Cancelled Flight

[bfox13]

I'm not too happy with Oceania. Our flight was cancelled at 10:00 am Eastern to Dallas/fort Worth to connect with a flight to Rio. Oceania made our flight reservations for us so I contacted them right away. They said that they would get back to us within the next few minutes. It is 3:30 PM and I still have not heard from them and I know that we will not be flying today. I have tried to call them and have actually been on hold for over an hour when I finally hung up. I will welcome any suggestions other than making our own reservations.

[LHT28]

Can you contact the airline to see if they will offer another flight?

 

That is my biggest fear when going on a cruise, missing the flight

 

Hope it works out

[bfox13]

I tried but they just put me on hold!

[NC&KY]

How about your TA. Does he/she work Saturdays?

[DOJO466]

I'm not too happy with Oceania. Our flight was cancelled at 10:00 am Eastern to Dallas/fort Worth to connect with a flight to Rio. Oceania made our flight reservations for us so I contacted them right away. They said that they would get back to us within the next few minutes. It is 3:30 PM and I still have not heard from them and I know that we will not be flying today. I have tried to call them and have actually been on hold for over an hour when I finally hung up. I will welcome any suggestions other than making our own reservations.

Wow that stinks...who would have thought ICE in Texas, we live in New England and have learned to book our flights a day or two in advance. O will make it right they will get you to the ship, maybe not Rio but they will get you to the ship. Deep breaths

[rallydave]

You HAVE to work this thru the airline. When you found out that your flight had been cancelled:

 

1. You were most probably booked on another flight possibly on another airline or more and quite likely thru another city to change flights to get you to Rio

 

2. Don't know how you found out about the cancellation, but, the very first thing you should have done is to have contacted the airline who has your flight records and either has your revised itinerary or would have rebooked you either thru that airline or another.

 

3. The airline is responsible for getting you to Rio and Oceania's and most cruise line T's and C's clearly state that they are only responsible for booking your ticket and not responsible for any delays or cancelled flights.

 

4. Calling Oceania only delays things as they have to get to the airline just as you have via phone or internet.

 

5. You should NOT have hung up when the airline put you on hold as that is the way you will find out what flights they are putting you on.

 

6. Another thing you could have done was show up at the airport and the checkin desk would have arranged alternate flights. Whe a flight is cancelled, the airline has to get you to your destination as soon as possible even if they have to put you on another airline.

 

7. Now get on the phone and contact the airline or go out to the airport and talk to someone there. Another possible solution is to go on line and put in your confirmation number and see if another flight has been scheduled. Your confirmation number should not change and you look for your flights just like you would if you booked them yourself using the confirmation that Ocania gave you.

 

Stop waiting for a call and be proactive and get your flights and get on them to Rio and have a great cruise.

[bfox13]

We did not go through a travel agent - Oceania made the air arrangements. Hugh mistake!

[msn123]

Actually, you are in better shape since you booked your flights through Oceania. If cancelled and you had made them on your own, Oceania would be less proactive. I would guess there are others involved as well. Hope you make it to Rio soon and enjoy your cruise.

[YoHoHo]

I'm not too happy with Oceania. Our flight was cancelled at 10:00 am Eastern to Dallas/fort Worth to connect with a flight to Rio. Oceania made our flight reservations for us so I contacted them right away. They said that they would get back to us within the next few minutes. It is 3:30 PM and I still have not heard from them and I know that we will not be flying today. I have tried to call them and have actually been on hold for over an hour when I finally hung up. I will welcome any suggestions other than making our own reservations.

Yikes! The flight for later today was just cancelled this morning - I assume weather related. If that is it then I assume not many flights leaving your airport (period). I assume O is working on that very problem if not flights are leaving your area but it is unsettling to say the least to not have any communications.

 

To me not so much that O booked your flights but that you booked O w/o a TA so no one else to help you work through this.

 

rallydave has good advice. Whether O arranged them, you hired a TA or you booked the flights yourself you must get in contact with the airline.

 

Perhaps O is working on another routing and that will not connect with the Dallas transfer so have to work out a flight from the new transfer point to Rio - lots of variables and a lot of speculation w/o details

 

One other thing. Don't know if the reason your flight is cancelled is mechanical or is grounded by the airport due to weather there (or not allowed to land in Dallas in which case find another transfer point to connect to Rio)

 

*IF* the flights have been grounded because of ice but there might still be SOME flights leaving your airport. if that is the case it can be be because they cannot do enough de-icing. Find another airline with an incoming flight to somewhere where the flights are normal and they have something that can get to Dallas. Incoming flights that transfer through *might* be allowed to carry on because they come in 'hot' vs those planes without any passengers on them. Don't want more pax and planes piling up at the airport if they can move only some of them through. The transfer can get priority de-icing and off again.

