luli38

So just got word from United that DD's flight to Italy from EWR later this week is cancelled--am assuming due to the bad weather that is about to hit the northeast. We are scrambling to get her on another flight, but have yet to get thru to United on the phone--2 + hour wait last night when we tried to rebook. Plan is to head out to the airport and work with a ticket agent. My main question has to do with the student visa that my daughter got. On the application we listed that Italy would be the first country that she would be entering, but of course that is likely to change as some of the new flight options include other European cities. Is this an issue, if she enters Europe through a different country than what she listed on the application? Thanks for any assistance.

kybourbon

Later this week? AFAIK, they've only cancelled flights late today and tomorrow.

Transiting through another city won't matter as long as she is just switching flights on to Italy. She may need a couple of hours in the European airport to transit though (depends on airport) so make sure that she is booked with enough time.

stokebailey

Airports wouldn't count, as kyb says.

luli38

Her flight was due to leave Wednesday--United sent us a cancellation notice for one leg of her flight the one that gets her into Milan. I was a bit surprised as well given that the storm is due to hit Monday and Tuesday that they would be canceling Wednesday flights. She just went to the airport now o figure out next steps as she couldn't get a rep on the phone and they now are telling her that her flight is on--yet no email from United telling us this? Is this crazy or what--not even sure whether to believe them. We rarely fly United, but I have heard that their customer service leaves much to be desired. I guess they just assumed we would know that the flight was back on??

nytraveler

This is going to be a major storm - and no one knows how much snow there will be. It is likely that a lot of Wed flights would be cancelled - depending on where the flight is coming from.

It is likely that the flight to Italy will be coming from Italy and may be fine. The question is how will be be getting TO EWR. If you are local - fine. But if she is flying into EWR to catch the flight to Italy the first flight may well not be available or may be very delayed.

DebitNM

The domino effect is going to take a big hold of what goes on at NYC area flights.

From looking at your other posts, it does in fact appear she needs to fly to EWR to catch that plane to Italy.

That is likely to be first major stumbling block, and then the issue with flight from US to Italy.

At this moment, I am guessing the visa is the lesser of the problems.

luli38

Yes she does need to fly into EWR to catch the flight to Milan. The United Agent suggested she try to get on an earlier flight to EWR provided they have one available so that she will have more time to catch that Milan flight. We will just see how it goes and keep our fingers crossed and keep checking the weather reports. Thanks for your replies.

NYCFoodSnob

According to the NY Times, 7:48 AM:

"Hundreds of flights have been pre-emptively canceled at the region’s main airports. Travelers should contact their airline carrier to confirm flight status. Some carriers are waiving fees to change or cancel flights."

crosscheck

Try calling United at 3am. I was in NY last year for one of the blizzards and my United flight was canceled. I set the alarm for 3:00 and had to wait less than 10 minutes for an agent, who rerouted me on one of the few flights that left from EWR that day.

HappyTrvlr

This happened to my son when he was flying to his semester abroad out of JFK too. He was a day or two late but it all worked out. Where do you live? Could your daughter get on a flight to Europe in Chicago or Atlanta? That's what I would do.

Ackislander

Good advice from:

Crosscheck. I did the same during the big Boston storm year before last. At 3:15 AM, I immediately reached an agent at JetBlue, who booked me out five days later. Why not first available seat? Because those "scheduled" flights are often cancelled if the aircraft can't get in from its previous location.


HappyTrvlr: this happened to _our_ son on his way to Aix. He arrived 24 hours late, but there was no problem.

I can tell you that going to the airport to solve your problem is absolutely the worst possible thing to do. The agents on the scene have less information than the agents on the telephone, possibly less than you have on the web, and there will be hundreds of people ahead of you. Just set your alarm and your coffee maker for 2AM.