OMA FLOODING (SW flights) travel insurance??

[knockUout]

We have flights for Thursday, June 23rd from Omaha eppley airport. Missouri River flooding with high water levels expected this weekend. This is a man mad flood caused by high rain/snow levels in Montana. We are flying Southwest. Should I purchase travel insurance (and from who) or will SW honor my amount paid if the airlport is closed?

 

[jlewisinsyr]

If the airport is closed, SW will refund your money anyway or rebook you. It's outside of your control (and theres). There would be no direct need to buy travel insurance to protect against an airport closure.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I don't see how the flood can be considered man made. This is obviously Mother Nature at work.

 

[bumbershoot]

will SW honor my amount paid if the airlport is closed

Travel insurance is to get back what you paid. It doesn't help you get the same price on a future flight.

SW will give you credit, for the amount you paid, if you miss the flight. (if you bought a refundable ticket then it'll be a refund) Whether or not a future flight will be the same cost...is unknown.

But travel insurance wouldn't get you that guarantee either.

 

[DebbieB]

I don't see how the flood can be considered man made. This is obviously Mother Nature at work.

I heard of this recently, not sure if it's this river. They open up spillways to divert water to less populated areas. So Mother Nature did not create it.

 

[knockUout]

The Corp of Engineers is releasing the water through dams at incredible amounts. The flooding is occuring in Nebraska and Iowa as the amount of water is so great that there is flooding along the Missouri River (coming from Montana & South Dakota). Many homeowners will lose their homes as well as businesses. Flood insurance will not cover most of these individuals/businesses as it is occuring due to the release by the Corp of Engineers. Members of Congress are asking for investigations as to the timing/decision making by the Corp of Engineers.
Thanks for the replies. Praying that the levees will hold for the safety and well being of all those affected by the mighty Missouri River.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I'm in Omaha too so I know the news.

Last January we were in Orlando when the big snowstorm hit the midwest closing many airports including Chicago which is where our connecting flight was. Our SW flight was canceled and they texted us to let us know. We were surprised because blizzard was the last thing on our mind in the sunny, 80's of Orlando! The way SW handled it was you logged into their website and if your flight met the criteria of being during the time of the closings/canceled flights you were able to reschedule on any flight of your choice at no charge. The thing was you had to be smart because if you booked one too soon and that was then canceled you were out of luck without paying the price difference. They only allowed you to rebook once at no charge. Knowing this we stayed in Orlando for 3 extra days and made sure our return flight was after the storm had passed.

So if Eppley is closed and your flight canceled that is what you will do. You would even be able to rebook out of a different airport like KC if you wanted.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

The thing was you had to be smart because if you booked one too soon and that was then canceled you were out of luck without paying the price difference. They only allowed you to rebook once at no charge. Knowing this we stayed in Orlando for 3 extra days and made sure our return flight was after the storm.

I'm not sure how correct/valid this is. If your flight is cancelled, even due to weather, the airline has an obligation to rebook you on another available flight at no charge, even if you were already rebooked once before for a similar reason/cause.

Now this is not the same as the airline offering to rebook as a precautionary ahead of a pending event with no confirmed cancellations, but to the extent that any flight you are ticketed is canceled the airline has an obligation to rebook you. That does not mean they need to pay for meals/hotel, but it does mean they cannot charge you additional to put you on a new flint after the original flight is cancelled.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I'm not sure how correct/valid this is. If your flight is cancelled, even due to weather, the airline has an obligation to rebook you on another available flight at no charge, even if you were already rebooked once before for a similar reason/cause.

Now this is not the same as the airline offering to rebook as a precautionary ahead of a pending event with no confirmed cancellations, but to the extent that any flight you are ticketed is canceled the airline has an obligation to rebook you. That does not mean they need to pay for meals/hotel, but it does mean they cannot charge you additional to put you on a new flint after the original flight is cancelled.

