Southwest flight cancelled

[SilverMickey]

My flight this morning got cancelled due to Mechanical Failure/Maintenance.
We can get another flight out until tomorrow. Our flight was Tampa to Manchester NH. Now it is Orlando to Boston.

5 extra meals out... for 8 of us (40 meals) extended rental car... extra gas and hotel room. Extra charge for pet sitting. Transportation to different airport in a different state....
$$$$
Will Southwest make any of this right with me? I know the mother nature thing they have no control over.... Is not having a plane available different?

How should I go about getting compensation? Any chance?

THANKS!

 

[seashoreCM]

You do not have to accept the flight into Boston unless they provide ongoing transportation to Manchester.

Do not keep a rental car beyond the return time without advance permission from the rental agency (may require reporting to the rental office to do an extension).

Normally if a flight is cancelled before you normally get to the airport, no compensation is due you.

In a situation like this, Disney will probably let you add a day or two to your tickets even if the last day was used up yesterday in which case the tickets normally become dead. (Ten days maximum per ticket and 14 day lifespan of non-nonexpiring tickets still apply.)

Southwest has been known to do weird things such as fly passengers from Boston to Manchester with a change of planes in Newark, although not for you since you got a lot of advance notice. One trip report on The DIS mentioned having the choice of walking away at some random place halfway up the east coast where the Orlando to (I forget) flight made an emergency landing, or be flown to the original destination by making a connection in Florida(!).

 

[overthemoon4mickey]

If you purchased travel insurance through Disney or private call them now. You will have to front all expenses but should get reimbursed in 4-6 weeks.

 

[gmeh1]

My flight this morning got cancelled due to Mechanical Failure/Maintenance.
We can get another flight out until tomorrow. Our flight was Tampa to Manchester NH. Now it is Orlando to Boston.

5 extra meals out... for 8 of us (40 meals) extended rental car... extra gas and hotel room. Extra charge for pet sitting. Transportation to different airport in a different state....
$$$$
Will Southwest make any of this right with me? I know the mother nature thing they have no control over.... Is not having a plane available different?

How should I go about getting compensation? Any chance?

THANKS!

I don't know if you have a chance, but, my advice would be to call Southwest.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If its mechincal issues they should compensate you for the trouble. Where you at the airport when you found this out? If so you could have talked to a supervisor about compensation. Just looked an yes I see there are no flight available today for you. But there are available flights tomorrow out of Tampa to Manchester.

 

[joxer1014]

I had a similar experience with SW cancelling but it was due to weather at home and we were flying home. The difference is that we kind of knew ahead of time what might happen because it was a bad snowstorm and SW was cancelling flights one by one instead of just doing one big cancel. I decided to call my car rental and ask them what they could do if I was stuck for another day. They said that they would extend my rental for another day for nothing if I returned it by a certain time. I called them back later and they did honor it so no problem there. Being a DVC member I called them ahead of time as well and they said that as long as there are rooms available and I had enough points they could accomodate me last minute. They did that when I called back. I then went to the concierge counter at the resort and told them what happened and they asked to see our tickets. After they were swiped she told us that our 4 day would cost $8 to add another day and that our 5 day would cost another $5 to add another day. So yes we were called by SW and was told that our flight was cancelled so I made all those arrangements with minimal difficulty.

I cant help with getting a room since we have DVC but I would think that Disney would help you out and not make you pay too much for another day. Our car rental was with National and our tickets were regular MYW tickets bought at our local Disney Store.

Hope this helps and isnt too late to help.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My flight this morning got cancelled due to Mechanical Failure/Maintenance.
We can get another flight out until tomorrow. Our flight was Tampa to Manchester NH. Now it is Orlando to Boston.

5 extra meals out... for 8 of us (40 meals) extended rental car... extra gas and hotel room. Extra charge for pet sitting. Transportation to different airport in a different state....
$$$$
Will Southwest make any of this right with me? I know the mother nature thing they have no control over.... Is not having a plane available different?

How should I go about getting compensation? Any chance?

THANKS!

Did you check Southwest's Contract of Carriage? Your rights are detailed there:

http://www.southwest.com/assets/pdfs/corporate-commitments/contract-of-carriage.pdf

Pretty much they will do as they have already done, get you on the next flight available, or they will refund the unused portion of your fare (see page 28). That's it. You have discovered one of the drawbacks of flying a non-legacy airline. If you were flying a legacy airline, such as United, you would be given one night's lodging for such a long delay in your next flight, as well as ground transportation to the hotel and meal vouchers. However, you can always ask Southwest; you never know what they will do.

I cant help with getting a room since we have DVC but I would think that Disney would help you out and not make you pay too much for another day.