 

A friend ran into this problem one year in Seattle trying to get to the Emmy's the next day and his last minute flight was cancelled while he was at the airport. All flights out to LA for the next day were already booked solid so he was stuck and would miss.

 

But he then learned why a few flights were still leaving when all others were grounded. At that point scrambled to find one that could get him anywhere else (cost a lot mind you) and from there to sunny California. The irony of course is that he was catching a flight one day before an event he had to attend because he was trying to save the money of an additional overnight, etc in LA. Lost that savings and lot more. 'Penny wise' comes to mind ...

 

This must be very stressful for you. I hope it works out and you get on your cruise. Best of luck to you!

Edited December 7, 2013 by YoHoHo

[rallydave]

We did not go through a travel agent - Oceania made the air arrangements. Hugh mistake!

 

Yes, it was a mistake to not book thru a TA however your flight issue has nothing to do with who booked your flight as since air is included, Oceania books all the flights and neither you or your TA has anything to say unless you deviate which you should have done and gone a day early at least to avoid these issues.

 

And Dojo466, ice is extremely common in Texas especially the DFW area. It is unusual here on the gulf coast but, ice and snow are a several time occurrence every winter.

 

This is not the first ice at DFW and won't be the last this season. And, when you talk about Texas, don't forget how big we are. Go up to the panhandle north of Amarillo and you are almost in Colorado and lots of snow and ice up there and sub-zero temperatures and sitll in Texas.

[bfox13]

You HAVE to work this thru the airline. When you found out that your flight had been cancelled:

 

1. You were most probably booked on another flight possibly on another airline or more and quite likely thru another city to change flights to get you to Rio

 

2. Don't know how you found out about the cancellation, but, the very first thing you should have done is to have contacted the airline who has your flight records and either has your revised itinerary or would have rebooked you either thru that airline or another.

 

3. The airline is responsible for getting you to Rio and Oceania's and most cruise line T's and C's clearly state that they are only responsible for booking your ticket and not responsible for any delays or cancelled flights.

 

4. Calling Oceania only delays things as they have to get to the airline just as you have via phone or internet.

 

5. You should NOT have hung up when the airline put you on hold as that is the way you will find out what flights they are putting you on.

 

6. Another thing you could have done was show up at the airport and the checkin desk would have arranged alternate flights. Whe a flight is cancelled, the airline has to get you to your destination as soon as possible even if they have to put you on another airline.

 

7. Now get on the phone and contact the airline or go out to the airport and talk to someone there. Another possible solution is to go on line and put in your confirmation number and see if another flight has been scheduled. Your confirmation number should not change and you look for your flights just like you would if you booked them yourself using the confirmation that Ocania gave you.

 

Stop waiting for a call and be proactive and get your flights and get on them to Rio and have a great cruise.

 

 

Thanks for the good tips. I have contacted American and they said that they will call me back in an hour and a half. Fortunately she ship does not leave until Monday night so we still may make it!

[YoHoHo]

Thanks for the good tips. I have contacted American and they said that they will call me back in an hour and a half. Fortunately she ship does not leave until Monday night so we still may make it!

Excellent!! You've got some action and some outs (not leaving until Monday night)

If you make the cruise you'll have a tale to tell.

[LHT28]

http://www.dfwairport.com/news/P2_121190.php

 

we were stuck in DFW in Sept one year due to weather ..it happens

[bfox13]

Well American just called and we are on flights tomorrow from Grand Rapids, MI which will get us into Rio via Chicago and Miami at 8:30 am on Monday. We will miss our first night on board and a tour but I do have insurance so hopefully will get reimbursed. Thanks guys for all your help and good thoughts. Still have not heard one word from Oceania.

[ronrick1943]

This is just one more reason why you should always arrive a few days early before your cruise departs port. And the plus side is your relaxed before you cruise and you enjoy the city your in before the cruise.

Rick

[treasure4two]

Well American just called and we are on flights tomorrow from Grand Rapids, MI which will get us into Rio via Chicago and Miami at 8:30 am on Monday. We will miss our first night on board and a tour but I do have insurance so hopefully will get reimbursed. Thanks guys for all your help and good thoughts. Still have not heard one word from Oceania.

So happy everything is working out for you. Enjoy your wonderful cruise!

[RJB]

Well American just called and we are on flights tomorrow from Grand Rapids, MI which will get us into Rio via Chicago and Miami at 8:30 am on Monday. We will miss our first night on board and a tour but I do have insurance so hopefully will get reimbursed. Thanks guys for all your help and good thoughts. Still have not heard one word from Oceania.

