Winter storm - ugh

[Shiba_Lover]

well, crisis averted.   Checked in for a flight to Miami today, which goes through Dallas.  Up pops a warning that our flight is "likely" to be delayed or cancelled due to winter weather.  So I check the weather and flight schedules.  Yep - it is bad.  Ask friends on a certain social media app about weather there.  They say it is bad and supposed to be worse tomorrow.  Call to change flight to go through another city - flights sold out.  So I have to book a different airline through another city.  Finally manage to find a flight - and crisis averted.  Whew.  Looks like we will make it.  I am ready for some warmth!!!!

[mfs2k]

good luck making it! 

[DaKahuna]

 We try and book direct flights as often as possible.  When sailing out of FLL this results in an arrival time four hours before the hotel normally allows check-in.  

 

[mahdnc]

13 minutes ago, ehall said:

well, crisis averted.   Checked in for a flight to Miami today, which goes through Dallas.  Up pops a warning that our flight is "likely" to be delayed or cancelled due to winter weather.  So I check the weather and flight schedules.  Yep - it is bad.  Ask friends on a certain social media app about weather there.  They say it is bad and supposed to be worse tomorrow.  Call to change flight to go through another city - flights sold out.  So I have to book a different airline through another city.  Finally manage to find a flight - and crisis averted.  Whew.  Looks like we will make it.  I am ready for some warmth!!!!

 

Glad to hear that it worked out.  Enjoy your cruise.  We live in Chicago and have been able to schedule non-stop flights to the port city which avoids your problem unless the weather is bad in Chicago! 

 

I assume you were also flying in ahead of time enough that if you were delayed by a day or two, you would not have missed the cruise?

[George C]

Schools and lots of businesses are closed , we will not leave our house. Sleet and freezing rain.

[bEwAbG]

Always worth it to pay for nonstop any time it's an option.  The more places the plane lands, the higher the chance that something could cause delays/cancellations.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

2 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

Always worth it to pay for nonstop any time it's an option.  The more places the plane lands, the higher the chance that something could cause delays/cancellations.

I couldn't agree more, unless it is on Southwest, which is our only non stop option. $3300 later we were able to get on another airline 2 days later and made our New Year's cruise. SW did reimburse us for the flight and refunded us the cost of the SW ticket.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

@ehallGlad you got another flight, it's nerve wracking for sure.  Enjoy your cruise and warm weather.

[Shiba_Lover]

It's really rare to get direct flights for me.  I usually have to go through Dallas, Denver or Chicago.  Try to avoid Chicago since it's out of the way.  Heading through Houston.  On the way to the airport now after a packing frenzy.  Have passports , medicine and swimsuits.  Can buy whatever we forgot 🙂

[davekathy]

Another reason we always book flights the day before the cruise. 

[mahdnc]

53 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

Always worth it to pay for nonstop any time it's an option.  The more places the plane lands, the higher the chance that something could cause delays/cancellations.

 

and luggage snafus.

[dlh015]

Yep, always try to get to port a day or two early...except for my last cruise earlier this month. And I almost paid the price for that exception. My flight was on the day that the FAA grounded flights because of the system outage.

 

But I made it...whew. Will *not* be doing that ever again I can tell you!

[Shiba_Lover]

Home now.  We made it.  Just to be clear - we were initially arriving 1 day prior to the cruise.  When checking in for the day prior cruise (ie 24 hours prior to flight) - we were advised it would likely be cancelled.  I was then able to change to fly 2 days prior to the cruise through a different city.  So we did that.  Turned out to be good because ALL flights were cancelled the day prior.  We were able to explore Miami as we had a full day.

[TeaBag]

So glad you made it ehall.  Nothing replaces planning ahead.  Hope you enjoyed your cruise.

[phoenix_dream]

Glad you made it.  These days I recommend to everyone at least 2 days prior, especially in winter. Used to say 1 day but flights are so full these days that could be iffy as well.