We’re taking American to USVI in Feb. I hope they have things fixed by then. Usually we take SW, but they don’t fly there. Overseas I like Qatar Airways, but again, they don’t fly there - so, AA it was.
We are on American for thanksgiving. Direct to PHL I hope if there is a debacle like there is now, that we will get ample notice. We can hop in the car and drive if needed.
We decided to fly to our daughter’s because parking isn’t great where she’s living.
But seriously, it’s been over a year since we’ve seen her
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Same here. I worry that AA will still be a mess by Thanksgiving. D and family are scheduled to fly to LAX on the Wednesday before, the busiest travel day of the year. She hasn’t been home in three years. One would think that AA could pay some sort of bonus to get their employees in to work so that Thanksgiving travel won’t be a debacle.
What happens when someone under 21 gets stuck (alone) overnight due to a cancellation? I realize this must happen frequently. I’m thinking of our 20 year old traveling at Thanksgiving. Besides the expense, most hotels (at least the big chains you find at airports) won’t let someone under 21 check in to a room without a 21+ person. If our 20 year old gets stuck it will probably be at ORD and at least we have family nearby for help. But what about someone stuck away from friends and family? I guess you just sleep in a chair in the terminal?
My daughter wasn’t stranded anywhere but she did go to her college a day before her pre-orientation program and Marriott allowed me to sign a waiver for her to stay at the hotel. Definitely something to research ahead of time just in case.
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I am a big JetBlue fan.
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I think it’s highly likely that Thanksgiving travel will be a mess. All airlines (not just American or Southwest) are short-staffed, especially during the Thanksgiving period. Any issue anywhere (weather-related issues are more likely in late Nov in some parts of the country) will have a cascading effect, leading to problems everywhere.
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We’ll have to try them someday. My mom had a flight on them once and said it was good. In general though, they haven’t hit our radar.
Out of curiosity, I checked the Southwest flights to and from Chicago that we would have taken late last month if we hadn’t postponed our visit until spring. Both flights were a little late, but flew. Now if we had been on them…
Son is coming down in early December for the end of Chanukah. We can do a late Thanksgiving and early birthday if he likes, but up to him. He’s flying first class Alaska Air, partly because there are nice perks flying out of Seattle. Many of the airline’s flights seem to be up and down the west coast, so hopefully no issues with winter weather and mis-situated or missing crew.
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So happy to see this! We are planning to go in January and was wondering how the “on the ground” experience compared to what’s set out on their website.
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Did the airlines let everyone go when COVID hit in 2020? Generally, we’re seeing the companies who let everyone go having a tough time getting back up to speed, while those who found a way to keep valued employees on board got back to full speed much faster.
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One reason I wasn’t keen on DD’19 going somewhere with a layover- she’ll be under 21 for all of undergrad! But, some places will rent to 18- in fact, she has reserved a hotel room for this weekend to see her boyfriend. She had to call ahead to the specific hotel to find out- and it’s not always consistent within a chain.
I suppose once a person knows where their layover is they could make some preemptive calls to area hotels to see which ones would take under 21- might save a little time in the event one is needed and everyone else at the gate is looking for a hotel too.
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There are a few hotel chains that will let you check in under 21. Days Inn is one of them. 2 years ago my D was supposed to fly out and meet DH in Denver to go skiing. His flight got cancelled, but we had to change her flight so she didn’t get stuck at the airport. It was an expensive change!!!
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Many hotels offer app check-in. Your under-21 kid can check in using your app without even stopping by the front desk.
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They have to get a room key somehow. You can certainly hope this works and then add the child’s name to the reservation. Even at the best hotels that offer mobile keys work pretty sporadically.
No, they don’t need a room key. Rooms at these hotels can be opened with the app. I’ve used it at Marriott and Hyatt. They worked pretty well.
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When I got the consent form from Marriott for my 18 yr old daughter, they also said you can get one for a credit card authorization if your child doesn’t have their own.
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My mom is flying American on Wednesday to Shreveport, LA for her sister’s birthday. Really hoping she gets there without a lot of trouble. 
@corinthian - i can’t believe how your luggage got there sooner. that makes no sense!
did AA ever say why they were all cancelled? with our cancelled delta flight, it was IT issues with the smaller carrier ran by Delta.
i am so glad we are not traveling at Thanksgiving!
Other than the hour delay out of our home airport, our trip to the east coast last week was fine. Our flight home from PHL wasn’t delayed at all. They were very strict at the Broadway show we saw—masks plus proof of vaccination matching our state-issued IDs was required for entrance. Proof of vaccination w/ID was also required to eat indoors in NYC. It was exhilarating to be out in the city and feel completely at ease at both dinner and the show. All in all, it was a nice getaway though I would have preferred fewer fellow travelers (both flights were crowded).
We floated the idea of D staying at school for Thanksgiving since they only get the holiday and the day after as a break; flight delays could really derail her travel plans. We’re still discussing it though. In the meantime, we are keeping a keen eye on which airlines seem to be doing the best with the increased travel.