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Flights cancelations everywhere. What are your experiences?

mustski

Angel Diva
I am frugal and retired; I have options. I always travel on weekdays. I am currently sitting in the airport in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, pondering this issue. Granted- this is the world’s best airport in my opinion. I flew in last Friday afternoon with zero issues- after flying from Reno to Vegas on Thursday with zero issues. All weekend, I read about flight cancellations, etc. Now, I am again sitting in the world’s best airport awaiting. Flight to Denver. The history shows my plane arriving 1.5 hrs before boarding. Change of planes in Denver same thing, on the way to Vegas. My son lives inVegas so I akways stop there to visit. No issues so far. What are you experiencing?
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
Good luck! I'm very concerned about this, too. I have plans to visit my Mom in Florida the end of July, and a trip to Ireland in September. Fingers crossed for you -- and me.
 

RachelV

Administrator
Staff member
Curious to hear people's experiences with this. I haven't flown much this year, but I've been operating under the assumption that if I book travel with no connections and keep things between hubs (i.e. Denver/NYC instead of Denver/Hartford) I should be pretty safe. Maybe that's just wishful thinking.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
I flew to Hawaii in May. Absolutely no issues at all. Arrived 45 minutes early at Honolulu.
 

Christy

Angel Diva
I've had many changes to booked flights, but, I also know that when you book more than a few months out, airlines really consider it a placeholder--even before Covid, changes were common. Now they are VERY common. I booked flights to Costa Rica on Alaska in December, but Alaska went down from daily to weekly service. Luckily I checked a detail on the flight, saw mine had been cancelled, and was able to rebook and stay in first class. I've had a number of changes, including one cancellation, to an Alaska trip involving 4 flight segments in September (@elemmac have you checked your flights? Alaska cancelled one of their two ANC-AKN flights per day).

All the airline hassles (and rental car shortages) and stories about passengers acting badly is making it very easy to stick to my carbon diet. I'm not tempted by any extra trips that require a flight.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Booked a flight in late March - Toronto to Tampa in July. Within a week I had a time change. So far so good. What I'm hearing here is one major carrier with issues and that part of the airport too. I'm flying a different brand as I'm using points and they are at a different terminal.

I had no issues in April going from Toronto to Tampa and back.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
I’m hearing Heathrow is terrible…..long long lines
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
My ski buddy, Bill, flew from ABQ to RDU and back in early June. He was on Southwest and had delays in Dallas both ways. My impression is that his flights were held in order to accommodate people making the connection who was on flights that were a bit late. There wasn't any weather issues the days he was flying that I remember.

What I've noticed at RDU is that there are a lot more passengers arriving late in the evening, meaning after 10:30pm ET. It's clear that the airlines are shifting the last flight of the day to RDU to collect from more flights at the hub airports.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Curious to hear people's experiences with this. I haven't flown much this year, but I've been operating under the assumption that if I book travel with no connections and keep things between hubs (i.e. Denver/NYC instead of Denver/Hartford) I should be pretty safe. Maybe that's just wishful thinking.
As long as weather doesn't cause complications, that's a good strategy. Of course, if a plane has a mechanical problem then all bets are off.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
I do remember back in April we waited a long time for luggage. WestJet was funneling all Tampa flights through Toronto. So anyone that used to go direct to Calgary, St. John NFLD, even Ottawa were being sent through Toronto. That may change now.

Most of the Covid restrictions are being lifted here in Canada. You still need a vax and the ArriveCan app to enter from outside. Even a Canadian citizen. But unvax'd can now fly, take a train or bus within Canada.
 

DebbieSue

Angel Diva
Planned a 6 day vacation in Nova Scotia in August, staying in sequence of city hotel, Village inn, dome “glamping.” Lined up kayaking and rafting. Booked flights Boston to Halifax in early May…not too pricey. That night tried to line up rental car….None to be had!!!! Not on Costco, none with the companies directly, none calling the local “shop,” none in Truro or the nearby towns in New Brunswick! Scratched the trip within 24h of airline booking, and we’re going to Eastern Shore of Maryland instead. Very disappointing as I had done alot of research and planning. Apparently Canadian car rental companies sold off their fleets and are slow to replenish. Can’t be good for bringing in tourism $$. Maybe we’ll visit Nova Scotia in 2023. I did quite a few domestic flights for work this spring to DC, Denver, San Francisco, no issues, including car rental in Denver which was not pricey. Most flights have been quite full. I do recommend avoiding tight scheduling in case there are weather delays.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I flew from Denver to Stockholm and back April to May. No issues, though i was expecting major security delays in Seeden which never materialized.
 

