Delayed/Cancelled Airline Flights?

7,139 Views | 86 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by YouBet
PlanoAg98
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Is this a summer thing or will it remain through the fall?

I've got a cruise out of Long Beach (CA) in September. I'm flying in the morning prior and the ship does not depart until 5pm. Using miles, I'm having a hard time finding a direct flight I'm assuming having a connection will double my chances of not getting there on time if things stay as they are now.
TXTransplant
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We flew to The Azores on two different airlines, through 6 different airports, and had no problems. My son also flew SW last week with no issue. I've got two more flights scheduled this summer and am keeping my fingers crossed.

As far as fall/holiday travel is concerned, flight schedules are still all jacked up and there are overall fewer flights to just about every destination. This is bad because if one domino falls, it knocks over a whole lot more. For example, if your flight is cancelled or delayed 1) there are fewer flights on which you can rebook and 2) it's likely those flights are all full.

My rule of thumb is to avoid connecting flights if at all possible, but that's hard to do for many destinations.

If Long Beach itself doesn't have multiple direct flights on your travel day, I'd pick the nearest airport that does and just pay the money to Uber. Give yourself as many chances in one day to get there as possible. In the LA area, you've got quite a few choices.

This is what we did to get to JFK. Very few flights to that airport from IAH. Took the first flight from HOU to LGA, and there were two more options after that, in case of a delay or cancellation. Thankfully, we didn't need it.

Earliest flight of the day also has the best chance of getting out on time.
Ag CPA
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Do you live in Plano, if so are you flying AA/SWA?

Regardless, if you are going the day before you should be fine, especially going to a major city.
PlanoAg98
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Quote:

Do you live in Plano, if so are you flying AA/SWA?

I will be flying AA because that is who I have miles with. However, I'll be travelling out of Houston as I have to drop the dog off at the parents house. He's not a fan of dog boarding places. I'm actually looking to fly into LAX as the drive from LAX to my hotel is 30 minutes whereas the drive to Long Beach airport to my hotel is 15 minutes.
Ag CPA
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Book a flight to LAX connecting through DFW and you should be fine; there are several flights daily between IAH-DFW and DFW-LAX so if something gets F'd up you should be able to get on another flight that leaves a couple of hours later.
2wealfth Man
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13 daily flights between DFW-LAX tomorrow, as an example. You will be fine.
bushytailed
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Flew Austin to Baltimore yesterday. Connecting flight was cancelled. The only reason I got to Baltimore yesterday was because the Austin flight crew also had to fly to Baltimore, so SW arranged a new flight for them (and me) to get there via Hartford.

I'm dreading the flight back on Wednesday.
JMac03
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I haven't read the comments but I would highly recommend flying in the day before and staying in a hotel. Flights are a hot mess right now. I spent hours helping clients today for flights I didn't even book. I never ever recommend flying in the same day as a cruise. In fact, I won't book flights for clients who want to do this. Not worth the headache.
ChoppinDs40
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As others have said, book your flight into LAX. Way more options from DFW there. Should be able to cancel and get your miles back.
HollywoodBQ
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If you want to be sure to make the cruise, fly in to LAX the day before.

It's 2022 and even the good advice on here about traveling nonstop only, flying hub-to-hub, etc. is all subject to fall apart without notice. Nothing makes sense anymore.
Scruffy
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HollywoodBQ said:

If you want to be sure to make the cruise, fly in to LAX the day before.

It's 2022 and even the good advice on here about traveling nonstop only, flying hub-to-hub, etc. is all subject to fall apart without notice. Nothing makes sense anymore.


You raise a good point/question.....
I wonder if these turbulent times will see a return to more hub/spoke operation and a decline in direct flights as airlines try to keep things staffed.
With a hub, they should have more people waiting on call to fly.
With direct. They have to have a crew that flew there able to fly.
wangus12
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Only thing I'm nervous about is missing a connection in Atlanta for our trip to Greece. We have a 2 hour layover there. Booked those flights early in the year and wasn't overly concerned, but as we get closer I'm definitely a little nervous.
TXTransplant
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I feel like I've already seen this at the Houston airports.

Southwest's schedule is cut way back. United also has fewer direct flights, and they've decreased the size of the planes that are flying.

I don't think they are the only airline doing this. We are booked to Bangor on AA out of IAH (I probably haven't flown AA in 15 years). Flight through Charlotte was changed shortly after booking. Other options were Chicago and Philly. I rebooked through Philly. The plane from PHL to Bangor is bigger than the plane from IAH to Philly. We are talking an Embraer vs an A319. Fewer seats means higher prices and fewer options to rebook when the SHTF.
The Milkman
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I was going to try to come home to Houston from Baltimore in early August, but its down to 2 non-stops and unless I take multiple connections getting in after midnight it'll be $500+.

