<p>My son got a waiver at his school in Wisconsin and was able to return a week ago Friday even though dorms didn't officially open until that Sunday. He has learned that using Chicago is not a good option so he switched airlines and uses Minneapolis which works much better. Even so, he has had many airline adventures over the past 2 1/2 years.</p>
<p>I agree that these delays/cancellations are nothing more than "airline adventures" similar to what the student will experience after college as well. My freshman S had already traveled by plane by himself several times in HS and does not seem daunted by the idea of having to make alternative plans "on the fly" since he has previosuly done this with me and by himself.</p>
<p>On the dorm opening/expense issue. A mom at the gym I go to said that her freshman daughter had solved this problem by getting a group of girls to split the cost of a 2 bedroom "home-suite" motel for the Saturday night before her school reopened on a Sunday. Apparently they had a great time ordering in pizza and it cost very little when split among all those girls. Not much information on how much sleep they got, but it does seem to be a reasonable way to handle dorm opening problems.</p>
<p>Thisoldman,
Problem is when leaving/going to NE area. My S sat on a plane 5 hours when returning from Boston. Twice his plane had to get de-iced, because they would keep plane in runway so long it would ice again.
Another time he was leaving from SF airport, and flight cancelled. The line to get help in rescheduling was quite long. S was fortunate to reach me at home, and I could look up next available flights. </p>
<p>mkm, I don't understand why Spirit didn't help with rebooking. I've used them from CA to FL without problems. Don't airlines have this obligation?</p>
<p>My d applied to only one college that would have required a flight, and then only with direct flights. She could have booked a flight home and back to the school she's going to now, but she hates flying and the school's in the snow belt. She's leaving tomorrow; dh is driving her and a friend back to school. Of course, today we have a nor'easter with 6-8 inches on the ground!</p>
<p>Next year, she'll have her car at school and will drive herself. Now that's a scary thought!</p>
<p>My D got stuck at Midway in Chicago the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving. The on-line information told me her flight was canceled before the gate agent even knew. The flights are a turnaround from NYC and I had been watching all day because I had grave doubts that the incoming flight from LaGuardia would ever make it to Midway. It, of course, did not and they canceled her flight. I was able to get on the phone and rebook her before the gate agent even announced the flight was canceled. It was a pain for her since she went back to campus for the night and returned to Midway at the crack of dawn next morning. My advice for parents of kids who have to fly to school is to become very familiar with the websites of the airlines and the "actual flight information" sites like flightaware and flytetracker. For the NYC airports the most accurate information about delays, actual take-off times and flight maps is available at nynjpa.com Stay on top of what's happening and make the rebook phone calls as soon as you have the information. It can take a long time for the gate agents to get the info and rebook. </p>
<p>As far as Chicago goes, I would pick Midway over O'Hare if at all possible. In our experience the delays are shorter and there seem to be less runway holds as well.</p>
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As far as Chicago goes, I would pick Midway over O'Hare if at all possible. In our experience the delays are shorter and there seem to be less runway holds as well.
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<p>On a similar vein, for the Boston area, I would pick TF Green in Providence over Logan in Boston any day. Since Logan's landing pattern takes you out into the ocean and in over Boston Harbor, delays and cancellations are much more common. Providence, being much smaller and much "friendlier", is the better bet for on-time flights. (And Southwest does fly to and from Providence.)</p>
<p>Our son has to transfer at O'Hare, and I have the same advice as runnersmom. When our son was coming home for Winter Break, the weather was disastrous and we knew there would be problems at O'Hare. We use the flightstats.com website for the most accurate info on flight status, moreso than the O'Hare site or the airline site. We knew before our son did that his flight out of O'Hare was cancelled. While he waited on line we called Customer Service for United (in India) and got him "confirmed" on another flight. When that flight was subsequently cancelled, we repeated everything and got him "confirmed" on the last flight out of O'Hare for our destination. When our son got to the ticket agent we found out that there is a difference between being "confirmed" on a flight and having a seat assignment! They told him that unless he had the seat assignment being confirmed didn't mean much. We called United again (in India) to ask for a seat assignment, and they said only the agent at the ticket counter could do that. Well, as it turns out, being "confirmed" is better than being "standby"--our son got on the flight. He got home at 1am, 9 hours later than scheduled! As an aside, the airline wouldn't do anything to help with hotels or food, as the problems were weather related.</p>
<p>There is no way our son could have managed this on his own; as it was his cell phone was almost out of juice by the time he got on his final flight. So, be sure your cell phone is fully charged when travelling!</p>
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As an aside, the airline wouldn't do anything to help with hotels or food, as the problems were weather related.
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<p>I'm puzzled by this. I have been caught by weather delays in the last several years and have had the airline give me vouchers for hotels and food.</p>
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There is no way our son could have managed this on his own; as it was his cell phone was almost out of juice by the time he got on his final flight. So, be sure your cell phone is fully charged when travelling!
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<p>Always travel with your charger. There are plugs all over most airports so that you can charge your phone if it starts to run down. This has been a lifesaver on many occasions!</p>
<p>He spent a lot of time on the plane(s) which sat on the runway for quite a while before being cancelled, and on lines, where he couldn't use his charger, which he had with him.</p>
<p>Mimk...even with direct flights, there can be problems. Two times DS has had "difficulties" he was booked on non-stop flights. Both of these times, he was actually rerouted onto flights WITH stops and got to his destination. And both times...major airport to major airport.</p>
<p>And if you're not getting appropriate customer service from the offshore reps, ask (and if that doesn't work, demand) to speak to a customer service rep in the United States. I learned this the hard way a long time ago. The domestic customer service people seem to have more flexibility and options when dealing with these kinds of situations. They were able to confirm my D out the next morning, with a seat assignment and were able to help with specific issues that the offshore rep could not. A bit of advice that I was given after this happened was to make sure my kid has the number of the airline they are flying in their cellphone so they can make the calls while online if I am not available to help.</p>
<p>My son made it back woke up to a text message from him...even was 15 minutes early and no extra charge for his skis. Whew. I, too, prefer Midway to OHare, but doesn't work for his trips. I remember well being stuck in Minneapolis, being stuck in Milwaukee, being stuck in Detroit, being stuck in Chicago trying to get home for Christmas when I was a youngun. To the kids, it's an adventure...to the parent...now I know how mine felt and I was definitely a "kid" who loved to call up the 'rents and whine and cry about my misfortunes. I'm glad mine is back and all went well, but the weather is truly the luck of the draw and the airlines. I just keep chanting the mantra "it's time to let them grow up, it's time to let them grow up and deal with these things"...it helps, along with Pinot Grigio.</p>
<p>Yes, nonstop flights can be awful too. Coming home for Thanksgiving my DD was grounded on one end of the country for a few hours and then diverted to another airport on this side of the country. It is becoming increasingly rare to actually have your plane take off on time and land in the desired location on time.</p>
<p>Have spent many nights in airports. Recommend the site Budget</a> Traveller's Guide to Sleeping in Airports</p>