New York Blizzards.....

I must be a jinx... each time I book a SS cruise, I run a gauntlet of French and then Greek Air traffic controller disputes and now New York Storms!

Today I've just learnt that all flights into New York are cancelled tomorrow. OK, we dont fly until Wednesday, but with the news that the high winds wont dissipate and a foot of snow on the ground, you can appreciate the fear that Wednesdays flights could well be delayed or cancelled.

Our flight final destination is San Juan, where we have a 2 night pre cruise booking before embarkation. We do have alternative options to get there with BA by going via Miami, but BA are insisting "you want to change your two flights, you need to pay to amend those flights" - despite the fact that we will be freeing a pair of much needed seats required after a whole day of cancelled flights.

Ho hum.

The worry of course is that we know we'd be fine going via Miami or forking out for a direct flight with Norwegian. We really needed to get this sorted and known today as the ability to change things diminishes. (eg the Miami flight on Wednesday is earlier plus we'd have no reservations - and the Norwegian flight is from Gatwick not Heathrow. (Had they both been the same London airport, we would have already have booked that flight at the beginning.)

So SS are saying BA are showing the flight is going ahead (which it might - but a fair chance it wont. South West have apparently already cancelled all their Wednesday flights.)

The wife is saying just book the direct flight which I'm tempted to. I suspect if it then did get cancelled, we'd have 2 free flights to San Juan in the back for the future!!!

Thoughts?

When I spoke to Silversea earlier, I was told "the flight is showing scheduled, if you see it cancelled, give me a call tomorrow".

I've finally (after 80 minutes on hold) got through to BA. There are no flights out of Miami now - there was when I spoke earlier.... And I was also told by the booking agent I'd have to pay to amend. I'm not informed and its showing on the BA website:

"If you no longer wish to travel on Tuesday 14 or Wednesday 15 March, even if your flight is still due to operate to/from these six major East Coast airports, you are able to change your booking free of charge and move it back to a date up to and including Friday 17 March"

This could all have been avoided and change made, but since BA have allowed this and SS didn't inform of the problems or look into it once they'd been told, we've now missed that opportunity.

The flights could still run as scheduled, but there is a real possibility it won't.... and BA flights are filling up with the rebookings.

I have a feeling I will be calling Norwegian in the morning.... no doubt the costs will rise - if still available!

Please keep us posted on how you make out. I really feel for you, as we've done the flight delay, flight cancelled, missed flight because of late take off, the full catastrophe, so I know what you're going thru. I'm hoping that all will go well for you, with a minimum of stress (easy for me to say, of course). Keeping fingers crossed for you.

Linda

Les, I've lived in New York State since 1992, and on March of every year we have had a snow showdown, ranging from somewhat mild to blizzard. It most always happens around the "Ides". I remember vividly the infamous blizzard of 1993, when our garage door finally could open there were almost 5 feet of snow in the driveway. I don't think this one will be memorable, but better to plan ahead. Trouble is many people have already done so, and seats will be in short supply. Also, count on re-bookings if flights are indeed canceled. However, I'm sure many cruisers are in the same boat as you are, and SS should be worried. They should have some clout with the airlines to get you seats... Hoping for the best for you and that you have a wonderful cruise!

Please keep us posted on how you make out. I really feel for you, as we've done the flight delay, flight cancelled, missed flight because of late take off, the full catastrophe, so I know what you're going thru. I'm hoping that all will go well for you, with a minimum of stress (easy for me to say, of course). Keeping fingers crossed for you.

Linda

Thanks Linda.

No one can do anything about the weather, so that can't be helped. Whats starting to be annoying is down to the fact that BA had given passengers the option to cancel or amend bookings for a few days, but speaking to SS, they simply said "keep me informed". If he had looked into it, we'd have got moved onto a Miami flight and without any of this uncertainty.

And with it being evening, I cant ask prudent questions that would influence what i decide to go for.

