! But it was not terrible, the kids were troupers, and still talk about it. So it's an option.

Otherwise, know your options, pack your patience, and try to stay calm.

We also got stuck 4 years ago, during the Valentine's Day storm. It took Delta 3 days to get us out, and then it was to Tampa instead of Ft Myers. However, the phone agent told me I was the 1st person in HOURS who was not yelling at her, and she booked us in 1st Class. I think it's so important to remember that the gate agents, and phone agents do not control the weather, and are not purposefully trying to mess with you.

 

[PSUGuy]

I have personally used this thread in my favor........

We personally don't have a backup plan, but we pack our patience, good attitudes, and take it as it comes.... two spring breaks ago MSP was hit by a major storm...... Northwest was grounding all flights, but Airtran worked hard and got us in the air..... we got to MCO a few hours late, but we got there..... we are flying March 10 this year....... no snow storm, please!

Duds

You'll be flying down on our last night there, we leave for home the 11th. I hope you get in safely and then we get snowed in!

Bill From PA

 

[jeff968]

We've been travelling to Florida on President's week for many years and fortunately, have had good luck and made it back and forth without issue. The thing is with President's week, there are no available flights to reschedule to. 5 years ago we were on our way to LGA for our flight down. No snow but really bad winds. The flight had already been delayed an hour. We leave with plenty of time. We were 15 minutes away from the airport, with 3 hours before our flight when the traffic stopped. Unknown to me, they had closed the whitestone bridge to truck traffic. We spent 2.5 hours in the traffic, so close to the airport, I got off the highway and drove through queens and got back on just before the toll. We got over the bridge and just made our flight. It was the most stressful event of my life. I remember talking to the agent on the phone and they told us that the next available flight they could get us on was Wednesday the following week and this happened on a Friday. I hope we do okay this February but weather is always a risk.