elemmac

Angel Diva
I've had a number of changes, including one cancellation, to an Alaska trip involving 4 flight segments in September (@elemmac have you checked your flights? Alaska cancelled one of their two ANC-AKN flights per day).
No changes nor cancellations (yet). We booked our ANC to AKN flight just a week or so ago, I believe they only had one flight to choose from at that time. Nothing has changed on our flights BOS-ANC either (AA one way, AK home).
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
@DebbieSue there is probably only 1 Costco in all of NS. So that would have been difficult to start. I booked a car for my July trip to Sarasota in March. Most of the rental companies sold off their fleets. And new ones are hard to come by. I booked through CAA which the Canadian equivalent to AAA. 10 days from under $1000.

GTAA announced that they have hired 1200 more TSA agents. But most are still in training. So maybe by the time I go to Sarasota the security screening will be better. It was in Tampa on the way back compared to Toronto.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
@DebbieSue there is probably only 1 Costco in all of NS. So that would have been difficult to start. I booked a car for my July trip to Sarasota in March. Most of the rental companies sold off their fleets. And new ones are hard to come by. I booked through CAA which the Canadian equivalent to AAA. 10 days from under $1000.
Costco partners with a few major car rental companies like Avis, Alamo, Budget. The advantage is that no pre-payment is required to get a good price and cancellation is free. Normally the rates don't change that much.

In late 2021 and early 2022 the rates for ABQ for Taos dropped significantly. It was a good thing we all had free cancellation and could easily rebook when the ice storm that went from Texas to Boston scrambled almost everyone's flight plans. There were four rental cars used for ten people as part of that trip. We kept having to re-arrange who was riding in which car to get to Taos.

American car rental companies are also short on cars because they sold off cars in 2020. Buying a new car is only slightly easier in the USA compared to Canada.

Apparently destination ski resorts in the Rockies are seeing lower demand for lodging this summer compared to 2020 and 2021. That's not true for the east or midwest. Perhaps car rental rates and lack of supply is a factor more than concerns about flying.
 

Emski528

Angel Diva
We ran into a lot of trouble in April. Flight cancelled on frontier a hour before takeoff and the crew and desk all left so they couldn’t rebook any of us. We rebooked ourselves on a flight the next morning out of a nearby city hoping to catch our connection we’d planned the next day. That flight was delayed and so we missed the connection and couldn’t fly until the next day from yet another different city. Three LONG days with kids. Missed the Easter holiday. We are still waiting for refunds $3500 (!!!) from rebooked flights and hotels. Thankfully our travel insurance should eventually cover it. I wouldn’t travel again soon without insurance and an idea of alternate travel options. Good luck out there!
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I've heard too many nightmares recently from family, friends, and coworkers. Especially cancelled connections and delays being able to come home by multiple days. Some missed events they were going to because their connections were cancelled and they couldn't be rescheduled in a timely manner to get there on time.

I'm not planning to travel by plane anytime soon, don't want to deal with the hassle. If I were I'd want to ensure my plans were pretty flexible or that I was leaving earlier than needed if there is something specific I need to do once getting there.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I just saw this that a friend shared on Facebook and looked very appropriate to this thread..

