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

[ironz]

I have to laugh.

I am flying AA in 4 1/2 months, but I still check my flight daily just to see if there are any gate or late trends. Todays flight (same ones I am on in April) from MSP-ORD is 3 hours late. I went to check my connecting flight and it is cancelled. So, what do I do..... I immediately try to find out what I would have done by checking for other routing options to get me to my destination. The cancelled flight is the only ORD-RNO flight per day, so I would now have to fly through DFW, most likely. I also checked and noticed that AA has a codeshare agreement with Alaska/Horizon. Now my options have increased because I could fly to LAX and connect on Horizon to RNO. Another option would be AA to SEA and then Alaska to RNO.

Stop laughing! I know I am still 4.5 months out, but it never hurts to have a plan in your head so that IF a missed connection or cancellation happens, you have a clue as to what to do.

Now, I don't fly a zillion miles like Bavaria, but I still like to be prepared. Heck, I will probably right down all of my flight options before I go so that IF this happens on my fly day, I will be able to give the gate/counter agent some options when they are trying to re-route me.

It never hurts to be prepared. Travel safe everyone!

Duds

Hopefully, April won't have the same weather issues as the big storm across the country today!

and, just so you know...if you switch from AA to Alaska/Horizon at LAX, you have to switch terminals (there is a bus...well, actually 2 busses because you have to transfer) within the secure area. It's sort of a PITA. I don't like to go through LAX if I can help it.

 

[Lewisc]

Important Edit from November 2008: Since we started this thread, all airlines cut capacity quite severely into/out of MCO. As a result, there are far fewer empty seats on flights, so your chances of getting rebooked on another flight are less than in past

Many airlines have further reduced the number of flights into leisure destinations like MCO during the past year.

People with short trips (4 nights) might consider cancelling (re-scheduling) their trip.

 

[debster812]

Don't forget to check alternate airports like BWI/IAD/DCA, or LAX/SNA/ONT etc too. Often those airports have shuttles at a lower cost and getting where you need to be may well be worth the cost. And sometimes those smaller airports save time as well - flying to/from ONT vs LAX can be a big time saver just due to the sheer size and traffic at LAX.

TERRIFIC advice. Really important. 3 years ago when we got canceled in Boston due to snow and ice, Delta could not get us out for 3 days. And if we had insisted on flying only to our originally scheduled airport, it would have been longer. We were scheduled to fly into RSW (Ft Myers), and wound up flying into TPA (Tampa). The drive was only 2 hours, and by switching to the alternate airport, we salvaged our vacation.

 

[dudspizza]

Hopefully, April won't have the same weather issues as the big storm across the country today!

Storm? What storm? My GYM doesn't have windows...... going to take a peak outside the fire exit door........ OH MAN, the snow is flying! At least MSP is on the backside of the storm and is only going to see about 6 inches or so....

Here is one for those of you that like close connections. I end teaching at my first school today at 1:55. I have to put equipment away, warm up my truck, and drive to my other school 10 miles away. My class over there walks in the door at 2:30! That is a total connection time of 35 minutes from end of teaching to start of teaching... not to mention having to set up at the other school.... makes my 35 minute connection at ORD seem like child's play...... I wonder what my second school would do if I CANCELLED my trip over there due to weather? Should I give it a try?

Travel safe!

Duds

 

[crashbb]

And in Dud's situation (his flight, not his classes), also consider skipping ORD entirely (if problems are known before you leave for ORD). Look for any flight(s) that get you from MSP to RDO.

 

[dudspizza]

And in Dud's situation (his flight, not his classes), also consider skipping ORD entirely (if problems are known before you leave for ORD). Look for any flight(s) that get you from MSP to RDO.

If I know of the cancellations early enough, I will try to grab an earlier flight to ORD or one of my other options...


BTW, made it to my next school just fine, in case anyone was wondering if I was stuck in a ditch somewhere!

