My original flight got canceled yesterday. They put rebooked with two connections. The first leg went fine. The second leg got delayed by more than two hours and I missed my third and final leg. The next flight is fully booked. The earliest avaiable flight won’t be another 7 hours. Isn’t there a rule at sone point they should put you another carrier?
Depends on “why” there is a cancellation.
My last trip to see my parents, the airline cancelled the flight entirely because of “equipment issues” and couldn’t get us out until 24 hours later. That cost us an extra day of hotel, car rental, etc…We had also paid for a direct flight, with seats together, and were rebooked on a puddle jumper, in middle seats, no where near each other. The best we got, after lots of calls and letters, was a travel voucher that we will probably never use again.
Depends on the airline. Southwest, for example, has NO ability to put you on another airline.
Did you ask to be placed on a flight with another airline? Maybe they were all full too.
I just asked about another airline. They are all booked. I don’t know why my original one was canceled. Probably equipment. The delay was because of the equipment. I guess I am on my unlucky streak.
Are you traveling American? I heard about a month ago that they are having difficulties with their mechanics union.
If you have to wait 7 hours, it might be worth your while to buy a business class lounge pass.
I had to fly to Denver to get to Dallas a few weeks ago. They closed down LGA die to that horrible storm. Only place I could get out of NY was To Denver. I rushed to the airport several hours before my cancelled flight (got notification that morning that it was cancelled), got one of the very last seats on one of the last flights leaving LGA that day.
Then they closed Denver airport shortly after I arrived. I swear I could almost see that little black cloud over my head. I still don’t know how I got to Dallas only an hour after my original plans. They were dropping flights, moving gates , delaying flights then moving them up and people were missing them because you couldn’t focus on any messages coming over the loudspeaker, too many of them. I ended up taking 3 flights to get there. Such is air travel.
I’ve learned that booking ridiculously early, like 5 am, first flight out of the day, gives the best chances of getting to the destination. It allows for maximum flexibility and time to swing with the changes
I think that storms like the ones we’ve had on the east coast the past few days, are something the airlines simply can’t work around. It’s unfortunate, but they simply can’t fly when it’s unsafe.
@VeryHappy Yes, American. I don’t think it is weather related. I am thinking to rent a car and drive myself home. I can be home in 3 hours.
We were on American too. We were told that they are still having scheduling issues related to the Max 8 as they expected them to be back in service by now.
@Iglooo - I think if I were “only” 3 hours driving time from home, I’d rent the car and drive myself home, and consider myself “lucky” that I could do so - I’d likely feel put out too!
My flight from Hartford to DC on American got cancelled yesterday due to weather. First, it was listed as delayed; a little while later it was cancelled. I immediately tried calling American since I saw there was a flight in about an hour that had 1 seat available, but it couldn’t be booked online. In the meantime, I drove to the airport. I needed to gas up and return my rental car & an American agent finally came on just as I pulled into the gas station. Of course, I wouldn’t have enought time to make that flight with only 1 seat, but it’s a good thing I didn’t. Even though it was listed as ontime, it apparently left 2 hours late and then took over 3 hours to land in DC (an hour flight). I was offerred a flight connecting thru CLT, but I was concerned about getting stuck there. Instead I opted to rebook for a flight this morning at 5:20am, and got a room (fortunately) at a nearby hotel. I’m exhausted, but I walked into my door at 7:45am - DH was just getting up.
I’m always concerned with flight delays/cancellations in the winter, but this was worse than any winter flying experience I’ve had.
When Southwest was going to have to delay me by two days due to weather at my connecting airport, I called American and booked a flight with them. Then I called Southwest and they gave me a full refund for the price of my ticket. I was still out some money since American’s flight cost more, last-minute.
The storms in the Northeast wrecked havoc on most of the travel. My mom was flying out of Newark and her flight was cancelled and she was rebooked for this Friday. There were so many flights that were cancelled or airports they closed down it takes the system a while to recover as you have equipment that couldn’t get out so the trickle down effect was probably larger since some major eastern hubs were impacted with the weather yesterday.
I agree, but I’d have to get up at 2:30 AM to make a 5:00 AM flight. Ain’t gonna happen.
I live in San Diego, but am currently in NY. We were scheduled to leave yesterday, but our flights were cancelled. Fortunately, had not left the hotel yet. I looked online for flights while I waited on hold. I found some options that weren’t on American. When I finally spoke to an agent, I asked if they could book me on another airline. Because it was weather related, the answer was No, despite American not being able to get me back to San Diego until Friday. I went ahead and book a flight myself on another airline and got instructions for applying for a refund for our tickets and seat upgrades. If I had the option to drive 3 hours home, I would definitely take it. Good luck
If it’s only a 3 hour drive, I’d consider driving and make a day of it ie. stop for lunch, enjoy the sights, shop at the outlets etc!
A bit of good news. AA put me on a cab to the final destination. I can fall asleep instead of drving.
Stories like this are why I choose to drive if the destination is a day’s drive or less.
Another vote for do the drive.
I agree that all the weather issues cancelled flights all over the NE yesterday… The president of the American Psychological Association’s flight got cancelled yesterday so she missed her participation on CNN’s round table on violence and mental health. Bummer 
I had cancellations from h*ll a few years ago due to a freak snowstorm in Arkansas. If I’d been in charge of my own flights I’d have been out, but the company flying us in/out had made reservations on other airlines with connections, and I watched 2 direct flights on my preferred airline leave while ours got cancelled twice and we got stuck overnight and delayed again the next day. Long, wild story. Never again.
What city are you stuck in? I have a friend who works in the American first class lounge at one major airport.