<p>I’ll admit it, we are not “frequent fliers” and have never had a flight cancellation, so I’m a bit naive.</p>
<p>H and I are scheduled to go see his mom for a long weekend, flying out of LGA on Thursday. LGA is a 2 1/2 hour drive from our house in northern CT (we fly out of there to get a cheap, direct flight). There are rumblings of another significant storm on Thursday (“Relentless” thread, anyone??) If the storm DOES pan out, H would not be comfortable leaving the house for the weekend even if we could get out before the snow flies. S will be here alone and can’t really “dig out”, also H digs out my mom, who lives across town.</p>
<p>Let’s say we decide NOT to go, never leave the house for the airport. I assume, if the flight leaves, we eat the cost. What if the flight is cancelled? Must we have “checked in” at the airport in order to get a voucher of some sort? I feel kinda dumb asking but you are all so smart.</p>
<p>We’re talking Spirit Airlines here…I know, I know, they’re cheap ****'s…so I am fully expecting to lose the $$. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they charge us for NOT GOING, haha. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I would check their website or give them a call…generally you can make changes to non-refundable tickets up to 24 hours prior to departure and just pay the $75-100/ticket surcharge. You should have a year in which to use the tickets if you want to delay your trip longer.</p>
<p>First of all, you will get nothing if a flight is cancelled due to weather, even if you showed up at the airport or checked in. We have recently been on flights which got cancelled. Our experience was with Continental. If there is going to be a storm, they will allow you to reschedule without any change fee. The best thing to do is to check online to see if they are offering such option, if so, it is best to reschedule. The problem with rescheduling after a flight is cancelled is it then becomes very difficult to get anyone on the phone to help you out. To be aware, when a flight is cancelled, they are only required to get you on the next flight with available seat, they are NOT required to get you on the next flight, and that could mean days later.</p>
<p>Do not go to the airport unless you know for sure the flight will take off. I would check online first. I would also reschedule if your time permits, instead of leaving it to the airline to do it for you. Make sure you have email address with your reservation, so they could notify you. They will not call you.</p>
<p>Recently my daughter was flying to Orlando from Boston, changing planes in Philadelphia.</p>
<p>The morning of her departure, we received an e-mail that her flight from Philadelphia had been cancelled. (Note that the weather was FINE in Boston, although the weather had been bad ELSEWHERE the previous day or two.)</p>
<p>Although it was only 5:30am, the wait time on hold to the airline was already 35 minutes. HOWEVER – when I went to the web site and plugged in her confirmation number, they had ALREADY rebooked her through JFK, and we just had to print out the new tickets and she was on her way.</p>
<p>I thought this was worth mentioning because the cancellation e-mail DID NOT indicate that she had been rebooked.</p>
<p>You were lucky with USAir, Continental was not so efficient. I was on hold with them for hours (couldn’t even get through first few tries). I also couldn’t reschedule online. I had to speak with a real person to re-book, and then they promptly charged me $25 for speaking with an agent (I got it refunded later).</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips. Checked Spirit’s website. $100 change/cancellation fee per passenger, can be done as late as 24 hours prior to departure. Our total fare was $310, so we’d at least get $110 back. Now to just wait see. </p>
<p>The thing is, like I said we’re 2 1/2 hours from LGA. So really we need to leave around 5 hours before flight time. That’s a long time.</p>
<p>Of course, this is the first time we decided to make a “quick trip on a whim”. Should have known better. I was glad to see it was going to snow today, and again on Tuesday, because then it wouldn’t POSSIBLY snow again this week. Ha. Nice try.</p>
<p>My best friend is a travel agent. When I have a problem with a delayed or canceled flight, I call her immediately. She can access my reservation. I don’t wait in line at counters, or have to call the airline. Usually what I do is go to the bar and have a glass of wine. She calls me with my new information, then I just go to the gate and pick up my boarding pass.</p>
<p>If my TA has not made the original reservation for me, she cannot access my reservation and I have to jump through all the hoops you described.</p>
<p>I might try, but everything I have read/heard about Spirit indicates that they would just laugh at me. They have a reputation of being ruthless when it comes to fees.</p>
<p>If the worst thing that can happen is that they laugh at you, what do you have to lose? That’s a risk I’d be willing to take in order to avoid losing all my money on a trip I can’t take.</p>
<p><em>if</em> your flight actually gets canceled you should be able to get a full refund. You will have to call spirit and tell them that you do not want to travel any more. They will not automatically refund you the money.</p>
<p>Miramar, Florida (January 31, 2011) - In order to offer customers flexibility, Spirit Airlines has activated its Weather Buster Protection policy in response to potential flight changes resulting from Northeast/Mid-Atlantic U.S. storm conditions.</p>
<p>For customers holding reservations for travel to, from or through affected locations between Monday, January 31, 2011, and Thursday, February 3, 2011, Spirit Airlines will waive the change fee and difference in fare, provided that customers rebook their travel plans before the date and time of their original reservation, and travel on or before February 14, 2011.</p>
<p>Customers who wish to move their travel beyond February 14, 2011, will not be charged a change fee, however any difference in fare will apply.</p>
<p>Customers must call the Spirit Reservations Center at 800-772-7117 (or en Espa</p>
<p>Definitely call and find out, airlines have been getting better about re-booking in advance for no charge because of all the bad weather during the Christmas season.</p>
<p>We’re going away over February break and I asked my husband if he wanted to book refundable tickets for the day after we are already booked just in case. I figure if we get canceled from our original flight we’ll be refunded and can just use the refundable tickets. If we take off as originally planned we just return the refundable tickets. Refundables are a bit more expensive but are insurance for a more hassle free trip, especially this year!</p>
<p>If you get to the airport and your flight is cancelled it can sometimes be quicker to call the airline than to stand in line and rebook.Get in line and dial away while you are in the line. Often I have been able to rebook more quickly and jump the line by using the phone. The same can be true with concert tickets.</p>
<p>DS and DH have had flights canceled because of weather on a variety of airlines. In all cases, they were given the option of rebooking at NO additional charge. DS got a refund because his airline could not get him on a flight within three days. DH has been able to rebook for later times…no additional charge. This has been when there were storms that closed the cities and airports.</p>
<p>Check with YOUR airline. With these types of storms, your mileage may vary!!</p>
<p>And, if a flight is cancelled, the outcome (which I will depend on my airline’s policy) generally does NOT depend on whether or not I’m actually AT the airport - correct? Because if it’s iffy enough to potentially cancel the flight, I don’t want to be driving down to New York.</p>
<p>A few inches of snow, per the current forrecast, are not going to shut down the airport. If there is enough snow to cancel flights, it will be dangerous for you to travel to the airport as well, unless there is a sudden, ill-timed blizzard.
You’ve just got to sit tight and keep up with the weather report and any postings on Spirit’s website. Talk to your husband and try to agree on how much snow it would take to keep you at home. It couldn’t hurt to call Spirit in advance and ask about their policies.</p>