Midway Blues!

[Mommy of Two]

Have round trip e-tickets purchased several months ago from Raleigh to Orlanda. There are four of us - grandma (60ish), me (35) dd's ages 7 and 2. Worried with recent bankruptcy stuff although Orlando isn't one of the routes they are discontinuing.

Wondering if I should try to cancel and re-book with another carrier such as Delta. Problem is that flights have gone up about 50-60 dollars per person since we booked. I hate to have to pay more for something that is not my fault. Is Midway obligated to route us with another carrier (Delta?) if our flights are canceled Sept. 25th and Sept 30th without us having to pay extra?

 

[ducklite]

Nope. They are only obligated to give you your money back. And under bankruptcy laws they might not even be obilgated to do that.

Anne

 

[Caroleff]

Hi Mommy of Two--I'm in the same boat you are!!! Our reservations are for Oct. 29and returning on Nov. 4th--don't know if we should cancel (apparently we can get a refund from Midway) and book elsewhere--Delta is offering flights at $140 rt. Only thinkg is it is a flight on a Canadair regional jet--that makes me nervous since I don't like to fly and that jet is small (50 people). I did check
Southwest today and their price is $178!!!!!! Scary thing is if Midway does cancel our flights what would we do at that point because it would be almost impossible to get a decent airfare then ???!!!! Let me know what you decide to do!!!

 

[Mommy of Two]

Caroleff -

I called Midway today and, believe it or not, got through to customer service. The agent I spoke to said Orlando was a place they would definitely be continuing to fly to. She checked our flights nos 882 and 888 and said they were still a go with no schedule changes. They have eliminated some flights so you may want to call and check.

I'm thinking I want to just keep things as they are for a bit and see what develops. I love flying Midway, the seats are sooo comfortable and they've been really nice to my kids. Also the schedule they have to and from Orlando works for me. Still have plenty of time for 21 day advance with Delta should things start to look bad.

 

[reneeinnc]

Hey, you may have already checked out my post re: Midway. We leave 10/21. When my husband heard the news he freaked, but my travel agent said the same thing that customer service told you so let's pray we are all set with no changes!!

 

[lovingthemouse]

We are also booked on Midway for next Feb from Hartford to Orlando. Did call Expedia tonight and was told to call back tomorrow when they should have more info on Midway. The guy at Expedia did say that they would refund 100% if the flights are cancelled but........ we need to guarantee we have flights for Feb- and the waiting game gets more expensive each day.. Any suggestions??? Not usually one to be concerned but the prices are now so high for President's week and since we teach we are committed to that particular week. Thanks

 

[Denise W]

I am on hold with Midway right now. I called last night at 8:30 pm and actually reached someone. We are flying from Providence, one of the cities being eliminated. Our trip is next April. He asked if we wanted a refund or to be scheduled on another airline. I said rescheduled, because prices have gone up almost $200 since I made my reservations in May. I was then on hold for 1 hour and he never came back on the phone. I called back and was on hold for about 20 minutes, so gave up. I called this morning at 4:50 am, got into the queue, but no one answered after half an hour. I came in to work and have been on hold in the queue for 1/2 hour, but now will sit here until someone answers.

Denise

 

[lovingthemouse]

Did connect with Midway this morning - waited 45 minutes but was patient. Spoke to a very nice gentleman, who said that the Hartford-Orlando route is a very good one for them and they are not planning to cancel. He rebooked our flights - depart 2 hrs later and made sure our seats are all assigned. After a 20 minute conversation about all the Midway problems, i did feel more confident and we are sticking with them. If this trip is meant to be, it will be. Too expensive to rebook at this time. Expedia will refund 100% if the flights are cancelled. Let's see what happens.

 

[Caroleff]

Although my route from Raleigh to Orlando is supposed to be a good one for Midway also, I read in the papers today that if Midway doesn't get the necessary loans from banks by the end of this week, it might have to cease all operations in 2 months!!!!! Our flight in not until end of Oct!!! I did call American Express and they said that if things are not resolved to my satisfaction that I would not have to pay for those flights--at least I won't be losing any money. Still waiting until end of the week to decide if I should rebook through another airline.

 

[Denise W]

I got through to Midway after a 65 minute wait. The person said that they are only rebooking
tickets for travel through the end of September right now. She suggested I call back towards
the end of August, OR go to the airport and go to the Midway counter, and they will do it then.

We leave Saturday for WDW (on USAir), so we'll go a little early and see if we can get through the line at Midway.

Denise

 

[PamOKW]

Caroleff -- I was just going to mention the two months. If you've got a flight coming up in the next month or so and it hasn't been cancelled, you're probably alright. I wouldn't be counting on Midway to be around into next year. They may pull out of this, or they may not.

 

[Denise W]

We went to our local airport this evening (Providence). There is no Midway counter there but we were told they contract through American. We went there, no wait, and the girl said she had to print our tickets and we take them to another airline to get a new flight. We took them over to USAir (where we usually fly) and got flights very similar to what we had on Midway (this is for travel 4/13 - 4/20/02). The girl at USAir said she takes the paper tickets we got from Midway and submits them so they get paid by Midway. We had no trouble doing this and definitely suggest that if you are near an airport to go there, rather than try to do it over the phone.

Oh, the girl at American also told us that we were lucky we paid for our tickets with a credit card. She said if we had paid with cash or check we would probably not get our money back if we had elected to get a refund.

So we are all set. Good luck to everyone else.

Denise

 

[lovingthemouse]

Denise - how fortunate you were with the rebooking! Our flights form Hartford to Orlando are for Feb = President's week - and since Midway has not dropped the Bradley Airport site, we have had our tickets updated to the new flight time for Midway. Unless Midway cancels the flight, we will not get a 100% refund and i can not afford to purchase new tickets while still holding the present ones. It is a wait and see game - so we will for the time being. We purchased our tickets at the beginning of May for this trip cause the price was so good then - let's see if that was a good decision. Caroline

 

[Denise W]

Caroline,

It might be worth your while to go to Bradley at an off peak time and check out rebooking.
USAir is accepting the lower price we had gotten from Midway, so this cost us nothing
extra. Especially since you are also going at a high travel week, if Midway pulls out of Hartford in January, you won't go nuts trying to find a flight. For our April flight, there were many that were already sold out, and it wasn't even Easter week.

Good luck!

Denise

 

[lovingthemouse]

Denise didn't they take your E tickets and print them up because your site at Green Airport is a cancelled site? That would make it easier for you to rebook on another airline. Did USAir simply accept the printed ticket and no money had to change hands? or...... did you have to pay for them at that time and now are waiting for a refund from Midway? Bradley is still a flyable airport for Midway and until they (Midway) close or cancel, we will get no 100% refund.

 

[reneeinnc]

bump. I'd like to know too as my airport is still flyable as well.