bassm3

I was due to fly out of Atlanta to Barbados on March 1st . My flight was scheduled to leave at 9:30 AM only Delta cancelled it claiming weather (it was due to snow and hundreds of flts were cancelled). Because of this I missed my Cruise departure and did not catch up with the ship until March 4th in St Martin missing 42% of the cruise.

Here is the catch:
1. It did not start to snow until 11AM
2. Other flights to the same region where taking off 30-60 minutes after mine
3. I confirmed that our plane was on the ground in Atlanta
4. I checked the FAA site that day and there were no holds until 11AM

I believe that Delta either used our plane for a different route or choose to not fly maybe being concerned about having equipment out of place, either way our flight did not go and could of so to me this is not a weather delay but rather a choice by Delta.

My costs with the portion of the cruise missed as well as extra hotel and ancillary costs was about $2,600. How do I get satisfaction? I would be happy with the following:

1. Put the miles back in my account (we used FF miles for the tickets)
2. Provide us with 2 round trip tickets to the Caribbean

Thanks,

Jonathan

dfr4848

Unfortunately, I think you're SOL. You can call DL and see if they'll do anything, but cancellations/reroutings due to weather isn't considered their fault. And despite your suspicions (valid though they may be), the circumstances you describe would be hard, if not impossible, to actually prove IMO. This is what trip insurance is for.

Debi

On March 1st, the weather was crazy all up the East Coast, and while you can ask Delta if they can help you, I really don't think you have a leg to stand on.... In the future - do what many of us do - go down the day before. It gives you recovery time..... Good luck, but it is always a risk when there are any conditions that start closing down air travel....

wally34949

Not giving your an extra day in March is like playing with fire, IMO.

Cruiseryyc

Have to agree with other posters; should have travelled the day before and certainly should have had insurance.

gail

While it is worth asking, I would not hold my breath. It could have been a crew availability issue, DL preferring the plane sit in Atlanta rather than Barbados, the equipment sitting at your gate may have just been parked there and intended for another use, or any number of weather-related things. This must be infuriating - but am not sure Delta will fix it for you.

mrcamp

Sorry to hear about your experience. After almost not getting out of O'Hare last March 22nd (major snow storm) to Puerto Rico to catch a cruise, I have decided to never leave on the day of the cruise. For tis year's cruise on 22nd out of Miami, we are flying out on Sat the 21st, via Atlanta, and spending the night in Miami.

DonTopaz

Jonathan,

Suppose that you are correct -- that DL cancelled the flight for any or all of the reasons you listed. What difference would that make? If you read DL's contract of carriage, I am sure that you'll find that DL's only responsibility is to take you from point A to point B, and that they hold no liability if they get you there later than planned.

Unfortunately, you have not much to do except to consider it an expensive lesson learned.

bettyk

Any seasoned traveler will tell you that when you absolutely, positively HAVE to be somewhere, you should go the day before.

When we took our cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, we left the day before. And, wouldn't you know, our flight was delayed several hours because of mechanical problems. Continental did a great job of getting us all on another plane, but if we had waited until the day our cruise left, we could have been SOL.

Did you take out trip insurance -- either from a 3rd party or the cruise line? If so, it should cover trip delays. If not, then that's another lesson learned.

cary999

Echo bettyk.
YOU are now a "seasoned" traveler.

regards - tom

maryanne1

Had the same problem as we were delayed 2 hours in Clt to fly to San Diego for our cruiseast week in Jan. Fortunately we did go the day before or we would not have made the boat the day of the cruise.