Snow coming - what happens if we miss our flights?

[whiterose]

I'm a nervous wreck because there's a good chance we will not get to Buenos Aires in time to get on the Amsterdam next Monday. Another big snow storm is supposed to hit Northern Virginia starting tomorrow and continuing through Saturday with over a foot of snow. We fly out of Dulles IAD Sunday afternoon but we may not be able to get to the airport if our roads are not cleared.

 

We have HAL air. So what happens if we don't get to BA in time? It's too late to fly to Miami early (our flights connect there) because of the Super Bowl all flights and hotels are full.

 

I'd love to hear from others who have had similar problems. What did HAl do to help? The first stop on this cruise is Montevideo on Tuesday and then it's 8 days at sea till Namibia - not much chance to catch up with the cruise.

[jhannah]

Since you purchased your air through HAL, then they will work to get you alternate flights to the port.

 

Any chance you can make your way up north before the worst of it hits? A night or even two at a hotel near Dulles would bring you lots of peace of mind. Plus you could do some touring in DC pre-cruise.

[catl331]

You have time to drive a rental car to Miami, but of course you could have a hard time finding a hotel. You would have to make sure the airlines understand that you would be taking the Miami to BA leg, even though you'd be a no-show for the first leg.

[RetiredMustang]

whiterose,

 

You might want to check with HAL right away. You might want to ask them if if they can shift your flights to Charlotte or Raleigh or something -- it's looking like the snow/rain line is expected to be about the VA-NC border. Or, they may have other good advice.

 

If you can't change airports, I agree with Jim, I think you should head for Dulles and be in a hotel there before the snow hits. I don't know where in Virginia you are, but you could drive up here Friday morning.

 

The local forecasters are predicting 16-20 inches of snow; I expect that Dulles may be at the upper end of the amount we do get. They are saying that the snow will start about noon Friday, but will not really get going strong until 4 p.m. or later, so you should be able to get here Friday (If you are coming from Bristol or Marion or similar, you may be racing ahead of the front of the storm). The big amounts of snow are expected on Saturday, but the system should move on and Sunday should be OK. Presuming IAD will be able to clear runways, etc. and be operating (and your flight gets in from wherever it is coming from), you should be set if you are in an airport hotel.

 

Alternatively, you could head for Florida by car. The Miami area hotels will be full, but you could stay in Port St. Lucie, or Melbourne or even Orlando the night before and still get to the Miami airport the day you leave.

 

Dave

[whiterose]

Thanks for the suggestions. We actually live about 30 minutes from Dulles so staying at a hotel might not help all that much but I will talk to our son about that. He has promised to drive us to the airport on Sunday.

 

Driving to Florida is out - we're too old for that.

 

We'll talk to our travel agent and see if she can tell us what HAL will do for us if we miss our flights entirely. Seems like HAL will only talk to you if you have an emergency on the actual day of travel - is that correct???

[m steve]

My daughter and sil live in close in Maryland and are due to fly Sat fora Sun cruise. I doubt if they can do it. I have insurance and have checked that they are covered for cancellation or delay so they could meet us in San juan if flights were available after 2-3 days of cancellations. We could also cancel if they don't want a partial trip as insurance is combined. We just have to wait until it happens.

[YXU AC*SE]

You may also talk to your airline directly (I assume UA?) In cases of anticipated irregular operations they will often waive change fees / fare differences and get you moved out.

 

A travel waiver has already been issued by UA -- http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,52939,00.html for travel to / from airports located in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. -- meaning they have already begun re-routing pax in advance of the weather.

 

The sooner you call, likely the better your chances of being re-routed ahead of the storm.

 

Scott.

[Twickenham]

You may also talk to your airline directly (I assume UA?) In cases of anticipated irregular operations they will often waive change fees / fare differences and get you moved out.

 

A travel waiver has already been issued by UA -- http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,52939,00.html for travel to / from airports located in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. -- meaning they have already begun re-routing pax in advance of the weather.

 

The sooner you call, likely the better your chances of being re-routed ahead of the storm.

 

Scott.

 

This is absolutely the route I would be taking. Talk with the airline, explain in full the situation, and see what they can do for you. I personally would be trying to get all the way to BA early - a couple nights hotel in BA are to me infinitely better than a couple of nights at IAD, because then you know you'll make the cruise.

[DFD1]

Early flights to BA make the most sense to me. Short of that, I'd park myself in a hotel as close to Dulles airport as possible.....as soon as possible.

 

All indications are that the DC area is going to be a mess...including the airports.

 

Good Luck. I surely do hope you make it. That should be a wonderful cruise.

[Randyk47]

Early flights to BA make the most sense to me. Short of that, I'd park myself in a hotel as close to Dulles airport as possible.....as soon as possible.

 

All indications are that the DC area is going to be a mess...including the airports.

 

Good Luck. I surely do hope you make it. That should be a wonderful cruise.

 

I agree about moving out as close to Dulles as possible. There's a Marriott almost right on top of the airport. My ex and I were caught in very much the same situation back in the early 90's for our first major cruise and stayed in that Marriott rather than take a chance of getting snowed into our house in Great Falls that was kind of out in the country. Turned out we probably would have been OK but it was great to relax and not worry about the potential of getting snowed in.

