What to do about the resort if flight is delayed until next morning?

[Leigh L]

Next week we have a quick WDW trip. I'm using flight credits from Spirit from a canceled spring break Chicago 2020 trip. Been trying to use them all year - so far 3 strikes in 2021 for flight cancelations. This time, we decided to fly to Orlando and go to Boo Bash. Those flights seem more stable! (But based on my first-time experience with this airline so far, I'm still nervous lol.)

Our flight is late, 8 p.m. If Spirit cancels or delays us until the 6 a.m. flight in the morning, how do I handle the resort part of it? There is no way we'd arrive that night but we could get there either via Spirit or another airline in the morning. We wouldn't want Disney to cancel our second night since we didn't show. Do I just call the main number and talk to the call center in the event our flight is a no-go? Or is there a better way to contact the resort and let them know we are still coming? Or does it even matter since we did online check-in?

 

[Willow1213]

In MDE under "My Resort" there is an option to call the resort. This got me through to a very knowledgeable CM that could answer my questions about check in at Pop this past weekend. I don't have specifics about your exact situation, but this option at least gets you to someone quickly instead of the general 800#.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I’m so sorry this is happening. I think it’s time to collectively agree no one should ever fly Spirit.

If you’re OK with paying for a night you’re not actually staying you’re fine to do online check-in but I would suggest calling the resort directly if in fact your flight does get cancelled (which will likely be well in advance that day and not like AT the gate) and see what they can do for you. Worst case scenario you’re still out a night in cost but have a room, best case they can modify your res and help you out.

Have fun!

 

[_19disnA]

I would certainly call Disney if you aren't able to arrive on the day you planned to avoid having your reservation cancelled. I suspect this happens a lot for a variety of reasons, but would call to let them know. You can do on-line check-in months in advance, so I think it is best to talk live to a real person when you know of a travel delay.

 

[Beer Me]

If you won’t be showing up that night I would keep the reservation but let the hotel know you are arriving in the morning. That way hopefully they can keep a room ready for you when you arrive.

Otherwise try to cancel one night but then you may be homeless until 3-4pm that day.

 

[Eastern]

I’m so sorry this is happening. I think it’s time to collectively agree no one should ever fly Spirit.

My mother was a Spirit apologist and even she has given up on them.

 

[Leigh L]

In MDE under "My Resort" there is an option to call the resort. This got me through to a very knowledgeable CM that could answer my questions about check in at Pop this past weekend. I don't have specifics about your exact situation, but this option at least gets you to someone quickly instead of the general 800#.

Thank you!! I've never noticed this in the app before and just found it! This is great to know.

If you won’t be showing up that night I would keep the reservation but let the hotel know you are arriving in the morning. That way hopefully they can keep a room ready for you when you arrive.

Otherwise try to cancel one night but then you may be homeless until 3-4pm that day.

I’m so sorry this is happening. I think it’s time to collectively agree no one should ever fly Spirit.

If you’re OK with paying for a night you’re not actually staying you’re fine to do online check-in but I would suggest calling the resort directly if in fact your flight does get cancelled (which will likely be well in advance that day and not like AT the gate) and see what they can do for you. Worst case scenario you’re still out a night in cost but have a room, best case they can modify your res and help you out.

Have fun!

I would certainly call Disney if you aren't able to arrive on the day you planned to avoid having your reservation cancelled. I suspect this happens a lot for a variety of reasons, but would call to let them know. You can do on-line check-in months in advance, so I think it is best to talk live to a real person when you know of a travel delay.

Thanks so much everyone! These are great ideas and super helpful. I rarely take late flights, usually opt for the early morning ones. I appreciate everyone's suggestions! Would be great to have a room ready if we arrive in the a.m.

About Spirit, I know, I know...lol. I'd choose Frontier over them, even which I only use when desperate and need a last minute flight. It was a weird situation for me because and I were visiting DS who had moved from Virginia to Milwaukee and it was spring break. The second half of spring break was meeting DH, DD, and a group of friends up in Philadelphia. BWI was on the way and spring break flights were sooo expensive, so Spirit was the cheapest (and still wasn't cheap since spring break). DH was going to simply pick us up on the way. Perfect scenario. Until Covid.

