Cancelled Flight

[rallydave]

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.

 

It is contrary to your assumption YoHoHo. Used to live in Seattle which is fairly similar to Vancouver and now in Houston about 250 miles south of DFW. The weather at DFW is definitely worse that yours and they are completely prepared for the necessary de-icing. Because of the weather patterns in the DFW area, while they do get snow several times per year, icing is their biggest issue which is much worse than simply snow.

 

At times while the airport may be running, people simply can't get there as the roads are iced over and impassable. While it is fairly easy to drive thru several inches of snow, a quarter inch or a few millimeters of ice is next to impossible to drive thru or taxi and aircraft thru or fly with that much ice on the wings. Snow moves when a vehicle moves thru it but, ice simply sits there until it gets above freezing or enough salt or other corrosive products melt the ice and that can take a long time.

 

We do have de-icing equipment here in Houston but, not a lot as we rarely have ice or snow and many years not even a frost over a full winter but, DFW gets ice and snow on a regular basis every winter and multiple times.

 

It is the large bodies of water near Houston as well as Seattle and Vancouver which moderate the temperatures and avoid many below freezing days. In the summer the water works in the opposite way to keep the relative temperature near the water lower than more inland areas.

 

Amazing what you can learn on a cruise board about weather and climate.

 

Almost forget to mention that ice is at its' slipperiest right around the freezing temperature and the colder it gets, the better for adhesion on the ice. Simply go in your freezer and touch a piece of ice and your fingers will stick a little to the ice assuming your freezer is around O degrees F. Then take some ice out of the freezer for a few minutes so it warms a bit and touch it and your finger will slide off. Also, bridges and overpasses will freeze with the temps above 32 F or 0 C because of the weather above and below the bridge will cause the freezing of precipitation on the bridge. Probably more than you would ever want to know but, just might save your life while driving.

Edited December 8, 2013 by rallydave

[LHT28]

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.

Not just cold weather ... we were delayed twice in the same day due to bad thunderstorms ..

Our flight from Midland to DFW was delayed for 2 hrs when they closed DFW then we arrived with time to spare at DFW

just as they were going to board the flight to YYZ the skies went dark & the airport was shut down again

Finally we were on the plane about 2 hrs later than scheduled .. then they "turned the airport around" while we were in line on the tarmac

 

We finaly made it home 4 hrs past our scheduled time

 

You just never know what will cause delays ;)

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

Just checked the doc in the cruise planner it has an after hours 1 800 if you are in the USA & a long distance number for the other people ;)

No mention of what to use the number for though

 

Lyn

[rogerthornhill]

Just checked the doc in the cruise planner it has an after hours 1 800 if you are in the USA & a long distance number for the other people ;)

No mention of what to use the number for though

 

Lyn

Yes, that is the number our traveling companion called when she couldn't get out of Chicago to Barcelona due to tornadoes. She couldn't get a live person, only a recording. Not a help.

[LHT28]

Yes, that is the number our traveling companion called when she couldn't get out of Chicago to Barcelona due to tornadoes. She couldn't get a live person, only a recording. Not a help.

 

That is too bad

I had called at 7ish in the morning it was less than 10 min for a live person to answer

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

Just checked the doc in the cruise planner it has an after hours 1 800 if you are in the USA & a long distance number for the other people ;)

Forgot to mention the after hours number is a different # than their main RES number

 

Lyn

[robbie21]

With respect to flight delays/connections missed/cancellations: your problem solving has to be with the airline. You, as the ticket holder, have the ball. I always have the airline 800 number handy or in my cell phone so that I can try to be first caller for a rescheduled flight. If I am in the airport I also get in line for the ticket or gate agent while on the phone. Whichever one I get to first will solve my problem as soon as they can. It is their contract obligation.

 

The only reason to call Oceania is to let them know you are delayed. Likewise your TA, if you are able to contact them, will only be doing what you should be doing and doing it quite a bit slower. I fail to see why anyone would think Oceania has any responsibility nor, more importantly, any capability to reschedule for weather or equipment delays. Actually there is no point in notifying them until you have a new arrival time.

 

Yes - go early

Yes - buy insurance

Finally - relax and go with the flow

[RachelG]

Robbie is exactly right. I am on my phone while in line. And if you have access to the admirals club (on AA) or equivalent on another airline, you need to be in line there as that will give you the most rapid response. Do NOT hang up while standing in line. The only reason to call Oceania would be to let them know what is going on and this can be done after the most pressing issue, getting rebooked on the airline, is taken care of. Oceania is not going to rebook you. That is upto the airline.

[PRWeezer]

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.

