Severe weather in Florida

[CruisinCrow]

3 hours ago, ALaver said:

Apparently, now American Airlines has cancelled all flights into Florida today. I am so glad I planned for them to fly a day early. What a mess.

 

What?  Why??  My mom is flying into Tampa tonight and her flight with Southwest was delayed about an hour.  It makes no sense to cancel all flights.  I've had the most troubles with flights on American Airlines and now I avoid them, if possible.

Edited April 19, 2019 by CruisinCrow

[DeepC]

Side note... Have aircraft overhead right now heading south. I'm in Palm Beach so they were FLL or MIA...

 

[Homosassa]

The front basically passed over the west coast by 3 PM  today so Tampa Airport is probably reopened.

 

It is still very windy so the ride in may be bumpy.

 

As for the east coast, the front line will be moving out into the Atlantic. Depending on the wind and wave conditions, incoming ships may have a rough ride and the following wind of the front may make it difficult to maneuver and dock.

 

There might be a chance that some ships will be delayed due to the frontal passage.

[time4u2go]

3 hours ago, ALaver said:

Apparently, now American Airlines has cancelled all flights into Florida today. I am so glad I planned for them to fly a day early. What a mess.

That's not true.  They have had/are having 15 flights arrive in Orlando alone between 5:30 and 10:30 PM.

[ZoeyVictoria]

Can he find a flight to somewhere in Florida within driving distance?

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, ALaver said:

Southwest from Love Field to FLL is sold out completely today and tomorrow. That would have been doable if we had done it earlier today. I think everyone else had the same idea. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Check flights to Orlando or Fort Myers.  Then rent a car.

[CruisinCrow]

18 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

The front basically passed over the west coast by 3 PM  today so Tampa Airport is probably reopened.

 

 

I don't think the Tampa airport ever closed.  They did have delays and some cancellations and luggage unloading stopped when there was lightning in the area.  My mom's flight from Raleigh/Durham was delayed because her plane couldn't get into that airport and was circling around for a while.  She's in the air now and hopefully it won't be too bumpy of a landing when she gets here.

[DeepC]

12 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Check flights to Orlando or Fort Myers.  Then rent a car.

Or Palm Beach.

[Btank]

1 hour ago, ALaver said:

Update:

 

At this point, I'm not sure they will make the cruise. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks for listening.

 

Your options are pretty limited.  One of them might be to book into Orlando and drive down (about 3 hours).  They're about to get hit by the weather, but MCO will probably clear well before FLL and MIA will. 

 

     --bruce T.

[ownedbypets]

7 minutes ago, DeepC said:

Or Palm Beach.

 

Or Tampa

[time4u2go]

3 minutes ago, Btank said:

 

Your options are pretty limited.  One of them might be to book into Orlando and drive down (about 3 hours).  They're about to get hit by the weather, but MCO will probably clear well before FLL and MIA will. 

 

     --bruce T.

MCO was hit by the weather several hours ago.  It's been clear for a while.

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, time4u2go said:

MCO was hit by the weather several hours ago.  It's been clear for a while.

 

MCO has been having issues all day.  Between issues at MCO and BOS, my sister's flight finally just landed in Boston about five hours delayed.  Flights to MCO were being held at their origin until 7pm.  There are both arrival and departure delays at MCO of about an hour.

 

https://flightaware.com/live/airport/delays

[DeepC]

Try AA #2720...

 

[DeepC]

AA 2519 leaves DFW 05:25 arrives MIA 8:57

[fla33023]

I'm in Hollywood, FL and I just started hearing slight thunder. Still sitting outside, not even a drop of rain yet.

 

**ok...now it's starting to rain

Edited April 20, 2019 by fla33023
Rain

[DeepC]

Just about done in the Palm Beaches...

 

[ALaver]

They have been rebooked and then cancelled so many times. The most recent one, they were literally starting to board, and then were told the flight was cancelled. With all of those flights cancelled, there are literally no seats available to Central- South Florida. The latest is they were re-routed to Kansas City, stay in a hotel and fly in the morning, since the DFW-MIA flights tomorrow are all full. At this point, that’s fine, except that now “that” flight is delayed. BTW, my father has Parkinson’s Disease, which adds an extra level of difficulty to everything. Whew, I’m exhausted and I’m not even the one traveling.

[Btank]

1 minute ago, ALaver said:

The latest is they were re-routed to Kansas City, stay in a hotel and fly in the morning, since the DFW-MIA flights tomorrow are all full. At this point, that’s fine, except that now “that” flight is delayed. BTW, my father has Parkinson’s Disease, which adds an extra level of difficulty to everything. Whew, I’m exhausted and I’m not even the one traveling.

 

Very important words to use with the counter / gate agent: "distressed traveler".  While serious regulatory protections for passengers are long gone, that phrase can often get them priority handling & routing, as well as hotel & meal vouchers (or at least a substantial discount on the hotel).  I only had to use it once - when travelling with my parents (who were both diabetic and had Parkinson's), and stranded due to weather at... you guessed it, DFW.

 

Very important advice: never, ever, never get mad with the gate or counter agent.  They're in their own personal hell, and some kindness and understanding can work wonders for you.

 

    --bruce T.

 

[ALaver]

Absolutely. They have had the same amazing person at the help desk every single time, and he has been awesome. I have nothing but praise and thanks for him. He has gone above and beyond today. I will be writing to his supervisors for sure. He is aware of Dad’s situation and has been trying everything to get them to Miami. None of this is his fault at all. It just gets frustrating, the back and forth “yes you are going, no you aren’t”. His disease doesn’t understand that.

[Btank]

...and the people who did make it out aren't very happy right now.  5 orbiting over the Everglades, and more on the way.  Even money that at least some of 'em get diverted to Ft. Meyers or Tampa.

 

 

     --bruce T.

 

[ALaver]

Yikes!

[sandebeach]

Thunder and lightning storms in Ft. Lauderdale since 9 PM. 

[nalatrixie74]

did they make it??

[textbookcase]

We finally made it to Miami around 1:00am after getting on a plane, deplaning it and having that flight cancelled. Rebooked on another flight, got on that plane, deplaned, re-boarded then almost got screwed due to pilot time out. Luckily we had some sort of supervisor on board who was able to get their time extended, rather than wait on a new crew. 

 

Our bags didn’t make it; not sure why since it was seven freaking hours between deplaning plane one and leaving on plane two. Plenty of time to get the bags over there. They came in on a later flight and my husband just picked them up from the airport. 

 

I really hope hope your dad makes it!  We’d love to meet him if he does. 

[ALaver]

I just got a notification that they flight has arrived in Miami, so they will make the cruise. However, their bags are still in Dallas. The bags won’t make it to Miami until 2:23 this afternoon. I don’t know what to do. The airline won’t be able to get the bags to the ship in time. I don’t know anyone in Miami that could pick up the bags and get them to the ship.