Twice this past week, Delta has canceled a flight that my managers were scheduled to take. In the first instance, it was an afternoon flight and there was sufficient time to cancel the hotel by the 6pm cancellation time. She took the next available flight, which happened to be the following morning, and they bumped her up to first class for the inconvenience.
In the second instance, the flight was due to leave at 8:00pm Sunday. It was delayed twice and then canceled outright at midnight, which was far past the 6pm time that he had to notify the hotel that he wasn’t traveling.
So the hotel charged us for a night. Delta gave him a full refund but we were still out the $150 hotel charge because we had booked the room as guaranteed for late arrival. I spoke to the lady at the hotel and she said there was nothing she could do since the hotel was fully booked (who knows if this was the truth) and they held an empty room. Understandable, I suppose, but so was his reason for canceling.
And now I’m a bit worried. My husband and I are due to take Delta to Hawaii for our 15 year anniversary next April. I have spent an enormous amount of time planning this and booking flights, hotels, and activities. We are due to leave at 9:30am, connect in Atlanta with a 50 minute lay-over, and then finally arrive in Honolulu at 7:30pm. I thought the 50 minute layover was cutting it extremely close, but I was assured by the reservationist that it was not.
If worse comes to worse and Delta delayed or canceled my flights, I’m worried that not only will I miss a whole day of my vacation, but I’ll be stuck paying for a hotel room I didn’t use because there is a 3 day cancellation policy. I have also booked an intraisland flight the following afternoon, which is non-refundable.
Has anyone ever run into a situation where their flight was delayed or canceled? Is there any sort of allowance given from the hotels or by the airlines for situations which are out of our hands? We are using our Frequent Flyer miles. Does this mean that we’d be the last to get seats on subsequent flights?
I’m not real expert here, but one thing you’re doing right is booking your travel to start in the morning. Even if the flight is delayed, there are lots of other flights later on.
Another thing is that if both flights are the same carrier, you have a better chance of making the connecting flight. If the airline’s delay makes you miss the connecting, they should be cooperative about getting you on the next available one that has an empty seat.
One experience I had several years ago. I was supposed to fly from Dallas to Newark, with a change in between (I forget which city.) Anyway, I went to check in (very early) and found that the flight was to be delayed. I just knew that this would cause me to miss the connecting. The desk agent assured me all would be well, but I insisted and would not leave the desk. Finally they called and got me a seat on another airline that had a non-stop flight to Newark. When I turned to leave, there was a loooong line of people behind me! Moral – arrive early.
BTW, your 50 minutes is most likely enough time to get to the connecting flight; if it’s close they may hold the flight for you. I always like to allow at least an hour, myself.
Maybe I’m missing something, but you have an airline with a history of cancelling important flights, with significant financial impact, and you’re booking another flight with them? Why aren’t you flying with a more reliable airline? I’d suggest that if your answer is cost, you find another answer.
On Christmas day of last year my Delta flight was delayed then cancelled because of horrible weather. They put me on a second flight. That was cancelled also. Then all the flights to where I was going were cancelled. For 2 days. It was a horrible mess, and there were families who were stuck in the airport for days. I finally got a flight out, but only because I was travelling by myself. From my experience, they assign seats on new flights based on first come first served and how many people are in your party, not by method of payment. They wouldn’t refund any of the expenses I had because of the delay, but some people were refunded (don’t ask me why). It seems to me it would depend on the hotel you’re staying at and who you talk to.
There’s really nothing you can do if your flight is cancelled but be extremely quick to run to the ticket counter, and wait. Luckily, most of the time there’s another flight the same day you can take. If there isn’t, all you can do is relax and try not to be too stressed out. Most delays really aren’t that bad, and my situation only happened because of blizzard conditions. If you’re going in April, I wouldn’t worry.
Also, it is a good idea to buy travel insurance, like Travel Guard.
One of my experiences was last December. My originating flight was delayed to the east coast. From there I was connecting to a certain city in Europe. Due to the first flight’s delay, I missed my connection, and there were no more until the next morning. I did not want to sleep at Newark Airport. I refused to stand in line at a customer service counter that had about 30 people in line already. So I got on my cell phone and told the airline I wanted the next flight to anywhere in Europe, but as close as possible to my original destination. They totally complied and took care of all connections to my final destination. That’s Continental Airlines.
I have used frequent flier miles without any problems on a couple of airlines.
