Cancelled and stuck

Yurple

Hi,

We are on a 3 week holiday in America :

7 days San Francisco
4 days Las Vegas
10 days Orlando

We just finished the week in San Francisco and arrived at the airport to fly to Las Vegas. Our flight was marked as cancelled. We had to queue for 4 hours to hear that we can fly to Los Angeles and be on stand by or have a guaranteed flight out in the evening 2 days from now. Unbelievable !!!

It's due to weather conditions ? It's extremely sunny in San Francisco and nice weather in Las Vegas... Why are we stuck because of weather conditions? We asked and they said no airplanes are coming in or the one we were meant to take to Vegas did not come. All other flights to Vegas that day were not canceled. Our one is the only that was cancelled.

I asked for compensation and NO it's a weather problem. We got a tiny discount for a hotel near the airport that we have to pay for ourselves for 2 days. The entire Las Vegas holiday is now ruined.

What are our rights ? It's different that European law right? It has all been so horrible.

Novella

I believe if the cancellation of the flight is out of the control of the airline, i.e. weather, they are not obliged to take any responsibility. I guess that is somewhat understandable. Do you have travel insurance? If so, have you contacted them for advice?

Also, could you drive to Vegas? I know it would probably take about 8 or 9 hours but I've done a similar drive before and found it rather enjoyable. At least that way you could still enjoy some time there.

Yurple

Thank you for the reply. They say it's weather related but how can it be? There was a Vegas flight before us and there was no problem with it. All other 6 flights there just 2 hours onwards from our one aren't canceled and have left. Ours is the only one. Why and how can that be?

We have insurance but don't know what we are eligible for. Can't ring as I'm not in the country

It's all so horrible I can't believe this is happening at the moment

Novella wrote: »

I believe if the cancellation of the flight is out of the control of the airline, i.e. weather, they are not obliged to take any responsibility. I guess that is somewhat understandable. Do you have travel insurance? If so, have you contacted them for advice?

Also, could you drive to Vegas? I know it would probably take about 8 or 9 hours but I've done a similar drive before and found it rather enjoyable. At least that way you could still enjoy some time there.

Novella

Yurple wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. They say it's weather related but how can it be? There was a Vegas flight before us and there was no problem with it. All other 6 flights there just 2 hours onwards from our one aren't canceled and have left. Ours is the only one. Why and how can that be?

We have insurance but don't know what we are eligible for. Can't ring as I'm not in the country

It's all so horrible I can't believe this is happening at the moment

That does sound really horrible, I'm sorry to hear you're having such an awful time. I don't know why just your flight has been affected, that's unusual. Did they have any explanation for that?

I hope you still manage to enjoy your holiday! I know it's little consolation but there are worse places to be stranded.

ProudDUB

Yurple wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. They say it's weather related but how can it be? There was a Vegas flight before us and there was no problem with it. All other 6 flights there just 2 hours onwards from our one aren't canceled and have left. Ours is the only one. Why and how can that be?

We have insurance but don't know what we are eligible for. Can't ring as I'm not in the country

It's all so horrible I can't believe this is happening at the moment

It is possible that the airplane that you would have been flying on and/or its crew, are stuck in one of the cities that had to cancel flights and/or close its airport due to the bad weather. Just because you are in a warm weather city that is not impacted by the winter blizzards, it doesn't mean that the plane(s) that you should have been flying on, escape unscathed.

If the plane that you were supposed to travel on is stuck in a blizzard in Chicago, there is not a whole lot that the airline can do. They can't just rustle up another plane out of thin air, especially as they probably have lots of other flights that are affected by the bad weather too. Am sure that this is very distressing for you, but the US gets hit with very bad winter storms every year. Air travel all over the country being affected by bad weather, is a very common occurrence at this time of year.

Check the website of the company you have travel insurance with. It is possible they have contact information on there for people to contact them while they are traveling.

BuffyBot

What are our rights ? It's different that European law right? It has all been so horrible.

They've given you pretty much all you get when it comes to travelling in the US.

Massive parts of the US are suffering extreme weather as is pointed out. With many of the big airlines having hubs in those areas, it means aircraft, crews etc are all over the place and this has ripples across the country.

clairefontaine

Are you flying to Florida from Vegas?

If so I'd ask for a refund and rent a car to get to Vegas.

Your insurance should have an international contact number, other wise it's a pretty useless company.

Get a scratch off calling card and use the hotel phone to call the insurance company.

Uncle_moe

The drive is nice and it'll save your vegas leg. Hope it works out.

rockonollie

Yurple wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. They say it's weather related but how can it be? There was a Vegas flight before us and there was no problem with it. All other 6 flights there just 2 hours onwards from our one aren't canceled and have left. Ours is the only one. Why and how can that be?

We have insurance but don't know what we are eligible for. Can't ring as I'm not in the country

It's all so horrible I can't believe this is happening at the moment

The weather may be fine in Vegas, but flights through the rockies and up into the mid-west have been cancelled, they generally don't keep spare planes at airports so your flight may have been cancelled because the plane you were supposed to travel on could be stuck in one of the snow/ice hit airports.......In that case, it is a weather related cancellation and unfortunately the airline isn't responsible for any compensation or hotel costs.

I would take the guaranteed flight and try to enjoy your extra days where you are.....there have been thousands of flights cancelled in the last few days so you may never get a seat if you're listed as standby.

KTRIC

Uncle_moe wrote: »

The drive is nice and it'll save your vegas leg. Hope it works out.

Geography isn't your strong point is it ??

Triangla

Who is your airline?

See if you can book flights now on the net.

If you can then show them at the desk that there is availability.

iusedtoknow

KTRIC wrote: »

Geography isn't your strong point is it ??