I'm currently waiting on the phone to speak to Norwegian. The fair is cheap enough to stick 2 fingers up to SS and BA and pre-empt the expected cancellation and take a 9 hour direct flight instead of a 21 hour flight journey time.

Been on hold ages now!

Les, I've lived in New York State since 1992, and on March of every year we have had a snow showdown, ranging from somewhat mild to blizzard. It most always happens around the "Ides". I remember vividly the infamous blizzard of 1993, when our garage door finally could open there were almost 5 feet of snow in the driveway. I don't think this one will be memorable, but better to plan ahead. Trouble is many people have already done so, and seats will be in short supply. Also, count on re-bookings if flights are indeed canceled. However, I'm sure many cruisers are in the same boat as you are, and SS should be worried. They should have some clout with the airlines to get you seats... Hoping for the best for you and that you have a wonderful cruise!

Indeed.... people have changed their flights already. I was only aware of problems a few hours ago. I'm not sure in SS have much clout especially withthe news that the alternative route via Miami is fully booked.

Still on hold with Norwegian! - thanks for your well wishes.

Do you think the airport would cope with clearing the 12" of snow expected and be open on the wednesday if there isnt further snow?

Do you think the airport would cope with clearing the 12" of snow expected and be open on the wednesday if there isnt further snow?

I assume you're flying into JFK, so the good news is where the airport is located will get less snow than a New York inland airport like EWR. What airline are you connecting to in New York?

Even though this storm is going to put down a lot of snow, it's a super fast moving storm. It'll be out of the New York metro area by midnight Tuesday night giving the airport plenty of time to clear runways in anticipation of Wednesday arrivals. Personally, if it were me, I wouldn't give up my seat on your Wednesday flight yet as your flight will arrive after noon and it's already apparent looking at BA's reservation system that they've booked passengers traveling tomorrow onto the Wednesday flights.

Les,

Why are you holding on the line when you can book online? £179 each.

Jeff

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Les,

 

I assume you're flying into JFK, so the good news is where the airport is located will get less snow than a New York inland airport like EWR. What airline are you connecting to in New York?

 

Even though this storm is going to put down a lot of snow, it's a super fast moving storm. It'll be out of the New York metro area by midnight Tuesday night giving the airport plenty of time to clear runways in anticipation of Wednesday arrivals. Personally, if it were me, I wouldn't give up my seat on your Wednesday flight yet as your flight will arrive after noon and it's already apparent looking at BA's reservation system that they've booked passengers traveling tomorrow onto the Wednesday flights.

Well that would indeed be good news. Ive been watching MSNBC, ABC, NBC and Fox news all evening and theyve only really spoken about the storm approaching and expectations once there. No mention on what they thnk is likely the next day. We have a long connection of 8 hours in JFK so plenty of time if it was delayed a little from HRW.

Flight is BA175 9.40 from LHR to JFK then 8pm to San Juan

Les,

 

Why are you holding on the line when you can book online? £179 each.

 

Jeff

 

 

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Because I'm asking the question about cancellations. It says you can cancel US flights booked up to 7 days before departure 24 hours after booking. The wording (to me) is a bit ambiguous. I at least now know they have 50 tickets left and should learn first thing tomorrow if SS are able to do anything. I'd rather they paid than me if a further ticket needed to be booked. A direct flight is obviously preferable - but as the return is to HRW not gatwick that raises a problem - along with luggage allowance of 20Kg and only one cabin bag.

Les,

The conditions seem to me to be quite straightforward. You won't be booking more than a week out so Unless you cancel within 4 hours it is non-cancellable.

Have I missed something more complex?

Jeff

Cancelling LowFare, LowFare+ or Premium

Free to cancel within 4 hours of original purchase. After 4 hours the booking is non-refundable.

Full refund (or free to cancel) within 24 hours of original purchase for flights to/from U.S. (only for bookings made at least one week before departure). Phone our Contact Centre to cancel your booking.

If you've booked the wrong date/time/destination/name, phone our Contact Centre within 24 hours of the initial purchase (12 hours if booked less than 24 hours before departure). We’ll book you a new ticket at the available fare and refund your original ticket.

