What to do if your flight is cancelled - Weather, mechanical, etc

[snowbunny]

There's one thing Bavaria that I suspect makes your method work well...you are a business traveler and you don't check luggage. When I flew a lot on business, I was very nimble and able to go with the flow - my carryon had everything in it including several changes of clothes. Now that I vacation with kids, we have to check a bag or two.

Now, if the airline loses and never finds my bags because I jumped on a competitor's flight as a standby passenger or whatever, eventually they'll have to pay. But what a hassle.

 

[bavaria]

There's one thing Bavaria that I suspect makes your method work well...you are a business traveler and you don't check luggage. When I flew a lot on business, I was very nimble and able to go with the flow - my carryon had everything in it including several changes of clothes. Now that I vacation with kids, we have to check a bag or two.

Now, if the airline loses and never finds my bags because I jumped on a competitor's flight as a standby passenger or whatever, eventually they'll have to pay. But what a hassle.

actually, I ALWAYS check luggage. My trips are so long that I can't travel with just a carryon, plus factor in all the work stuff and it doesn't happen. I'm not a Mon-Fri business traveller - I may be home for 2 days and gone for 6 weeks in 2 or 3 locations.

Just last week I was without my luggage for over 24 hours - I was even threatening to go to Tigger&Belle's house to wash my undies as I knew that she lives close to where I was working. Luckily I had my 2 spare pairs, but it was a loooong series of flights to get there, and I don't just change flights in ORD...

I still take the essentials, though. I've been without luggage twice in the last year on business trips, and still managed to be presentable as to clothes, hair and makeup. But we are also expected to travel in business clothes just for this reason.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Just last week I was without my luggage for over 24 hours - I was even threatening to go to Tigger&Belle's house to wash my undies as I knew that she lives close to where I was working. Luckily I had my 2 spare pairs, but it was a loooong series of flights to get there, and I don't just change flights in ORD....

Wow, Bavaria... what happened to your luggage?

 

[bavaria]

karma came to bite me.... that's all I'm saying! (and that's all you're saying too, right, Ms ExPirateShopGirl?)

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

The stitch is in place!

karma came to bite me.... that's all I'm saying! (and that's all you're saying too, right, Ms ExPirateShopGirl?)

 

[snowbunny]

actually, I ALWAYS check luggage. My trips are so long that I can't travel with just a carryon, plus factor in all the work stuff and it doesn't happen. I'm not a Mon-Fri business traveller - I may be home for 2 days and gone for 6 weeks in 2 or 3 locations.

My hat is off to you - you have mastered the fine art of going with the flow

 

[bavaria]

My hat is off to you - you have mastered the fine art of going with the flow

I will admit that before I became a seasoned traveller, I didn't 'go with the flow', and probably lost a few brain cells and a few years off my life.

Things are much easier now that I am armed with a little knowledge and am a little more flexible. I highly recommend doing things this way....

 

[bavaria]

Bumping this up as we have seen the first winter storm watch thread posted...

As Safetymom says, pack lots of patience

 

[debster812]

This is a GREAT thread, and needs to be bumped up every winter.

The person behind the counter can be your friend

Or the person on the phone....

Truer words were never spoken. We got caught in last February's storm where JetBlue had their meltdown. We were on Delta, flying out of Boston, 4 days before President's Weekend. After boarding and deplaning 4 times, they cancelled our flight. My cellphone, and DH's cellphone had both died, so we were at the mercy of the lineup to use Delta's phones. I got to a phone rep, explained to her where we were, and what happened, and her first words to me were;

"Mrs debster812, you are the first person in 5 hours who has not yelled at me. Let's see what we can find for you". We ended up losing 3 full days of our vacation, and having to rent a car in FL to get to our final destination, but we flew 1st Class (DS thought that was pretty cool).

 

[lilyv]

This is a GREAT thread, and needs to be bumped up every winter.



Or the person on the phone....