I can't see a hotel giving you a discount rate because your flight was cancelled.

 

[tinka-belle]

Most normal hotels offer a "stranded passenger" (or some similar sounding name) rate. Ask SW what hotels they use in the Orlando area, flight crew has to sleep somewhere. SW might (or might not) be able to make a reservation for you.

I don't think Disney hotels offer any such rate reduction though.

Keep any receipts for meals, hotel, car rental, etc. and submit a trip insurance claim when you get home, if you had a travel insurance policy. There is usually a daily maximum re-imbursement they allow per person that would be enough to cover the normal stuff. You would need proof of the flight cancellation, can get that from SW.

 

[backyardponder]

Well, you are probably home by now. Let us know how things worked out for you.

One thing folks didn't suggest (at least I didn't see it) was to check SW's web site yourself for possible flights which might have availability.

 

[seashoreCM]

If you were flying a legacy airline, such as United, you would be given one night's lodging for such a long delay in your next flight, as well as ground transportation to the hotel and meal vouchers..

I have not heard of airlines, even legacy airlines, giving you meals and lodging when you are at your starting point, for example at Orlando Airport when going home from Disney.

But occasionally a "legacy" airline will put you on a different legacy airline. "Independent" airlines such as Southwest don't do that.

 

[SilverMickey]

Well, you are probably home by now. Let us know how things worked out for you.

One thing folks didn't suggest (at least I didn't see it) was to check SW's web site yourself for possible flights which might have availability.

I did end up checking Southwest myself to find available flights. I am home now... If I had gone with what they wanted I would be in FL until Thursday.

To answer a few questions...

I did not have a trip purchased through Disney... So no Disney trip insurance.

I have never ever ever had a problem with Southwest before nor the horrid attitude the person on the other end of the phone gave me. They booked me on flights arriving in airports several states away... getting in at horrible hours after changing planes 3 times and 9+ hours traveling. (for a 3 hours flight)

I was told I was booked on flight blah blah blah and got cut off (actually every time I was put on hold they hung up on me) only to find out I was booked on a flight that didn't go anywhere near my home airport. The person that finally helped me said I had changed my flight to many times and I had to pay a fee. I asked to speak to he supervisor and she suddenly could help me with out a fee. Then she tried to put me on a flight several days away and said there just simply wasn't a flight available.

I ended up one finger typing a reservation for today and found 7 available. I told her what flight I wanted and with much jumping through hoops I got it. The supervisor on hand couldn't tell me why any of these flights had not been offered to me right away. (This only took 2 hours and 16 minutes)

I still will fly Southwest. I will still try to talk to Southwest even if only to figure out what went wrong with the rebooking system and maybe it won't happen again.

Our car rental company was great. I called and 2 minutes later our rental was extended for a minimal fee. (thank goodness)

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I have not heard of airlines, even legacy airlines, giving you meals and lodging when you are at your starting point, for example at Orlando Airport when going home from Disney.

OP was not at his/her home airport, he/she was returning home. The only time a legacy airline will not provide food/lodging is when you are at your home airport. Of course they will provide this service on your return trip (such as the start point of your return home).

OP - glad things worked out. As you have discovered, you have to be proactive when these things happen. Find out what flights will work for you and be persistent. You definitely need to send a written complaint to WN. Keep it short and to the point.

 

[diesel]

I had an issue with Southwest and had great results with their customer service. Our flight was diverted to Providence from Manchester and they were no help in providing transportation back to Manchester where our car was. We booked a rental car and drove up to Manchester to retrieve our car. When I got home I sent a letter to the Customer Service department of Southwest with my issues and extra cost. I received a call from customer service and was offered two vouchers to cover the cost of the rental and for our inconvenience. It wasn’t a lot of money but I was happy they were willing to compensate us.

Write them a letter with your issues. It’s worth a shot.

 

[MEK]

I had a 3 hour flight delay on SWA approximately one year ago and I was given a $100 voucher in the airport for my inconvenience. I would be very surprised if you don't receive some sort of compensation, but I guess you never know.

 

[crashbb]

I have not heard of airlines, even legacy airlines, giving you meals and lodging when you are at your starting point, for example at Orlando Airport when going home from Disney.

What are you talking about? If you are going home from Disney (by plane) then you clearly don't live in Orlando and are not at your home airport.

Personally, United put me up at the Hyatt when a flight was cancelled (plane was delayed coming in and any one with a connection stayed in Orlando since there were fewer hotels in Charlotte which is where we'd be connecting).

Continental put me up in another hotel (I think it was a Courtyard - one of the Marriott family) when they canceled a flight.

Both were at MCO, coming home from Disney.