Glad things worked out. But Oceania dropped the ball with this one and from what I am reading in the past few days their customer service is going downhill pretty fast. They better fix it. Companies do not stay in business long with all the complaints O seems to be getting. :o

[RachelG]

Bottom line on his, no matter whether you booked your own flights, a TA did it, or the cruise line did it, you best bet to get things resolved quickly is to be proactive and communicate directly with the airlines. We have encountered the ice and snow cancellations frequently, and while it is a good idea to let Oceania know what is going on, they are not at fault for the cancellation. Actually neither is the airline. It is the weather which is not in our control.

[JimandStan]

Bottom line on his, no matter whether you booked your own flights, a TA did it, or the cruise line did it, you best bet to get things resolved quickly is to be proactive and communicate directly with the airlines. We have encountered the ice and snow cancellations frequently, and while it is a good idea to let Oceania know what is going on, they are not at fault for the cancellation. Actually neither is the airline. It is the weather which is not in our control.

 

+1, beautifully stated! :D

[LHT28]

is there a special number you call to Oceania when "stuff" happens or do you just call the main res number :confused:

 

I seem to remember in March I called a special number to let them know we had to cancel the flights that morning & cruise

 

Guess I better go look at my docs again :eek:

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

Bottom line on his, no matter whether you booked your own flights, a TA did it, or the cruise line did it, you best bet to get things resolved quickly is to be proactive and communicate directly with the airlines. We have encountered the ice and snow cancellations frequently, and while it is a good idea to let Oceania know what is going on, they are not at fault for the cancellation. Actually neither is the airline. It is the weather which is not in our control.

I agree

 

Usually the airline is already in action trying to accommodate the passengers when the weather situation is cleared for take off

[YoHoHo]

is there a special number you call to Oceania when "stuff" happens or do you just call the main res number :confused:

 

I seem to remember in March I called a special number to let them know we had to cancel the flights that morning & cruise

 

Guess I better go look at my docs again :eek:

 

Lyn

Yes, I recall on the docs there is a highlighted area that says if there are problems getting to the ship to call this '800' number ...

I never checked to see if it is different than the usual customer service number and don't have the docs handy now but worth checking

[PRWeezer]

Bottom line on his, no matter whether you booked your own flights, a TA did it, or the cruise line did it, you best bet to get things resolved quickly is to be proactive and communicate directly with the airlines. We have encountered the ice and snow cancellations frequently, and while it is a good idea to let Oceania know what is going on, they are not at fault for the cancellation. Actually neither is the airline. It is the weather which is not in our control.

 

Agree. Glad the OP worked things out, but when traveling sometimes you need to be proactive in advance of a weather 'event.' Not sure how American handled it for this storm, but Delta, as one example, had weather waivers posted as of 12/5 for travel through 12/7, including DFW among other airports. There's one up now for the mid-Atlantic states for travel through tomorrow. These advisories allow for changes to an itinerary if you're flying through the posted areas. Getting ahead of the game may produce quicker and more desirable re-routing results. Waiting for the airline to cancel your flight only puts you in a longer phone queue of other passengers dealing with the same problem.

 

ETA: This notice is prominent on the aa.com home page: Due to the winter weather at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, flights are operating a very reduced schedule to and from DFW airport. Customers on flights affected by this weather system can change their plans at no charge. Click here for details. Note: due to heavy call volume, callers to our reservations line may experience long wait times. Customers can log into aa.com to view the status of their flight or cancel their reservation.

Edited December 8, 2013 by PRWeezer
added information

[rogerthornhill]

is there a special number you call to Oceania when "stuff" happens or do you just call the main res number :confused:

 

I seem to remember in March I called a special number to let them know we had to cancel the flights that morning & cruise

 

Guess I better go look at my docs again :eek:

 

Lyn

On our recent cruise on the Riviera we sailed with someone who had a similar problem with getting to the ship using Oceania booked air. She called the special number for help and received a recording. I don't remember all the details, but during at least one attempt to reach a live person at O, she was on hold for an hour before giving up. To say she found the help from O pitiful would be an understatement. This year she has sailed around 150 days. This was her first time on Oceania. No surprise that due to the lack of customer service she received, this was also her last time on Oceania.

 

From what we learned from her experience, O may pay for the air to get you to the next port, but you better be prepared to pay for all other expenses. Even though she had paid for transfers, she had to pay for transfers in both the original port city and the one she flew to in order to board the ship. Hotels, meals...

 

I'm glad that things are looking better for the OP.

[YoHoHo]

Like another poster I am surprised at the weather in Dallas. In my ignorance not what I thought living waaay up north. They are almost as cold as we are here though their forecast looks warmer.

 

It is only around freezing though so I assume (there I go again) that being as these cold spells are infrequent they have little de-icing capabilities at that airport.

 

Lesson learned for me from this thread. If I was flying from here through Dallas I would not have thought to check for cold weather alerts and assumed if I could get off the ground here things would be okay en-route. I now know better.