If that is the case then it has changed since January. The wording on the website was very clear that you were only allowed to rebook at no charge ONCE. If that new booking then got canceled you had to pay the difference in the flight cost. We also called the SW phone number because my DH was trying to get back as early as possible for work and they reiterated what the website said. To be safe we gave ourselves a few days to let the snow clear and luckily DH's boss was very understanding.

Now it may be different if the flight was canceled due to something that was SW's fault but because this was a storm and beyond their control that was the policy that was given at that time.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If that is the case then it has changed since January. The wording on the website was very clear that you were only allowed to rebook at no charge ONCE. If that new booking then got canceled you had to pay the difference in the flight cost.

That just isn't true. Either you aren't remembering correctly, or there was a mistake on the website. As long as the airline is canceling the flight, you will be rebooked at no charge every time.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I'm not sure how correct/valid this is. If your flight is cancelled, even due to weather, the airline has an obligation to rebook you on another available flight at no charge, even if you were already rebooked once before for a similar reason/cause.

Now this is not the same as the airline offering to rebook as a precautionary ahead of a pending event with no confirmed cancellations, but to the extent that any flight you are ticketed is canceled the airline has an obligation to rebook you. That does not mean they need to pay for meals/hotel, but it does mean they cannot charge you additional to put you on a new flint after the original flight is cancelled.

Well, this sounds great but it is not true! The airline does not have an obligation to rebook you on another airline ESPECIALLY if the flight was caused by a "weather related" issue (and in spite of the 'man made" statement the original cause of the flooding was Mother Nature) And SW does not have agreements with other airlines to move you to them anyway. The airline can (and often will) tell you that "your next option is a flight several days later"


Plus if your flight is cancelled due to this flood then why would any other airline be flying out of that airport.

As for travel insurance, probably too late. Most of them do not cover weather related issues announced before the insurance policy was taken out.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

That just isn't true. Either you aren't remembering correctly, or there was a mistake on the website. As long as the airline is canceling the flight, you will be rebooked at no charge every time.

Okay you proved my point! As I said I don't know what the policy is if the cancellation is due to SW's issues. In my case the AIRPORT was closed so therefore flight canceled. That being the case SW only allowed to rebook once at no charge. If you re-booked to a flight that was then also canceled you could rebook again but you had to pay the difference. You wouldn't be out your original money but you would have to fork over more. The website was very clear as was the customer service agent on the phone.

If you read the Contract of Carriage that SW has on it's website you will see they are under no obligation to rebook you multiple times at their expense.

Back to the OP issue it would be similar to mine where they would close the airport so my advice stands.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

That just isn't true. Either you aren't remembering correctly, or there was a mistake on the website. As long as the airline is canceling the flight, you will be rebooked at no charge every time.

What the poster was probably trying to say is IF they let you rebook prospectively due to pending weather issues and then you want to make ANOTHER change you cannot for "free" So if SW let you move your flight up two days, you cannnot call them later and go "put me back on my original flight and I will roll the dice on it getting cancelled"

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

This is far from a "Man Made" flood. If you have not noticed, the amount of rain that has fallen in Montana over the last 3-60 days is almost DOUBLE what the state receives in an entire year. There is no way the army corps of engineers can plan for mother nature to throw that kind of water into the system. Couple that with the annual surge in water from snows melting in the mountains and going into the system, you have a flood issue. Many locations in Wyoming that feed into the Missouri River have received several FEET of snow yet this month (JUNE) so again, natural disaster vs man made is a big stretch.

Eppley will remain open unless they have a failure of the levees. Right now, the water is 8-10 feet below the top of the levee.

 

[trip]

I heard today that if Eppley should have to shut down, the Lincoln and Des Moines airports will be the back-up airports. Scheduling would be a mess for a few days, just like when a blizzard shuts an airport down. I'm sure all tickets would be honored with no change fee.

 

[trip]

Here is a picture on Eppley and why there is concern.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/ap...=NEWS&Lopenr=106160813&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1

The buildings in the picture are the general aviation side of the airport.