Travel right now: FAIR WARNING!

[Koolau]

With all the circular finger pointing, is there any consensus as to why the delays and cancellations are so widespread?

 

[explanade]

General take is that the airlines really cut back on the workforce during the pandemic, despite getting a lot of federal aid to keep people on the payrolls.

Then they overbooked.

But also many people not showing up for work for various reasons.

 

[audreyh1]

If the airlines were not ramped up yet to meet increased demand, why on earth were they lobbying so hard to have any remaining restrictions removed? They obviously can’t begin to handle it. Did they really not see this happening? I guess not.

 

[athena53]

If the airlines were not ramped up yet to meet increased demand, why on earth were they lobbying so hard to have any remaining restrictions removed? They obviously can’t begin to handle it. Did they really not see this happening? I guess not.

I agree even though I'm very happy about not requiring a negative COVID test to re-enter the US. We discussed this a bit upthread and part of it is that people flying now would have been able to book starting- what- last August? Things keep changing- a large % of us vaccinated, then Omicron showing up, then the testing requirements to re-enter the US, then an awareness that Omicron, while best avoided, was generally mild.

Still, you would have thought that maybe 1-2 months out they'd have realized they were over-committed and given people the opportunity to re-schedule, and then cancelled flights well ahead of time if necessary.

Nope. They waited till people were at the airport.

 

[isisdave]

Instead of cancelling 10% of their flights day by day, why can't someone make them cancel 10% of their flights indefinitely, starting tomorrow, and continuing until their act comes together? They'd drive the price up so they won't lose money, reliability would improve, relief and backup crews would be more available, etc.

The system is really stressed. That kind of stress causes distraction, mistakes, and accidents.

 

[aja8888]

If the airlines were not ramped up yet to meet increased demand, why on earth were they lobbying so hard to have any remaining restrictions removed? They obviously can’t begin to handle it. Did they really not see this happening? I guess not.

To fully understand how this can happen, you need to spend your work career in corporate management.

 

[Souschef]

Part of the blame is with the FAA. In typical knee jerk reaction, after that ATR crash, they raised the minimum flight hours from 500 to 1500!
Now both of the pilots involved had over 2000 hours, so it made no sense.


That put a tremendous strain on aspiring airline pilots and delayed their entry into the airlines.

 

[a60dan]

We recently completed a 7091 mile trip with our travel trailer.

One cancellation of a campground in Arizona due to fire.

$2600 in gas, and some heavy traffic in LA and Denver.

I’ve always preferred Amtrak over airline travel, except for price.

Driving 300 miles per day and staying at campgrounds or Harvest Hosts is my interim preferred travel method, but I still like the train.

 

[explanade]

How do you log 7100 miles?

Coast to coast is like 5k miles right?

Over what period of time?

 

[imnontrad]

To search out flights including airports within a certain distance, try matrix.itasoftware.com
The site is now owned by Google and they use portions of it for Google Flights but I found more flexibility with the legacy website.

 

[Pellice]

I'm relieved to say I've now been fully reimbursed for my Peruvian birding tour due to a canceled flight from the US. The company, CSA-Generali, paid fairly quickly AFTER I got a statement from the airline that the cancellation was due to weather. But they had initially denied my claim due to an illogical assertion that the fully loaded flight had been canceled due to "overbooking," which was never true, and may have just been spit out by a bot.

It got me to really wondering whether travel insurance paid up if a flight was canceled due to flight crew unavailability. Definitely a question I'll ask, since that is happeneing everywhere this weekend. Does anyone know?

 

[Pellice]

Can this be true? $10,000 to give up your seat on an overbooked flight? Is this another possibility we have to keep in mind when goingt o the airport?

https://www.chron.com/life/travel/article/Delta-Air-Lines-offered-10-000-to-passengers-17279222.php

PS: one of the comments asked the prescient question, "would you owe taxes on this?"

 

[Venturer]

How do you log 7100 miles?

Coast to coast is like 5k miles right?

Over what period of time?

I'm not the OP but I can answer that it is easy with a camper. We left May 12 pulling ours and logged 5963.4 miles in 39 days. stayed in 19 locations and saw a lot of country! Out west and back home to Ga.

 

[cathy63]

...
It got me to really wondering whether travel insurance paid up if a flight was canceled due to flight crew unavailability. Definitely a question I'll ask, since that is happeneing everywhere this weekend. Does anyone know?

Travel insurance policies list the covered events. Does your policy specifically include coverage for flight crew issues? If not, then it's not covered. There could be some other policy or insurer that covers it though. You can't just assume the coverage you bought is the only kind available.

The Costco Travel policy we've used in the past covers missed connections, such as the one you experienced, that are caused by "the cancellation of, or the delay of three hours or more of all regularly scheduled departure times due to mechanical breakdown of the Common Carrier or due to Adverse Weather Conditions. The Common Carrier must certify the delay of the regularly scheduled airline flight." So, I would say that policy, which is underwritten by Zurich American Insurance Co, does not cover delays due to flight crews timing out.

