Winter Weather Coming!!!

[buzzgirls&dad]

Just wanted to check in with the seasoned veterens on winter travel. As you may have heard a major winter storm is about hit the middle of the counrty. Here in Wi we already have storm watches up from now until Thurs. Getting our first taste this morning. We are supposed to fly AirTran out on Wed. morning in the heart of the predicted storm. I called last night to see if we can get out early. No luck unless we want to pay $75pp
So my question to my Dis experts is at what point do you think they will let us make a change? We had this happen to us before and we lost 2 days of our vacay because the airline wouldn't let us switch the day before the storm and then they were so booked after the storm it was hard to get a flight out. I just don't get why? There is available seating....Why do we get punished for being proactive?

 

[WeLuvDiz]

I have never flown but I do wish you luck and I'll throw some pixie dust you way(there, take that snow storm lol)

 

[MiaSRN62]

I agree Buzzgirls&dad....
I don't know why they penalize people who are trying to get ahead of a storm and major backups either. You would think it would help the airline too---because then they aren't scrambling to switch as many people to later flights when everyone is in the thick of it. In my experience (with Southwest), the changes without penalties are reserved for the DAY OF travel. If you're willing to get to the airport alot earlier and wait and see if they allow boarding on an earlier flight it can be option, albeit a gamble too. Not a sure thing. I've been in sticky weather situation four times so far in the past 10 years. One time the trouble was in FL (Tropical Storm Faye) and SW didn't notify us of anything until the morning of---and that was to tell us ALL flights were cancelled that day. They put us on a flight the next day.

The other situations were snow/ice storms in Philadelphia (or with a flight originating from a snow storm-hit state---I recall it was CO one year). Only one time did we get to the airport extra early and we were allowed access on an earlier flight since it was full and they were predicting major delays with later flights. But the other times we were forced to wait for later flights that greatly impacted our travel plans.

I am flying out to WDW on Sat out of PHL. I noticed this morning a local TV news station said they're "watching a snow system" for that day So I will be up earlier than normal and at the airport if I forsee delays.

Good luck with your travel plans too !

Maria---> HATES winter btw...........

 

[dburg30]

I finally got to experience my first cancellation on Saturday from Raleigh-Durham to Baltimore. So, yay me? Granted it didnt really hurt us any as we had relatives that lived there, so we basically got a 'free day' to spend with them. I understand what you mean, and also got a valuable lesson as to why you still should never 'push it' on arrival at the airport. Now for me it wasnt a huge deal as I literally walked up and was the first person after they had annouced there were no more SW flights that would be going to BWI that night. But they had some issue with our res #'s and had to redo the rebooking 2 times, which probably took upwards of 10 minutes. After I got out of the way, I started thinking about people in line that were NOT going to BWI but were still trying to get bags checked etc etc and get to their flight. If you would've gotten to the airport later since it usually isnt a super busy airport, you may have been REALLY close to missing your flight. Now it would be nice (and maybe some airlines do) if they would set up a separate line for those that had no problems waiting and were going to rebook for the next day, and let those trying to still get out that night and those trying to catch non messed up flights be handled by another set of counter people.

But to answer your question, I dont know when most airlines will allow changes until things are messed up. I hope you get it taken care of an have a safe trip!

 

[debster812]

OP--not sure about when they might let you make a pre-emptive change, but if you have a chance, you should give this thread a read:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1363416

It's a GREAT thread with lots of great advice from lots of our very seasoned, experienced travelers.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't know why they penalize people who are trying to get ahead of a storm and major backups either.

Because, ultimately, weather is unpredictible; it's possible (not likely, but possible) some passengers might take advantage of a relatively long-range forecast to extend their travel plans without paying any type of change/cancel fee.

Once the airlines are SURE of the weather - i.e. shortly in this case - they will announce their alternate arrangements on their respective websites. Also due to the innate unpredictability, they're more likely to allow later departures than earlier ones.