Flying to your Cruise on Southwest? Have a backup plan!

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, Dewaldcruiser said:

Interesting website.

 

There is an app too.  My DH does a lot of business travel, so it is very helpful in tracking where he is and where his plane is coming from if he is trying to make a short connection.

[RoyalC]

My RT non-stop Dec flight on Southwest from O'Hare to FLL is $98 RT, and cheaper yet bought on points. Hanging on to it, flying in a day early as usual.

[CruiszBug]

20 minutes ago, RoyalC said:

My RT non-stop Dec flight on Southwest from O'Hare to FLL is $98 RT, and cheaper yet bought on points. Hanging on to it, flying in a day early as usual.

I was a long-time fan of SWA especially since they had non-stops to where I was flying! That $98 RT used to be what we paid to get to FLL from JAX, but they don't fly that route any more... 😭

[lenquixote66]

15 years ago when flying from NY to Houston,SW was the most reliable airline.How things have changed.

[cruiselvr04]

 Not sure what a back up plan would be….

1) Buy a last minute ticket from another airline

2) Drive 20 hours ( awful thought with just 2 drivers)

 

We do always fly in a day early.

 

[Sunshine3601]

4 hours ago, Mom*3 said:

Not just Southwest this weekend. We had problems this weekend with both Delta and American. We arranged flights for our children to fly to St. Louis for their grandmother's funeral. My daugter's American Airlines flight to St. Louis was delayed so many times she was never going to make it. She was 5 hours away and managed to drive there in time. My son's return flight to Minneapolis on Delta was delayed about 22 hours. (He said people were freaking out about missing their cruise and yelling at the Delta agents.) 

We normally fly Southwest, but couldn't get flights that worked with their schedule and a funeral on such late notice. But, I guess it wouldn't have been any better with SW this weekend.

 

Sorry for your loss.

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

https://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/

sw had 1096 cancelled today, that's horrible.  

Only 14 cancelled out of miami so that's a good sign for @Ozark_Kid for flight tomorrow.

[emeraldcity]

With all the uncertainties involved in travel I chose to book all my flight arrangements for cruises through May with Air2Sea. I used to book all my domestic air travel independently, but in the current environment, I just don't think it's worth it. I want an organization that's got a vested interest in me making the ship (where they have a chance I'll spend more on board).

[ONECRUISER]

8 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Unfortunately this happens with ALL airlines. It’s just a matter of time when it happens to you if you fly enough, but it sucks either way.

Agree, all have their problems. Delta changed 3 of my last 4 Flights for Cruises and that was Pre-Covid. Been flying in 2 days early for Decade now

[Iamcruzin]

6 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

With all the love for Southwest here. I’m going to say we will never fly the Southwest buses in the sky. 
 

Enjoy the ride and rapid rewards.*

 

*(registered trademark) 

I would walk before I booked Southwest or Frontier. They are cheap for a reason.  Fortunately living in a major metropolis I have more choices than those in remote areas who can't even get a direct flight to Miami.

[Iamcruzin]

6 hours ago, BeginnercruiserHD said:

Cancellations happen with every airline.  That's why we'll always try to fly in the day before.

If this keeps up you may have to fly in the week before.

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, emeraldcity said:

With all the uncertainties involved in travel I chose to book all my flight arrangements for cruises through May with Air2Sea. I used to book all my domestic air travel independently, but in the current environment, I just don't think it's worth it. I want an organization that's got a vested interest in me making the ship (where they have a chance I'll spend more on board).

I think that's a smart move. With all the changes and possible cancellations of cruises at least you don't have to deal with changing a flight that you booked independently.

[Iamcruzin]

57 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

The big difference is that major airlines will put you on next available flight, even if it’s with a competitor. Discount airlines like Southwest will only rebook you on other Southwest flights.

That's the truth been there done that. Luckily it was a business trip and not a vacation.

[Ozark_Kid]

8 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

sw had 1096 cancelled today, that's horrible.  

Only 14 cancelled out of miami so that's a good sign for @Ozark_Kid for flight tomorrow.

Looks like there will be many more canceled today.  Our 2nd leg is canceled but we are about to fly to Atlanta. We will be getting out of the craziness and driving to family in Alabama.  We were able to have our bags available in Atlanta instead of having them sent to LR. 