 

[Imackenzie]

Going to Romania

We are heading to Easter Europe as well on August 14th and are very concerned about connections: Jacksonville to Newark, newark to Frankfort, Frankfort to Bucarest. The kicker is that we have paid good money for a guided tour that starts the 16th. If we get bumped, good luck getting your money back from anyone. Arrrrg. The one that makes me the most nervous is Jacksonville to Newark. The airlines make way more money on trans-Arlantic flights and are more loathe to cancel the. But if we can't get to Newark....I wish I had put this off to the Fall. A little cold, but...

I'm leaving for a tour of E. Europe in early August and returning (God help me) on Labor Day. Staying overnight in London both ways, I hope that provides some slack in case something goes wrong.

 

[meleana]

People I know that went on group tours seem to have had no issues- here or abroad. Do you think tour groups have less problems then individuals who book flights?


Example: a couple I know booked a national park tour. Everyone met at a common area in a local city and were picked up by a bus or van and brought to the airport and were on the same flight, etc.

 

[athena53]

People I know that went on group tours seem to have had no issues- here or abroad. Do you think tour groups have less problems then individuals who book flights?

I suppose it's possible. The airlines don't want to alienate a tour company that controls lots of travel $$. Tour companies and cruise ship operators generally agree to take responsibility for late arrivals, etc. if the customers book air travel through them so it can get expensive for them if the airlines mess up.

 

[braumeister]

Part of the tour group cost is for that convenience. The downside (for me anyway) is getting locked into the group's itinerary and schedule.

We have had a few outstanding small group tours, but in general we avoid them like the plague, preferring to travel on our own.

 

[explanade]

Yeah I have a trip departing to Italy towards the end of August.

Now I'm going to have to make sure to book accommodations which can be canceled.

However, they only let you cancel up to 2 weeks before check in so that may not be enough ...

 

[tulak]

We have had a few outstanding small group tours, but in general we avoid them like the plague, preferring to travel on our own.

I’ve always avoided tour groups. Based on what I’ve read here, at some point I will have to try a small/local group tour, since I think it’s an experience I would enjoy, even though I enjoy traveling on my own.

 

[bluelight]

Last month was our first time traveling since 2019. We had a long awaited 2 week cruise through France with 2 days pre cruise in Marseilles and 4 days post cruise in Paris. Outbound was JFK to Marseilles via CDG on Air France, Inbound was CDG to JFK on Delta.

I had been hearing horror stories about CDG, but we lucked out. Both flights were among the best we have ever taken, we gave ourselves 3:45 layover in CDG which we didn't need. Lines moved quickly and the flights were on time.

I see the mess going on right now and realize how blessed we were. No more travel for us until next year.

 

[Koolau]

Instead of cancelling 10% of their flights day by day, why can't someone make them cancel 10% of their flights indefinitely, starting tomorrow, and continuing until their act comes together? They'd drive the price up so they won't lose money, reliability would improve, relief and backup crews would be more available, etc.

The system is really stressed. That kind of stress causes distraction, mistakes, and accidents.

The airlines would take a hit on this, but I think you are right. They would come out better to take the hit up front. Much better to disappoint folks up front instead of when they are in the boarding line, only to find the flight cancelled. YMMV

 

[Teacher Terry]

Yesterday I went to the Dublin airport 6 hours in advance. Luckily my flight left at 3pm which is a less busy time than between 4-7 am. At 6 am the line was out the door. I flew to Dallas and that’s when the trouble started. I was supposed to be home by 9:30 pm and got home at 12:30 am. I got the pleasure of having my terminal changed 3 times so rode the skylink which was very easy. I was up 26 hours so am exhausted today. So very grateful to get home on a holiday weekend.

To the poster that referred to tourists as locusts in Nevada we appreciate the money they bring in plus when I travel I don’t consider myself a locust. Yes they cause crowds.

 

[MarieIG]

What a trip that was. Glad to see you made it home.

 

[Koolau]

Yesterday I went to the Dublin airport 6 hours in advance. Luckily my flight left at 3pm which is a less busy time than between 4-7 am. At 6 am the line was out the door. I flew to Dallas and that’s when the trouble started. I was supposed to be home by 9:30 pm and got home at 12:30 am. I got the pleasure of having my terminal changed 3 times so rode the skylink which was very easy. I was up 26 hours so am exhausted today. So very grateful to get home on a holiday weekend.

To the poster that referred to tourists as locusts in Nevada we appreciate the money they bring in plus when I travel I don’t consider myself a locust. Yes they cause crowds.

I'm getting too old for 26 hour slogs. I wouldn't even try to get a flight until summer is over now. YMMV