You can do Vegas in 9 or 10 hours from SF, and you drive through pretty dramatic landscapes. It can get slightly tedious, but I would rather do that than sit around if I was feeling stuck in San Francisco.
My flight and work trip to Indiana was cancelled this week, I never went to the airport but my workmates said it was madness, he counted 40 cancelled flights in a 3 hour window...in an airport with clear conditions and around 18c. The planes never got from the other parts of the country.

Uncle_moe

KTRIC wrote: »

Geography isn't your strong point is it ??

You enjoy being a d!@k?

I've made the drive and it can be quite scenic. It's not exactly cross county either.

endofrainbow

If you just cancel the SF - LAS flight and opt to drive, be aware that your LAS - SAN - Home Airport flights may also be cancelled as you will be considered a no-show. Keep liaising with airline.

InTheTrees

Yurple wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. They say it's weather related but how can it be? There was a Vegas flight before us and there was no problem with it. All other 6 flights there just 2 hours onwards from our one aren't canceled and have left. Ours is the only one. Why and how can that be?

We have insurance but don't know what we are eligible for. Can't ring as I'm not in the country

It's all so horrible I can't believe this is happening at the moment

Sorry for your problems. DId you make it to LV yet? Hopefully you managed to drive.

As has been mentioned, this storm is of historic cold and covers a large percentage of the of the country which makes it f'ing massive as well. Basically the few states in the west are the only parts of the country that are not being affected in some way.

Hopefully you've also read up on your insurance and have given them a call too. It doesnt cost that much to call from the USA.

Yurple

Hi everybody,

Thanks for your replies. I did not choose to go on standby either in SF or in LA (as they gave us this option) as there were huge conventions going on and every flight was already booked out. We stayed stranded in SF for 2 days and had a late flight to Vegas.

The airplane that was meant to fly into SF to pick up passengers to fly to Vegas was a no show as it was stuck due to weather. It was horrible to see that in total like 20 flights went from SF to Vegas that day.. all flights went except one... ours! Cannot believe they dont give compensation and they blame the weather for not having an airplane available for us? They are a huge airline and should be able to get an airplane from somewhere... not managed well by them.

---

We got the late flight to Vegas and were surprised to find out we got upgraded seats.. she didnt tell us this while booking 2 days ago so nice to see they actually probably did all they could (pink slip for hotel discount + free upgrade) Arrived in Vegas and cabbie tried to rip us off as usual but we knew the fair so left no tip what so ever.

Arrived in Vegas and they wondered why we were 2 days late ... we explained the story and got UPGRADED for FREE to a JACUZZI room! Unbelievable! A 4 person jacuzzi in the living room on the 24th floor and a perfect view of the strip. This wouldnt have happened if the flight wasnt cancelled. On top of that we won a 262 dollar jackpot in one of the machines on a 50c bet!!!

Karma?

The 4 day stay in Vegas turned into 1 and a half days but we definitely made most of it. We stayed up until 8AM first night, recovered in the jacuzzi the next day and stayed out until 2AM following night for our 7AM flight to Orlando (transfer in Denver, 4 hour stop over) and slept for most of both journeys so that nightmare travel day flew by (due to lack of sleep from Vegas)

Orlando was really great and overall it all worked out!

CaliforniaDream

Yurple wrote: »

Arrived in Vegas and cabbie tried to rip us off as usual but we knew the fair so left no tip what so ever.

Glad you got sorted and made the most of this trip.

Just thought I'd point something out that's useful to everyone.
It's against the law in Vegas for cab drivers to take a longer route to your destination. They have to take the shortest route possible unless you say otherwise. They get pulled over by metro a lot and they'll check where the cab is going and where they came from. They'll get heavily fined if they take a longer route.
If someone tries this on you then you don't have to pay the fare. They can't do anything cuz if they call the police they'll end up with a large fine for the sake of a small fare.

It rarely happens that a driver will take a longer way so bear that in mind. Are you sure they took a longer route?

Yurple

Thanks for that information. I almost wanted to say something or just pay a smaller fare and tell him to call the police if he made trouble but after all the crap I just decided to leave it.

I checked http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=LV&from=McCarran+International+Airport+%28LAS%29&to=Excalibur+Hotel

And also he charged us $26 when we arrived and on the way back an honest driver charged us $12

dobsdave

Yurple wrote: »

Thanks for that information. I almost wanted to say something or just pay a smaller fare and tell him to call the police if he made trouble but after all the crap I just decided to leave it.

I checked http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=LV&from=McCarran+International+Airport+%28LAS%29&to=Excalibur+Hotel

And also he charged us $26 when we arrived and on the way back an honest driver charged us $12

That link quotes 15$ min? with no traffic.

Yurple

airport pickup has an extra charge and on the way back we went back at 5AM with literally no traffic on the road so total bill came to $12.50

iusedtoknow

I went to vegas on a work trip recently. They told us to be careful of cab drivers that suggest "taking the tunnel". All it is is a tunnel under the airport to the freeway and into the city, which in Vegas, you don't need to take.

My driver suggested it, i asked if he wanted to ask my route to the hotel again before I got out of the car. He then took the surface roads, $15 and no tip for him for even suggesting the tunnel..

ceadaoin.

iusedtoknow wrote: »

I went to vegas on a work trip recently. They told us to be careful of cab drivers that suggest "taking the tunnel". All it is is a tunnel under the airport to the freeway and into the city, which in Vegas, you don't need to take.

My driver suggested it, i asked if he wanted to ask my route to the hotel again before I got out of the car. He then took the surface roads, $15 and no tip for him for even suggesting the tunnel..

This is a big problem in Vegas. They have just put a big board up as you exit the airport with the average fares to all the hotels. Hopefully people will actually look at this before leaving so will know if they are being ripped off.