[Ozark_Kid]

As we were boarding they said are tickets were not letting us board, please stand aside...... No panic.  Another attendant started clicking on the computer...... Printed new tickets..... We are on board.  I will feel better when we are in the air.  Would be hard to cancel when we are in the air! 

[billslowsky]

7 hours ago, Heymarco said:

The big difference is that major airlines will put you on next available flight, even if it’s with a competitor. Discount airlines like Southwest will only rebook you on other Southwest flights.

It used to be that way but we've experienced next day or later delays, almost always to a 6am flight.  And there are fewer airlines with those cooperative arrangements.

 

But when you fly SW, JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, etc., they don't have agreements to put you on other airlines so you're stuck.  Use more caution with Frontier since many routes don't fly every day of the week.

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

As we were boarding they said are tickets were not letting us board, please stand aside...... No panic.  Another attendant started clicking on the computer...... Printed new tickets..... We are on board.  I will feel better when we are in the air.  Would be hard to cancel when we are in the air! 

Good luck with your travels today😍

So sorry you are having to deal with these complications.  Just keep remembering what a wonderful cruise you had last week.  Thank you again for doing your live review.  You did a fantastic job🤩

[Ozark_Kid]

13 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Good luck with your travels today😍

So sorry you are having to deal with these complications.  Just keep remembering what a wonderful cruise you had last week.  Thank you again for doing your live review.  You did a fantastic job🤩

We have landed in Atlanta.  When family wake up they are coming to pick us up. So at least a 3+ hour wait to be picked up.  Thankful they are close enough to pick us up.  If not we would be spending at least a night in Atlanta with no guarantee to fly tomorrow. Talking with others there are others who are having a much harder time.  

Glad we are getting picked up. Looks like there are no car rentals available. 

[Sunshine3601]

16 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

We have landed in Atlanta.  When family wake up they are coming to pick us up. So at least a 3+ hour wait to be picked up.  Thankful they are close enough to pick us up.  If not we would be spending at least a night in Atlanta with no guarantee to fly tomorrow. Talking with others there are others who are having a much harder time.  

Glad we are getting picked up. Looks like there are no car rentals available. 

I suspected car rentals would be hard to find this weekend.  Any bus or train options?   There's a website called rome2rio.com that may provide some options.

Good thing you cashed out that obc🤩

I feel bad for people that dont have extra funds to cover a back up plan.  I remember the days we were young and traveled on a tight budget.

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, billslowsky said:

It used to be that way but we've experienced next day or later delays, almost always to a 6am flight.  And there are fewer airlines with those cooperative arrangements.

 

But when you fly SW, JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, etc., they don't have agreements to put you on other airlines so you're stuck.  Use more caution with Frontier since many routes don't fly every day of the week.

JetBlue did have an agreement with Delta and Spirit. I don't know if they still do but I never had to use the service. We have had delays with JetBlue but since JFK is a hub they just put us on another plane the one time we had a problem.

[Ozark_Kid]

31 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I suspected car rentals would be hard to find this weekend.  Any bus or train options?   There's a website called rome2rio.com that may provide some options.

Good thing you cashed out that obc🤩

I feel bad for people that dont have extra funds to cover a back up plan.  I remember the days we were young and traveled on a tight budget.

Dw's mom and sister are coming to pic us up. 

[helen haywood]

Glad that you have family to come get you.  What is the further plan to get you back to Little Rock?

[Peak city]

More than 1,000 flights cancelled yesterday and hundreds more today. https://trib.al/jr3yUlJ  

[ticketsunlimited]

All flights from southwest coming into Portland Maine today are cancelled. What a mess

[cruiselvr04]

I’m hoping Southwest can work this out and come back.  Pre covid the DH used them almost weekly for business.  A list.  We loved the rewards and he rarely was delayed and can’t remember when a flight was cancelled.  We live within 40 min of their Dallas hub so it was convenient.  DFW is much more of a pain to get in and out of, is farther away, more traffic.  
 

Southwest is not always cheaper.  Our next flights to cruise are February. Almost 1k with early bird.  But we had $800 credit to lose so we booked them. I do like the no change fees too.  I hate to pay for bags.  I will not use spirit or frontier.   ( We once checked bags in 58 minutes before a flight on Frontier.  They shut down at one hour before.   We didn’t get our bag for over 24 hours. And we paid for it!)