<p>After a wonderful month back here for Christmas, D2 headed to the airport at 5:30 AM. Uneventful flight to the major city with the only air link to her college town. Five boring but uneventful hours on layover there as more and more kids from her school gather at the gate. (as she put it, awaiting the Hogworts Express). Then the notice that the flight was cancelled.... all kids grab cell phones and call parents in 11 different states. Weather has the little airport socked in and the closest other alternative is turning back flights also. Unlike being bumped, evidently the airline doesn't have to cover all the added expenses as these kids scramble to find a place to spend the night and get back and forth to the airport.
We had to nix the airline's suggestion of city bus to Grayhound station to Grayhound station in city an hour from college (1 AM arrival in the best case, seedy neighborhood) and then maybe a friend from school could come get them? Yeah, right.... in the bad weather, hour each way, 19 year old driver, this is what I paid for!
Fortunately we have family in the city and she's being picked up by one aunt and taken back tomorrow by another, both of whom have offered to let assorted students camp out on the floor..... I'm feeling guilty inflicting my kid's problems on them....
If I had a next kid, he or she would be going to school either close to home or somewhere with no weather issues and major airports!
Rant over.
Is anyone else having trouble getting their kid back on campus?</p>
<p>No similar problems here but it used to be that airlines would pick up hotel fare if they canceled the flight in the middle of segments. I've been put up in hotels many times. They would usually pick up some meal cost (depending on the time) and ground transport to the hotel as well. It's been a while since I've been stuck since I no longer travel constantly like I used to so maybe things have changed. For future reference alone I'd contact the airline and double-check on their policy. With fares as cheap as they are I'm not terribly surprised.</p>
<p>this break was the first and last time that, geographically, it worked out that D1 drove to pick up D2, and they drove home together (770 miles from D2's school). So they drove back on Friday, uneventful. It was a true relief to know we didn't have to worry about airports on this trip home!</p>
<p>However, in previous experiences, I, too, have found it enormously frustrating that when a child is stranded in another city, the airlines usually do nothing to provide accommodation arrangements, if it's weather related. I know some people, when actually scheduling flights to and from school which require a change of planes, try to pick a transfer city where they know someone if their kid gets stranded (yea, for your aunt!). Add into the reality that a 19-year old might have problems getting a hotel room, if there are any. Many times when there's a cancellation due to weather, the hotel rooms fill up immediately, and many people are left to sleep it out on airport floors. Ick!</p>
<p>my son wanted an adventure on his return to college, so he took a greyhound bus from the midwest to the east coast with one extended stop-over in our old home town. he's now in the middle of his journey, meeting new people, lugging his stuff on highways, finding lodging and food, and having a great (and so far, safe) time. cell phones make it less worrisome for me. . . .in my day we sometimes hitch-hiked back to school on the west coast with or without our parents knowledge.</p>
<p>That is so frustrating. Luckily you have someone for her to stay with. Our D goes to school where she has to make a plane change (it's a major airport on the college end...just not here). DH worried that this could be a problem. I, OTOH said.."she's the one who wanted to go to college across the country. The worst thing that will happen is that she'll be stranded in some airport with lots of other stranded people". Mean mom. So far SHE has been the lucky one. DS, who is closer, always seems to be on the plane that is either delayed enough to miss his connection or canceled. He has gotten VERY good at getting himself rebooked on a different flight (even with bad weather...he must whine very well). On his trip back this time, his flight was delayed and he would have missed his connection. He convinced them to put him on another airline.</p>
<p>Mine just took off on his second leg and one more plane change tonight and he's back. Watching the flights on the internet, so far so good, only a 15 minute delay on the plane change in Chicago. Got my fingers crossed. I just tell mine if they cancel your flight don't leave the airline desk until they put you up for the night and until they give you a confirmation for the balance of your journey...and e-mail your profs while you're standing there waiting for the airlines to twitch around and tell them why you're missing class on Monday.</p>
<p>You could always try the "In loco Parentis" - <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/344820-loco-parentis-do-you-live-near-college-15.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/344820-loco-parentis-do-you-live-near-college-15.html</a></p>
