Major snowstorm

[Giorgi-one]

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What about driving to the next state where the flights aren't canceled ? Pending road conditions ?? Just a thought?

 

Snowstorm is widespread. Also, when large numbers of flights get cancelled it affects the whole country. To some extent it affects the whole world.

[K&RCurt]

Is there any possibility of switching your flight ahead of time to a departure airport North or West of PHL. It looks as if it will be a coastal storm. If you can get an early flight out of Pittsburgh you would have time get get off work, drive to The 'Burgh, get a hotel overnight and fly from there. The predictions for Allentown aren't that bad as far as snow accumulations are concerned, you might be able to get out of ABE Saturday morning. The deciding factor will be if the airlines decide to pull all of their planes out of the North East to help prevent disruptions everywhere else. If that happens you are likely out of luck.

 

I would urge you, going forward, to allot the time to fly down at least a day early, with an AM flight. This will mean an extra day of vacation time, but well worth it. I don't quite understand the "People who work" part of your predicament. If you can get 5 days off for a vacation, at the beginning of the year I can't see how you couldn't have scheduled Friday off as well. I work too, and there are trade-offs. The way Christmas hits this year by taking the 2 extra days pre-cruise I will not have any time off for the Holidays. But I won't be sitting at home or in an airport somewhere when the ship I have booked sails away out of Port Everglades.

 

I hope you make it! If not, it will be a hard lesson in winter travel.

[dobes3kh]

I am considering booking a cruise on the Summit departing this Saturday!!! the 23rd and looking at flying from Toronto to Miami and then on to San Juan. Surely this won't be a problem? Or am I being naive!?!?

[Iamcruzin]

Living in the northeast this is the prime reason that I never vacation in January and February. We buy trip insurance but the trip insurance won't cover the precious vacation time lost to sit home in a snow storm, plus I hate having to go to a nice warm place for a week only to come back to cold weather for another 2 months. If we were retired I would be thinking differently.

[gergles]

I am considering booking a cruise on the Summit departing this Saturday!!! the 23rd and looking at flying from Toronto to Miami and then on to San Juan. Surely this won't be a problem? Or am I being naive!?!?

 

Look at a globe and look at where the snowstorm is going to be. It certainly might be a problem depending on how well the airline is willing to divert around the storm (hint: it would be a LONG diversion from Toronto).

[FrankinPA]

I am considering booking a cruise on the Summit departing this Saturday!!! the 23rd and looking at flying from Toronto to Miami and then on to San Juan. Surely this won't be a problem? Or am I being naive!?!?

 

Latest maps show heavy snow and ice is all below Toronto so a direct flight to Miami may be doable. It depends on where your plane originated before arriving in Toronto. If it had to come from anywhere in the mid-Atlantic coast, it might never show up in Toronto.

 

Larry

[Nashna]

I have large sympathy for folks who do not have job flexibility. There are many positions where the worker would be fired or severely disciplined if they take unscheduled leave... military personnel, etc... There are also positions where employees are not allowed to take more than their allotted vacation days.

 

It doesn't help this situation to tell the OP what they should have done. I'm sure that they would rather be in Florida today basking in the sun instead of needing to worry about their vacation status as well as prepare for a nasty storm.

 

This thread does highlight the importance of travel insurance. We never know when we will need it, and when we do, it makes a bad situation tolerable.

 

Good luck, Rujray! We all help you make it!

[dobes3kh]

Latest maps show heavy snow and ice is all below Toronto so a direct flight to Miami may be doable. It depends on where your plane originated before arriving in Toronto. If it had to come from anywhere in the mid-Atlantic coast, it might never show up in Toronto.

 

Larry

 

It appears to have originated from Miami prior to Toronto....a back and forth daily flight. That being said, when I checked it on flightaware, I'm not sure if it goes anywhere else...it's AA 2449. I may be doing this incorrectly though......

[captdave]

Our next Celebrity Summit Cruise will be easy. 1hr drive from home, we use a Town-Car (SUV) Service.

