What happens if your flight is canceled or delayed due to weather?

[zoeyandmakennasmom]

We are flying out of Hartford Dec 1st at 7:35am, and was wondering what would happen if our flight was canceled or delayed? This is only my second flight and would love to hear other peoples experiences so I know what to expect just in case.TIA

 

[CarolA]

You wait....

The airlines are not required to do much of anything for weather delays or cancellations. They will generally try to get you on one of their flights but it might be a while.

 

[safetymom]

Carry the phone number for reservations for the airline you are flying. When everyone goes to rush the desk looking for new flights you can call the 800 and have a better selection of flights if other flights are departing.

I also agree that if the delay is because of weather the airlines don't have to do much for you.

 

[NotUrsula]

If it is the sort of weather situation that gives advance warning, such as a hurricane or a huge blizzard, the airlines will *usually* (not always) take some measures to try to reduce the number of people who end up stranded.

The most likely action in such cases is temporarily waiving the change fee for rescheduling flights. If a big storm is bearing down on your airport, it's usually best to call and ask if you can get out on a flight that is sooner than the one you were originally scheduled on, as in, right away. Otherwise, your best option is to reschedule the whole trip if they waive the change fees. Any passengers they offload before the storm hits are passengers they will not have to find room for after it passes. Once the weather is upon them, then delays are inevitable, and you just have to hope you get a seat eventually. I advise keeping a cell phone with you and charged up, with all of your travel phone numbers (airline, rental car co., hotel) programmed into the phone. You should also carry food anytime you travel, but especially in winter, if the plane you plan to be on is going anywhere near Chicago or the northeastern US. Keep in mind that you will not always *see* the weather that is causing your delay, even on the news. If there is weather anywhere along the route, they may keep the plane on the ground until the route is clear.

If you want to minimize the possibility of weather-related delays, the best single tip I can give you is to avoid O'Hare. Weather delays hit there so often that they have an emergency camping plan in place: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-001119gridlockpart1.special
(The Tribune won a Pulitzer for this 4-pt story detailing what happens at O'Hare when there is a big storm.)

 

[Chicago526]

Great suggestions from previous posters. O'Hare is a great airport, right up until there is a weather problem. Then it's "Welcome to Camp O'Hare". They actually have camp cots they break out if there is a large number of stranded people having to sleep in the airport.

Anyway, I cannot stress enough wait a previous poster said. If your flight is canceled for ANY reason, pull out your cell (or go to an airport courtesy phone) and call the airline. Have your booking confirmation and flight info handy, and ask to be protected (airline jargon for booked on the next flight) on the next available flight, and make sure they assign a seat. Then go to either a self check-in kiosk or a ticket agent and get your new boarding pass, then go to your new gate. If you wait in line after they anounce the cancelation, the later flights could all be booked before you can talk to anyone. Plus it saves you the wait in line!

 

[BonnieA]

I had a bad weather experience in Baltimore once. It was a blizzard. My morning flight was cancelled of course but they said to keep checking back because they may be flying in the afternoon. Well it snowed all day, no one was going anywhere. I called later in the afternoon to book for the next day but they couldn't get me on anything until 2 days later .
The next morning I checked out of the hotel, got myself to the airport and put on standby. Since the weather had screwed up all the incoming flights and other airports, everyone on standby made it on the first flight out and I think there were at least 50 of us.

 

[zoeyandmakennasmom]

Thanks for all the great advice. I just programmed all the numbers I might need in my cell phone. It's a direct flight from Hartford to Orlando so I don't have to worry about O'Hare. Today the weather report for the 1st is calling for ice and rain, but hopefully it will turn out to be a nice sunny day.

 

[CarolA]

On the "airport courtsey phones" lots of them don't dail outside the airport. You would either need your cell phone or a pay phone. (and pay phones are getting hard to find in airports!)

 

[Happy2BGrumpy]

Zoeyand.............
A few words of comfort....Never fret over the long range forecast, especially a week out. BDL is one of the better "foul weather" airports. Not alot of traffic and good ground maintenance. Also, early flights are usually the best. The plane you're flying down on will have come in the night before. I assume it's Southwest, since the only other direct flight is with Song at 7:00 AM.

BTW, we flew out of BDL last Dec. 6th during the first snowstorm of the season. Delayed slightly for de-icing. We'll see you there on the 5th this year. H2BG

 

[zoeyandmakennasmom]

Thank you H2BG for the reassurance. Have a great trip!