Should I be concerned?

We're going on a Med cruise in Oct. It's r/t Barcelona and we're flying from EWR. When I seen that the flight choices had a connection in Dublin we decided to combine it with either a 2 day stop there either before or after. My concern is that there is only one non-stop flight from Dublin to BCN that takes about 2 1/2 hrs. The other choices could take many, many more. I'm worried that the flight could get cancelled (Aer Lingus) and it would turn into a nightmare. Naturally, if we go prior to the cruise we would still plan to get into BCN the day before the cruise. We're using miles with United for the whole trip.

 

How concerned should I be? I would rather do a pre-cruise because after we get off the cruise it'll be the end of Oct., but maybe it would be less stress to go after. I'd appreciate some opinions from anyone with more experience then me.

I see this as totally a non-issue. While there might be only 1 non-stop option on EI, there will be many more options on other airlines with connections. Not ideal, but it will still get you to where you want to go.

I see this as totally a non-issue. While there might be only 1 non-stop option on EI, there will be many more options on other airlines with connections. Not ideal, but it will still get you to where you want to go.

 

I realize that there are many not ideal options, but, I'm remembering a supposed to be short flight from ABE to CLT and ended up spending 8 hrs. in the airport.

 

I know, it's stupid to even think of problems before they arise, but, that's why we fly in a day before.

 

I was wondering if Dublin to BCN is a popular flight that there are choices of hopper flights and if Aer Lingus had a problem if they would get u on, perhaps, Rynair (not sure if that's the right name).:o

Sorry, I just don't understand your concern. Are you worried about flying the Dublin to Barcelona flight on the same day as the cruise?

 

The Dublin stopover would be great, but just plan on flying into Barcelona the day before the cruise.

Naturally, if we go prior to the cruise we would still plan to get into BCN the day before the cruise.

If you're planning to fly DUB-BCN the day before the cruise, then I think that your risk of missing the ship is pretty low. You'd almost certainly get there sometime on the same day, but you'd still have the following morning as extra margin. I don't think that there can be many days when Aer Lingus has only one non-stop from DUB-BCN, but one natural alternative would be to send you to Heathrow (about 20 flights a day) and connect there to BCN (about 8 flights a day).

I guess that's my main question, "how likely is it the Aer Lingus cancels/delays a flight? I know that we have no idea what will happen in the future. I guess, what a lot of people come here for, is reassurance or someone with more knowledge then them, to let u know of their experience. I try to foresee what might go wrong but sometimes the unavoidable happens. I'm not a chance taker.

I was wondering if Dublin to BCN is a popular flight that there are choices of hopper flights and if Aer Lingus had a problem if they would get u on, perhaps, Rynair (not sure if that's the right name).:o

 

Ryan Air is a low cost carrier, and I doubt they have any sort of agreement with regular airlines.

 

I think your worries are unnecessary. You don't want a connecting flight because you remember a problem with one. But you're also concerned about a nonstop because what if something happens to THAT flight? You said you plan to get to BCN the day before the cruise so relax and heed the replies you've been given that point out other connecting options that would still get you to BCN. ;)

I guess that's my main question, "how likely is it the Aer Lingus cancels/delays a flight? I know that we have no idea what will happen in the future. I guess, what a lot of people come here for, is reassurance or someone with more knowledge then them, to let u know of their experience. I try to foresee what might go wrong but sometimes the unavoidable happens. I'm not a chance taker.

 

I doubt it is very likely Aer Lingus cancels many flights, they lose money on canceled flights....but there is always a chance,,however small.

 

As implied above, to absolutely minimize your risk, fly to one of the bigger airports...LHR, CDG, FRA, where you will not only have many flights as backups, but train options as well.