Fortunately, we booked ASMo through Priceline (cancelable rate within 5 days) for our first 2 nights for $80 a night. Because of the late-night arrival and plans to do a full park day the next day, I wanted to go super cheap. Worst case, I'm out $80, but definitely want the room for the second night before we switch to the Contemporary on our down day (I wasn't risking booking here upon arrival and losing a night at those prices due to Spirit canceling flights!)

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I know they're more expensive up-front but Delta has eliminated all change/cancellation fees, and flight credit expirations keep getting extended so I've been able to use a lot of those cancelled travel plans this year and pay $0 additional out of pocket. Really nice for peace of mind knowing from now on if anything happens I'm not really out any money and can just apply to a future trip.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Because of the late-night arrival and plans to do a full park day the next day, I wanted to go super cheap. Worst case, I'm out $80, but definitely want the room for the second night before we switch to the Contemporary on our down day (I wasn't risking booking here upon arrival and losing a night at those prices due to Spirit canceling flights!)

As you stated the worst case is you are marked a no show, resulting in you being charged the one night fee and left homeless on night 2 because they sold the room to someone else. Contacting the hotel will prevent that. You’re out the cost of the first night no matter what.

Hopefully you make it! But good to have the game plan in case you don’t no matter what airline you’re flying

 

[Leigh L]

I know they're more expensive up-front but Delta has eliminated all change/cancellation fees, and flight credit expirations keep getting extended so I've been able to use a lot of those cancelled travel plans this year and pay $0 additional out of pocket. Really nice for peace of mind knowing from now on if anything happens I'm not really out any money and can just apply to a future trip.

I hear great things about Delta, but no direct flights to MCO from here. My fav is JetBlue, but they're down to only 1 direct flight per day (from 5), then SW since they are so flexible. United surprised me over the last year, I swore off them years ago but they've been pretty good too during the pandemic.

Spirit and American are now my two no-gos. Once these Spirit credits are gone, I'm done. And I was going to just eat them, but after so many cancelations, I kinda wanted something back LOL.

As you stated the worst case is you are marked a no show, resulting in you being charged the one night fee and left homeless on night 2 because they sold the room to someone else. Contacting the hotel will prevent that. You’re out the cost of the first night no matter what.

Hopefully you make it! But good to have the game plan in case you don’t no matter what airline you’re flying

I just don't trust this airline. Hoping new destination this time, better luck!

You guys are all awesome, thank you! I'm feeling far less anxious right now than I've been the last few days .

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I hear great things about Delta, but no direct flights to MCO from here.

Yeah lack of direct flights is crummy but an hour layover at a major hub isn't so bad! I feel like they're mostly ATL lol. We're NYC-based and you'd be surprised over the past year how many layovers we've had to take to major destinations bc everything was routing through Atlanta. I hope more direct routes come back as travel continues to grow. But I can vouch for Delta as I fly them exclusively now after years of having to take the "cheapest" flight option weekly for work and traveling all over the US on AA, JetBlue, United, Continental when they still existed - you name it. Now that I can choose for myself, I choose Delta. Air travel in general is miserable so it's not like a WOW experience but it is definitely nicer than other domestic choices.

Glad you're feeling less anxious - enjoy your trip!

 

[Leigh L]

Yeah lack of direct flights is crummy but an hour layover at a major hub isn't so bad! I feel like they're mostly ATL lol. We're NYC-based and you'd be surprised over the past year how many layovers we've had to take to major destinations bc everything was routing through Atlanta. I hope more direct routes come back as travel continues to grow. But I can vouch for Delta as I fly them exclusively now after years of having to take the "cheapest" flight option weekly for work and traveling all over the US on AA, JetBlue, United, Continental when they still existed - you name it. Now that I can choose for myself, I choose Delta. Air travel in general is miserable so it's not like a WOW experience but it is definitely nicer than other domestic choices.

Glad you're feeling less anxious - enjoy your trip!

Having grown up and lived in lower NY, (but it's been a while) yup, I'd agree Atlanta - and O'Hare!!

