what to do when plane gets cancelled

[happy day]

IF bad weather occurs, and the plane is cancelled what do you do? If you are at the hotel, will they let you stay? If you are at the airport, where do you go? HOw do you make new arrangements with airlines when all flights are full? What do you do?

[TheRustyScupper]

If you are at the hotel, will they let you stay?
. . . if there is room, they let you stay
. . . Florida law (FSA 509.141) says they can kick you out

If you are at the airport, where do you go?
. . . try to find a motel/hotel
. . . if not, you sleep on the seats, benches or floor

How do you make new arrangements with airlines when all flights are full?
. . . you can't
. . . they will re-book you, hopfefully the same day
. . . but, I have seen re-books as much as 2-days later
. . . they have no obligation if cancellation is due to weather

What do you do?
. . . have patience

[princessesmom]

Hope that it doesn't happen. But if it does try to make the best of it. We got stranded in December due to bad weather. We were flying from White Plains, NY to Indianapolis. We had to switch planes in Chicago - this was the problem. There was bad weather in Chicago which caused our departure to be delayed by 7 hours! Once we got to Chicago it was after 10:00 and all flights out had been cancelled. This was on 12/23, so there were loads of holiday travelers - plus Chicago had had another snow store a couple of days before and hadn't completely recovered from that. The first flight we could get rebooked on was for the morning of 12/25! I tried to rent a car thinking we could drive out the next day when the weather improved, but there were no cars to be found. In the end we spent the night sleeping in the terminal, with our 4 children. The following morning, my parents drove up from Indy and picked us up. They live 2 hours south of Indy, but had spent the night in Indy at my brothers house. So we had a 6 hour drive from Chicago to their house. I was just happy to get out of the airport and into their house in time for Christmas Eve.

Important things we learned from this experience - don't get upset, it will not help. Pack at least fresh underwear, a fresh shirt, and your tooth brush in your carry on. This saved us, as we were not able to get our luggage until Christmas afternoon. You just have to make the best of it.

I have been flying home for Christmas for 25 years (with the exception of 2 years when I had infants) and this is the first time this has ever happened to us. We also fly out at least one other time during the year and sometimes twice. And again it is the first time we had this problem. So the odds are slim. Don't get yourself worried for nothing. Just try to be prepared just in case.

[faline]

Nothing you can do but go with the flow. It's part of what might happen when you travel but, most of the time, is not an issue.

[happy day]

So, if I am at airport, plane gets cancelled, do I get in a line somewhere to rebook it, or what do I do?

[faline]

When planes get cancelled, things tend to get a bit crazy at airports. I'd probably have the airlines telephone number plugged into my cell and would get on the phone and call to see if I could figure out my options. Unless the weather is really bad, oftentimes, flights are not listed as cancelled but rather "delayed' in which case, you'll be either waiting for the delayed flight or waiting for it to be cancelled. On one occasion, we waited in Orlando for hours for a "delayed" flight. Ultimately, we were able to get on the flight which was hours late. We were the last plane to land in Boston that night and landed on a snow covered runway.