airline policies for weather problems
Mar 26th, 2005, 03:02 PM
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airline policies for weather problems
I'm trying to figure out if I got ripped off a few years ago when my flight was cancelled due to bad weather. This was in Toronto, an Air Canada flight to St. Johns, Nfld. I asked the gate person about a hotel room, & the response I got was, "we have an arrangement w/ Travelodge - you will get a discount". It was a nice place, & it only cost us $70 CAD, but I'm a greenhorn here - should we have been comped the room? I'd like to know what to expect/ask for if this ever happens again! TIA!
Mar 26th, 2005, 03:14 PM
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No, they will not pay for a hotel room. You were lucky to get a discount. They don't have to do that, either. They will help you find a hotel, which can be a huge problem when the airport is closed due to weather.
Our trip insurance paid for the hotel and all of our meals.
Our trip insurance paid for the hotel and all of our meals.
Mar 26th, 2005, 03:59 PM
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I agree with the others, they do not owe you compansation for weather. Sometimes the hotels do have what they call "A Distress Passenger Rate", I used to work for a hotel and it was a nice discount around $75.00 when the lowest weekend rate was around $129.00 per night.
Mar 26th, 2005, 06:56 PM
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Another point should also be made in general. You cannot base what you should expect today on what was commonly done a few years ago. It's a much different world in terms of what the airlines will do. Sort of like, you used to get fed on the plane if your trip was of a certain duration. No longer true -- which is good news or bad news, depending on your point of view.
Mar 26th, 2005, 07:21 PM
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CarrollDF you are right. I am flying from CA to Atlanta next week. Five plus hours. Nothing is being served in the way of food (although I am not sure in these past years I would ever call whatever the airlines served as "food"). Fortunatly my dear friends who will pick me up at the airport said we will go to dinner when I arrive. Flying is not what it use to be, that is for sure.
Mar 27th, 2005, 05:08 AM
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To add insult to injury, after my recent experience with Delat, I have also learned that even when it IS their faulkt (mechanical difficulty), they will neither pay for your hotel room, nor offer you any sort of decent flight out of town. (IMHO finding a flight from an airport 5 hours away--with a promise/threat that "all hotel rooms are already booked in that city" does not qualify as a reasonable alternative, especially when 2 bigg-ish airporrts are only an hour away in either direction.) Airline service definitely declining!!
Mar 29th, 2005, 04:02 PM
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<I'm trying to figure out if I got ripped off a few years ago>
Oh, the only reason it haunts me is that it was the first in a list of things going wrong:
1.) We had already drove 4 hours to get to the airport (Toronto was much cheaper than Detroit for the Nfld flight). So we were cranky.
2.) We were told after checking in etc that there was a blizzard in St. John's & the flight was cancelled and we would go on the next flight in 6 hours. So we got our car out of parking & paid a days rate, & goofed around in Toronto birdwatching (the reason for the whole trip anyway).
3.) We return, park our car again, go to the gate & are told that we have to wait another 3 hours for the next flight.
4.) We wait, & I'm watching the clock. No plane, nobody getting in line, just 100's of ppl waiting to leave. I go up to the counter to ask what's up. "Oh, the flight has been cancelled b/c the St. John's airport is closed. Next flight out is tomorrow morning, 7 am." I looked at her, looked around, and asked, "uh, are you going to announce that?" "Oh, yes, in a moment."
5.) I return to my seat. DH complains of a sore throat.
6.) half hour later, flight "officially" cancelled. Other option is to get on a plane & get stranded in Halifax.
7.) DH looks horrible, so sleeping in the seat would suck. I Learn about Travelodge, decide it would be easier to leave car at airport since we didn't know are way around the immediate area & take the hotel shuttle. While on the shuttle, I see the sign saying that its $9 CAD per adult, each way. DH looking pretty ill. He isn't hungry so I go to hotel restaurant with the only reading material I had: a copy of The Nation, every article about "no blood for oil". yawn.