Duds

 

[bavaria]

Look for any flight(s) that get you from MSP to RDO.

Why are we sending Duds to RDO? Do they even bowl there?

(Actually RDO isn't an existing airline code; shall we send him to RDU instead? It isn't bad there and there is some good shopping, although I cannot speak to bowling. I think that NASCAR fans may have something to say about bowlers though?)

 

[crashbb]

Why are we sending Duds to RDO? Do they even bowl there?

(Actually RDO isn't an existing airline code; shall we send him to RDU instead? It isn't bad there and there is some good shopping, although I cannot speak to bowling. I think that NASCAR fans may have something to say about bowlers though?)

I had no idea where RDO was (or wasn't), I was just following Dud's post. I agree that RDU is quite nice (if a bit boring after a few visits).

 

[Tony NY]

hey Bavaria awseome posting .

I would add that any delays or cancelation due to weather will not get you book any faster on any career but I will say it all was good to call the airline in advance if you know their my be a weather issue so that you my change your flight for any early or a later flight .

 

[dudspizza]

RNO people. Like in Reno, Nevada! The National Bowling Stadium has 78 lanes and hosts the USBC Open every three years there! RNO people!


http://nevadamax.com/page11/nbs1.html

 

[crashbb]

If Bavaria hadn't quoted me, I'd fix my post and pretend she was just crazy. Sadly, I can't do that

 

[hsmamato2]

ooh,so happy to have found this thread again...last year some advice saved us a bunch of trouble- by watching the weather carefully,like all day for the day or two before we left- turns out our day of departure,a big ice storm was coming. We were supposed to leave at 6 a.m. out of a tiny airport,but from reading this, I knew to constantly check the airlines website- and literally within seconds after they posted the weather advisory the day before our flight- I was on the phone,rescheduling our seats for a flight to WDW later that same day- The cs rep was so surprised that I called before she even knew what was going on,but I'm positive by doing this,we beat a major rush of a planeful of delayed people trying to get on that 2nd plane of the day.......
Now my worry on my upcoming trip is,same airport,but this airline only has ONE flight down on that day.....I'm just hoping the weather cooperates that day!

 

[agnes!]

Since we're traveling over the upcoming holidays I'm printing out some of the posts in this thread, especially the OP.

Merry Christmas, 'bavaria' !
agnes!

 

[bumbershoot]

I just pointed someone to this thread, and while doing so, read the last few pages.

Last week LH posted a 1.5 hour delay for a flight; I still got there on time and we left 35 minutes after the original time but almost an hour before the posted delay time.

Many times I get on stand by because people assumed that the delay meant that they could leave the gate area. Unless the airport is shut down, or there truly are no planes on the ground, I would not risk it.

Oh definitely!

Last year in November I had a flight from SEA to SAN that had a stop/flight#change in San Francisco. We got there ages early (as I like to do), my friend went and had a drink (at 10am, as she likes to do), went to the gate to find out that there was weather in SF and our flight was delayed. It being Virgin America they decided it was David Bowie day and had a trivia contest and played his music for about an hour...then we all got restless. Finally they announced it was going to be a certain exact amount of time until we had a "window", and that we should go get some food if we wished. Everyone scattered.

We went to the restaurant up a ramp and around a turn from the gate, sat down, ordered a beer and nachos (by now it was noonish). Beers were put down, nachos were being walked over....and an urgent announcement was made over the PA about our flight. Boarding *immediately*. Ack!

Not even time to box up the nachos! The server shoed us away (didn't make us pay as we hadn't taken a sip of beer and the nachos weren't even to us yet) and we rushed over.

Anyone who had gone further afield could have been in trouble.

(but the true ending was...half of us got boarded and settled, then SEA was shut down b/c someone suspicious had made it through security and they had to board *every* single plane, twice, to find her...I'm glad we rushed, but I must say that those who did NOT rush could have gotten their nachos boxed up to eat while waiting for permission to board after the lady was found...oh and by the way, the "mood lighting" on Virgin America ROCKS...no one was antsy or obnoxious thanks to the soothing pink/purple/blue lights that cycle through.)