 

We get to bring EVERYTHING, buy what we want in Bermuda. This is our only no hard planning Celebrity Cruise.

 

We ALWAYS airline 2 days before the Cruise, just in case (maybe longer).

 

 

CaptDave

[phoenix_dream]

First of all, best of luck to those affected and I hope you all make it with as little stress as possible.:)

 

To summarize some suggestions (all of which do not apply to everyone of course):

- If at all possible, change your flight to leave earlier. I know not everyone can - I worked for 40 years before retiring recently with bosses good and bad. But sometimes bosses will surprise you - it can't hurt to ask.

- Don't head to the airport, get your flight cancelled, and then wait in line to change. Do your best to do something NOW. If you do get cancelled last minute, get in line, but in the meantime pick up the phone and CALL. You will likely have better luck

- Consider alternate airports to fly into and then drive - if you can leave early you can fly into Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Fort Meyers and drive to FLL or MIA. Not fun but possible. Maybe even as far north as Atlanta or similar, if you can get out ASAP.

- Similarly, consider alternate airports to fly out of if possible.

- If you can, consider driving and leave ASAP. We had one trip where we could not fly out until the night before due to work considerations and weather was threatening. We literally planned to jump in the car and drive down to FLL if we had to - taking turns at the wheel. But of course it goes without saying that you may not be able to drive either if travel in your area is hazardous.

[phoenix_dream]

Our next Celebrity Summit Cruise will be easy. 1hr drive from home, we use a Town-Car (SUV) Service.

 

We get to bring EVERYTHING, buy what we want in Bermuda. This is our only no hard planning Celebrity Cruise.

 

We ALWAYS airline 2 days before the Cruise, just in case (maybe longer).

 

 

CaptDave

 

Come on now, CaptDave, how does reading this help the people on this thread who are in a stressed out, frantic state of mind? Seems kind of like rubbing salt into the wound. :eek:

[serene56]

We did book thru Choice Air. I just got off of the phone with them. I called to ask questions. The woman was very helpful. She said to go to the airport. If your flight is delayed and you think you will miss the embarkment, then go to the counter to try to get booked on a different earlier flight. She said to call the Emergency Travel Team of Choice Air and gave me their#. They will assist and monitor flights. But if all flights are cancelled and you cannot get to Miami, then Choice air will help arrange booking on the first available flight once the airport is up and running again. So they would probably book us on a flight to San Juan on the 25th if we could not get to Miami on the 23rd. We would miss two days of cruising but at least not miss the entire cruise.

 

 

the airlines are letting people diviate for free to make changes. Can you see what your choices are to fly out a day head of time I doubt that planes will be flying on saturday and if its as bad as they are saying-- sunday flights will probably be cancelled too And missing a few days of your cruise-- but if you can make changes to a thursday flight or a friday flight

[K&RCurt]

As an FYI I just got a notice that American Airlines has cancelled all flights in and out of PHL for Saturday and are reducing the number of flights on Friday. American is the major carrier at PHL.

Edited January 21, 2016 by K&RCurt

[lovingcruising]

American Airlines was great. I called them today and told them that I wanted to move our flight from Saturday to Friday am. We are flying out of JFK. I called monday and it would have cost us 1000 to change but this morning because of the storm they didn't charge us just changed same flight day earlier. Finding a hotel in San Juan was tough but after 3 hours found one. Wish everyone a safe trip.

[Nashna]

Yes! Glad to hear the news. I'm sure American would rather have folks switch while they still can. Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[brfan]

I am considering booking a cruise on the Summit departing this Saturday!!! the 23rd and looking at flying from Toronto to Miami and then on to San Juan. Surely this won't be a problem? Or am I being naive!?!?

 

There shouldn't be any problems as Toronto isn't impacted by the storm. However, I would suggest flying either Air Canada or West Jet as American based airlines may not be able to fly to Toronto due to the storm, depending where they may originate.