MLS is right, morning dept is number 1, number 2 is make sure you get a seat assignment as soon as you can (if you didn’t get one when you made the reservation) so you won’t get put on standby or bumped if it’s oversold.
Another thing, if you do get hit w/ a last minute cancellation when you get to the airport, don’t assume the next Delta flight is all they can do. Go straight to the ticket counter, and if they can’t rebook you to at least get you there the right night, ask if they can rebook you on another airline to get you there on time. Don’t know if using frequent flyer miles affects this, but airlines are a lot more flexible than they’re required to be, they know you bought a ticket from point a to point b on a certain day. About once a month one of our guys (pilots, but just travelling as regular fare passengers) winds up getting rebooked at the ticket counter on different airline with no add’l cost.
Most of them get there on time on their original itineraries though, and Delta’s as good as any for that.
Shame you have to go the wrong way through ATL though. Nonstop or connect through LAX would be even better (and probly a more expensive I know ).
I agree with just about everything said. If the cost of the hotel is a big issue, get insurance, and try to switch airlines. Hawaii is not doing well tourist-wise these days, so you might get lucky.
If you get tickets through a major travel agency, use their emergency 800 number. They might be able to find a solution, and might be able to handle the hotel. I’ve always worked for big companies who used travel agencies, and it’s saved my butt a couple of times.
I’ve never stayed in an airport during a storm, but I came close once. I was in Denver, and headed for the airport during an oncoming blizzard. The secretary of the guy I was visiting suggested I book a room at an airport hotel. Very good advice!
Thanks for the input everyone. Voyager, the only reason I’m flying Delta is that we both got the flights free using Frequent Flyer miles. I would have loved to fly direct but there were no FF seats left on the non-stop.
Even though it’s a pain to fly to Atlanta, I saved $1300 using FF miles. Because I saved a lot on the flight, I didn’t feel as badly spending the extra money to get ocean view rooms at a nicer hotel. But I booked directly with the hotel instead of using a travel agency because I got a significantly better rate calling direct and using my Entertainment card ($215/night ocean view) versus using a travel site. (The best rate they can give me so far is $313/night.) I also booked intraisland flights directly with Hawaiian Air via their website. Can I get travel insurance if I book directly with the hotel/airline…? If I can that sounds like a possible option.
I do feel better since you’ve advised me that it’s best to fly in the morning. I would imagine some carrier should be flying to Hawaii.
It’s a good thing we don’t travel too often. It’s amazing that airlines can treat people the way they do and still stay in business.
My wife and I have done a lot of traveling in the last 5 years, since she works for an airlines and it cost us $25 each for any round trip tickets. Now that she has 5 years in we can fly absolutely free.
In June we were going to Costa del Sol in Spain. We flew to Detroit from Memphis (last 2 seats available). In Detroit, we missed 3 flights to Amsterdam and had to spend the night. Then we missed the first flight the next day. For the rest of the trip, everything went smoothly. Does anyone feel sorry for us? I hope not. Am I complaining about it? Hell, no.
Since PunditLisa states that she doesn’t travel much, I am assuming that she was given the Frequent Flyer miles (probably by her bosses). My mother used to say "Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’, but she was rather old fashioned.
Contrary to general belief airlines do not cancel flights because there aren’t enough seats sold. They do it as a matter of safety. Certainly, you don’t want to fly into bad weather or on a plane that isn’t safe. There are cases where what is wrong with the plane may not seem a good reason for canceling a flight, but 99% of these cases are because it is an FAA rule. If it is a mechanical failure in most cases a paying customer will be reimbursed for the inconvenience. When it is because of weather, that is considered an “Act of God”. In either case, the non-paying flier is on his own, which is just the way it should be.
My wife says that to do her job, you have to be flexible. That is actually fairly true of travel in general and flying in particular. Book a room with a view of the Ohio River, walk around Fountain Square and drive up to King’s Island. I can’t guarantee there won’t be problems doing that, but the probability is less than going to Hawaii.
Actually airlines HATE to cancel flights. Their routing system is finely tuned and one late or cancelled flight can screw up hundreds. If a plane isn’t at its destination, how can it depart for the next route?
Also if your flight is cancelled and the lines at the ticket counter are loooooonnnnngggggg, call the 1800 number while you wait in line. The last time it happened to me, I called the number while I walked back through the terminal towards ticketing and I had the problem solved by the time I got there.
Have fun in Hawaii and don’t worry too much. Thousands of people fly every day and don’t miss their flights or lose their luggage.