<p>A friend's daughter missed her connecting flight as the original flight left 3 hours late due to a mechanical problem. This airline, Spirit, would not book on a later flight (who knows why), would not give room or food vouchers, only refunded the cost of the last leg. She was stuck for 3 days before she could get on another airline's flight at the cost of $350.</p>
<p>I'd never heard of "Spirit", but don't think I'll be booking!</p>
<p>S has his return to college next weekend. He booked a Saturday a.m. departure to avoid flying back the last day before classes start. At his college, the dorms have already reopened so he didn't have to wait until the very end.</p>
<p>Instead of cursing the distance, the need for flights to not be cancelled or greatly delayed, perhaps OP's student might try not cutting it so close next time. Last time I checked, mid-January was a bad weather time of year in a lot of the country. These kind of delays/cancellations are not unexpected.</p>
<p>I guess S got it from me. If I have a really important deadline in an out of town location, I get there in advance to avoid the possibility of an overnight delay.</p>
<p>07Dad, sometimes it's not possible to do as you suggested. DD flew back to school last Sunday. The dorms didn't open until that day at noon. Classes started on Monday. She could NOT plan to fly back sooner as she would have had no where to stay. But I'm with you...when POSSIBLE, we try to get where we're going a day early. Sometimes, it's just not possible.</p>
<p>We had the same problem - dorms not open until today. We considered earlier flights, but then got into the logistics and expenses of motels and taxis. Gambled on things going smoothly. Bad bet.
Latest is that in the <em>4 hour</em> wait for Alaska airlines to release their luggage, one of the upperclassmen in the group convinced Dad to let him drive the group back to campus in dad's SUV. We're running on prayer time here since D's cell has died. I guess this is what out parents went through before cell phones. We'll hear when she gets there.
Positive note, and I guess I'll "out" D's college here: I emailed the president of Whitman College and he responded within the hour, stating that profs would be notified of travel problems and nobody would have problems missing classes. More importantly, he said that he would talk to the residence folks about timing of dorm openings and travel issues, and look into why they don't open earlier at Christmas. But I still wish she went to school within driving distance..............jeez, what if we didn't know anyone at the other end? I know kids can do it, it's the Moms that have to worry.
I feel better.<br>
Just not as much better as if she were safely back at campus;</p>
<p>DS was stranded a week ago in Chicago (United did give him a hotel voucher. To Hilton.). He had to re-book several times, and each successive flight was also canceled. Just when he was told there will be no flights till Tuesday, and we thought he will have to go and try to catch Greyhound, there was an opening, and he got on a flight.</p>
<p>Two years ago he spent a night on the floor of Detroit airport (everybody else got vouchers, and he somehow missed the moment... and was paranoid anyway - didn't want to miss an early morning flight). A year ago everything was fine. One of the summer trips he made on Amtrack, but didn't like it at all. </p>
<p>Their dorms open on Sunday, so he can not book flights on Saturday, either.</p>
<p>DD also went to a Midwest school, same distance. Used same Chicago airports (O'Hare and Midway). Never had any delays or cancellations.</p>
<p>while many schools may be strict about this policy, we found D2's school kind of lenient. The policy states dorms were not open to students until today, unless... you live over 300 miles from campus. D had to fill out a waiver request, which was easy to get. Her return to school was dependent on D1 driving her, and D1 had to be back on her campus yesterday for some activities. D2 had permission to move back in as soon as last Thursday, but didn't arrive until Friday night. </p>
<p>You have to look for these policies; if you just look at the campus calendars, they're not going to inform you of other options. Frankly, almost all schools have to have some sort of flexibility for students who have to return early. Often, athletes are back on campus early, as are kids who have rehearsals for productions, etc. I think if some of you dig deeper, you'll find more schools have these options.</p>
<p>These situations are very frustrating, and at times, anxiety-producing for the parents. </p>
<p>It isn't always just due to where your kid goes to school. Actually, my kid goes to school in driving distance (six hours) but still was stranded twice last year at age 18 alone. Once was for spring break, she visited grandmother in CA. Her college is in NYC. We live in VT. On her flight back from vacation to school from CA to NYC, she had a change in Dallas. All the flights to the East were cancelled due to huge storms and they said they could not get her out for two days due to the back up of so many cancellations. She had to stay in a hotel at the airport for the entire weekend, alone, with no luggage either. She also didn't get her luggage for a few days after her return to school. She was flying back a couple days before school started again and so did not end up missing any school. She was stranded over the Jan. break too, alone, in FL, for a night and had to spend a night in a hotel by that airport too, and won't get into that whole mess. My other college kid on her return over her March break visiting grandmother in CA to her college in RI, was also stranded one night in Philly but in that case, was able to stay with my brother who lives there. So, this happens more than you think. (It surely has happened to me though I am not a college student, including in this past year, where I have been stranded alone due to airline mishaps). While it was stressful that my kids had these things happen, they were able to manage staying in a hotel and all the rest. They were not with any other students or anyone they knew in those cities.</p>
