Community Chat

[Jordan2]

My sister and her husband went to visit his elderly mother for her birthday as well as his two sisters and their spouses. Anyway she was due to take a 11:15 am flight into Kennedy airport today. We had a monsoon in NYC and her flight kept getting pushed back to finally 3:15 pm. Well she calls me at 7:00 telling me her flight was canceled, the next earliest flight is for Wednesday evening! They had to rent cars and motel rooms. The airline doesn't help you with anything, I asked if they offer you some kind of reimbursement for your troubles, she said no. If you can't find anywhere to stay are you suppose to take up residence in the terminal for three days?

[kindred cats]

Ya gotta love traveling by air...

[kate2357]

I think for weather related delays most airlines don't offer too much help. And yes, many times you can be just stuck at the airport.

I was stuck for over 48 hours at an airport in Alaska due to bad weather. It was horrible as there was no place to sleep and the few food choices ran with reduced hours because of staffing issues and because they were afraid of running out of food.

[Puppy Lips]

If it is weather related, as that appears to be, the airlines owe you nothing.  We have had flights cancelled that were supposedly "weather related," when there were clear skies from where we were to where we were going.  In that case, we determined the airline was short staffed.  

Your sister and brother in law may fair better to just rent a car and drive home.

[aroc3435]

@Jordan2  Just a thought:  Did they consider taking Amtrak? 

I just came back from a planned trip to Gainesville, Florida roundtrip--took an Amtrak-provided Thruway bus from the station at Jacksonville to get to Gainsville and then the Thruway bus from Gainsville to the train to Jacksonville back to DC.

I've travelled from New Haven, CT to Miami and back and forth from DC to New Haven many times via Amtrak's Northeast Regional and Acela.

Sorry for your sister and brother-in-law's troubles.

Best,

aroc3435

Washington, DC

[ROMARY]

I wouldn't want to be in a plane, flying through dangerous storms.

So, better to be grounded, in the scheme of weather related things.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Wishing for better luck, and a decent place to stay.

[Jordan2]

@aroc3435 I don't say anything, if it were me I would look for alternative modes of transportation to get home. 

[chrystaltree]

That happened to us two summers ago, flying back from Myrtle Beach.  We spent 25 hours in the airport.  Hubby and I managed to get seats on another airline.  The others in our group rented two cars and drove back to Boston.  The airlines do help you book on other airlines but when a delay is weather related, they are all in the same boat.

[Alter Ego]

I assume they didn’t buy separate insurance - I certainly wouldn’t for the type of trip it sounds like they did. However, they may want to check the credit card they used to make the airfare purchase to see if there’s anything covered that way. I’m guessing everyone will be looking, but maybe it would cheaper to see if they could get a flight out tomorrow on a different airline vs paying for a hotel, food, etc. I do agree that may be faster/cheaper to just drive home.

[ManyMeows]

@Jordan2  

🌩  It's an "Act of God" and the airlines can legally declare themselves NOT RESPONSIBLE.

Everyone better get out the Rosary Beads and start praying.