Edited May 6, 2016 by CruiserBruce

I should've specified that our flight is at 6:45pm. I'm sure u guys are right about the chance of cancellation is small. I believe that Aer Lingus has a very early flight the next morning if worst came to worst. I imagine the cruise departs from Barcelona around 5pm. We thought it safer to fly into BCN the night before. The flight arrives in BCN about 10:10pm, so I imagine that it might be best just to stay at an airport hotel, hopefully with shuttle service to it. I'm just trying to make the trip as hassle-free as possible. DH would be happier not going to Europe because of travel warning.

I think that everyone worries a bit about a cancelled or delayed flight but since none of us, experienced flyers or not, have a crystal ball, there is just no way to predict if your flight might be cancelled. Best advice is to know your options before you go. Approaching an airline with specific flight choices that will work for you can result in a quicker resolution. Keep in mind that even if there are other flights to your destination, there has to be available seats before the airline will rebook you. If you are really concerned about a cancelled flight, fly into BCN 2 days ahead and plan some additional sightseeing pre cruise. Might eliminate some of the stress it seems that you are experiencing. At any rate-I hope you have an awesome cruise.

This "worry" about cancellation has an unspoken element to it....the belief that, for whatever, the airline will just suddenly say "we're not going". Often folks think that a lightly-sold flight will just be dropped to save money. Plus there is confusion between a flight cancellation (one time on a specific date) and a schedule change (all flights from a certain date in time and forward).

 

First - schedule change. These happen when an airline determines that, in aggregate, the current schedule of flights is inappropriate for the city-pair involved. Perhaps there are too many flights and not enough butts to fill the seats. An airline may cut back on the number of flights. There may be many flights on smaller aircraft. It may also rearrange the flight times and equipment to provide the similar number of seats on larger aircraft. It may swap one type of aircraft for another. Lots of possibilities. But the one thing to distinguish is that this is for the OVERALL schedule and not just a single flight. Also, when this happens, the airline will work to reschedule you into a new itinerary. Plus, this happens weeks/months into the future.

 

The second is flight cancellation. This is when the flight is cancelled on the day of flying, or perhaps the day before. These are NOT preplanned events such as a schedule change. And they are not done just willy-nilly. By and large, the three reasons for a flight cancellation are:

 

1) Weather

2) Mechanical issues with the aircraft

3) Crew staffing issues

 

No one can predict any of the above. Even with the best of maintenance, sometimes things break. If they can be fixed in relative short order, the flight may be delayed but still operate. Longer delays can result in cancellation. Sometimes crew scheduling breaks down and you don't have enough of the right people to operate the flight. And weather is something you can't predict or control. If a major set of thunderstorms hits an airport, or a blizzard, or a hurricane....flights may be cancelled rather than have an indeterminate delay.

 

One thing that can be said....major carriers DO NOT cancel flights just because there may be few passengers on board. The intricate ballet of moving aircraft and crews around the system, coordinating it with maintenance schedules and making it all go on time is NOT something that gets toyed with just for a single flight. It's a big machine, and when one of the gears falls out of alignment, there are teams of people who try to put it back on track. They don't want to cancel anything if it can possibly be avoided - cause it gums up the works down the line.

 

So...a few "facts" for folks to work from. Identify what you concerns are about - changes or cancellations or both, and work from there.

Edited May 6, 2016 by FlyerTalker

This "worry" about cancellation has an unspoken element to it....the belief that, for whatever, the airline will just suddenly say "we're not going". Often folks think that a lightly-sold flight will just be dropped to save money. Plus there is confusion between a flight cancellation (one time on a specific date) and a schedule change (all flights from a certain date in time and forward).

 

First - schedule change. These happen when an airline determines that, in aggregate, the current schedule of flights is inappropriate for the city-pair involved. Perhaps there are too many flights and not enough butts to fill the seats. An airline may cut back on the number of flights. There may be many flights on smaller aircraft. It may also rearrange the flight times and equipment to provide the similar number of seats on larger aircraft. It may swap one type of aircraft for another. Lots of possibilities. But the one thing to distinguish is that this is for the OVERALL schedule and not just a single flight. Also, when this happens, the airline will work to reschedule you into a new itinerary. Plus, this happens weeks/months into the future.