Lesson? Don't get too far away from the gate area! And order a box with your nachos, LOL.

 

[agnes!]

Bless you, Katie. And to everyone who contributed, thank you so much. There's nothing like the voice of experience . I am sure all of you have saved everyone who reads this a *world* of aggravation. Lately I haven't traveled during Christmas or when a winter storm has been around so this thread is REALLY useful/wonderful/marvelous/etc.

I've included links to every post I've quoted in this thread so folks can go and read each post if they think the info could be applicable to their situation.

Sorry it's so long, but I wanted to include links to the quoted posts + some post content as well.

agnes!

As it's the winter season, we are seeing a lot of posts about cancelled flights. Factor in the recent JetBlue mess, and there are a lot of different experiences.

Here are some thoughts from a frequent traveller. I've endured many many weather delays, an airport terminal fire, my family was delayed 5 days over 9/11, I sat on the tarmac in Munich during the '72 Olympic crisis, etc etc. In all that, I have never had to sleep in an airport....

Before your flight...

While at the airport...

last suggestion - KEEP YOUR COOL! ... ...

Important Edit from November 2008: Since we started this thread, all airlines cut capacity quite severely into/out of MCO. As a result, there are far fewer empty seats on flights, so your chances of getting rebooked on another flight are less than in past.

If you get to the airport and your flight is delayed or cancelled, check for other flights. For instance, last week...

some other thoughts

• program airline AND hotel toll free numbers into your cel phone
• take fully charged phones, even while on vacation
• bring your charger in your carryon - I have often charged my phone or laptop in the terminal for use to make such calls

...

Thank you for the calm head of reason. It's important to always carry the 800 number of your airline in case something does happen. You don't need to stand in a line to make the changes.

Also remember that sometimes things happen. No need to rant and rave off weather issues. Remember to keep a cool head. The person behind the counter can be your friend.

Thank you, Bavaria... the voice of reason!

It definitely pays to be proactive. Sometimes you can spot a delay before the airline updates the departure board by checking the arrival time of the plane coming INTO your assigned gate (i.e., the plane you'll be on eventually.) ... ...

When I travel I always bring along the bag of emergency nuts, ... ... Make sure you also pack an EMPTY 16.9 or 20 ounce water bottle. ... ...

In addition to programming airline, taxi, hotel and other important numbers into your cell phone, have them printed out on a piece of paper folded into your wallet, too. If your cell phone dies you can easily look the numbers up. Carrying an 'emergency only' calling card isn't a bad idea, either. It's lighter than coins and might even be refillable.

I generally keep a small pouch of assorted non-liquid or gel remedies and first aid items (several of each) with me in my carry-on for emergencies: ... ...

Back to what Bavaria said... be proactive, be prepared. You'll thank yourself later.

I'd also add the numbers of your favorite car rental agencies to your phone, and also carry a list of all of your frequent-use "club" numbers. ... ...

If you have a laptop or Blackberry and a wireless account, make sure that all these things are bookmarked there ... ...

Not only should you carry your charger, but I also recommend carrying a small multi-outlet extension adapter. Power outlets are scarce in ... ...

Consider asking for a change of route ... ...

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; ... ...

A colleague of mind happened to stumble across me; we teamed up with two Indian gentlemen who were also trying to fly out. ... ...

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.

The only other suggestion that I would like to add to the great ones already on this list is to consider purchasing a one-day pass to your airlines' club when your flight is delayed.

For about $50 for one adult and about $75 for 2, you can access the club for the rest of the day. Not only are the suroundings quieter, with plenty of places to plug in your cellphone or laptop, but the agents working in the club are usually very good at finding options for other flights. ... ...

I don't think I've seen this suggestion, if for some reason your outbound flight is changed, particularly to another carrier, double check your return flight. The computer system may cancel your return flight if you don't take your outbound flight.

