Southwest cancellations...

[junglecat]

We are to fly out the 27th for our 8-day cruise beginning the 28th.  We're watching closely as well.  Due to our work schedules, we wouldn't be able to hit the road (Indy to Miami) and make it on time.  We would have to do it in 2 days.  We've also looked at other airlines and are debating on if we should cancel now and rebook or to ride it out for another week or so.  Our SIL is a TSA agent at Indy so we're hoping he will have some inside scoop to give us to make a decision.  If it happens it will be a vacation well deserved as this is a pre-Covid cruise that's been rescheduled twice and after a month of worrying about Southwest and how were getting to the port.  

[jsglow]

4 minutes ago, junglecat said:

We are to fly out the 27th for our 8-day cruise beginning the 28th.  We're watching closely as well.  

Umm, January, right? 🤪

 

I honestly believe you'll be fine.  It looks like SWA will be pretty close to normal by tomorrow. This is the last of the big 'reset cancellation' days if you go look at FlightAware.

[bgrmini]

So are you looking for sympathy that you didn't act sooner? Southwest has been having problems for a good week now. You had plenty of time to make alternate arrangements, be it book another airline, drive, take a train, hitchhike, whatever. If you didn't purchase insurance to cover an event such as this, tough luck. Take some personal responsibility. Southwest is refunding your transportation you booked with them, and giving you an additional $200. Carnival had no disruptions, it's not their issue. Southwest doesn't sell cruises, so why would they refund you a cruise? smh

[jsglow]

Here's the latest.

Another big travel weekend ahead.  Best of luck to everyone.

 

https://swamedia.com/releases/release-7e05ea1637937dc7354128bee77f7117-southwest-airlines-continues-recovering-from-operational-challenges

[bitemyfly]

This was a brutal storm , effected many carriers. When i have a flight that i absolutely need to be in a certain place , i usually get there the day before , but i also book with an airline  that has agreements with other carries when these thing happen. Delta, United, American.  If one is canceled  you can go on another .. u pay more for the ticket most times  but when u need to be there its mitigates the risk

[DallasGuy75219]

16 hours ago, CajunOyster said:

 

Depends on what you're counting.  You're right that they're fourth in most categories like fleet size and daily departures.  I think they're still third in passenger count though.  Either way I still think they're TBTF though.

They are the largest in terms of domestic passengers passengers carried.

[parachutes63]

I have my backup plan in place. We are scheduled to fly down on the 6th for a cruise leaving on the 7th. Right now, there are only a few flights from Rhode Island being cancelled. If they cancel, I have reserved a minivan to drive one way to Port Canaveral. The price is $314 with unlimited mileage. It's a 1250-mile trip. We can make the drive in 19 hours.

[kctwinmommy]

14 minutes ago, parachutes63 said:

I have my backup plan in place. We are scheduled to fly down on the 6th for a cruise leaving on the 7th. Right now, there are only a few flights from Rhode Island being cancelled. If they cancel, I have reserved a minivan to drive one way to Port Canaveral. The price is $314 with unlimited mileage. It's a 1250-mile trip. We can make the drive in 19 hours.

Good plan! Like I said, we live super close to our airport, so we always have it as our backup too. We've done the Chicago - FL drive a few times, so we know we could do it, if we had to. But I also know it's not always possible for others to do that. Hope your flights go without a problem!

[notscb]

47 minutes ago, bgrmini said:

So are you looking for sympathy that you didn't act sooner?

 

I'd suggest some sympathy in your own post. If you were in OP's position and lost out on a fully paid vacation because a major U.S. carrier cancelled nearly 70% of their flights and ceased operation, you also might come here to vent and voice frustration.

 

Personally, I think OP should file a complaint with the DOT and keep the vouchers but don't use them for anything where there's a deadline- or do and travel the day before. In this case, traveling the day before wouldn't have even helped when SWA cancelled three days worth of flights in a matter of minutes.

 

>Carnival had no disruptions, it's not their issue.

 

I don't read this post as OP blaming Carnival for anything.

[bgrmini]

10 minutes ago, notscb said:

 

I'd suggest some sympathy in your own post.

Nope, I don't need to give this person any sympathy. The airline's failures were happening well before they needed to get to the ship. They had ample opportunity to arrange something. I've been in a similar situation this year. Airlines were pretty awful for on time performance and cancellations as a whole. I chose a couple weeks before a cruise to just cancel my flight and drive to the port. Being proactive can help avoid problems the majority of the time.