Like they say it is much better to be down here wishing you were up there, than to be up there wishing you were down here.
A couple of suggestions from a long time business traveler.
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[li]Non-stops are better than connecting flights. At least if the non-stop gets off the ground you will probably get to where you are going. With a one stop, you have two takes-offs to contend with[/li][li]Don’t ever take a one stop through O’Hare at night. At 10PM then cut the number of active runways for noise control. I was once onboard a plane that was #43 in line for take off. Yeah we were late[/li][li]Ditto for San Francisco in bad weather. The runways are too close together and they have to close one runway in bad weather. This screws up the entire west coast[/li][li]If you flight is cancelled by bad weather, the FIRST thing to do, is book a hotel room. Secure it with a credit card. Write down the confirmation. Then go get in line to find out about rebooking. Doing this once saved me from sleeping two nights in Dulles airport.[/li][li]Be flexible[/li][li]KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR Yelling and bitching at the gate agent won’t make the snowstorm go away, nor will it make her go fix the airplane. Be nice to the gate agent. If they want to help you, they can do wonders.[/li][/list=1]
Nope. My husband had a boatload of hours from when he used to fly back and forth from New York every other weekend on Delta. Never had a flight canceled, but that was prior to 9/11.
Also, we both have Delta AMEX cards, which accumulate miles for every purchase; double and triple miles for some purchases. Pretty sweet program. I realize they have given me the flights for free (less the $450 we’ve paid in annual fees since 2001), but: a) they offered the program, along with a pretty sizable signing bonus, so it appears they WANT me to earn miles; and b) I earned the reward honestly.
Re: looking a gift horse in the mouth: if they cancel my flight and I would have to stay another night, I would be out $800 for a missed hotel stay (because I guaranteed it for late arrival with a cc) a missed intra-island flight, and a re-booked intra-island flight. The gift horse isn’t supposed to bite, is he?
Bottom line is that I’m counting on Delta to get me to my destination fairly near the time I am ticketed to arrive. Having them cancel two flights in one week is just making me nervous that this is becoming a trend. Hope it’s just a fluke.
One more thing you might want to do. Grab a schedule, if you don’t have a laptop with a wireless connection. (Airlines used to have printed schedules for free, I assume they still do.) It might be really handly to have some bizarre suggestions for rebooking handy, ones too strange for the computer.
I’m pretty sure some travel insurance company would be happy to sell to you. I’ve only used them for cruises, when the cost of missing the boat was very high.
I agree with the advice about non-stops. Don’t get fooled by a direct (vs. non-stop) flight. I had a direct flight from Austin to Philadelphia once, through Houston, and wound up staying there that night, after a detour through New Orleans to refuel.
I’ll second this. Because I fly so much, I am fairly familiar with the flights that Northwest has around Detriot. So when I misssed my connection from to Memphis from Seattle because my flight out of Tokyo was delayed, I knew enough about the Northwest schedual, to know that there was a morning flight out of Detriot to Norfolk, Va (where I was going) First thing the next morning. Because I knew that, and told the agent, I was able to take a red-eye to Detroit, then from Detroit to Norfolk, and got home at 8am. Had I taken what they originally re-booked for me, I wouldn’t have gotten home until 7pm the next day.
Please post how it goes. SO and I want to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon in a year and a half, and we’ll probably fly Delta because of frequent flyer miles. I’d really like to know how your trip goes.
At least Delta tells you the flight is cancelled. US Air waits for you to go ask them why the flight is no longer on the big board.
I’ve had dozens of flights cancelled on me, and the fist thing you want to do is get on the phone. The line at the counter is too long and too slow. Those people will also become flustered due to everyone yelling at them and will be less able to help.
Many airlines will let you have one confirmed and one standby reservation, with the one you don’t use clearing as soon as the other departs. If things don’t look good, make a plan ‘b’ and let the agent know it is a backup, or make a new plan ‘a’ and keep the original as a backup.
Keep a Marriott or Sheraton 1-800 number on hand. If it’s late and things look bad, beat the crowd and get room before they are gone. Do not count on those fairy tails you hear about where the airline pays for your hotel, a 5-star meal, and a first class upgrade the next day. 98% of the time, even as other scheduled flights are departing to your very same destination, they will claim that the cancellation was due to circumstances beyond their control and you will be on your own. They’ll get you on another flight, but everything else will come out of your own pocket.