I read this thread for the first time a year ago, right before our March BOS-MCO trip. Well, my son and I ended up getting stranded on the way home at JFK, and sleeping on the floor of that airport all night long. I remembered this thread! Anyway, my biggest tip for anyone potentially going to be stranded...I had a portable DVD player with me, it SAVED my life that night!! ... ...

This came up in another thread, and I'm not sure it is clearly stated here, so I thought I'd add it:

If you are in a canceled flight situation, tell the agent if you are able/willing to change your departure and/or arrival city. ... ...

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. ... ...

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)... ...

Apologies if someone already posted this but here are a few more tips....

Print out a list of alternate flights you could take to get to your destination. ... ...

Especially during this time of year please remember when you book on "low cost" airlines such as South West, Jet Blue, Air Tran, and all the other smaller low cost airlines they do not have interline agreements and will not put you on a different airline if they have delayed or canceled flights.

While airlines do not have to provide hotels if a flight in canceled due to weather many airport hotels offer "distressed traveler" rates. Call the hotel and inquire about a distressed traveler rate.

Sign up for notifications from www.flightstats.com This is a free service and you can receive emails and text messages if your flight it canceled or delayed. Often these delays come through before a cancellation is announced in the airport and can give you the opportunity to get booked on a new flight before everyone else even knows about the cancellation.

Bavaria mentioned using airline lounges. Most if not all domestic lounges have day passes for sale. ... ...

Bumping for the busy storm season

The single biggest tip I can give (along with all those listed above) is to stay calm and realise that there isn't that much that one can do sometimes.

Take control of your destiny and follow all of those tips, but do so with a positive attitude. ... ...
Happy flying!

Bumping for the 2009 winter season....

Esp since I am sitting here in Alaska...planes not taking off or landing due to high winds (60 mph). Will definitely miss my connections in Seattle, and have a ways to travel yet.

What I am doing/have done:

1. I am patient and relaxed!
2. Just paid for an hour of wifi (should have done the daily rate, now that I know the delay is longer) so I could get online and check flight options.
3. Have 2 alternate flights that I like, and many other possibilities to choose from. Will have this info ready when it's time to meet with agents and rearrange flights.
4. Can't do anything until they know our real status, so I am not currently bugging gate agents or the ticket counter every 5 minutes.
5. Am even considering buying a refundable ticket on SW to fly from SEA to TX tomorrow as a backup. Won't lose anything if I don't need it.
6. Have extra pair of socks/underwear in my carryon. You never know!
7. Hoping for the best! Treating it like an adventure, not an inconvenience (and that doesn't mean I don't want to get home--have been on business travel for 2 weeks straight, so I do--but nothing one can do about it right now).

Cheers...

And code sharing is a good option. Also note that not every flight combination shows on an airline website. For instance I cannot see the flight combination I would like on the UA website, but can book it on CO, operated by UA. (and for a little cheaper too!)

So having a plan, which includes codeshares and alternate cities, is a good option.

Don't forget to check alternate airports like BWI/IAD/DCA, or LAX/SNA/ONT etc too. ... ...

 

[NHdisneylover]

What an excellent thread Yes, I did just read all 2 year worth of posts. I most especially agree with needing to be flexible and knowing what is and is not in your control and beign nice to gate agents, the flight crwe you do eventually have and fellow passengers. I have two thigns to add:

First (and then seems abundantly obvious but I swear every time we have been "stranded" there is somone much more stranded than we are who did not seem to know this before setting out), always have some cash on you when travelling (at least enough to grab a quick snack--most airport kiosks take credit cards now a days but not everyone) AND you should really have a credit card with enough line of credit to cover a hotel room, some meals, rental car and/or new airline tickets on you if you are travelling. Really, you need ready access to money in an emergency (and the credit card is what you will use for phone reservations, etc. so jsut cash does not cut it).