Thank you!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

This was pre-COVID but in 2016 we had planned a 2-night stay at Poly before a cruise. We had planned to do a resort day and had Ohana reservations. Our evening flight out was delayed due to T-storms. We did end up leaving Omaha and got to St. Louis, but missed the last connection to Orlando so we had to get a hotel in St. Louis and were booked out the next day but didn't arrive until like 6. As we sat at the airport we called WDW (I think the mainline, maybe Poly?) and explained. They were so nice. They kept our reservation for the 2nd night, no charge for the missed night and they canceled the Ohana reservation without a fee even though it was within the 24 hours. We were disappointed to miss our time, but thankful we didn't pay a bunch of money for nothing! I did have trip insurance and they may have reimbursed if we had been charged, they did pay for the St. Louis hotel, but I'm glad I didn't have to mess with it. I would definitely recommend calling Disney if your flight is delayed.

 

[Leigh L]

This was pre-COVID but in 2016 we had planned a 2-night stay at Poly before a cruise. We had planned to do a resort day and had Ohana reservations. Our evening flight out was delayed due to T-storms. We did end up leaving Omaha and got to St. Louis, but missed the last connection to Orlando so we had to get a hotel in St. Louis and were booked out the next day but didn't arrive until like 6. As we sat at the airport we called WDW (I think the mainline, maybe Poly?) and explained. They were so nice. They kept our reservation for the 2nd night, no charge for the missed night and they canceled the Ohana reservation without a fee even though it was within the 24 hours. We were disappointed to miss our time, but thankful we didn't pay a bunch of money for nothing! I did have trip insurance and they may have reimbursed if we had been charged, they did pay for the St. Louis hotel, but I'm glad I didn't have to mess with it. I would definitely recommend calling Disney if your flight is delayed.

I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. How nice they didn't charge for the first night!
Thank you, if this does happen next week, I'll definitely call. (Since it's Priceline, I'll probably not get the refund but I've basically got 2 nights for the price of 1 anyway ).

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. How nice they didn't charge for the first night!
Thank you, if this does happen next week, I'll definitely call. (Since it's Priceline, I'll probably not get the refund but I've basically got 2 nights for the price of 1 anyway ).

Good luck! We did book with Disney and yeah, Priceline might not be as accommodating!

 

[bumbershoot]

I haven't done online checkin for awhile, but the time we had a late night flight and were arriving in the early morning, we just used the dropdown to indicate that. They had the room for us, they were expecting us b/c of DME, and the room was there and waiting for us.

They know that planes arrive at almost all hours at MCO.

I think it’s time to collectively agree no one should ever fly Spirit.

Plenty of people on my hardcore travel pages are perfectly fine with them.

 

[nolatravelgirl]

I think you are making a big assumption that if your evening departure is cancelled then Spirit will just put you on the early AM flight. It isn't like they are going to offload all the pre-booked passengers to put you on that flight. They will put you on the next flight with availability which could be days later.

 

[Eastern]

I think you are making a big assumption that if your evening departure is cancelled then Spirit will just put you on the early AM flight. It is like they are going to offload all the pre-booked passengers to put you on that flight. They will put you on the next flight with availability which could be days later.

Friends of ours returned from a cruise recently and arrived to find that not only had Spirit cancelled their flight, but they could not get home for 2 more days. They booked another flight at a high cost to get home the same day. Something to be aware of.

 

[Leigh L]

@Eastern @nolatravelgirl
Those are good points. Since they are still selling tickets for those flights, I was assuming they weren't full. (They have 3 flights the next day.)

I've been checking their schedules daily to see what they do and it looks like, save 1 filght, they've all been a go. Other airlines have been so much easier to predict lol.

 

[nolatravelgirl]

@Eastern @nolatravelgirl
Those are good points. Since they are still selling tickets for those flights, I was assuming they weren't full. (They have 3 flights the next day.)

I've been checking their schedules daily to see what they do and it looks like, save 1 filght, they've all been a go. Other airlines have been so much easier to predict lol.

Past performance is no indication of the future. The problem with smaller airlines that don't work on a traditional hub and spoke model is that a storm in San Antonio could have impacts on a flight from Detroit. Also, airlines sell more tickets than seats with the assumption that some people will be a no show whether it is due to weather, traffic or just a change in plans. Airlines have gotten very good at seat inventory management.

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer and everything could work out just fine but in this day and age you should hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.