 

Perhaps I'm more of a news junkie than the average person, but this winter storm was prominent in the U.S. media for several days in advance (as were airline waivers, as said). Of course there are airline glitches that call for changes on the spot, but folks can do a lot proactively to track their reservations and avoid being surprised by a potential cancellation predicted several days in advance.

[Travelcat2]

Good point. We are flying out of Vancouver, BC on the 20th. If the news were to predict snow or severe storms, we would be in contact with the airlines a couple of days in advance. We would rather get to the port early -- even though we would have to pay additional hotel costs than try to catch up with a ship that has already left.

[Mary Ellen]

Deleted

Edited December 9, 2013 by Mary Ellen

[Tansy Mews]

Isn't there sometimes a problem getting the planes to the right place too? If my airport is open but the plane is coming in from somewhere with flight delays, my flight will be delayed too.

 

Obvious I guess, but that's why I like to go a day early as a buffer. I don't believe Oceania will do that automatically - or at least for free on request, without the hundred dollar or so fee. Or will they? It would make sense if the passenger requested this.

[JimandStan]

Flying in early triggers the Deviation Fee, unless you're using the Oceania pre-cruise Hotel Package.

[Mura]

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.

 

 

I first saw OP's post on Saturday morning (we left the ship the next day) and confess that I haven't read everything posted since.

 

However, a couple who did a few tours with us on the BCN-RIO cruise told us Sunday morning that their flight home through Dallas/Fort Worth had been cancelled because the aircraft hadn't arrived. I wonder if that was in effect the same flight that OP had cancelled... just on the other end.

 

This couple also used O to book the flights and O worked hard to find them a replacement flight. The only problem was that when we all arrived at the airport Sunday afternoon they discovered that their flight was for Tuesday, not Monday! They heard from other departing passengers who had been booked on the same flight but had not booked through O that they were not informed of the cancellation until they arrived at the airport.

 

Somebody also told this couple that O was booking hotels for involved passengers but as far as they knew, no reservations were made for them ... and they were ready to go home. They didn't want to stay another night. (We had no idea if O was footing the hotel bill or not.)

 

Fortunately AA was able to get them on another flight that actually left Rio earlier.

 

As others have said, GIG remains a nightmare. We arrived around 4:30pm after a tour and were told (finally, after much searching of non-English speaking airport personnel) that Delta Flight 60 would check in HERE at 6pm. So we started our own line. Around 6pm they removed the podium where the first questions are asked of passengers but finally started checking in sometime between 6:30 and 7:00. The good news is that once we got through check-in, things went smoothly. Security was fast, and there were plenty of empty seats at our gate at that hour. The bad news is that you'd better bring your own dinner with you because you won't find anything ... not at Terminal 2, at least.

 

Mura

[sitraveler]

Am I super happy we left the night of 12/7

[arkansastraveler]

I am currently sitting in the airport in Pensacola Florida still trying to get home from my Marina TA. We departed the ship Sunday morning in Rio with rumors of a cancelled AA flight to DFW. The Oceania concierge claimed to be unaware of the problem (we had booked our air through O). We received zero assistance assistance from O - rumor had it that there were 100 people in this situation. Even if O couldn't handle rebooking, they could have helped keep us informed since we were in Rio with very limited communication availability. The AA customer service at GIG was appalling. The AA service since we returned to the US has been just as bad. We are hoping to get to DFW sometime in the next 24 hours - not all weather problems. We were on a Pensacola flight to DFW yesterday that had to make an emergency landing at fort Walton beach - another long story. Bottom line is I'm not happy with O or AA. Hope my fellow cruisers on the GIG to DFW cancelled flight managed to get home!

[LHT28]

Sorry to hear you are stuck enroute home

Seeing the news DFW & Dallas in general were hit hard by snow/ice so still in a state of flux

Roads were very bad according to the news reports

According to the reports yesterday they are expecting to be almost normal today at DFW

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

 

Hope you get home soon

[orchestrapal]

I am currently sitting in the airport in Pensacola Florida still trying to get home from my Marina TA. We departed the ship Sunday morning in Rio with rumors of a cancelled AA flight to DFW. The Oceania concierge claimed to be unaware of the problem (we had booked our air through O). We received zero assistance assistance from O - rumor had it that there were 100 people in this situation. Even if O couldn't handle rebooking, they could have helped keep us informed since we were in Rio with very limited communication availability. The AA customer service at GIG was appalling. The AA service since we returned to the US has been just as bad. We are hoping to get to DFW sometime in the next 24 hours - not all weather problems. We were on a Pensacola flight to DFW yesterday that had to make an emergency landing at fort Walton beach - another long story. Bottom line is I'm not happy with O or AA. Hope my fellow cruisers on the GIG to DFW cancelled flight managed to get home![/

 

More snow in the NE has flights backed up and cancelled once again so best of luck getting home. Travel in the winter is usually no fun!

