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

[msr709]

This post is awesome! and it couldn't be more true. My tale of woe was with Delta, our flight was delayed at first because of a thunderstorm and then there was mechanical trouble and it wound up being cancelled. I had been talking to this woman that sat next to me and we decided to join forces, I stood at one counter and she at another to find out the flights available. Long story short, with a little charm and a lot of patience not only did we get flights out but we also go a voucher for a cab, a hotel stay, and breakfast the next morning. Say what you will about Delta but that's how we were treated, and to boot they gave us a free flight coupon which I used the following year. I'm usually a very shy person but I can get my "dander up" when upset. But having this new friend with me made a whole world of a difference. She was a knowledgeable traveler and offered the same advice as Bavaria and it sure worked! We wound up staying in the same room that night because the hotel only had a certain no. of rooms available. A little honey sure goes a long way!

Also, I vote that this be put as a sticky, I had to ask at another thread if anyone knew the link to this. Its full of valuable information so important to transportation. TIA

 

[safetymom]

Bumping for the evening crowd. I agree this should be a sticky.

 

[Hawk]

Bumping for the evening crowd. I agree this should be a sticky.

Me too!

Tim/Hawk

 

[CarolA]

Bumped for Easter/Spring Break travel

PLEASE a reminder to not let your emotions take control. You have the power to control your destiny, if you educate yourself a little beforehand.

And yet another reminder:

There is no pixie dust when it comes to Transportation

YES!!!!

I have NEVER seen the "jerk" get what they wanted at an airport. I have seen nice people get what they wanted if possible.

(And the airline agent is NOT related to God. They can in NO WAY change the weather. Trust me they don't want this to happen, but no matter what it is NOT their fault. They didn't cause the storm, they didn't break the plane and NO they are not hiding your luggage LOL!)

 

[starrzone]

I agree this should be a sticky; it's a wonderful thread with some excellent advice!

I have to share a story from my trip to China in May 2006. Our tour group was scheduled to fly from Xi'an to Guilin (we flew from city to city and a new tour guide met us at each stop). The flight was diverted because of "fog" (whether that was the real reason or not, I have no idea!) to a city called Changsha. I won't go into too many details because this is a very long story, but I learned a couple of things from the experience. #1, if you are stranded in a foreign country, it is indescribably helpful to have someone in your group who speaks the native language. I don't know where we'd be today without those 2 ladies! The whole process was very confusing. #2, the Chinese airlines, at least the one we were on, treated their passengers like GOLD compared to the airlines in North America when it comes to delays. We were stuck for ~10 hours, and we got the following free of charge: a boxed lunch, bottled soda/juice, and a bus ride to a hotel where we could wait. Granted, the hotel was about a 0.10 star on a scale of 1-5, but I'm not sure that there was anything better in the whole city! That was probably my most harrowing story of a delay; we THOUGHT at one point that the flight might be cancelled outright...what a long day that was!

My cruise a couple of weeks ago went very well! I was flying from Halifax to Newark to LA on Continental, and my traveling companion was to join me in Newark via Albany. His flight was delayed quite a bit because of weather, so he told me to go on to LAX without him and he'd take a morning flight. I was all settled in, resigned to the fact that he might have to meet me in our first port of call, when he ran BREATHLESS down the aisle of the plane after the flight attendant started her pre-flight cabin check. I guess his plane had gotten in LITERALLY 5 minutes before, and he RAN to the gate for the flight to LAX. There was no one at the counter, but he BANGED on the door to the jetway and the wonderful Continental employee let him board the plane! Needless to say, his luggage did NOT make it, but we picked it up the next morning at LAX and proceeded to have a wonderful vacation. Isn't air travel wonderful!

 

[CruisinEars]

bumping for a friend to find

 

[DemoBri1]

I cannot stress the importance of calling the hotels in the area immediately, and then either getting in line or calling the airline to get on the list for the next filight out to your destination.

A couple of years ago we were set to leave MCO on a late afternoon flight back to Midway in Chicago. Unfortunately, the weather decided to intervene and dumped 10" of snow in the Chicago area that afternoon. After many delays and false hope they finally canceled our flight because a SW jet slid through the runway and ended up in the street next to the airport.

As soon as they made the announcement we gathered our kids and belongings and headed back up to the ticket counter. I got in line while my wife called around to area hotels. The hotel in the airport was already full from a convention, but we were able to secure a room at a Marriott just outside the airport. I was one of the first to the ticket counter to make sure we got on the list for the next flight out. Some of the people waiting with us at the gate, however, made the mistake of rushing down to the luggage racks to secure their luggage. The next morning, there they were after a night spent in the terminal.

One other suggestion I have is to take a listing of hotels in the area of your arrival and departure airports, and any possible lay over destinations. I know this won't help in the case of a flight diversion, but you will at least have some numbers to call of some large chain hotels, that might be able to direct you to one of their properties in the city you were diverted to.