Its outrageous right now
txags92
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TXTransplant said:

I feel like I've already seen this at the Houston airports.

Southwest's schedule is cut way back. United also has fewer direct flights, and they've decreased the size of the planes that are flying.

I don't think they are the only airline doing this. We are booked to Bangor on AA out of IAH (I probably haven't flown AA in 15 years). Flight through Charlotte was changed shortly after booking. Other options were Chicago and Philly. I rebooked through Philly. The plane from PHL to Bangor is bigger than the plane from IAH to Philly. We are talking an Embraer vs an A319. Fewer seats means higher prices and fewer options to rebook when the SHTF.
It looks to me like the smaller airports are no longer being served based on what would be convenient locally, but instead what will feed the passengers into the larger network. The direct flights late in the day have been cut, and the flights through various hubs are all that is left. I am going to Biloxi this afternoon for a meeting tomorrow, and in order to not have to stay over tomorrow night, my choices for flights late in the day were limited to either going through DFW on AA or through Atlanta on Delta. All of the direct flights they used to have later in the day have been cut. With all the delays and cancellations lately, there is no way I am doing any late flights on AA or Delta through their hubs. So I am going into New Orleans on United and driving over instead of flying directly into Gulfport.
TXTransplant
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Small world…I'm from Biloxi. Grew up there from birth until I went to college.

Southwest has a flight from HOU to New Orleans, too. Family member used to be a regular on it.

I thought United offered a flight to Gulfport, but I guess that's been cut.
txags92
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They do, but the last return to Houston goes at 11:55am. My meeting is at 9am and will probably last at least until 11am. So I cant make that return without staying an extra night.
Ag CPA
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wangus12 said:

Only thing I'm nervous about is missing a connection in Atlanta for our trip to Greece. We have a 2 hour layover there. Booked those flights early in the year and wasn't overly concerned, but as we get closer I'm definitely a little nervous.
Call Delta and see if they will move you to an earlier flight to ATL, just explain your concern with the layover timing given all of the issues the airlines are dealing with. We did this with a trip on AA from DFW to Anguilla through MIA where the connection time got squeezed after a schedule reshuffle; they were happy to move us up (we actually decided to fly to MIA the night before). It's easier for them to change your inbound flight versus rebooking you to Athens after you miss the connection.
txags92
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Speaking of delays…sitting here at IAH waiting for my New Orleans flight that is now delayed about 45 mins due to a maintenance issue. Lets hope it stays with only a 45 min delay…
txags92
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Dammit. One hour delay now and they just took three volunteers to get bumped to first class on the next flight in a little over an hour. I got there 4th in line.
Ag CPA
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FYI for anyone flying Delta this weekend.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/29/delta-offers-free-flight-changes-over-july-fourth-weekend.html
scd88
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OL my turn! Before I start, I must mention JMac03 - she has been fantastic with this trip to Cabo my family is coming back from.

JMac03 - thank you!

Anyway, AA flight from Cabo to Austin was on time when we got to the airport then we learned (via the app) the plane had turned around. Many texts and updates from AA later, the flight was delayed until 10:00 am today.

To AA's credit, they put the entire flight up at a very nice resort. So, we kinda had one more night together as a family, which is always nice.
JMac03
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scd88 said:

OL my turn! Before I start, I must mention JMac03 - she has been fantastic with this trip to Cabo my family is coming back from.

JMac03 - thank you!

Anyway, AA flight from Cabo to Austin was on time when we got to the airport then we learned (via the app) the plane had turned around. Many texts and updates from AA later, the flight was delayed until 10:00 am today.

To AA's credit, they put the entire flight up at a very nice resort. So, we kinda had one more night together as a family, which is always nice.


Thanks for the shoutout! I panicked this morning cause I opened my flight tracker and it showed your flight had moved back to 7AM - but it just hadn't updated yet. I was about to be blowing your phone up. Hope your 10am flight is on time today. It was great working with your family!
scd88
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JMac03 said:

scd88 said:

OL my turn! Before I start, I must mention JMac03 - she has been fantastic with this trip to Cabo my family is coming back from.

JMac03 - thank you!

Anyway, AA flight from Cabo to Austin was on time when we got to the airport then we learned (via the app) the plane had turned around. Many texts and updates from AA later, the flight was delayed until 10:00 am today.

To AA's credit, they put the entire flight up at a very nice resort. So, we kinda had one more night together as a family, which is always nice.