[arkansastraveler]

We aren't quite home but at least we are in Arkansas.

[pacheco18]

I worry more about delays getting there. I don't want to miss my cruise.

 

If I am delayed getting home it is less of an issue for me.

 

Winter travel is fraught with peril. Having once missed a cruise in South America when there was snow IN ATLANTA (of all places) for four days and the airport shut down, we now plan our winter travel to fly from LAX directly to anywhere in Europe or South America or Africa (and then connect to our destination city) to avoid all the east coast problems.

 

We are using O's air for the first time to fly from PHX to MIA tomorrow via Atlanta (the air credit was only $99 - ridiculous) I checked with Delta to make sure those flights and none of the inbound flights are affected.

 

Safe travel is more important than on time travel.

[RachelG]

Ironically, my last patient yesterday is a reservation agent for AA. She was exhausted as she has been working overtime since the storm hit last Friday getting people rescheduled and rerouted. And she expressed how frustrating it is when the agents are doing the best they can with what is available, and they still have customers taking out their wrath on the agent.

Yes, some agents are better than others, but most I have encountered are trying to do a good job. Just food for thought.

[TKS]

We learned a lesson on a recent return from Nautica. We requested an air deviation from O, they proposed an itinerary and we accepted. I was concerned because the Dubai to Atlanta flight arrived only 2 hours & 10 minutes before we were to fly to Phoenix. All via Delta. But I thought, " O does these all the time, so they know best, and it should be ok."

 

Well, things were botched in Dubai (don't know whether it was the airport or Delta), and the plane ended up leaving an hour late, arriving an hour late, and by the time we retrieved our luggage (one of the last off, of course, because we were on a short connection), got through immigration and customs and ran to the other end of the airport our connecting flight had left. We had a connecting flight home from Phoenix, our nearest gateway city, which we had booked ourselves. Missed that flight too, and spent the next 12 hours trying to get on a flight. After 54 hours, we arrived home, exhausted and $320 dollars poorer (had to book a flight rather than fly "stand-by" to guarantee we'd get home - we'd already missed three flights which were overbooked anyway).

 

Lesson learned. In future, I'll go with my own knowledge, no matter what O offers. They do their best, but the responsibility is mine to make the decision. In this case I was simply wrong, and I paid the price.

[LHT28]

We learned a lesson on a recent return from Nautica. We requested an air deviation from O, they proposed an itinerary and we accepted. I was concerned because the Dubai to Atlanta flight arrived only 2 hours & 10 minutes before we were to fly to Phoenix. All via Delta. But I thought, " O does these all the time, so they know best, and it should be ok."

 

Well, things were botched in Dubai (don't know whether it was the airport or Delta), and the plane ended up leaving an hour late, arriving an hour late, and by the time we retrieved our luggage (one of the last off, of course, because we were on a short connection), got through immigration and customs and ran to the other end of the airport our connecting flight had left. We had a connecting flight home from Phoenix, our nearest gateway city, which we had booked ourselves. Missed that flight too, and spent the next 12 hours trying to get on a flight. After 54 hours, we arrived home, exhausted and $320 dollars poorer (had to book a flight rather than fly "stand-by" to guarantee we'd get home - we'd already missed three flights which were overbooked anyway).

 

Lesson learned. In future, I'll go with my own knowledge, no matter what O offers. They do their best, but the responsibility is mine to make the decision. In this case I was simply wrong, and I paid the price.

 

I am confused

How would O know the flights would be delayed or a major snow storm in the west close airports :confused:

Even if you booked the flights yourself you would have been in the same situation wouldn't you??

 

Did you not inform the crew onboard your flight you would miss your connections ...they usually will notify the gate personal & rebook you on another flight

[RJB]

I am confused

How would O know the flights would be delayed or a major snow storm in the west close airports :confused:

Even if you booked the flights yourself you would have been in the same situation wouldn't you??

 

Did you not inform the crew onboard your flight you would miss your connections ...they usually will notify the gate personal & rebook you on another flight

Does not seem that he is blaming O, but more himself. When you fly these days unexpected things happen and sometimes there is no one to blame.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We learned a lesson on a recent return from Nautica. We requested an air deviation from O, they proposed an itinerary and we accepted. I was concerned because the Dubai to Atlanta flight arrived only 2 hours & 10 minutes before we were to fly to Phoenix. All via Delta. But I thought, " O does these all the time, so they know best, and it should be ok."

 

I'm guessing that the lesson you learned is not to accept a tight connection when your gut tells you it's too short. But 2 hours and 10 minutes doesn't seem tight to me, although I admit I've not had recent experience in Atlanta.