Flights keep getting canceled wwyd?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

[Anonymous]

I don't know where in FL you are, but Amtrak goes from Miami to Tampa to Orlando towards the coast and up to DC. There is an express train from Miami to Orl, but it's a little pricy. There are 2 routes out of Orlando. One leaves around noon, the other after dinner. Both get to DC in 18 to 20 hours. Lots of legroom in the regular seats.

Cost $160. If you want a roomette and take the evening train, it's another $500.

They sell food on the train. They run a pretty tight ship and it feels very safe.

Even if they get halfway and stop due to weather, at least the remaining drive will be easier.

The buses are a little more sketchy. I would avoid if possible, but if you take one, sit by the driver and be careful getting out at stops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand adults who don't know what to do.

Get on the internet and start searching flights across all airlines and see what flights you can get to NYC on any airline or get to a close by airport. Start moving north. You could always drive or train from Philly, Boston, DC.

Start looking at car rentals and see if that's even an option as a Plan B.

Because I fly maybe once a year. I don’t want to pay thousands of dollars for a new flight. Currently, there’s nothing available until Thursday to even buy. The flight keep getting cancelled anyway so it’s kind of moot. There are about 10 people already on standby for all of the flights outgoing that I’ve checked.

It's not about flying it's about problem solving skills. Use some.

I don't believe there are no seats on flights until Thursday. I believe that for a direct flight to your home airport.

In fact, there might be! OP hasn't said where in Florida they are, or if going to somewhere around NYC, or elsewhere in New York state, but assuming Manhattan as the destination for the sake of argument, Fort Myers, FL is exactly 19 hours driving per Google Maps. And in fact, there is a nonstop Delta flight tonight from Fort Myers airport to JFK with economy seats for sale (2 left!) for $450.

What if OP is on the Florida east coast? Miami is 19 hours driving. American has a flight from Miami to JFK with a 2 hour stop in Raleigh leaving at 2:30 PM for $250.

OP probably means on her airline where she already purchased tickets there are no seats.

It depends how bad you want to get home OP. You should have long ago gotten a refund from your airline for your cancellations though and now be a free agent able to jump on whatever works. So confused about that part.

I ended up getting back, via plane. I purchased a seat on another airline for an absurd amount of money. I used points to book my original flight, and when I cancelled via the app once I was actually on the other flight it said that I have to call to get miles reinstated and I need the ticket numbers for the cancelled flights. There are 5, and each time I've called the airline, it's over a 2 hour wait. Very frustrating and expensive experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

100 pct. This is the way to do it. Always keep moving closer to your destination or towards places with more flight options. In situations like this, you can’t wait for the perfect flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

100 pct. This is the way to do it. Always keep moving closer to your destination or towards places with more flight options. In situations like this, you can’t wait for the perfect flight.

This. We had a flight from DCA to Hawaii via Phoenix. First flight was severely delayed (8+ hours) making us miss the connection. Agent at DCA told us she couldn’t get us rebooked for 3-4 days. We did not accept that and went through numerous other options with her. Eventually made it the PHX via OKC. For the PHX to Hawaii flight they would only give us standby for the next day flight , so we got up super early in the am to call airline for confirmed seats. When we boarded the Hawaii flight it had at least a dozen empty seats! Wtf? If we had stayed in DCA we would have lost 3-4 days of our trip and instead lost 1.

[Anonymous]

^^^this was last year, not snow related

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

100 pct. This is the way to do it. Always keep moving closer to your destination or towards places with more flight options. In situations like this, you can’t wait for the perfect flight.

Now I know. I would have taken anything, there were people at the airport who were trying to get to IL and it was going to take 36 hours with connections all over the country. In the future now I know if this might happen to buy a refundable ticket, but some airlines require a week advance purchase for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

100 pct. This is the way to do it. Always keep moving closer to your destination or towards places with more flight options. In situations like this, you can’t wait for the perfect flight.

Now I know. I would have taken anything, there were people at the airport who were trying to get to IL and it was going to take 36 hours with connections all over the country. In the future now I know if this might happen to buy a refundable ticket, but some airlines require a week advance purchase for this.

You really don't need a refundable ticket, since once your original flight is cancelled, your ticket becomes refundable. I will say it is hard because if you want to preserve the original cheap pricing, you have to stick with your original airline, and possibly deal with calling/texting for hours to get through jammed lines. Once you decide to jump to another airline and expand your options, yes you have to pay what you have to pay, your willingness to do so depends on how important it is that you get home.

We had a family member coming back on Monday, and on Saturday I booked a backup flight using miles that left 5 hours later on a different airline. Award tickets are now fully refundable, so I figured it was an easy way to ensure we had a seat on the next best option in case things went wrong. As it turned out, the original flight went out right on schedule, I canceled the held ticket, and the later flight ended up going out 3 hours late. But if the original flight had been canceled, at that moment there would have been 150+ people scrambling for options and filling up anything available, so that's why I booked the backup option a few days before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

100 pct. This is the way to do it. Always keep moving closer to your destination or towards places with more flight options. In situations like this, you can’t wait for the perfect flight.

