Need Some Advice- Winter Storm Coming

DH and I are cruising out of FLL this Sunday and unfortunately we were unable to leave a day ahead due to a work issue. Right now we have a Jet Blue flight at 5:45am out of Buffalo and a connection that leaves JFK at 8:00am. We tried to book the earliest flight we could in case of delays.

I am starting to panic because of another winter storm set to hit the NYC area Sunday and I know that Jet Blue and JFK could possibly be a travel nightmare because of it. It’s still too early to really know timing of the storm or exactly where it will hit but I am wondering if booking a second flight as a plan B would be a good idea or if an 8:00am flight from JFK is possibly early enough to avoid problems.

I found a nonstop flight Spirit Airlines (I don’t know anything about this airline) at a smaller regional airport not too far away. The flight leaves at 2am on Sunday and arrives around 5am in FLL. It’s going to cost us about $350 for two one way tickets. I hate to have two flights booked because I’m paranoid but I’m not really sure what other options we have. It looks like if the Jet Blue flight is canceled I would get a refund and if both flights run then we would be out the $100 jet Blue charges to cancel a flight and just have a credit to use later. Ugh. I really NEED this cruise!!!

Does anyone have any experience with Spirit Airlines?

Am I being paranoid?:eek:

If Jet Blue can't get there, Spirit probably can't, either.

I do hope you have trip insurance.

If it were me, I would either resign myself to the fact that there is a good chance that you aren't going to make it, or get out early in that very short window between storms.

My husband took a flight into EWR that landed a couple hours ago, there were over 30 people in the standby list. They had stopped taking names, and every flight for the rest of the day had long standby lists. Changes are that at least half of those people aren't getting to their final destination today.

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

No one can tell you what to do. Keep checking the travel alerts on JetBlue's webpage:

http://www.jetblue.com/JetblueAlerts/WeatherUpdate.aspx?intcmp=global_travelalert

Right now, there's no alert on JetBlue for Sunday, and it's unknown whether another major storm will hit. Most predictions are for a modest amount of snow, not a major blizzard. Good luck.

Another thing to consider, if you do fly Spirit and there are no problems with the JetBlue flights, you may find your tickets back home cancelled. I have no experience with JetBlue but many other airlines cancel your return flight if you do not show up for the outward bound leg of your flights. Probably worth a call to see.

Are you able to fly the Buffalo to NYC portion of your flight late on the Saturday? If you are in NYC to start the day that would help as you wouldn't have to worry about your inbound fight from Buffalo being delayed due to the weather.

Good luck... don't you hate it when work and weather start to interfere with your vacation plans?

DH and I are cruising out of FLL this Sunday and unfortunately we were unable to leave a day ahead due to a work issue. Right now we have a Jet Blue flight at 5:45am out of Buffalo and a connection that leaves JFK at 8:00am. We tried to book the earliest flight we could in case of delays.

 

I am starting to panic because of another winter storm set to hit the NYC area Sunday and I know that Jet Blue and JFK could possibly be a travel nightmare because of it. It’s still too early to really know timing of the storm or exactly where it will hit but I am wondering if booking a second flight as a plan B would be a good idea or if an 8:00am flight from JFK is possibly early enough to avoid problems.

 

I found a nonstop flight Spirit Airlines (I don’t know anything about this airline) at a smaller regional airport not too far away. The flight leaves at 2am on Sunday and arrives around 5am in FLL. It’s going to cost us about $350 for two one way tickets. I hate to have two flights booked because I’m paranoid but I’m not really sure what other options we have. It looks like if the Jet Blue flight is canceled I would get a refund and if both flights run then we would be out the $100 jet Blue charges to cancel a flight and just have a credit to use later. Ugh. I really NEED this cruise!!!

 

Does anyone have any experience with Spirit Airlines?

Am I being paranoid?:eek:

I have flown Spirit a few times, mainly out of MSP to DEN. The airline really is not the issue here, as I have never encountered any issues with them. But, it is the actual airport.... Being from MN I have found that in most winter storms MSP can continue to operate, even if scaled back a bit. My son would fly from BOS to MSP quite often and if Boston would get 2-3 inches they were cancelling flights, more so than not he would land/take off on time out of MSP regardless snowy conditions. I would start making secondary plans while you still have the chance :)

I have to disagree that if Jet Blue can't get you there, Spirit probably can't either. If the storm is concentrated further east on the coast, it is very possible that Jet Blue will have canceled flights to/from JFK, but Spirit's non-stop flight will still operate from upstate NY to FLL.

Nothing anyone can really say, except as was mentioned to continue checking. Realize that the longer you wait to purchase another ticket, the more expensive it will become. Often buying a ticket with less than 7 days, then less than 3 days before departure will increase the cost.

I have used Spirit a couple of times. Basically you pay for everything, even carry on luggage that won't fit under the seat in front of you. If you don't print your boarding pass at home or at the kiosk at the airport, they charge you. If you want seats assigned in advance, they charge you. The list goes on. The "seat pitch" (distance between seats) is the tightest of any airline in the USA. If you are aware of all this stuff in advance, and read every single page of their website as you go through the booking process, you won't have any surprises. But most people just click through page after page without reading, then complain when they hear about all the charges at the airport (and if you want until the airport to pay, you are charged more).

if an 8:00am flight from JFK is possibly early enough to avoid problems.

Possibly? Yes. Certainly? No

Another thing to consider, if you do fly Spirit and there are no problems with the JetBlue flights, you may find your tickets back home cancelled. I have no experience with JetBlue but many other airlines cancel your return flight if you do not show up for the outward bound leg of your flights. Probably worth a call to see.

 

Correct, so definitely worth finding out if Jet Blue has the same policy. If you book the Spirit flights, and your Jet Blue flight isn't canceled but you leave on the earlier Spirit flight just to make sure you get to FLL, your return on Jet Blue may well be canceled.

 

Are you able to fly the Buffalo to NYC portion of your flight late on the Saturday? If you are in NYC to start the day that would help as you wouldn't have to worry about your inbound fight from Buffalo being delayed due to the weather.

You would also want to find out where your JFK-FLL aircraft is coming from. Even if you are overnighting in New York, your plane and/or crew may not be; they may be coming in from somewhere else that morning that could also be affected by weather.

Thank you so much for all of your helpful comments! We are going to have to make a decision tonight. Luckily we have travel insurance just in case this doesn't all work out. Crossing my fingers.

Is there a flight out after work on Saturday night??