Flying Saturday--am I screwed with the snow or what?

[Anonymous]

So we were supposed to fly out on Saturday at 11 am from DCA on a direct flight to Texas. I don't see how this is going to happen at all with the current forecasts of major snow. I called to see if we could possibly leave Friday instead, and Continental pretty much laughed at me.

We are flying with my 16 month old. Should I just plan on being majorly, majorly screwed here? Pack for 8 hours of sitting around an airport? Not even try to leave if there is a few inches on the ground, because DCA will shut down? I have no idea what to expect here, so any seasoned travelers or parents with advice on what we should do (besides lots of prayer and cheerios), please help me out. TIA!

[Anonymous]

Get a grip. There is nothing you can really do until tomorrow. Wait and see what actually happens (remember the recent "snowstorm" that resulted in barely a dusting on the grass??) Call your airline before you leave for the airport if it is actually snowing and yes, since you have a small child, prepare for the worst and bring "supplies" to hang out at the airport if needed. It's not going to be a blizzard. Eventually you will get out.

[Anonymous]

Rebook for Sunday if you're that worried about it. Although I can't really see how the airline pretty much laughed at you--if you want to reschedule, they will basically either tell you that there are seats available or not. You will mostly likely have a major change in airfare--if you asked for no change in airfare, that's where the laughing came in.

It's a short (and I'm assuming direct) flight. Keep checking the status of the outbound flight before you leave for the airport. That's about all you can do. THere's plenty of food at DCA. Pack a DVD player and be prepared to be bored. End of story.

[Anonymous]

If you can, I would just rebook for Sunday or Monday. It sounds like they are predicting a pretty big storm - 6-12 inches with most falling tomorrow during the day. Although your flight eventually might get out, it will definitely be delayed and personally I would not want to be waiting at the airport all day with a 16 month old. Plus, if it does end up getting cancelled, everyone on your flight (and others) will be trying to rebook at the same time. It is definitely a pain, but that is the chance you take flying in the winter. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Go Saturday. You are leaving early in the day so that should be before the major accumulation if in fact it happens. Airports tend not to shut down for a few inches of snow.

[Anonymous]

There's really no way of predicting what will happen until tomorrow. In general, airports only close if it is snowing so hard that there is zero visibility and they can't keep the runways clear - it doesn't sound like this is going to be that type of storm (6 inches over 36 hours is hardly a blizzard). That said, this IS DC, so they probably only have one antiquated snow plow at DCA My guess would be that the airlines and airports are going to do whatever they can to keep things moving, given that this is a huge travel weekend, but the possibility exists you will be delayed.

[Anonymous]

We're in the same boat - 11:55 flight with a 5 yr old and 18 month old. US Air is waiving any change fees but there wasn't a plane to change onto, everything is booked up. The agent we spoke to sounded confident that DCA will get planes out tomorrow, just with delays. I'm more worried about snow shutting the Metro down and giving us problems getting there.

[Anonymous]

Who is predicting 6 inches over 36 hours? Weather.com is reporting DC as 10-20 inches of snow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip. There is nothing you can really do until tomorrow. Wait and see what actually happens (remember the recent "snowstorm" that resulted in barely a dusting on the grass??) Call your airline before you leave for the airport if it is actually snowing and yes, since you have a small child, prepare for the worst and bring "supplies" to hang out at the airport if needed. It's not going to be a blizzard. Eventually you will get out.

i live near dulles airport - the recent storm we had dec 5 left us with 4-5 inches.... on the 6th we traveled towards dca area and there was NO snow. so -- it can vary widely just in Fairfax County!

[Anonymous]

Go to the airport early. It will probably be a mob scene, but if the snow falls later in the day through Sunday, you have a good chance of getting out on the 11am.

[Anonymous]

My husband's flight from IAD for Sat AM was cancelled this afternoon. Jackass decided he'd drive into the storm instead of just rebooking for Sunday. With my two kids, or I wouldn't worry...

[Anonymous]

Ours from DCA is listed canceled now. Kind of lame to cancel when there isn't a flake of snow yet. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Just heard on the news that United (and several other airlines) have cancelled flights out of DCA for tomorrow. Unclear about BWI and IAD.

DC is expected to get 15-20 inches, with most snowfall between 4am and 4pm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ours from DCA is listed canceled now. Kind of lame to cancel when there isn't a flake of snow yet. Sigh.

It's lame, but I much prefer it over finding out while you're in line at the airport. You can rebook from the comfort of your home.

[Anonymous]

I prefer this if there actually is a blizzard, but it will be really frustrating if we get 2 inches at DCA by our flight time. We had a flight canceled on us once because they predicted fog so the airline didn't bother to send any planes in and canceled it. There was no fog. We ended up having to make a 20 hour road trip to get home for Christmas. At least we have a few days wiggle room this time to rebook.