<p>One of the criterias for DS schools was that they have good airports with good connections. He did some preplanning and took southern routing for winter trips whenever feasible and reasonable in time and cost. </p>
<p>Now, you know, The Secret.</p>
<p>We've had our share of problems but mostly when she is coming home. Last May it took her two very unpleasant days to get home. I got stranded in the Midwest coming back from dropping her off her freshman year. Since 9/11 airlines have stopped comping for what is not their fault - and weather is not their fault. Now I refuse to do connecting flights. A connection with no plane change is OK but we've had too many missed flights due to weather. Now with kid number 3 applying, you can bet travel is a consideration. We went to one presentation and I asked what the route to our city was. When I heard it was a small airport to another city and a switch, that was it for that school. A travel agent once told me she did not allow her kids to apply to schools without nonstop flights home because she was always hearing from distraught parents whose kids were stuck in some city for Thanksgiving, etc.</p>
<p>We depend on Chicago to get DD to school and we learned the hard way only to fly into Midway. There is a bus from there.....it would be easier for her to fly direct to her college town but that requires connecting at O'Hare, which is the nightmare of all nightmare airports.</p>
<p>I feel for the OP. D drove back to school New Year's Day, when our area had over a foot of snow. The 10 hour drive took 13 & the dorm was closed when they arrived. The campus security staff told D & the guy she carpooled with "too bad." They found a friend in town who picked up his cell phone at 1 a.m. when they were turned away from the dorm! We never even considered that the dorms wouldn't be open ... we're first timers! The kids would have had to leave home when they did no matter what, because they couldn't leave the next day & cut it so close for first day of classes (this is a short term on a 3-2-3 calendar, so every day is important). At least if we had realized (yes, I know we should have) the dorms were closed, the kids could have made arrangements in advance. You live & learn.</p>
<p>If D had flown rather than driving, though, she would have been delayed like the OP's S. When they go to school so far away, it isn't always easy. We can't help but worry.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Since 9/11 airlines have stopped comping for what is not their fault - and weather is not their fault.
[/quote]
I agree, weather is not their fault, but the contingency plans they have in place make a huge difference in how they recover from weather delays/cancellations. If the major airlines wanted to, they could put more resources into providing back up plans for their passengers. At risk of sounding like a broken record, I absolutely love Southwest Airlines for just this reason. The only time I've had a Southwest flight delayed, it was very obvious that it was weather related, as opposed to United, who, canceled my daughter's flight home six hours before it was even scheduled to depart. I suspect the difference between Southwest and other airlines is that Southwest restricts itself to smaller airports, which don't experience the air traffic control issues that larger airports do. Whenever there's bad weather in the Chicago area, O'Hare's delays almost always run twice the amount of time than those at Midway, if not more. And there will be more cancellations at O'Hare than Midway. I think the greedy major airlines try to squeeze in every possible flight they can and in the process, jeapordize all flights when things go wrong. I think Southwest builds in more time for a flight so that if they are delayed for a short time, it doesn't have the same impact on their whole system. I suspect it costs Southwest more to do this, but somehow they recup their costs because they're often the most profitable airline in the country. </p>
<p>So while we can't control the weather, airlines do have options as far as contingency plans, but they often cost money.</p>
<p>It happens often enough that, after a flight has been delayed for several hours, that once the weather clears, we've had to wait longer for a new crew to come in because the original crew has now been on too long. I just think there are more efficient ways to do it, but until someone starts to hold the airlines accountable for their abuse of its customers because they're most interested in the bottom line, no one is going to be motivated to do anything about it.</p>
<p>I nixed D1's application to a school when it took two flights to get there and when we visited the second flight was cancelled. To me, it wasn't worth the worrying.</p>