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We have a long connection of 8 hours in JFK so plenty of time if it was delayed a little from HRW.

 

Flight is BA175 9.40 from LHR to JFK then 8pm to San Juan

It is good that you have given yourself some leeway pre-cruise, but, IMHO, this is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. Book the Norwegian flight and let the chips fall where they may with BA. You can always fight for a refund when you get home.

...... totally agree.

It is pointless grumbling that cheaper inflexible tickets aren't flexible, and it looks like BA have done what they often do and that is to treat inflexible tickets with a touch of compassion when the outlook isn't good. The problem is that SS have this problem often and they are motivated not to react quickly because more often than not flights arrive when expected and they find that they have made a smooth plan into a rough plan unnecessarily. And their clout with the airlines is way behind Gold Card and other status pax with telephone numbers that answer within a few rings than trying to find space for cheaper group ticket holders en-masse.

This is a moment when you wait a few hours and if things don't look optimistic you shrug and say even with a possible wasted £360 added to whatever was paid to SS, peace of mind has an insurance premium and that is the cost of "Plan B" And the danger of the prices of Norwegian increasing as seats reduce and departure gets nearer ...

Jeff

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I live in NYC, just went outside and there is not much snow on the ground. Its sleet now with the temps right at 32 in my yard. I expected a lot worse so maybe this will not be as bad as predicted. I'll keep my finger's crossed for you.:)

Good luck, Les. Snowing like crazy in Albany. Hope you make it to the sunny Caribbean on time, or close to it!

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Les, what airline are you flying from JFK to SJU @ 8:00p? I can't figure it out online as my system doesn't show any non-stops at that time. I'm just trying to see if I can help provide some other options for your consideration.

Apologies - I didnt include the flight number. Its AA0938 (AKA BA4769) I didnt even realise it was given 2 numbers. I only knew the Pseudo number!

It is good that you have given yourself some leeway pre-cruise, but, IMHO, this is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. Book the Norwegian flight and let the chips fall where they may with BA. You can always fight for a refund when you get home.

If nothing else, it shows its important to expect the unexpected.... There are a several reasons I didnt book the Norwegian flight last night. Not only different airport, but luggage issues and a few other things. Nothing wrong with the airline - or their policies.... but thought Id better hang fire. I was right to.

...... totally agree.

 

It is pointless grumbling that cheaper inflexible tickets aren't flexible, and it looks like BA have done what they often do and that is to treat inflexible tickets with a touch of compassion when the outlook isn't good. The problem is that SS have this problem often and they are motivated not to react quickly because more often than not flights arrive when expected and they find that they have made a smooth plan into a rough plan unnecessarily. And their clout with the airlines is way behind Gold Card and other status pax with telephone numbers that answer within a few rings than trying to find space for cheaper group ticket holders en-masse.

 

This is a moment when you wait a few hours and if things don't look optimistic you shrug and say even with a possible wasted £360 added to whatever was paid to SS, peace of mind has an insurance premium and that is the cost of "Plan B" And the danger of the prices of Norwegian increasing as seats reduce and departure gets nearer ...

 

Jeff, I was hardly grumbling about the policies of Norwegian Airways. I phoned them because if the way I'd originally read it was correct, I would be able to cancel without penalty. I obviously had those hopes dashed and as you'd said, they did mean only flights booked over a week before departure was that applicable for. BA were fine too. If there was a grumble it was at SS for not passing on the info that BA had said I could re-route my flight. They claim they didnt know it was the case.

There are a few reasons I didnt book last night, mostly the logistics of displacement from using 2 different airports. Heathrow and Gatwick are an awful combination. Not just that but luggage differences meant the £1400 I'd spent on my new drone would have been wasted since Norwegian only allow 1 carry one. (Yes, I will be taking a huge array of photography equipment and will need the two bags.)

You have to consider, because we are not embarking for another two days, it didnt feel like all was lost and putting the money aside, the downside of booking had good and bad.

