Cancelled Flights

[sunshine4me2]

We r booked on Prima NYE cruise this Friday the 30th.

We booked our flights on SWA from Chicago to Orlando, arrival on Thursday, 29th.

Southwest now cancelling flights today and tomorrow, no word yet on Thursday’s.

 

Flights on all other carriers are sold out, or over $1000 per seat, one way, even looked at car rental, one way, that’s gone too.  Have 3rd party cruise insurance thru Trawick, hoping I don’t have to use it.

 

Anyone else out there in panic mode?

 

[Laszlo]

Yes, it’s insane. Two coworkers and two friends had their flights canceled yesterday out of NYC and PHL. No flights available until this weekend.

 

I would seriously look at 2-3 other options. Car rental, train 

[sassycruiser]

If you can I would start driving.   

[DCGuy64]

12 minutes ago, sassycruiser said:

If you can I would start driving.   

That's what I was thinking, too!

[sunshine4me2]

24 minutes ago, sassycruiser said:

If you can I would start driving.   

Given our ages, 73 & 77, 1200 miles to Port,  and car rentals one way, nonexistent, driving almost not an option.  I even checked flights from Indy to MCO, and that was not promising either.

Hoping SWA straightens this out by Thursday.

 

[Travelicious]

Sorry to hear this.  Good luck to you.

[DCGuy64]

30 minutes ago, sunshine4me2 said:

Given our ages, 73 & 77, 1200 miles to Port,  and car rentals one way, nonexistent, driving almost not an option.  I even checked flights from Indy to MCO, and that was not promising either.

Hoping SWA straightens this out by Thursday.

 

I'm sorry for the craziness of the weather and hope you're still able to make it. But I applaud you for getting travel insurance just in case- that's exactly why it's a good idea to purchase it! Check this site from time to time, it looks like most Chicago to Orlando flights are still on schedule, even if sometimes delayed. https://flightaware.com/live/findflight?origin=ZAU&destination=KMCO

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by DCGuy64
Added site

[Level six]

55 minutes ago, sunshine4me2 said:

Given our ages, 73 & 77, 1200 miles to Port,  and car rentals one way, nonexistent, driving almost not an option.  I even checked flights from Indy to MCO, and that was not promising either.

Hoping SWA straightens this out by Thursday.

 

I heard on the local news that it would be into the New Year before SW is even running somewhat normal.   Maybe call your insurance and ask if they would cover the difference in flight cost?  We missed a train in Italy due to a flight delay and had to get a more expensive train and the insurance covered the cost.Good luck. 

[wil e coyote]

Wow - so sorry to hear this. Just looking at FlightAware's cancelation info - looks like SWA has already canceled 62% of their flights for Wednesday and 16% on Thursday.

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

Hope you are able to get to your NYE cruise!

[cruisingrandy]

3 hours ago, sunshine4me2 said:

We r booked on Prima NYE cruise this Friday the 30th.

We booked our flights on SWA from Chicago to Orlando, arrival on Thursday, 29th.

Southwest now cancelling flights today and tomorrow, no word yet on Thursday’s.

 

Flights on all other carriers are sold out, or over $1000 per seat, one way, even looked at car rental, one way, that’s gone too.  Have 3rd party cruise insurance thru Trawick, hoping I don’t have to use it.

 

Anyone else out there in panic mode?

 

Looks like SWA is accepting some of the responsibility.  Here is what they posted on their web    https://www.southwest.com/traveldisruption/      look and see if this is any help in finding different flights

[kitkat343]

Am I correct in my belief (and I'm not sure so don't do anything until someone else on this board confirms it) that you can cancel a flight 24 hours after you book it without penalty?  If so, I'd book one of the 1000 flights just to have a backup and hold it for a day while you wait to see if Southtwest cancels your flight and insurance would cover the difference (because by the time Southwest cancels your flight there might not be any flights left available, and I'd hate for you to not have a ticket if your insurance would have covered the difference in the cost).  

