My Delta Contingency Plan

[rtjcbrown]

I am booked on Song 4/29 from NYC to MCO and will be cruising on the Disney Magic later that day. There are 9 of us going including two small children. There is no way I want to risk missing the boat due to labor unrest. I booked a duplicate set of tickets on Jet Blue, knowing that they have very liberal rules on cancelling and rebooking. $30 dollars is pretty low price to change compared to other airlines. I will definitely be going to Orlando within the year, so I look at it as pre-paying for my airfare for my next trip, and taking out a $30 per ticket insurance policy.
I also had to factor in that my travel insurance will not cover the cost of my cruise if I don't make it due to the strike. They will only pay the cost of the original airfare.
Good luck to all, and I hope this is for nothing.

 

[Amrita]

I am also booked out of NYC to MCO and I was thinking about doing the same thing, but I am going to wait until April 17th to see what happens first. If a 30 day cooling off period is ordered on the 15 of april, and I fly out on May 15, does that mean I am safe, or can the pilots walk off before that?

 

[canwegosoon]

I think that is a smart move...I am toying with the idea of driving, but I have more time to decide, I am hoping for a decision to be clear before Jet Blue opens their Dec. dates.

 

[rtjcbrown]

I also considerd waiting, but after checking the flights, I found that there were not a lot of available seats, and prices were going up.
From what I read, if this contract is voided, the pilots are not bound by the law that states there must be a 30 day cooling off time. There is no longer a contract for the law to uphold.

 

[tbelfonti]

My concern is more getting home than getting there. We leave 4/28 and come home 5/6. I was able to rent a minivan from Avis for $70 (w/ taxes & fees) one way from MCO to Hartford. 3 day rental. It would suck to drive home but better than flying standby with two little ones.

 

[CherylA]

Thats funny I just posted about the same thing. I think I'm going with Southwest for my backup. I hope to be booked by days end. This is soooooo annoying. From what I understand the "cooling of period" is the least of our problems. With Delta in such bad shape financially they may cease all operations for good if the pilots go on strike. Check out the article on mousesavers. http://www.mousesavers.com/delta.html

 

[clkelley]

We are scheduled for May 20 - May 28th. There are 6 of us. Three of us are on Delta (Skymiles), three of us are on Southwest out of Nashville (Rapid Rewards)

My contingency plan is driving and watching all of the other airlines for sales.

I told my hubby about the $50 each way thing, and he said well that sounds good, (he HATES the drive), but we can't take the standby chance. The three of our group on Southwest are adult teenagers, and while they can take the flight by themselves, and even check everyone in to the resort, I HAVE to arrive in WDW before bedtime the same day they do.

So right now, the three of us on Delta Skymiles tickets have a room booked in Macon, GA for May 19th and May 28th. If everything falls apart, we'll start driving right after the graduation dinner, the girlfriends will spend the 19th together with the mom that's driving them to the airport, and they will swing by and pickup my son the morning of the 20th and get to Nashville, then on to MCO.

We'll finish the drive Saturday morning and arrive about the same time our flight would have arrived.

On the 28th, we'll make sure the three teenagers get to the airport, then we'll head North and finish the drive on the 29th. The same mom will pick them up at Nashville and get them to their respective homes.

Geez, louise, what a mess. I just hope it all works out.

And I thought I was so smart by coming home on the 28th so we'd have Memorial day at home to rest and not travel on that day!

 

[CherylA]

I'm booked on Southwest. I booked the refundable flights, they are expensive but I don't use them I'll set my $$ back. Well heres hoping I don't need to use them!

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

I only wish I could figure up one for our family. There is no way I want to drive clear to wdw. A 4 hour road trip is more than enough, not to mention dh doesn't have enough time from work to be able to drive and keep our vacation as is. We can't afford to buy other tickets, it would be at least 1500 and that is a big chunk of change for our family. I also don't know that I like the idea of stand by, we are traveling with a total party size of 11. Five of those are young children, and then my sister in law will be 7 months along. Does anyone have any ideas for us, I have tried to think of something, but so far nothing much has come up. Also did anyone else book everything with Disney, I can't get anything straight forward on how they are going to handle this, didn't know if anyone else was having better luck. Thanks

 

[MarthaJr.]

OUR PLAN B: We fly out of Chicago MDW on 4/17 to MIA (hopefully). Our 18 yr. old daughter will fly out of MKE on 4/19 (hopefully). Our return flight is on 4/23. This falls after the strike date and thanks to a post by plutospup on another thread, I was able to book a 2 day mini-van rental via AVIS - MIA to MDW for only $54.13 tax+fees. We certainly don't want to drive home, but if we can't get home on another flight-this is our only option. If I was more computer savy I would post the link to AVIS or plutopups post....but I don't know how LOL!!! Hope this helps someone else with their PLAN B.