Truer words were never spoken. We got caught in last February's storm where JetBlue had their meltdown. We were on Delta, flying out of Boston, 4 days before President's Weekend. After boarding and deplaning 4 times, they cancelled our flight. My cellphone, and DH's cellphone had both died, so we were at the mercy of the lineup to use Delta's phones. I got to a phone rep, explained to her where we were, and what happened, and her first words to me were;

"Mrs debster812, you are the first person in 5 hours who has not yelled at me. Let's see what we can find for you". We ended up losing 3 full days of our vacation, and having to rent a car in FL to get to our final destination, but we flew 1st Class (DS thought that was pretty cool).

It's so worth being nice. Rude assertiveness really doesn't get you anywhere, IMO. Last summer I had a flight canceled. I got to the agent, and nicely asked for her help. I also mentioned I was willing to overfly my destination, if need be. (And then catch another flight home.) While angry words were being exchanged between the passenger and agent next to me, the agent I was working with booked me on a flight (different airline) that would get me past the problem weather zone, and then home the next day. She leaned over the counter and said, go to xyz airline right now. See if you can get seat assignments. I was able to get seats, and it meant I wasn't bumped the next day. She was a wonderful help, and I was so grateful!

 

[CarolA]

It's so worth being nice. Rude assertiveness really doesn't get you anywhere, IMO. Last summer I had a flight canceled. I got to the agent, and nicely asked for her help. I also mentioned I was willing to overfly my destination, if need be. (And then catch another flight home.) While angry words were being exchanged between the passenger and agent next to me, the agent I was working with booked me on a flight (different airline) that would get me past the problem weather zone, and then home the next day. She leaned over the counter and said, go to xyz airline right now. See if you can get seat assignments. I was able to get seats, and it meant I wasn't bumped the next day. She was a wonderful help, and I was so grateful!

I once got one of the last seats on a plane (and an upgrade) by being nice while the JERK next to me got told he would have to wait several hours (our orignal plane had to divert due to bad weather so then you wait for the plane to be refueld at whereever and fly back to your airport) I also got upgraded to Business on an international flight by being nicer then the jerk in my seat (who claimed that he was a "top tier" frequent flyer... I wasn't on that airline. so if what he said was true he should have been the one upgraded. LOL!)

 

[bavaria]

Threatening that you will never fly their airline ever ever again doesn't help either!

Why should they bother to find you a solution if you just told them that you won't give them future business? If you do have a complaint, put it in writing after your trip, with pertinent details. Keep the letter short and to the point, and if you expect compensation, be specific and reasonable.

 

[halld6479]

you guys on this threat are awesome, the info is priceless, every minute I spend this weekend in the airport I am going to remember everything you have said and smile alot and reach down inside me to be in control of what is going on around me, I have always believed nice gets further then rude but some time I have not followed that at the last minute but I am smiling while writhing this things hold these thoughts it will pay off. I am going to attach a hang tag to my carry on that says "just be patient"

 

[debster812]

you guys on this threat are awesome, the info is priceless, every minute I spend this weekend in the airport I am going to remember everything you have said and smile alot and reach down inside me to be in control of what is going on around me, I have always believed nice gets further then rude but some time I have not followed that at the last minute but I am smiling while writhing this things hold these thoughts it will pay off. I am going to attach a hang tag to my carry on that says "just be patient"

EXCELLENT Attitude.

Good Luck this weekend. Get there early. Be Prepared. Be Flexible. Carry some Snacks. The empty water bottle tip further upthread is a priceless tip.

 

[ironz]

Excellent thread, Bavaria! Though I must admit, just by reading the title, I thought, "How does Bavaria not know what to do if a flight is cancelled? She (I think you're a she and not a he) flies all the time!"

I don't think I travel quite as much as you, but I am on the road at least 2 weeks/month...so I keep up with your always good posts on here.

And so true....being nice to the gate agents is really a good thing!