[gemjunky]

We were concerned about air delays and after talking with our travel agent, decided to book our air through HAL rather than doing it ourselves. HAL will take care of you whereas travel insurance will only cover your costs if you are delayed (if they even pay out). Our travel agent has a similar situation where he contacted HAL and arranged for folks to fly out early due to weather conditions. I agree with everyone else - contact your airlines, HAL, and your travel agent and see what can be done. Good luck.

[PaulMCO]

I would not camp out at IAD. You still may not have a plane to board.

What UA will do will be to cancel the inbounds and hold them in BA. This way there are not the incoming passengers that will have no where to go or transfer because all flights will be canceled.

 

It happened to me on the last Blizzard on 20 Dec,

[mrsltg]

As a couple of others have said, get in the car and get to Florida. Make sure to notify HAL and the airline that you will be skipping the first flight and they should not cancel the second leg. The drive from here (I'm in PW County) to Orlando is 12 hours. It's really not that bad. Find a hotel somewhere around there and then drive to Miami on Sunday.

 

Good luck!!!

[2ptu/000]

If you do miss your flight, Montevideo is very close to Buenos Aires, 5 maybe 10 miles, I'm not sure. You would only miss a little of your trip. Next time you cruise consider flying out 1 or 2 days ahead of time when you are leaving a cold area, or connecting in a cold area. Buenos Aires would have been a great city to visit.

[bbwex]

A similar thread was on this board a week or so ago when the previous storm was coming through. It was pointed out that the airlines actually like to get people out ahead of the storm as that alleviates part of the problem when the storm hits. They evidently will get you on your way with no extra charge as it helps minimize the "mess" caused by the weather.

 

We all know what happens to Washington when snow hits. Get out early, enjoy an extra day, and skip the valium you would have needed!

[eldercruser]

It is getting late in the day, but strongly suggest trying to get out of town tonight or first thing Friday morning. If in fact the storm dumps 16-20 inches of snow on DC by Saturday night, it is highly doubtful operations will be anywhere close to normal on Sunday.

 

Realize your flight can't leave if the aircraft hasn't arrived! In big storms such as this all the inbound flights will probably be canceled on Saturday and Sunday morning. Not only the runways and taxiways have to be cleared, but the big job is all the ramp space. It may well be late Sunday before all that is cleared and the airlines will not be scheduling aircraft to arrive until the ramps are cleared.

 

As others have said get on the phone with HAL, your TA and the airline to discuss options.

[parrotfeathers]

Well, the storm is there. Does anyone know if the OP got to FLL?

[Krazy Kruizers]

They were to fly out of DC on Sunday.

 

It's bad here -- southwestern PA -- over 20 inches of snow -- Pittsburgh International Airport closed -- they hope to open around Noon today.

[Randyk47]

As of right now there are virtually no flights in/out of Dulles International according to http://www.metwashairports.com/snow . Hard to say what tomorrow (Sunday) will bring though the weather forecast is clear. With the schedules all messed up it's going to take a couple of days, snow not withstanding, to get flights back on normal operation. Our friends and family in the area are basically snowed in their communities as only the major roads are relatively clear.

[patseacruiser]

Hope the OP gets back to us - I hate when they leave us hanging. I don't know if IAD is flying tomorrow even. The snow is not predicted to stop until tonight I think and flights have been cancelled since Friday night so there's a big back up there.

[eldercruser]

All flights are Dulles are canceled until Sunday afternoon as of right now. I expect as the storm continues, the practice of "creeping cancellations" will take place.

 

Dulles is already reporting around 24 inches on the ground and the snow is forecast to continue for another eight hours or so.

 

I will be surprised if anything happens before Monday afternoon.

 

We are supposed to leave Wednesday for Florida and our 2/13 Noordam cruise. That is looking dicey since another storm is being forecast for Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

 

We will be lucky to be plowed out of our neighborhood by Monday night.

 

Time to get back to the snow blower and try to keep up. At least keep the driveway clear!

[Krazy Kruizers]

This may be our 4th worst snow storm in history.

 

And we are also to get another snow storm on Tuesday.

 

The BIG plow just came through -- there is now 5 feet high of snow at the end of the driveway.

 

Our snow thrower died in January.

[cruz chic]

I feel so sorry for you guys that are getting so much snow. We had a terrible Nov. and Dec. and our residental roads are still brutal. I think if we ever got as much snow as some of you are getting we just couldn't handle it...and I'm in Canada. That said our snow removal policy in Calgary is wait until it melts :eek:. Good luck to everyone!

[serendipity1499]

Well, the storm is there. Does anyone know if the OP got to FLL?

 

The OP was not flying to Ft. Lauderdale..They were flying to Buenos Aires for a South American Cruise..

I doubt that they will get back to us as their cruise leaves BA on Monday..Hopefully they have been en-route since they last posted..We also don't know what airline they were taking & if they were going via Dallas or Miami..[/

It would be nice if they get back to us after they return from their cruise... SIZE]

To All of you in the blizzards path, we hope that you are safe & warm..

Cheers..Betty

[Krazy Kruizers]

OP was to fly out of Dulles airport on Sunday.

Their connecting flight to BA is in Miami.

Many airports are shut down.