[dobes3kh]

There shouldn't be any problems as Toronto isn't impacted by the storm. However, I would suggest flying either Air Canada or West Jet as American based airlines may not be able to fly to Toronto due to the storm, depending where they may originate.

 

Thanks brfan!

 

Yes, it's an AA flight operated by Westjet.....hopefully that will be okay!

 

The last flight I'm able to pull up on Flightradar shows it leaving JFK and going to Austin arriving 21:39 so it must make a final trip to Toronto that night and then hopefully I'm the first flight out in the morning!

[Hydrokitty]

Thanks brfan!

 

Yes, it's an AA flight operated by Westjet.....hopefully that will be okay!

 

The last flight I'm able to pull up on Flightradar shows it leaving JFK and going to Austin arriving 21:39 so it must make a final trip to Toronto that night and then hopefully I'm the first flight out in the morning!

 

That's a good place to be when you're flying the day of bad weather. I'm always nervous when I'm flying later in the day and I have to worry about where the flight is coming from as well as where I'm boarding and where we're going.

Good luck everybody....

[Giorgi-one]

As an FYI I just got a notice that American Airlines has cancelled all flights in and out of PHL for Saturday and are reducing the number of flights on Friday. American is the major carrier at PHL.

 

I live in South Jersey and one big advantage to PHL airport is that there are many carriers flying to Florida. American may be the biggest but not by much. I'm flying Southwest on Wednesday to FLL and we also have United, Delta, Frontier and Spirit all flying to FLL or MIA.

[K&RCurt]

I live in South Jersey and one big advantage to PHL airport is that there are many carriers flying to Florida. American may be the biggest but not by much. I'm flying Southwest on Wednesday to FLL and we also have United, Delta, Frontier and Spirit all flying to FLL or MIA.

 

True. We are flying Southwest on 2/4 as well.

 

PHL just reported that they have cancelled ALL flights for Saturday.

[captdave]

When we do the Summit out of San Juan most of the passengers arrived that day. I always tell them...what it?

 

I use to fly G-IV's around the world. I do know a bit about traveling. Spend the money and get there a couple days early.

 

CaptDave

[az_tchr]

Always amazes me passengers will spend days and months planning and saving for a cruise and then try and fly in the morning of the cruise. So many things that can go wrong even on a good weather day. And in the winter from the NEast to Florida - my my.

 

Why not enjoy a day or two relaxing before your cruise instead of worrying about if your flight will get you there in time to board before your ship leaves? Not likely to get people to change. Years ago I lived in Minnesota and flew 5 days a week. If I got stuck in a city I really did not care much, but it happened during the winter almost weekly.

[Wj420]

We should also keep in mind all the people departing the ships Saturday expecting to fly out! What a mess. Travel safely everyone.

[az_tchr]

It is indeed a mess, but it is one that was predicted about 5 or 6 days ago wasn't it? Gonna be a lot of empty cabins on Saturday. My general rule (am I fly out of the desert in Arizona) is California the day before - even with 21 flights a day), Florida and Canada two days, anyplace else three days or more. DW always likes to explore the ports. What isn't to like about three days in Sydney, The UK, Rome, Barcelona, Istanbul or ??? Then no stress relaxed and rested before the cruise. Ditto for flying out. Either very late the day or arrival or spend a night!

 

It is indeed sad for those that will miss a significant portion of their holiday. This one is going to take probably till Wednesday to get everything back on schedule. Charlotte closed and Philadelphia mostly closed later today. Am sure the others are similar situation

Edited January 22, 2016 by az_tchr

[grandmarnnurse]

But what does the working people do?? I have Trip Insurance and Choice Air but I cannot take Friday off from work!. What happens to the luggage if we get to the airport, check our bags on the flight to Miami and then the flight gets cancelled. Big Deal - Choice Air will fly us to San Juan but how does our luggage get there?

 

I have cruised for years--while still working--and always planned to take days off prior to cruise to ensure I made it, as we were flying out of blustery Buffalo, NY. I will not risk losing all I invested in a vacation! Take my advice, and fly down at least one day prior. Make it part of your vacation.