Now I know. I would have taken anything, there were people at the airport who were trying to get to IL and it was going to take 36 hours with connections all over the country. In the future now I know if this might happen to buy a refundable ticket, but some airlines require a week advance purchase for this.

You really don't need a refundable ticket, since once your original flight is cancelled, your ticket becomes refundable. I will say it is hard because if you want to preserve the original cheap pricing, you have to stick with your original airline, and possibly deal with calling/texting for hours to get through jammed lines. Once you decide to jump to another airline and expand your options, yes you have to pay what you have to pay, your willingness to do so depends on how important it is that you get home.

We had a family member coming back on Monday, and on Saturday I booked a backup flight using miles that left 5 hours later on a different airline. Award tickets are now fully refundable, so I figured it was an easy way to ensure we had a seat on the next best option in case things went wrong. As it turned out, the original flight went out right on schedule, I canceled the held ticket, and the later flight ended up going out 3 hours late. But if the original flight had been canceled, at that moment there would have been 150+ people scrambling for options and filling up anything available, so that's why I booked the backup option a few days before.

But you can't book a backup ticket on the same airline as the original ticket. Their systems will see the multiple bookings on the same day and cancel one or both of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand adults who don't know what to do.

Get on the internet and start searching flights across all airlines and see what flights you can get to NYC on any airline or get to a close by airport. Start moving north. You could always drive or train from Philly, Boston, DC.

Start looking at car rentals and see if that's even an option as a Plan B.

Because I fly maybe once a year. I don’t want to pay thousands of dollars for a new flight. Currently, there’s nothing available until Thursday to even buy. The flight keep getting cancelled anyway so it’s kind of moot. There are about 10 people already on standby for all of the flights outgoing that I’ve checked.

It's not about flying it's about problem solving skills. Use some.

I don't believe there are no seats on flights until Thursday. I believe that for a direct flight to your home airport.

In fact, there might be! OP hasn't said where in Florida they are, or if going to somewhere around NYC, or elsewhere in New York state, but assuming Manhattan as the destination for the sake of argument, Fort Myers, FL is exactly 19 hours driving per Google Maps. And in fact, there is a nonstop Delta flight tonight from Fort Myers airport to JFK with economy seats for sale (2 left!) for $450.

What if OP is on the Florida east coast? Miami is 19 hours driving. American has a flight from Miami to JFK with a 2 hour stop in Raleigh leaving at 2:30 PM for $250.

OP probably means on her airline where she already purchased tickets there are no seats.

It depends how bad you want to get home OP. You should have long ago gotten a refund from your airline for your cancellations though and now be a free agent able to jump on whatever works. So confused about that part.

I ended up getting back, via plane. I purchased a seat on another airline for an absurd amount of money. I used points to book my original flight, and when I cancelled via the app once I was actually on the other flight it said that I have to call to get miles reinstated and I need the ticket numbers for the cancelled flights. There are 5, and each time I've called the airline, it's over a 2 hour wait. Very frustrating and expensive experience.

Which airline was this with? Usually on the big 4 US airlines when you cancel an award ticket the miles are reinstated immediately. Have never had a delay, although it does usually take 3-5 days for the $5.60 tax to get refunded to my card. I guess maybe if you had a bunch of shifting tickets I could see the system having an issue?

[Anonymous]

Fly to Philly or something. Then take the Amtrak

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

Yep you have to be playing the app like slots. when I was stuck in an America Airlines meltdown I had the app open to be constantly refreshing the rebooking options, while at the same time chatting with customer service. It was intense but after a few hours I got a flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

Yep you have to be playing the app like slots. when I was stuck in an America Airlines meltdown I had the app open to be constantly refreshing the rebooking options, while at the same time chatting with customer service. It was intense but after a few hours I got a flight.

American has been an absolute disaster the last week, similar to the Southwest meltdown at the end of 2022. Tough situation from a traveler perspective because a flight could be active a few hours before takeoff, and then get suddenly cancelled because they couldn't find crew. Really hard to predict/manage that.

https://viewfromthewing.com/american-flight-attendants-call-for-ceo-ouster-crews-sleeping-on-airport-floors-as-cancellations-near-10000/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

100 pct. This is the way to do it. Always keep moving closer to your destination or towards places with more flight options. In situations like this, you can’t wait for the perfect flight.

Now I know. I would have taken anything, there were people at the airport who were trying to get to IL and it was going to take 36 hours with connections all over the country. In the future now I know if this might happen to buy a refundable ticket, but some airlines require a week advance purchase for this.