Second, for those travelling with children, pack swimsuits in the carry on! Many, many airport hotels have indoor pools. Going swimming can go a looong way toward soothing the dissapointment of having just spent 6 hours sitting on the tarmac and now still not heading to grandma and Disneyworld until tomorrow, or being halfway there and now being stuck in Chicago overnight and missing your own borthday party with your cousins (which if course got rescheduled), etc. All the other parents who snag hotel rooms will be very jealous of you.

I will spare you all my stories (mostly not weather related actually) of being stuck with two young kids (usually alone) on planes and in airports on various occasions

 

[bumbershoot]

Second, for those travelling with children, pack swimsuits in the carry on! Many, many airport hotels have indoor pools. Going swimming can go a looong way toward soothing the dissapointment of having just spent 6 hours sitting on the tarmac and now still not heading to grandma and Disneyworld until tomorrow, or being halfway there and now being stuck in Chicago overnight and missing your own borthday party with your cousins (which if course got rescheduled), etc. All the other parents who snag hotel rooms will be very jealous of you.

Oooh, GOOD idea!!!!!!

The carrying cash/having a CC thing...it is amazing how *few* emergencies I had during the 10+ years I had no CC and no emergency fund, so I'm not sure I go gung ho about that (as soon as we got a CC, but before we re-grew brains, we had "emergencies" that we'd never have classified in that way before, LOL).

But the bathing suit thing is brilliant!

 

[NHdisneylover]

Oooh, GOOD idea!!!!!!

The carrying cash/having a CC thing...it is amazing how *few* emergencies I had during the 10+ years I had no CC and no emergency fund, so I'm not sure I go gung ho about that (as soon as we got a CC, but before we re-grew brains, we had "emergencies" that we'd never have classified in that way before, LOL).

But the bathing suit thing is brilliant!

I am glad the swimsuit idea works for somebody They aer so light and small in a carry on and I have been happy to ahve them on us more than once.

I am not trying to be argumentative, but what DO you do if you are travelling (especially with a kid) and are not carrying much cash and no credit card and semething happens to delay you for a day or two? We have had to book hotel rooms, buy unexpected meals, rent a car, buy extra books and coloring books, etc. I have booked a room while still sitting on the tramac--they let everyone use their cell phones as we had been there a while and were just wating for other planes to unload so we could have a gate to do the same. If I had not had a credit card I could not have booked that room via phone and everything was loooong gone by the time we got off of that plane. We once took a mother and her toddler out to lunch with us when mechanical delays left us in the terminal for an extra 5 hours. She only had $12 (I think--I remember it being a small and odd amount) on her and no credit card. She had figured she was just flying from her mother's back home to her husband and would not need any money.

 

[rosiep]

If you have a printed boarding pass and then the flight is cancelled...you then call the airline to rebook a new flight (understood) but then do you need to get a new boarding pass? Would you do that at an airline kiosk or at a desk?

Thanks in advance-

 

[debster812]

If you have a printed boarding pass and then the flight is cancelled...you then call the airline to rebook a new flight (understood) but then do you need to get a new boarding pass? Would you do that at an airline kiosk or at a desk?

Thanks in advance-

HEY! I know the answer to this one. At least as how it applies to Jet Blue.

Last January we were in WDW, and flying home on a Sunday, and of course there was snow in the Northeast. Our original Jet Blue flight was scheduled to leave MCO around 7:50pm. We used Resort Airline Checkin to check our bags and get boarding passes, and decided to go to DtD for lunch, and last minute shopping. Found out that our original flight was cancelled. Spoke with JetBlue while on the ferry back to Port Orleans, and got rescheduled on the 4:40pm to Boston. Scrambled to make the DME bus as we were cutting it close at that point. Got on the bus, and made it to the airport.

Went to the ticket counter, and had our boarding passes re-issued for our new flight, and even had our luggage located.

So my long story short, yes, you have to get boarding passes re-issued.