 

The second is flight cancellation. This is when the flight is cancelled on the day of flying, or perhaps the day before. These are NOT preplanned events such as a schedule change. And they are not done just willy-nilly. By and large, the three reasons for a flight cancellation are:

 

1) Weather

2) Mechanical issues with the aircraft

3) Crew staffing issues

 

No one can predict any of the above. Even with the best of maintenance, sometimes things break. If they can be fixed in relative short order, the flight may be delayed but still operate. Longer delays can result in cancellation. Sometimes crew scheduling breaks down and you don't have enough of the right people to operate the flight. And weather is something you can't predict or control. If a major set of thunderstorms hits an airport, or a blizzard, or a hurricane....flights may be cancelled rather than have an indeterminate delay.

 

One thing that can be said....major carriers DO NOT cancel flights just because there may be few passengers on board. The intricate ballet of moving aircraft and crews around the system, coordinating it with maintenance schedules and making it all go on time is NOT something that gets toyed with just for a single flight. It's a big machine, and when one of the gears falls out of alignment, there are teams of people who try to put it back on track. They don't want to cancel anything if it can possibly be avoided - cause it gums up the works down the line.

 

So...a few "facts" for folks to work from. Identify what you concerns are about - changes or cancellations or both, and work from there.

 

FlyerTalker,

Thanks for your excellent report.

This "worry" about cancellation has an unspoken element to it....the belief that, for whatever, the airline will just suddenly say "we're not going". Often folks think that a lightly-sold flight will just be dropped to save money. Plus there is confusion between a flight cancellation (one time on a specific date) and a schedule change (all flights from a certain date in time and forward).

 

First - schedule change. These happen when an airline determines that, in aggregate, the current schedule of flights is inappropriate for the city-pair involved. Perhaps there are too many flights and not enough butts to fill the seats. An airline may cut back on the number of flights. There may be many flights on smaller aircraft. It may also rearrange the flight times and equipment to provide the similar number of seats on larger aircraft. It may swap one type of aircraft for another. Lots of possibilities. But the one thing to distinguish is that this is for the OVERALL schedule and not just a single flight. Also, when this happens, the airline will work to reschedule you into a new itinerary. Plus, this happens weeks/months into the future.

 

The second is flight cancellation. This is when the flight is cancelled on the day of flying, or perhaps the day before. These are NOT preplanned events such as a schedule change. And they are not done just willy-nilly. By and large, the three reasons for a flight cancellation are:

 

1) Weather

2) Mechanical issues with the aircraft

3) Crew staffing issues

 

No one can predict any of the above. Even with the best of maintenance, sometimes things break. If they can be fixed in relative short order, the flight may be delayed but still operate. Longer delays can result in cancellation. Sometimes crew scheduling breaks down and you don't have enough of the right people to operate the flight. And weather is something you can't predict or control. If a major set of thunderstorms hits an airport, or a blizzard, or a hurricane....flights may be cancelled rather than have an indeterminate delay.

 

One thing that can be said....major carriers DO NOT cancel flights just because there may be few passengers on board. The intricate ballet of moving aircraft and crews around the system, coordinating it with maintenance schedules and making it all go on time is NOT something that gets toyed with just for a single flight. It's a big machine, and when one of the gears falls out of alignment, there are teams of people who try to put it back on track. They don't want to cancel anything if it can possibly be avoided - cause it gums up the works down the line.

 

So...a few "facts" for folks to work from. Identify what you concerns are about - changes or cancellations or both, and work from there.

 

Can this explanation be made into a sticky? Excellent explanation of the difference between a schedule change and a one-time cancellation, the reasons behind them, and clarifying why airlines don't just make willy nilly "this flight is only half full so let's cancel it" decisions.