Kristie Koerbel

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Flying this summer is ROUGH!!! I feel like as a Flight Attendant I should attempt to share some tips to get you through airline travel for the foreseeable future.
1. Things are not good..... if its less than 7 hours - DRIVE! I'm not kidding. There is nothing enjoyable about flying right now. On any airline. If you must fly, keep reading.
2. Download and use the app of the airline you are flying. You can do everything on it - get your boarding pass, track your bags, see your incoming plane, and change a flight. It sure beats waiting in the long line to talk to an agent! Trust me - Usually these apps will tell you a flight is cancelled before the crew even knows!
3. Fly MUCH earlier than you need to - a whole day early if its important!! This week I saw many people miss important things like weddings, funerals, cruises, international connections, and graduations. The tears were very real, for very real reasons, and there was nothing I could do! If you have to be somewhere, spend the extra money, go a day early. Have a glass of wine and stay in a hotel, enjoy your night not being stressed while everyone else misses their events.
4. ALWAYS fly the first flight in the morning so you have all day to be rebooked if the #### hits the fan. Yes, that means it might be a 3:00 alarm, but morning flights don't cancel nearly as often.
5. This is not unique to this year, but keep in mind summer is thunderstorm season. A single storm can shut down a whole airport. We can't fly through them. Storms usually build as the day gets later. Book early flights!
6. Schedule long layovers - Your 1 hour layover is NOT enough anymore. 30 minutes, not a chance. 3 hours minimum.
7. What you see on the news is an understatement. We are short staffed and overworked. Not just pilots and flight attendants, but also ground crews. Without ground crews there is no one to park the planes, drive jetways, get your bags on/off planes, or scan boarding passes. This causes many delays that snowball throughout the day. Sometimes HOURS.(Another reason morning flights are best!)
8. When flight crews get delayed we time out. We can NOT fly longer than 16 hours. Its illegal. So it doesn't matter if you have a wedding to get to, when we are done we are done. The way things are now, there are no back up crews, so when this happens your flight cancels. (Now you are starting to see why those morning flights are best!)
9. Avoid connecting in Newark (Or any New York airport for that matter). It is literal hell. You have a 50/50 chance your flight will cancel or missing your connection. They have been cancelling flights at their starting points just to keep the planes out, because there just aren't enough people to manage the planes, so the gates stay full. Also the restaurants are expensive, it is not a great place to be stuck.
10. Be nice. As stated above, we are overworked and tired. We will not help you if you are mean. No one cares that you are going to miss your cruise if you are an #######. So even if we can help, we will save our help for someone nice. Tensions are high. Our patience is gone. If you make us mad - you will not be flying on our planes. We will leave you behind without a second thought, and laugh about you later.
11. Being drunk on an airplane is a federal offense, so don't overdo it. If you drink too much at the bar waiting for your delayed flight you risk not being allowed to fly at all. We are too tired to deal with your drunk ass when we have legitimate issues to deal with.
12. Get trip insurance if you have a lot of money invested. I hate the whole idea of this, but I also hate the idea of losing money. Example: I was working a flight yesterday that waited over an hour for a gate. A family of 8 missed their flight to Rome. The only flight of the day. They were going to a cruise which they would now miss. They were all crying, there was nothing I could do. (Also a reason to fly a day early!)
13. Flights are FULL. If you buy the cheap seats you will not be able to sit with your family. It says so when you purchase your ticket!! Flight Attendants aren't there to rearrange the whole plane just so you can sit with your family because you tried to save $100 on a third party website.
14. Speaking of third party websites and saving money..... Like I said flights are FULL. If a flight is oversold, and no one volunteers to give up their seats, who do you think is the first to be bumped? You guessed it, the family that saved a few $$ by using sites like Expedia, Kayak, Hotwire etc.
15. Pack smart. Don't be "That guy" Don't hold up boarding because you have your extenders open till they are busting and you can't figure out how to make it fit in the overhead. (Passengers are stressed too, they can be aggressive when boarding a delayed flight)
16. Take showers, brush your teeth, leave the perfume off, don't eat stinky food (caesar salad and tuna fish I'm talking to you!), and bring headphones. Trust me. These things sound basic, but add to stress on crowded planes. If you are stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours after a 4 hour flight, you will thank me for this.
17. Bring a sweater if you tend to be cold. So tired of half naked girls asking me to turn the heat up. NO. Wear clothes!! Side note: If you dress like this and ask for heat, there's a chance I will turn the AC up.
18. Thats not water on the bathroom floor. For the love of God wear shoes to the bathroom!!!
19. Don't tell a Flight Attendant they look tired. We are and we know. You may cause us to ugly cry right there in galley.
20. Happy Travels!
 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
Yeah, saw this same Facebook post - good advice for sure. I flew to Switzerland last September (family business and I HAD to go). Overall, no issues. Flying out of Montreal was easy peasy (through check in and security in about 6 minutes) but flying home out of Zurich was insane. Long lines, many waits etc. I haven't flown since but have just booked to Halifax in September. I'll fly from Montreal, while my sister is travelling the same day out of Toronto. I've heard bad things about Pearson (Toronto airport) but hear that Montreal isn't bad. We'll see. Glad not to be crossing any international borders.
 

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