 

[bavaria]

Bumping this up in honour of the uninformed travellers yesterday who felt the need to crowd around me for 'advice' (I held an unintended seminar on 'what to do if your flight is delayed' yesterday at a small town airport)

Here is a tip: when your flight is severely delayed, causing you to miss your connection, don't stand in the hour long line and call your mother and ask her if cargo shorts, a tank top, and 4 inch heels will be okay to wear for a formal dinner tomorrow night.

Call you AIRLINE and get yourself rebooked first! Then call your mother....

 

[Hedy]

Bumping this up in honour of the uninformed travellers yesterday who felt the need to crowd around me for 'advice' (I held an unintended seminar on 'what to do if your flight is delayed' yesterday at a small town airport)

Here is a tip: when your flight is severely delayed, causing you to miss your connection, don't stand in the hour long line and call your mother and ask her if cargo shorts, a tank top, and 4 inch heels will be okay to wear for a formal dinner tomorrow night.

Call you AIRLINE and get yourself rebooked first! Then call your mother....

You should print pamphlets and sell them.
"Just 1 Euro-learn how to cope!"

 

[ktdaiwik]

Wow there is alot of great info on here!Am going to write most of it up later!Thanks once again bavaria! Will be standing inline for your seminar if we happen to get stuck at Denver and you are there in December!!!

 

[crashbb]

Something that I JUST learned -

If you are flying out of a Canadian airport that has US customs/immigration pre-clearance when flying to the US (i.e., you, for all intents and purposes, go through customs/immigration in Canada), even if your evening flight is very delayed, you may still need to go the airport, for the original flight time. Apparently, the US officials close up shop after the last scheduled flight time. So, if your flight is now leaving later than the last scheduled flight and you show up late (but in time for the new flight), you may not be able to fly and will have to wait for a flight the next day.

Probably not relevant for most posters going to WDW, but I know that some of you do visit us up here!

 

[bavaria]

Bumping for the start of snow and the American holiday week! Happy flying!

 

[aubriee]

Bumping for the start of snow and the American holiday week! Happy flying!

Thanks, lots of good information! Now I just hope I never have to use that information.

 

[kaytieeldr]

On the other hand, thanks a lot for invoking the "s" word...

Hey, as long as that stuff doesn't happen in the Northeast until December 19th, I'm happy

 

[bavaria]

Er, the 's' word??!!!! HELLO??? Who left home this week not to return until the day before Christmas, and is flying to/through/from lots of the biggest 's' destinations in North America over the next five weeks?!

I was the one last year sitting here after midnight on December 24th, stuck in an airport due to 's'... I don't recall seeing any of you people here keeping me company!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I was the one last year sitting here after midnight on December 24th, stuck in an airport due to 's'... I don't recall seeing any of you people here keeping me company!

Oh, dear bavaria... you know we're always with you im Gedächtnis.

 

[crashbb]

Er, the 's' word??!!!! HELLO??? Who left home this week not to return until the day before Christmas, and is flying to/through/from lots of the biggest 's' destinations in North America over the next five weeks?!

Taking a wild guess, and I could be wrong, but I'm going to go with - you!

Hope you trip(s) go well.

 

[hsmamato2]

oh,glad this got rebumped....new computer-didn't have old links to read.....must start thinking about next winter trip- i do it myself,dh would think I'm nuts for having all this backup info....thanks!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

You never know when those weather-related flight delays will occur, either. Case in point, my older daughter was to have arrived a couple of hours ago. As it happens, there's been a ground stop in effect for aircraft inbound to SAN and she's been patiently waiting in SFO since 2 hours before her flight was originally scheduled this morning, so about 5 and a half hours. They even boarded them at one point and then deplaned them. She relaxed, got coffee, ran into another student she knew who was headed home for the holidays, they snacked, they hung out, traded magazines, etc.

It's all in how you handle the situation. She may be only 19, but she's already travel-wise beyond her years.

 

[Honeystar120608]

Hi guys, this is our FIRST vacation by plane as a family. DH and I have flewn before we met.
Very happy to find this thread on the 'just in case' We are in NB Canada, driving 7 hours to POrtland Maine. We just got a bunch of snow here today so it has sunk in that we COULD run into weather issues.

Now, we are staying in Portland the night before we fly out and the night we fly in. We have a connection and a layover(if those are the right terms...one we have to switch planes and one we keep the same plane).

So so I be making a tentative reservation in Orlando the evening we are due to fly out and at both stops we are to make on flight? We depart Portland maine at 620 and we depart MCO coming back at 6pm a week later.

I will make sure we have supplies on carry on (esp with 2 toddlers ) and that we have all numbers listed as well as in phone and on laptop.

Am I missing anything else??