Edited December 27, 2022 by kitkat343

[Karaboudjan]

50 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Am I correct in my belief (and I'm not sure so don't do anything until someone else on this board confirms it) that you can cancel a flight 24 hours after you book it without penalty?  If so, I'd book one of the 1000 flights just to have a backup and hold it for a day while you wait to see if Southtwest cancels your flight and insurance would cover the difference (because by the time Southwest cancels your flight there might not be any flights left available, and I'd hate for you to not have a ticket if your insurance would have covered the difference in the cost).  

 

It may depend on the airline.  I booked on United and Delta recently, so I checked my confirmation emails.  I don't see anything about cancelling within 24 hours in Delta's email.  United does say you can cancel for a refund within 24 hours if the reservation is made a week or more before the scheduled departure.  So they are probably discouraging the sort of contingent reservation that you mentioned. 

[IrieBajan54]

55 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Am I correct in my belief (and I'm not sure so don't do anything until someone else on this board confirms it) that you can cancel a flight 24 hours after you book it without penalty?  If so, I'd book one of the 1000 flights just to have a backup and hold it for a day while you wait to see if Southtwest cancels your flight and insurance would cover the difference (because by the time Southwest cancels your flight there might not be any flights left available, and I'd hate for you to not have a ticket if your insurance would have covered the difference in the cost).  

i think the refund policy pertains to flights booked more than 7 days before departure.

[kitkat343]

Thank you for clarifying that.  So sorry the OP doesn't have too many options at this point.  Hopefully Southwest will start to clear this mess soon.

[sunshine4me2]

3 hours ago, Level six said:

Given our ages, 73 & 77, 1200 miles to Port,  and car rentals one way, nonexistent, driving almost not an option.  I even checked flights from Indy to MCO, and that was not promising either.

Hoping SWA straightens this out by Thursday.

Ok here's the latest update (BTW, thanks to everyone for reaching out to us with suggestions for a solution)

There are no flights that I can book from Chicago (MDW or ORD) to MCO.  Every other airline, United, Frontier, etc., either sold out or over $$1400 per seat, one way.

Called Trawick Safe Journey's Insurance, nope since I didn't purchase "Cancel for ANY reason", SWA's issues are NOT covered under our Trip Cancellation clause - weather related, yes, but not the fiasco that SWA is experiencing now.

So, our game plan now, booked for 10:40 am flight on Thursday, we are getting to MDW about 7 am, and hope for standby on any SWA flight to MCO for Thursday.  Just bought 2 new suitcases so we don't need to check bags and each of us with have a backpack. l It's either this or we lose what we paid for the cruise.

Not quite what I expected to spend NYE, on a new ship, in our golden years!

Hoping for the best!  But you know what I'm blessed that we both are healthy enough to travel at our ages, even if we don't get to go!  Life could be worse🙂

[wil e coyote]

12 minutes ago, sunshine4me2 said:

Hoping for the best!  But you know what I'm blessed that we both are healthy enough to travel at our ages, even if we don't get to go!  Life could be worse🙂

Wishing you safe and uneventful travels! Love your attitude!

[nonchalant_muse]

20 minutes ago, sunshine4me2 said:

Ok here's the latest update (BTW, thanks to everyone for reaching out to us with suggestions for a solution)

There are no flights that I can book from Chicago (MDW or ORD) to MCO.  Every other airline, United, Frontier, etc., either sold out or over $$1400 per seat, one way.

Called Trawick Safe Journey's Insurance, nope since I didn't purchase "Cancel for ANY reason", SWA's issues are NOT covered under our Trip Cancellation clause - weather related, yes, but not the fiasco that SWA is experiencing now.

So, our game plan now, booked for 10:40 am flight on Thursday, we are getting to MDW about 7 am, and hope for standby on any SWA flight to MCO for Thursday.  Just bought 2 new suitcases so we don't need to check bags and each of us with have a backpack. l It's either this or we lose what we paid for the cruise.

Not quite what I expected to spend NYE, on a new ship, in our golden years!

Hoping for the best!  But you know what I'm blessed that we both are healthy enough to travel at our ages, even if we don't get to go!  Life could be worse🙂

 

I sincerely hope all goes well and your flight goes off without a hitch!

