<p>I’m so frustrated. My son is stuck in Phoenix again tonight!</p>
<p>The saga continues here. DS is on the plane and has been for over an hour but it hasn’t departed. According to American airlines the plane is being serviced. He has now officially missed his connection and I get a four hour trip to pick him up but at this point I’ll be happy to do that if he ever leaves Boston.</p>
<p>Just wanted to send some good vibes to all of you. You are handling this with much grace amid the gnashing of the teeth. I’m hoping everyone gets home soon.</p>
<p>I hope I can adjust as well as you all, if we are ever in this situation.</p>
<p>To those whose students have arrived home finally, congratulations and I hope you’re all enjoying the time together! For those still stuck… I’m so sorry, and just want to let you know you’re not alone. I started this thread, and my son started for home last Friday. He’s been trying everything to get home, but his fall-back was the flight they re-booked him for today. Well, that flight got cancelled so he’s still stuck in San Francisco. He’s going to hang out on standby all day tomorrow, and his new back-up booking is on Christmas day. If he really ends up here on Christmas day that means his trip home will have taken a full week.</p>
<p>Good news though, his coach called and told him he could come back later next week instead of on the 30th with the rest of the team.</p>
<p>'rentof2, let’s hope for better weather soon!</p>
<p>Better weather will be nice, but something else that has added hugely to this chaos is that some months ago the airlines cut way back on the number of flights available in order to run the remaining ones at as close to 100% as possible, and many of them have even been over-booked (which has been a practice for a long time, but has increased greatly in recent months.) So now if there is a weather delay or anything that causes missed connections, it’s nearly impossible for the stranded passengers to get on another flight. The cut backs in flights available, the overbooking, the holiday travel season, and the bad weather have all combined to make tis GIGANTIC mess. And there are no refunds, no flight coupons, no hotel rooms in almost all cases.</p>
<p>But, eventually all our kids will get home, and that will be a wonderful day!</p>
<p>D flying through Dallas/ft worth tomorrow mid day . Keeping my fingers crossed.</p>
<p>rentof2 glad to hear the coach gave him some extra time. I’m sorry he isn’t home yet. Wow. What a saga. AT one point I sent my son some of your son’s story so he wouldn’t feel so bad during this three days in the dorm alone during the Boston snowstorm.
Mine finally made it home sans luggage and with me going five hours in the car to pick him up at a different airport.</p>
<p>'rent of 2, he definatley IS a seasoned traveller now! I’m crossing my fingers for stand by today for him.</p>
<p>Poor bad weather service is one consequence of excess capacity having been “rung out” of the air transport system by deregulation.</p>
<p>Plus I also think some of the airlines don’t want to spend the money on deicing the planes. There was really no weather reason that my son’s flight couldn’t have come in yesterday - there was no precipitation falling and none expected for the rest of the day. It’s so frustrating!</p>
<p>He’s scheduled to fly home this morning. Fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Another problem, other than a plane that is able to fly and airports on both ends that can allow takeoffs and landings, is that there has to be a flight crew. Most of the delays that we have experienced recently were a combination of things, but one big factor, when everything else seemed OK, was that the flight crew was stuck somewhere else, or had gotten so delayed that mandatory down time was required before they could fly again.</p>
<p>The logistics of all this, when the airlines are flying bare-bones, must be a nightmare.</p>
<p>One thing to consider, if you’ve just about given up, is to have your child volunteer to get bumped, if they get a confirmed seat on an overbooked flight. I’m surfing right now, trying to figure out how to use the $400 credit that I have from Delta from my last trip.</p>
<p>All the moving parts that have to work together for airline travel is mind boggling. Unfortunately there is about no room for error allowed in a process full of potential errors on a lot of fronts. A pretty poor way to run a business.</p>
<p>I’m now trying to figure out how to claim a refund for the first half of a ticket that didn’t get used (we were able to book a last minute alternate non stop - required an airport change and some good luck, but it worked). Otherwise my child would be in Chicago right now instead of home for the last day and a half. We need the second half of the ticket for return the day after Christmas. I can’t get through to the airline to determine what to do about the refund OR to confirm the return trip!</p>
<p>Some of you may know the website, [FlyerTalk</a> - The world’s most popular frequent flyer community](<a href=“http://flyertalk.com%5DFlyerTalk”>http://flyertalk.com). It is to airline travel what CC is to college. They can’t solve the airlines’ problems, but the folks on the boards know an awful lot about the ins and outs of the airlines, ticketing, refunding, airports, routing, etc…</p>
<p>rent, your attitude is commendable. I guess crying is counterproductive, huh?</p>
<p>mom60 PM me if I can help in any way. We’re not that close to the airport (about 45 minutes away) and I’ve got to run out early afternoon for a few hours, but if she does get stuck we can help later this afternoon.</p>
<p>I was able to get a refund for the second leg of DS’s flight on American airlines that he didn’t use because I gave up and drove 5 hours round trip to pick him up. I had to make very sure that they didn’t cancel that segment on the return trip.
However, unfortunately, no one knows where his bag went.</p>
<p>HighlandMom- thank you for the offer. Her plane is in the air. It actually left on time. Her plane stops in Dallas but is continuing on to LAX. There is no aircraft change. I am hoping that is a good sign. At least they won’t be waiting on a plane or crew that is stuck somewhere else. She has an hour stop. She should land in about 30 minutes. Keeping fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Yea! That’s good they have no change/wait for crew. We’ve got a little drizzle here and it’s pretty cold but definitely above freezing. Check in sometime after she gets home, okay? :)</p>
<p>One of my kids is flying home tomorrow…I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there are no travel snafus tomorrow!!!</p>
<p>HighlandMom- she called. Landed and reboarding soon. She is tired and cranky. She hates to fly. She said the plane was an smaller plane with no movie and she is dreading getting back on it for another 3 1/2 hours. I can tell she hasn’t eaten anything today and probably won’t till she gets to LAX where she has a longer layover before her next flight.
She is in luck that on her return she is on a bigger aircraft.
She has no clue how lucky she is to have a plane that left on time.</p>