Having spoken to SS today, the suggestion is there will be a normal service tomorrow, so not as bad as we'd feared, but more importantly, had we flown the Norwegian Option not only the expense for car transfer and additioanal parking there was another gotcha. Not completing the outward journey of this ticket immediately voids the return from Miami and we'd had to have forked out an extra £1100 each for that pleasure.

Its always best to inquire to get the full facts, which is exactly what I did.

I live in NYC, just went outside and there is not much snow on the ground. Its sleet now with the temps right at 32 in my yard. I expected a lot worse so maybe this will not be as bad as predicted. I'll keep my finger's crossed for you.:)

Thats what I was hoping to hear. The comments Id read that the storm will have past by midnight, with my plane due to land about 13.00 was another reason I didnt panic buy.

Good luck, Les. Snowing like crazy in Albany. Hope you make it to the sunny Caribbean on time, or close to it!

Thanks JP...... I'm quite optimistic now!

If nothing else it does highlight when things look like falling apart, it doesnt mean they will. :D

 

Jeff, I was hardly grumbling about the policies of Norwegian Airways. I phoned them because if the way I'd originally read it was correct, I would be able to cancel without penalty. I obviously had those hopes dashed and as you'd said, they did mean only flights booked over a week before departure was that applicable for. BA were fine too. If there was a grumble it was at SS for not passing on the info that BA had said I could re-route my flight. They claim they didnt know it was the case.

 

Its always best to inquire to get the full facts, which is exactly what I did.

 

 

:D

Les,

These situations are fluid, and I am not as clear as you seem to be (from your posts) that BA had "flexed" the flight at the time you were seeking advice from SS. It could well be, and I'm no apologist for SS, that when you sought SS's help for changing flights that the flight had not had relaxed options available to them at that moment from BA, and they have a whole other set of logisitics that might make premature change unattractive. Their experience is that generally speaking customers are often stressed and worried and they generally want to react more quickly to these fears than their experience says is generally necessary or prudent.

At the same time you also said ......

We do have alternative options to get there with BA by going via Miami, but BA are insisting "you want to change your two flights, you need to pay to amend those flights" - despite the fact that we will be freeing a pair of much needed seats required after a whole day of cancelled flights.

 

Thoughts?

So you seemed to be basically complaining about the restrictions of a non-flexible ticket that you had saved a heap of cash on - I think you had said on many posts what a great deal you got - because you couldn't have the flexibility from BA you would have preferred when you wanted it with the cheap inflexible ticket you'd bought. I think you were probably just getting stressed ..... and in the end BA exceeded their contractual obligations.

I was puzzled about not booking directly on-line with Norwegian as I thought that was what you were calling them to make a booking, so I took a look as I wanted to help. I could get all the way through to credit card bit and there were only a couple of lines of restrictions I could read and they were:

Cancelling LowFare, LowFare+ or Premium

Free to cancel within 4 hours of original purchase. After 4 hours the booking is non-refundable.

 

Full refund (or free to cancel) within 24 hours of original purchase for flights to/from U.S. (only for bookings made at least one week before departure). Phone our Contact Centre to cancel your booking.

 

 

When faced with uncertainties we either grumble about the bad deal everyone and fate is dealing us or get stuck in and take control and that degree of self-sufficiency and self-determination often brings greater certainty but sometimes at additional cost. But better peace of mind "being in control" gives.

Anyway ..... alls well that ends well .... and hopefully you'll get there ... enjoy your trip.

Jeff

The storm is expected to end here around 5 pm New York Time. Right now it's rain and sleet so not much accumulated. They have canceled the blizzard warning and right now there is not much wind.

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Les,

A bit more good news for you...

The storm has moved closer to shore which means the biggest snows will be inland. At JFK specifically, the very light snow they were receiving after midnight has converted to mist and should convert to all rain shortly. In addition, the ceiling has improved from < 1/2 mile 5-hours ago to about 3 miles now. Certainly not great visibility, but improving.