You really don't need a refundable ticket, since once your original flight is cancelled, your ticket becomes refundable. I will say it is hard because if you want to preserve the original cheap pricing, you have to stick with your original airline, and possibly deal with calling/texting for hours to get through jammed lines. Once you decide to jump to another airline and expand your options, yes you have to pay what you have to pay, your willingness to do so depends on how important it is that you get home.

We had a family member coming back on Monday, and on Saturday I booked a backup flight using miles that left 5 hours later on a different airline. Award tickets are now fully refundable, so I figured it was an easy way to ensure we had a seat on the next best option in case things went wrong. As it turned out, the original flight went out right on schedule, I canceled the held ticket, and the later flight ended up going out 3 hours late. But if the original flight had been canceled, at that moment there would have been 150+ people scrambling for options and filling up anything available, so that's why I booked the backup option a few days before.

I am the airline arbitrage poster. The reason I suggest refundable tickets is because I suggest you buy multiple tickets on different airlines staggered to different airports and then when one finally takes off, you cancel the other ones (hence you need the refund status). For ex, the last time I had to do this was this past summer for a flight that I originally had with my kid from Nashville to DCA. But thunderstorms and some other issue with AA made the airline start delaying my AA flight several times very far in advance (which was a huge red flag). So I started looking for flights to BWI and IAD and bought a southwest ticket to BWI and I think a United one to IAD. So I literally had 3 sets of tickets for the same evening and watched to see which one took off. It ended up being the Dulles one which was the one scheduled in the middle of the other two (first flight kept getting delayed, BWI flight was for very late at night). This meant that I was arriving a different airport than where my car was parked, so I needed a ride back to DCA but I didn't care. My original flight ended up being completely cancelled (so got that refunded), and then the BWI flight I cancelled while in flight on the IAD flight.

Also using airline apps over all other methods (standing in line and on the phone) has worked will for me in the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to play airline arbitrage and buy a bunch of different, refundable tickets on different airlines to different airports (you said you were going to NY so I would try the 3 usual suspects). This is the only way.

Yes, this is what DH did. He had to back from LAX to DC. He was originally scheduled to arrive at DCA at 9am on Sunday via CLT. He ended up flying to Chicago, spending a night, and getting here Monday afternoon into DCA by doing this.

See that's a pro move right there. There was no way of getting back to DC on Sunday, so have to spend that night somewhere. Chicago wasn't really affected by the storm and has a TON of flights to the DC region, and if you move quickly on Sunday morning, can probably get an open seat on one of them for Monday. The key is to keep as many options open, and to move fast to available ones as they open up, as during a storm like this, there are constant cancellations and people moving around.

100 pct. This is the way to do it. Always keep moving closer to your destination or towards places with more flight options. In situations like this, you can’t wait for the perfect flight.

Now I know. I would have taken anything, there were people at the airport who were trying to get to IL and it was going to take 36 hours with connections all over the country. In the future now I know if this might happen to buy a refundable ticket, but some airlines require a week advance purchase for this.

You really don't need a refundable ticket, since once your original flight is cancelled, your ticket becomes refundable. I will say it is hard because if you want to preserve the original cheap pricing, you have to stick with your original airline, and possibly deal with calling/texting for hours to get through jammed lines. Once you decide to jump to another airline and expand your options, yes you have to pay what you have to pay, your willingness to do so depends on how important it is that you get home.

We had a family member coming back on Monday, and on Saturday I booked a backup flight using miles that left 5 hours later on a different airline. Award tickets are now fully refundable, so I figured it was an easy way to ensure we had a seat on the next best option in case things went wrong. As it turned out, the original flight went out right on schedule, I canceled the held ticket, and the later flight ended up going out 3 hours late. But if the original flight had been canceled, at that moment there would have been 150+ people scrambling for options and filling up anything available, so that's why I booked the backup option a few days before.

I am the airline arbitrage poster. The reason I suggest refundable tickets is because I suggest you buy multiple tickets on different airlines staggered to different airports and then when one finally takes off, you cancel the other ones (hence you need the refund status). For ex, the last time I had to do this was this past summer for a flight that I originally had with my kid from Nashville to DCA. But thunderstorms and some other issue with AA made the airline start delaying my AA flight several times very far in advance (which was a huge red flag). So I started looking for flights to BWI and IAD and bought a southwest ticket to BWI and I think a United one to IAD. So I literally had 3 sets of tickets for the same evening and watched to see which one took off. It ended up being the Dulles one which was the one scheduled in the middle of the other two (first flight kept getting delayed, BWI flight was for very late at night). This meant that I was arriving a different airport than where my car was parked, so I needed a ride back to DCA but I didn't care. My original flight ended up being completely cancelled (so got that refunded), and then the BWI flight I cancelled while in flight on the IAD flight.

Also using airline apps over all other methods (standing in line and on the phone) has worked will for me in the past.

Ah got it, yes, so a similar strategy, except using refundable cash tickets instead of refundable award tickets.