[Drazil65]

This was an unfortunate turn of events for sure BUT I am always amazed for a very small price comparably, that people who cruise regularly (or not) do not purchase travel insurance.  If you have flights involved at all it is a good practice for sure.   

[evandbob]

We travel enough to justify purchasing an annual travel insurance policy to cover unforedeen events.

 

We also travel enough to justify not using "bargain" carriers like Southwest.  Hopefully the OP and others in this sad situation caused by SW (90% of all air cancellations are said to be by this one carrier) will get reimbursed for their losses.

[DramaQueen22]

3 hours ago, Oldsweets said:

Southwest just sent my wife and apology e-mail for our canceled flight from Ohio to Orlando which resulted in our missing a cruise this week with our grown children.  In this e-mail they advised us they would re-funding our early bird booking fee’s within 30 days and will be sending us each a $200 voucher for future use.  I have responded to this e-mail that this didn’t cover the cost of our 2 cabins we had to cancel with Carnival, the penalty we incurred for canceling ground transportation, and the penalty with another airline we had booked for our return after our cruise.  The $200 each is something but begs to move to a bigger question which is given our next Cruuse/trip is a Jan 13 flight into Miami via Southwest.  My next step is to look at other airlines and determine if I should cancel Southwest and rebook with someone else.  Sadly, like many I am my own worst enemy as I am simply too dang cheap for my own good sometimes.

 

Southwest isn't going to pay for your missed cruise.  This is EXACTLY why you should always purchase travel insurance (not through your cruise line).   Southwest must compensate your for the missed flight, in its full original cost.  Any expenses in addition to that are, sadly, your responsibility, or you turn them into insurance for reimbursement.

[notscb]

53 minutes ago, bgrmini said:

. Being proactive can help avoid problems the majority of the time.

Sure, but us making assumptions about their circumstances when Southwest cancelled 2,500+ flights in an instant is not really the best way to go about participating in this discussion.

 

I feel for OP- not everyone was aware that SWA was melting down and even if you were, how likely were you to find a seat for your whole family on another airline that didn't break the vacation budget bank? It's a weird choice to scream "bUt PeRSonAL ReSPonSiBiLiTY" when there's been no responsibility from the C-Suite at a major U.S. Carrier, which impacted thousands of peoples holiday plans.

[notscb]

47 minutes ago, evandbob said:

purchasing an annual travel insurance policy

 

How do these annual policies work? Have you ever had to make a claim- just wondering if they increase your premium if you make a claim in like March and need to again in September or something.

[purpleally]

2 hours ago, notscb said:

I'd suspect the 17 hour drive had something to do with it, but interested in OP's response as well.

17 hours is nothing, especially if you are risking a cruise

If you had to be on the Ohio turnpike, that’s a different story

[staceyglow]

3 minutes ago, notscb said:

 

How do these annual policies work? Have you ever had to make a claim- just wondering if they increase your premium if you make a claim in like March and need to again in September or something.

Read those annual policies carefully - most of them are for medical incidents only, and most of those that are more comprehensive (trip delay, trip interruption, etc.) have much lower limits for both medical and other claims than a per-trip policy.

 

I researched this extensively several weeks ago, and we decided to do an annual plan for medical that had great coverage and was only $250 for both of us (we are in our 60s).  I then bought a separate per-trip plan for our upcoming  two-week cruise that covered everything else for less than $85.  Based on our planned trips this year, we probably won't save a ton of money over buying an annual comprehensive policy (which were $650 -$800), but it is much, much more coverage. On many types of claims it is 10 times what the comprehensive policy covered.

[CajunOyster]

2 hours ago, parachutes63 said:

I have my backup plan in place. We are scheduled to fly down on the 6th for a cruise leaving on the 7th. Right now, there are only a few flights from Rhode Island being cancelled. If they cancel, I have reserved a minivan to drive one way to Port Canaveral. The price is $314 with unlimited mileage. It's a 1250-mile trip. We can make the drive in 19 hours.

 

If you don't mind me asking, where were you able to get a one-way rental without a mileage or drop charge?

[KKB]

2 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

They are the largest in terms of domestic passengers passengers carried.