Thanks for the shoutout! I panicked this morning cause I opened my flight tracker and it showed your flight had moved back to 7AM - but it just hadn't updated yet. I was about to be blowing your phone up. Hope your 10am flight is on time today. It was great working with your family!


Haha. You never know what the status updates will show in situations like this. Looks like our plane came in last night at 7:30 so I feel good about having a plane. Lol.

We are loaded on a bus back to the airport right now.

Tex82
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There was an AA flight from Austin to Cabo that made it to the Mexican border yesterday and turned around and came back to Austin. I wonder what is going on here.
scd88
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Tex82 said:

There was an AA flight from Austin to Cabo that made it to the Mexican border yesterday and turned around and came back to Austin. I wonder what is going on here.


That was the flight I was supposed to be on to get back to Texas. The crew on my delayed flight that I was on today was the crew on that flight, too.

There was a problem with the cabin AC and it got very hot in the cabin. They decided to turn around and go back for service instead of, say, Cancun for repairs.

That flight made it to Cabo around 7:00 pm, but the crew was timed out and they couldn't fly anymore yesterday due to the u-turn.
FancyKetchup14
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From a few weeks ago…

Flying from Houston to Newark to Reykjavik. Houston flight is delayed. Newark flight is delayed. My bag gets lost from Houston to Newark. Bag shows up a day late. All United travel.

Flight from Reykjavik to Dublin goes without a hiccup. Icelandic airlines.

United transit from Dublin to Houston- Dublin airport is a shltshow. We get there three hours before departure and barely make the flight before the doors shut. But flight sits on tarmac for eons. Flight lands in Newark and then it's an hour delay leaving Newark to Houston. My bag that was lost initially shows up on the wrong carousel in IAH.
JMac03
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So the lady on the phone at AA said they don't pay for hotels when it's weather. I was like "lady, there isn't a cloud in the sky". She said it's cause it's too hot. I said "ma'am then there appears to be an aircraft issue, it's not too hot to fly". I had to tell her I would agree to disagree. So glad you got your hotel stay.

scd88
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JMac03 said:

So the lady on the phone at AA said they don't pay for hotels when it's weather. I was like "lady, there isn't a cloud in the sky". She said it's cause it's too hot. I said "ma'am then there appears to be an aircraft issue, it's not too hot to fly". I had to tell her I would agree to disagree. So glad you got your hotel stay.




It WAS too hot...but it was on the inside...
Admiral_ZAX
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United is a hot mess this weekend. I'm pretty sure every flight through Denver on Friday was delayed getting in and out.
TXTransplant
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We flew to LAX last Thursday afternoon with no issues. Except for the fact that people are stupid and don't know how to put their suitcase in an overhead bin. But the flight was on time.
CDub06
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Had 2 RTs on Southwest last week without issue. HOU-ELP, then HOU-SDF.
The flight to SDF was July1 - July 4 and I was shocked that airports were pretty dead on the holiday weekend. Hobby was especially quiet for what's usually such a big travel weekend. Anyone else experience this?
TXTransplant
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We flew out of LAX on July 4. Flight was at 3-ish. There was traffic at drop-off, as you would expect, but we got through security pretty fast (and I don't have TSA-Pre).

That flight was also on-time. We actually got into IAH maybe 10-15 min early.

Overall, we had no issues traveling over the holiday weekend.

Next up is a trip to Maine on AA with layovers in Philly. Fingers crossed I keep this streak.

With that said, even though we haven't had any major issues, security at every airport I've been to in the last month (and I've been to 7) has been the most inefficient cluster I've ever seen. Every TSA agent tells you something different, and they all yell at you condescendingly like you are just automatically supposed to know the rules/practices at every specific airport/terminal (yes, practices are different between terminals at the same airport!).

These new screening systems where you have to put your carry-on suitcase (not just bag/backpack but roll-aboard suitcase) in the huge bin are stupid and are holding up the screening line.

Even TSA-pre is inefficient. LAX had a totally separate TSA-Pre line on the opposite side of the terminal from the regular line. No clear signs telling you that, either. So, my friend who has TSA-Pre just stayed with me in the regular line.
duck79
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We are currently in Charleston and flew out of Love at 2 on July 4th. There was virtually no line to get thru security but it was a completely full flight. There were quite a few gates with dead time however.
CDub06
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TXTransplant said:


These new screening systems where you have to put your carry-on suitcase (not just bag/backpack but roll-aboard suitcase) in the huge bin are stupid and are holding up the screening line.


I hate those things. They are soooo slow.
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