 

If the worst should happen and you can't fly out that day at all, there may be one last solution you could try which could salvage at least some of your cruise: find out if SWA will agree to arrange to fly you to meet the ship at the first port of call. Several years ago my DH and I missed our cruise embarkation due to unforeseeable circumstances which were flight-related. We did arrange for a different flight to the first port of call and met up with our ship there (we only missed embarkation day and one sea day). 

 

Just an idea that could hopefully save you from losing your cruise entirely! 

[cruiseny4life]

I hope the flight arrangements work out well for you! Truly, best of luck!

 

I know this is not an ideal possibility given you don't really want to be driving, but have you mentioned your dilemma in your roll call? Perhaps someone is driving from the Chicagoland area, or somewhere close by that  you could carpool with? Certainly not as convenient as a flight, but sounds like flights aren't all that convenient right now.

 

Regardless, best wishes, and please do let us know you were able to board and enjoy a lovely cruise!

[DCGuy64]

According to one site I looked at, the ship departs from Orlando on 30 Dec and the first port is Cozumel on 1 Jan. Worst case, you might have to be flown to Cozumel to catch the ship, but it would be better than missing the whole cruise. It looks like it's a 9-day cruise so even losing 2 days you'd end up with a 7-day.

[European_CruiseGirl]

Just as a back up (with a really last minute schedule) there would be a very early Delta flight available from Cedar Rapids via ATL to Orlando on Friday 12/30. Arrives to Orlando at 11:55AM. It is very tight and obviously includes a risk too as it is not non-stop. But it could be a backup. Price for 2 persons around $1400 and you can upgrade to fully refundable main cabin with $110/pp which would mean that if you get on your southwest flight on Thursday you can just cancel this and get your money back. 

Edited December 27, 2022 by European_CruiseGirl

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, sunshine4me2 said:

We r booked on Prima NYE cruise this Friday the 30th.

We booked our flights on SWA from Chicago to Orlando, arrival on Thursday, 29th.

Southwest now cancelling flights today and tomorrow, no word yet on Thursday’s.

 

Flights on all other carriers are sold out, or over $1000 per seat, one way, even looked at car rental, one way, that’s gone too.  Have 3rd party cruise insurance thru Trawick, hoping I don’t have to use it.

 

Anyone else out there in panic mode?

 

Looking for flights to Orlando, Tampa, Melbourne,,,, then look for southern Florida. Don’t constrain yourself to MCO. 
 

Do you have anyone who has airline “connections” that can help you get on one of the sold out flights?  

Edited December 27, 2022 by BirdTravels

[fastpitchdad]

5 hours ago, sunshine4me2 said:

Given our ages, 73 & 77, 1200 miles to Port,  and car rentals one way, nonexistent, driving almost not an option.  I even checked flights from Indy to MCO, and that was not promising either.

Hoping SWA straightens this out by Thursday.

 

 

I read a comment from a SWA employee that the mess wouldn't be straightened out until the 30th. 

[BeantownLady]

We just returned from Florida this morning.  Our SW Orlando flight home was cancelled for later today.  Just a suggestion, but Jacksonville is only a 2.5 hour drive north of Orlando.  We managed to get a JetBlue flight this morning out of Jacksonville instead and are glad to be home.....maybe you could find something going into Jax and then just drive the short distance south to the pier.  

[fastpitchdad]

This is from FlyerTalk:

 

""PSA from a SWA employee since the company won't give any on info

On behalf of all employees: WE ARE SORRY!

Couple main points:
1. Please be patient with us, We desperately want to do everything we can to get you where you're going.
2. This S***storm is because the crew scheduling software went belly up and it almost all has to be unraveled over the phone with crew members calling scheduling. If we had better technology which eliminated the need for phone call, this would have been fixed by now.
3. If you are able to find alternative transportation to your final destination - DO IT. Another airline, bus, train Lyft, rental car, ANYTHING. Southwest WILL NOT be able to get you to your destination anytime in the next few weeks.
4. Like I said, it's gonna take a least a week to get back to normal operations for Southwest.
5. Don't check your bags unless you absolutely need to, take them as carry-on"

[fredflint]

Use your trip insurance do not count on Southwest.