 

[klmall]

And it isn't just winter storms that create chaos. We were trying to fly from IAD to Denver via Minneapolis (I believe) to start a 3 week vacation out west. Thunderstorms kept our plane from coming in until very late. By the time we got to Minneapolis there were three planes worth of people trying to get to Denver. Instead of joining the masses at the announced counter DH walked over to a nearby counter and nicely asked for help. The reservation clerk said she wasn't on duty but would get someone and she did. DH really turned on the charm and managed to snag the last 3 seats on the last plane leaving Minneapolis that night. We didn't care that we would get in late and start driving to Estes Park at 10:00 pm; at least we would be starting vacation. Many people walked away without seats on any plane that night but not us! I will never forget what being nice and a bit creative can get you!

 

[safetymom]

I was behind a guy ranting and raving how he needed a phone card because his flight was delayed. They gave him one but he wanted more. When it was my turn I smiled and said to the agent sounds like you are having a tough day. She goes would you like a phone card? She gives me one, then says how about another one? I ended up with 6 phone cards and I didn't ask for any. She also got me on the next flight out in first class. Being nice goes a long long way.

 

[bavaria]

Here's sort of an odd tip... odd, but it has worked for me!

Sometimes it can help to team up with a stranger, believe it or not. This works especially well for those travelling alone, as a single person doesn't always have enough resources to juggle rebooking airline tickets and finding hotel rooms or booking a rental car.

Some of you know my summer India travel story; I was going from India to Germany to France but a monsoon shut down several airports in India. I ended up in a small military airport, 90 minute drive from any hotel, with no cel phone or internet signal. Thousands of people were stranded.

A colleague of mind happened to stumble across me; we teamed up with two Indian gentlemen who were also trying to fly out. I sat surrounded by all of our luggage, using a borrowed blackberry, with one stranger next to me using his cel. Together we called hotels, airlines, and colleagues in various locations in Asia; my colleague and the other stranger went to stand in endless lines at various small airline counters.

Eventually we managed to get three of us rebooked that day, one rebooked the following day, and find a hotel room for one stranger. One of those kind strangers even spent 45 minutes getting my bags back from the airline and making sure that I was checked in on my 'new' airline before he went home. I ended up criscrossing India before reaching Delhi.

On landing in Delhi, I had to change from the domestic to international airport, a 30 minute drive. The airport busses were all booked up and I didn't relish the thought of taking a taxi at 1am. An Australian woman caught my eye, and we ended up sharing a taxi to the other airport. There I teamed up with one last stranger, an Indian living in France, who helped me to navigate customs and immigration, while I in turn helped with our Lufthansa check ins.

That trip was a wonderful opportunity for me to see how the locals lived and travelled. While it took me two days to get to France, along the way I (a German) teamed up with people from Italy, India, Malaysia, the UK, Australia, and France to get to my destination. We all stayed cheerful and ended up where we needed to go.

In contrast, I saw many international travellers that weekend completely losing their tempers and behaving in a most shocking fashion.

Moral of that story is that if you find yourself alone, hooking up with a stranger may allow one of you to focus on finding hotel rooms while the other is on hold with the airline, etc. You may need to surrender some trust, but in truly bad travel situations the people who help each other out often end up coming out better in the end.

 

[safetymom]

Another great trip. It is amazing how quickly you can make a friend when you are stranded at an airport.

 

[kaytieeldr]

if you can, try and leave BEFORE the weather hits. With the Denver blizzards, United was trying to get people out a day before the storm hit

I can vouch for this! A few years ago, I was at Disney World with friends. We were all flying to the Northeast the same day, although different states.
A blizzard was predicted.
My friends went to the airport early and were able to stand by for an earlier flight.
I left at my intended time... and spent the night in North Carolina where I was supposed to just change planes and continue on home that night.

I did make the NC Gate Agent happy though - I'd added a buffer to my trip, so I was one of the only two parties NOT demanding to be put on the 6 AM flight.