8.) Next AM, get on flight, its a white knuckle landing in a blizzard. Everybody applauds.
9.) Get to our Victorian style house/apartment that I got for cheap (too cheap). Find a dead mouse in the hall. I also find a filthy refrigerator, and the bathroom hasn't been cleaned, but there's no-one to call to complain (the key was left for us in the mailbox). At midnight, the ppl upstairs decide that the best way to quiet their unruly child is to scream obsenities at him, followed by slamming doors & stomping feet. DH is high on OTC decongestants.
At 4 AM the snowplows come along (this is a row-house so we are right on top of the road) & it sounds like someone dropped a dumpster full of bricks outside our window. I literally leaped out of bed shreeking, which I normally don't do.
10.) Next morning, I detect a urine like odor around the kitchen sink. We pack up, I write a cordial note, and we leave.
We found a decent hotel, and salvaged the trip fortunately. We also continued our tradition of spending New Years in a hotel room eating pizza.
I'm well aware that this is not the worst story in the world (ie, nobody got hurt). The irony is that we've driven to Nfld twice, and we spent a longer time getting there this time!
But really, I just wondered what the deal was when the airline can't function. Thanks for letting me rant!
Oh, the only reason it haunts me is that it was the first in a list of things going wrong:
1.) We had already drove 4 hours to get to the airport (Toronto was much cheaper than Detroit for the Nfld flight). So we were cranky.
2.) We were told after checking in etc that there was a blizzard in St. John's & the flight was cancelled and we would go on the next flight in 6 hours. So we got our car out of parking & paid a days rate, & goofed around in Toronto birdwatching (the reason for the whole trip anyway).
3.) We return, park our car again, go to the gate & are told that we have to wait another 3 hours for the next flight.
4.) We wait, & I'm watching the clock. No plane, nobody getting in line, just 100's of ppl waiting to leave. I go up to the counter to ask what's up. "Oh, the flight has been cancelled b/c the St. John's airport is closed. Next flight out is tomorrow morning, 7 am." I looked at her, looked around, and asked, "uh, are you going to announce that?" "Oh, yes, in a moment."
5.) I return to my seat. DH complains of a sore throat.
6.) half hour later, flight "officially" cancelled. Other option is to get on a plane & get stranded in Halifax.
7.) DH looks horrible, so sleeping in the seat would suck. I Learn about Travelodge, decide it would be easier to leave car at airport since we didn't know are way around the immediate area & take the hotel shuttle. While on the shuttle, I see the sign saying that its $9 CAD per adult, each way. DH looking pretty ill. He isn't hungry so I go to hotel restaurant with the only reading material I had: a copy of The Nation, every article about "no blood for oil". yawn.
8.) Next AM, get on flight, its a white knuckle landing in a blizzard. Everybody applauds.
9.) Get to our Victorian style house/apartment that I got for cheap (too cheap). Find a dead mouse in the hall. I also find a filthy refrigerator, and the bathroom hasn't been cleaned, but there's no-one to call to complain (the key was left for us in the mailbox). At midnight, the ppl upstairs decide that the best way to quiet their unruly child is to scream obsenities at him, followed by slamming doors & stomping feet. DH is high on OTC decongestants.
At 4 AM the snowplows come along (this is a row-house so we are right on top of the road) & it sounds like someone dropped a dumpster full of bricks outside our window. I literally leaped out of bed shreeking, which I normally don't do.
10.) Next morning, I detect a urine like odor around the kitchen sink. We pack up, I write a cordial note, and we leave.
We found a decent hotel, and salvaged the trip fortunately. We also continued our tradition of spending New Years in a hotel room eating pizza.
I'm well aware that this is not the worst story in the world (ie, nobody got hurt). The irony is that we've driven to Nfld twice, and we spent a longer time getting there this time!
But really, I just wondered what the deal was when the airline can't function. Thanks for letting me rant!