Lastly, the inbound aircraft for your AA flight to SJU is coming in from Washington, DC and the storm has already pulled out of our nation's capital. So, you should be good to go tomorrow.

Have fun!

Glad to hear that some folks out there are doing fairly well with the storm. We, in the Hudson Valley aren't faring as well! There must be at LEAST 18"+ here at 11am, local time. I had shoveled "the tennis racket", a space in the snow for our JR to go potty. I couldn't even find it on my last trip out a few minutes ago.....re did the whole thing. Wind is picking up (oh joy..). We must monitor the back door onto our breezeway as I could hardly get the door open!

In the meantime, I'm playing movies of our SS cruise in my head, while I heft the shovel! Stay safe, everyone!

Linda

We, in the Hudson Valley aren't faring as well! There must be at LEAST 18"+ here at 11am, local time.

WOW! I guess we should have snow more often, if that what it takes to get such beautiful prose! I'll try to keep that in mind with the now 2 1/2 feet that we've got at the moment! Spring will get here eventually......I guess.....!

Les,

 

A bit more good news for you...

 

The storm has moved closer to shore which means the biggest snows will be inland. At JFK specifically, the very light snow they were receiving after midnight has converted to mist and should convert to all rain shortly. In addition, the ceiling has improved from < 1/2 mile 5-hours ago to about 3 miles now. Certainly not great visibility, but improving.

 

Lastly, the inbound aircraft for your AA flight to SJU is coming in from Washington, DC and the storm has already pulled out of our nation's capital. So, you should be good to go tomorrow.

 

Have fun!

Many thanks everyone.

Luckily we took no notice of the advice to book the other flight I'd found as if we had taken that, it would have void our return flight from Miami. So on top of the £400 for that flight and extra car park fees, we would also have had to fork out another £1100 for tickets on the same flight.

We set out at 5am got to the airport by 6.15 after an unscheduled stop on the m25 to check the tyres after noises suggested we may have had a flat. All was well.

After clearing security and my inevitable stop and bag search for all the cables and camera gear in my cabin bag, we had a spot of much and the realised BA had changed the plane from a 747 to 777.

We took off about 30 mins late and arrived in JFK about the same. Luckily we elected not to take the flight with a 2 hour connection as we'd have missed that.

Our 7 hour stopover past quickly after a spot to eat in a bar and TVs showing live football games.

Our next flight was with American and I have to say I won't be using again. They insisted my bag (with approx £12k in camera gear) would need to go on hold. I was lucky in the end we got on and the was space left in the final overhead left. I really don't get their boarding procedure and "group" numbers.

The flight itself was like flying easyJet ... though easyJet are far superior IMHO.

Getting though from landing to hotel was a simple. It would have been just 30 minutes from landing to hotel had the driver not been given the wrong info on where we were staying. Oh and he managed to break one of the straps on my wife's carry on and "forgot" to mention what he'd done so now need to find another bag.

Silver Wind is an hour away from docking and soon enough we'll be on our way.

This monstrosity was there yesterday...

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Many thanks everyone.

 

Luckily we took no notice of the advice to book the other flight I'd found as if we had taken that, it would have void our return flight from Miami. So on top of the £400 for that flight and extra car park fees, we would also have had to fork out another £1100 for tickets on the same flight.

 

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Les,

This is true if you fail to inform the airline that you have booked alternative tickets on the outward leg due to the weather disruption. They will automatically cancel your return leg if you fail to take the outward leg and don't tell them before your due to check in with the original flight. The primary purpose of them doing this is a revenue protection measure to stop passengers buying cheaper return tickets when they only want the return leg, and to free up seats when they believe people aren't traveling. Currently hundreds, if not thousands of BA customers find themselves in this situation during the strike action and their returns are preserved when informed when passengers have made alternative plans on outward legs. I have been in this situation with BA several times and the return leg hasn't been cancelled once they have been informed.

You asked for help in your OP and seemed stressed, and I'm sorry you feel I wasted my time and that the trouble taken was of no value.