 

[vellamint]

Sadly..there is no contingency plan for my getting home to NY from California......

 

[bicker]

Does the Pony Express still run? You could make it at least as far as St. Josephs MO in just a few short weeks!

Seriously, my best guess is that the pilots won't strike, and the airline won't go out of business. I hope that's the case, for you.

 

[goofy4tink]

Well, my contingency plan is 'not going' if there are no flights. We just won't go...I can't see paying for extra seats to fly, at over $250, when I've already paid once. Airfare is the only thing we'll lose...well, that and my Busch Garden passes that are only good until 12/31/06.
But, now that I'm comfortable with my decision, I'm sure Delta will be just fine.

 

[mum of two pirates]

Well we have tickets for nov dec and we paid over $1500. So for us to have to buy them again even now it would be about $2500. That stinks. If they go belly up, does someone else have to take our tickets even thoe it is so far away. Would we get tickets on thier flight or still have to fly stand by. Thanks

 

[dpayne1969]

from what i am understanding we would have to go standby if Delta folds.
I talked to hubby last nite and he said he does not want us to fly standby.
I have 3 kids,my DD is only 10 and i can tell u now she would not sit by some stranger even if we was on the same flight!!Hubby said he is not going to even ask her too,we already know what the outcome would be
My 2 teen boys probably would sit by someone else but she would not at all!!
Also i believe they would not even rebook us anywhere till we were 24-48 hrs out from leaving for our trip.
That is why so many are trying to come up with a back up plan.

 

[disneytraveler]

I have already booked a Jetblue flight for my trip in September .Even i am not
going until then i feel alot better by buying this ticket. I will probally cancel
the delta one.

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

Stand by for us would be horrid. We are traveling in a party of 11. 6 adults, one who will be 7 months along, and then 5 kids (7,5,5,3,3). I couldn't ask any of the kids to sit by someone they don't know, would airlines really make a small child sit away from a parent? I could understand where the whole family couldn't sit together, but to seperate small children from mom and dad. I believe in God, I think now is a good time to start praying. If its supposed to happen, it will.


I also have a seperate question, I have read where people are going to cancel their Delta tickets, sincce we have non refundable tickets this wouldn't be an option...correct?

 

[dpayne1969]

i think if we cancel our delta tickets they charge you a fee per ticket & then give you credit for a future flight which is to be used in 1 year.But what if they go bankrupt would we then get a full refund or would we be given a voucher for another airline.I also heard of folks saying if you paid with your CC your company may give you a refund.But dont depend on this if you bought over 60 days ago(which i did)We used capital 1 for our tickets so dont know.

 

[dpayne1969]

ok i just got off the phone with Delta and she was very optimistic about the strike.LOL.I have non refundable tickets so i get 0 $ back if i cancel.I will be issued credit minus $50 PP.She says she doubts the pilots will strike as they will lose all their pensions and everything they have built up.So she said she has been praying with the rest of us that this will not take place.She did say she thought other airlines would step up and reissue tickets and not have to fly the customers on standby!But rather give them actual ticketed seats on their airlines.So who knows that sounded good on the phone but when the time comes IF it comes will it still be lined in silver?

 

[bicker]

If they go belly up, does someone else have to take our tickets even thoe it is so far away. Would we get tickets on thier flight or still have to fly stand by.

If you are holding confirmed tickets on the airline when it ceases operations, you would be able to fly stand-by on another airline, for a $50 fee per leg, but only if that airline serves the exact same two cities your original ticket was written for (no alternate airports), and only if that airline still has space available on the flight (say) 20 minutes prior to flight time (though some will be a little more generous with the time). Unfortunately, the airline can continue selling seats on the flight until then, and given how much in-demand those seats will be, they'll have no problem getting folks to pay for them at even double the fee. So I wouldn't count on that "protection" that much.

would airlines really make a small child sit away from a parent?

The airlines wouldn't make parents and children sit apart, rather, given the circumstances, the parent would have to decide between sitting apart and not flying. (And that's not even the worst-case scenario.)

But what if they go bankrupt would we then get a full refund or would we be given a voucher for another airline.

If you cancel your reservation and get a credit voucher, and if the airline ceases operations, then you go to the bottom of the list of creditors to be paid off, if there is any money left from the sale of the airline's assets. No other airline will honor your credit voucher.

She did say she thought other airlines would step up and reissue tickets and not have to fly the customers on standby!But rather give them actual ticketed seats on their airlines.

This agent was mistaken about that.

She's probably correct about the pilots not striking against the airline, though.