Yes.

https://www.tripsavvy.com/the-largest-airlines-in-the-world-53223

[backnine05]

Does anyone know how to track where my plane is comeing from on a specific day. For instance, I am on flight  2252 from DCA to FLL on 1/14/23 and I’m curious if I can tell the path of the plane I’ll be on that day?

[DallasGuy75219]

5 hours ago, bitemyfly said:

Delta, United, American.  If one is canceled  you can go on another .. u pay more for the ticket most times  but when u need to be there its mitigates the risk

That's an oversimplified and misleading statement.  Rebooking on another airline is completely at Delta's and United's discretion and has a significant caveat on American.

 

Delta: "At Delta’s sole discretion and if acceptable to the passenger, Delta may arrange for the passenger to travel on another Carrier or via ground transportation."

 

United: 

(Force Majeure Event) "UA may re-accommodate Passengers on another available UA flight or on another carrier or combination of carriers, or via ground transportation, or may refund, in its sole discretion, any unused portions of the Ticket in the form of a travel certificate or travel credit."

(Irregular Operations) "At its sole discretion, UA may arrange for the passenger to travel on another "carrier. United may also, at its sole discretion, and if acceptable to the passenger, arrange for the passenger to travel via ground transportation."

 

American: "When your flight is canceled, significantly delayed, or a delay will cause you to miss your connection, we’ll rebook you on our next flight with available seats at no additional cost. If no American Airlines flights are available until the next day, we’ll rebook you on one of our partner airlines at no additional cost."

 

If you have status with one of these airlines and/or your delay is the result of something within their control (e.g., mechanical issue) vs. act an of God (e.g., weather), they are more likely rebook you on another airline.  Also keep in mind that for a large weather event like last week's, all airlines are going to be in a similar situation and are unlikely to have any available seats to rebook you into.

Edited December 30, 2022 by DallasGuy75219

[DallasGuy75219]

32 minutes ago, backnine05 said:

Does anyone know how to track where my plane is comeing from on a specific day. For instance, I am on flight  2252 from DCA to FLL on 1/14/23 and I’m curious if I can tell the path of the plane I’ll be on that day?

https://www.flightaware.com/

 

Enter your airline and flight number, and click "Track inbound plane".  You can keep repeating the same process to find out where your plane is currently.

 

Caveats:

1. Your flight will only show up 48 hours before departure.

2. "Track inbound plane" will be unavailable if a tail number hasn't been assigned yet.

3. Aircraft swaps are possible and are more likely the further in advance of your flight you search.

[staceyglow]

Flight Aware also has an app that is very useful if you are trying to look up flights in the airport

Edited December 30, 2022 by staceyglow

[icft]

10 hours ago, bgrmini said:

So are you looking for sympathy that you didn't act sooner? Southwest has been having problems for a good week now. You had plenty of time to make alternate arrangements, be it book another airline, drive, take a train, hitchhike, whatever. If you didn't purchase insurance to cover an event such as this, tough luck. Take some personal responsibility. Southwest is refunding your transportation you booked with them, and giving you an additional $200. Carnival had no disruptions, it's not their issue. Southwest doesn't sell cruises, so why would they refund you a cruise? smh

Where did the OP even hint that anyone should refund the cost of the cruise. Why admonish them for something they never said?

 

My thought is they will have no problem and everything will be back to normal soon. But I can understand their having some concern. This big of a disruption for this long is near unprecedented and due not only to the weather but also to their systems failing. The weather will pass but can their systems be relied upon?

Edited December 30, 2022 by icft

[DallasGuy75219]

On 12/28/2022 at 7:36 PM, mz-s said:

I feel like we are witnessing the death of Southwest Airlines in real time. I don't really see how they survive this.

They've been around for 50+ years.  Yes this last week is going to cost them some customers lost for a long time (if not forever), lost goodwill, DOT fines, refunds for cancelled flights, reimbursement for interim customer expenses and alternate travel, goodwill vouchers for affected customers, payments to crews for guaranteed minimums because they couldn't work their scheduled flights, and reimbursement to crews for hotel costs they incurred themselves (and probably meal costs while they were stuck out-of-base in the middle of a trip sequence), all the while they were making relatively little revenue by flying their planned schedule. 

 

Yes it will impact Q4 earninngs but with their financial resources this is not remotely big enough to put them in bankruptcy or out of business.