Has anyone else been affected by Midwest Airlines cancelling flights to Orlando?

[jillluvsdisney]

We have a trip planned and ticket paid for on Midwest Airlines for Dec 11-18. The airline just announced a major change that has many service cuts. They will only be flying from Milwaukee to Orlando now from Oct 21 to the end of April. I thought that meant our flight was safe. I got the e-mail last night that our flight was cancelled. I requested a refund and was able to book new tickets on Air Tran for non stop flights at same time of day. The Air Tran flight is going to be $70 dollars more. 8 trips to Disney since 2000 and this is the first blip we have had.

[droopy d.]

Sorry about your flight, hope your trip is extra special!

[Marceline]

Our direct flight from Kansas City to MCO was canceled yesterday as well. It was an email I dreaded yet half expected to eventually happen. It was obvious that Midwest and most of the air industry, are having financial issues right now.

I booked a flight for our family of three on Southwest instead.....the ONLY direct flight I could find out of KCI. All together the SW tickets ended up costing me $150 more than the 3 Midwest seats....but it was worth it to not have any connections or lay-overs. Plus SW doesn't charge for the second bag.

The silver lining for us is that I was able to book the later afternoon flight out, added 1 more day to our hoppers and waaahhLA, we get to do "go-backs" and lunch in the World on the last day when previously we had to catch DME at 9 am.


I am still waiting to get an email saying the refund has gone through from Midwest. The phone lines have been totally jammed and their online refund system was down until this afternoon. I am sure there are tons of people to process though.

With sky-high gas prices and the economy the way it is, the travel industry is just taking a massive punch in the gut.

[karenrarintogo]

I did not receive any emails from Midwest re our reservations for mid Sept. I just kept checking the news as I knew changes were brewing and then went to their website.
I was unable to get through on the phone--constantly busy for me since yesterday morning.
I did check on-line and IM'd with a representative. She said Midwest was not arranging for flights with other carriers.
I also asked the travel insurance I paid for. She said that that company was aware and would be issuing refunds.
I easily requested a refund on the online form at their website. Still waiting for it to be processed.
The silver lining in this was that after I submitted my refund request, I went to a website that told me United lowered their prices for a few flights. (going to MCO has 2 layovers, however, but not unreasonable waits). I checked the lowest fare offerings and was able to get great flight times for Less than we paid for our Midwest tickets--which were a pretty good deal in themselves. We actually save $67 between two people, and now get into Disney around noon and can stay at WDW about 3 extra hours as compared to our Midwest flight times.
So, we're OK now with things--just waiting for the Midwest refund to be processed and then looking forward to WDW in less than 2 months!

[satchel01]

We got that same email last night saying our mid Sept. flights have been cancelled. I couldn't get the online refund page to work last night, nor could I get through on the phone. Today the refund thing worked, but I haven't had an email confirmation from them regarding it and it's not in my account yet. The problem for us is we don't use credit cards. I paid cash for those tickets with a check card and depend on that money being deposited before I can afford to book a new flight. I'm so I am beside myself. I found a flight that I want to book but can't until they give my $$ back. I have until 8/5 to figure this out as that's when the remainder of our money is due to Disney. I don't want to pay that if I don't know for sure how I'm getting there. I'm so frustrated an don't know what to do if there even is anything I can do.
And this was supposed to be our HONEYMOON!!

[TheRustyScupper]

Has anyone else been affected by Midwest Airlines canceling flights to Orlando?

1) At first, the MCO changes at Midwest had me concerned.
2) Then it dawned on me.
3) I LIVE IN ORLANDO.
4) So, travel to WDW didn't get affected much by Midwest changes.

5) Seriously though, there are going to be a lot of canceled flights to MCO.
6) Several airlines have announced from 20%-60% reductions.
7) At least Midwest is trying hard to make other arrangements.

[Gregandmel]

I booked my flight back in February and got a great deal on airfare. Flying from Kansas City to Orlando non-stop...getting in at 10:30am. HOwever - Flight got cancelled (no service from Midwest to Orlando at ALL during early October!!). My choices were to fly to Milwalkee (a much later flight anyways) and then transfer to Air Tran and get in around 6pm. No thanks...AND I had to pay the difference in airfare between what I paid, and what the new price was. So - I just cancelled the whole thing and am waiting for my refund. Rescheduled on Southwest and paid $358 MORE for 4 tickets. But - it's still a non-stop and we'll be getting in before 11am, so I still feel we get a pretty full day. It's a bummer, but I know they gotta do what they gotta do. Sigh.... That was a big bite in our budget for sure. Frustrating because I was so on top of things to begin with when I got a good deal on airfare.

[faberj]

Our trip was originally for 12/6 to 12-14 booked our midwest tickets back in March. Found out Sunday 7/20 that our flight was canceld and only one flight a per day was flying to Orlando, but it was already full!!! We are now flying out on 12/5 and have to fly into Tampa, rent a car and drive to WDW!!! But we are still going and I am happy about that.

[trennedy]

I got a call from our travel agent about the Midwest cancellations, we also had direct flights from Kansas City to Orlando from October 26 - Nov. 2.
She had already booked new flights for us on AirTran though...saving us about $500 from the Midwest flights. We arrive about the same time on the 26th...around 11:30ish and don't leave on the 2nd until 7:ish. Before we'd be leaving about 11:00 am.
For us it worked out fine, but I was very nervous about it before I found out about our new flight. I am now just waiting for my refund from Midwest.

[jillluvsdisney]

I gave up on that 866 area code number they advised us to call and found the local Milwaukee telephone number on their web site. I was on hold may 6 or 7 minutes. The refund page kept giving me errors on Monday. It finally worked Tuesday...when I was on hold. Go figure.

Thank God they aren't making any changes in service to Boston. I fly out there to see a friend about 3 times a year.

[satchel01]

I'm so glad you posted about calling the local Milwaukee number, Jill. I got through last night and after a good 50 minutes on hold I got through to a very nice woman who processed my refund. She said they were told to tell people 7-10 days for it to be credited, but she's heard some people have gotten it in 72 hours.

I found a Delta flight with a short stopover in Atlanta that I'm very happy with. The other good thing is that it's one of the airlines where you can check your luggage at the hotel on your way home and pick it up at your hometown airport (the trip down is the same) when using DME. I hope I'm right about that

[sainter]

The other good thing is that it's one of the airlines where you can check your luggage at the hotel on your way home and pick it up at your hometown airport (the trip down is the same) when using DME. I hope I'm right about that

You are!

[brewcrew26]

So sorry to hear about your troubles. We fly Midwest all the time, too. Now that we're planning a trip for March, <gasp> we're looking to fly AirTran. We just don't think Midwest will be around that long.

It's so sad because it's so convenient and there's so many jobs involved here in the area. I was surprised when our station reported that they were just cutting back to pre-2000 flights. Business must've really kicked up for them especiall post-9/11.

Well, good luck and I hope the rest of your vacation is fantastic!