I woke up on the Tuesday after Christmas not knowing that my long-awaited New Year’s trip was in jeopardy. After all, the weather in a large area of Washington, DC is beautiful, and we are heading south. I’ve heard of Midwest storms and the problem of air travel over Christmas week, but that’s all in the past.
Imagine my shock and surprise when I turned on my computer on Tuesday morning to read on TPG that Southwest Airlines has not recovered from last week’s air travel disruption and has canceled nearly 2/3 of flights on December 27 and 28. I flew out early on December 29, with a pre-flight hotel booked in Baltimore for the night before.
Will my flight be cancelled, and will Southwest cancel my flight before I get to the airport at dawn? Should I cancel my plans ahead of time and does that involve losing more or less money than gambling on my current holiday?
Here’s how I saved my winter break, with lessons learned that all vacationers can find useful.
I noticed
I’m one of those who really unplug on the PTO. I avoid the news, and I don’t check my social media or work Slack messages as often as I do. If I hadn’t been to work the Tuesday before my trip, I probably wouldn’t have known my flight was in jeopardy.
Lessons Learned: Follow travel news (you can subscribe to TPG email for all the latest information) in the time leading up to your vacation, so you’ll know if problems may arise on your travel day.
I did my research
Instead of going as planned until Southwest canceled my flight, I did my own research to determine the possibility of my travel plans being ruined.
First, I looked up Southwest’s flight status tool. On Tuesdays it only shows my flight status from Monday to Wednesday. I can’t tell if my Thursday flight from Baltimore to Savannah, Georgia will be canceled (that information won’t be on the flight status tool until at least Wednesday). However, I could see that the same flight was canceled every day of that week.
I have also read about the ongoing airline crisis and know that Baltimore is one of the hardest hit airports. Although I could not find information on the number of flights expected to be canceled on Thursday and Friday, I did find that airline executives predicted a large number of cancellations. more cancellation; I have also noticed that the airline will not be rebooking affected travelers in the coming days.
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From those articles, I deduced that my flight was most likely canceled, and if it did, I wouldn’t be able to reschedule it for the next day.
The problem is, I can’t wait until Wednesday to change my plans. Since I live almost two hours from Baltimore/Washington’s Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) and my flight was scheduled for 7:40 a.m., I booked a hotel near the airport for Thursday night. Private. That way we wouldn’t have to drive to Baltimore in the wee hours of the morning and could leave our car at the hotel for the duration of the trip.
I need to cancel my hotel reservation by 6pm on a Tuesday to avoid being charged the full hotel rate.
This is where I got creative. I read about Flight knowledge, a flight tracking app, on TPG. The free online version showed me that the Southwest flight from Baltimore to Savannah continued to Nashville, Denver and Buffalo – meaning the plane and crew on this route were most likely stranded somewhere due to the storm. . It also informed me that my Thursday flight was cancelled.
I was surprised when FlightAware said my flight was canceled when Southwest hadn’t updated my booking in the app or emailed me. All I can see in the airline’s app is that my flight may be affected by winter storms and I can make a one-time booking change for free.
When I try to make a fake booking for my outbound flight on Southwest’s website, it shows the entire flight as unoccupied — though it doesn’t say if it’s because the flight is sold out or because it’s sold out. cancel.
Worried, I texted my TPG colleague and friend Andrea Rotondo, who has a paid version of FlightAware. She confirmed on the app that my flight was canceled and also reconfirmed it on another paid air travel information service, ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures).
Lessons Learned: Don’t wait for the airline to notify you that your flight is cancelled. Do your own research to determine if your flight is at risk.
I took the initiative
Now I have a conundrum: My flight is almost certainly cancelled, but I won’t be eligible for a refund if I cancel my flight before Southwest cancels. I don’t know when Southwest informed me that my flight could not be made. After all, some Christmas flight passengers didn’t find out about the cancellation until they were at the airport and checked in their luggage (after which they couldn’t get it back).
My husband and I discussed and agreed that in this case peace of mind and our holiday savings were the most important considerations. We decided to go ahead with Plan B – turning our plane holiday into a road trip.
I canceled my Baltimore hotel with half an hour to spare before I was charged and canceled my car rental in Savannah, which I can do any time before picking up the car. We have informed brother-in-law that we will not be able to see him at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday as scheduled.
We debated splitting the drive over two days, but since there was nothing we wanted to see along I-95 in North Carolina or South Carolina, we decided to complete the nearly nine-hour drive in a day. I did some hotel research on TripAdvisor and found a nostalgic luxury motel on Tybee Island, near Savannah, that was available the next night for a reasonable price. That way we could spend the day at the beach before signing up for our Airbnb.
I was told that you can cancel your Southwest flight up to 10 minutes before departure and still receive flight credit. That leaves me playing chicken with the airline for a while longer; If they don’t cancel in advance, I can always do it in advance on Thursday morning.
As it happened, when I woke up on Wednesday morning, my flight status was cancelled. Putting the reservation on my app to supposedly check in also shows the cancellation. (However, it won’t let me request a refundso i filled in online form and I’m waiting.)
Lessons Learned: You don’t have to wait for the airline to cancel your flight before you think of and act on a Plan B. It may be too late.
i was lucky
In the end, I was lucky to have saved my vacation. If my destination is not within driving distance, I may or may not be able to find and purchase four tickets from another airline. Or, I could be in the middle of a trip and be stuck with no way home, forcing me to spend extra money for extended hotel stays and possibly missing days of work. I also knew about the possibility of a cancellation in advance, rather than after I had arrived at the airport and could have checked in my luggage.
I was also lucky enough to be able to cancel my hotel reservation and car rental without penalty. Thankfully, I didn’t need to cancel my booking on vacation rental sites; I paid for it in advance and since the cancellation deadline has passed, I will lose the full amount if I don’t show up.
It’s helpful when we don’t see family or friends at our destination. We didn’t miss a potential last visit with grandma or anyone’s special birthday or wedding celebration. Some others affected by the crisis at Southwest have lost once-in-a-lifetime experiences or meaningful family visits.
Lessons Learned: Even with the best planning, sometimes you can’t save a vacation interrupted by weather, airline accidents, or other world events.
What I Learned About Winter Travel
Despite a nervous day before my vacation and having to rebook, my family had a wonderful time in Savannah. As it turns out, it’s helpful to have a car to explore Tybee Island, Bonavoji Cemetery, and Wormsloe Historic Site outside the city center. The car was a convenient place to store our luggage before we could book our vacation rental, and it allowed us to run errands when needed.
However, the flight challenge is a wake-up call to all that can happen and ruin a planned holiday, especially during the colder, snowier months. Here are my lessons:
Consider refundable travel plans. I’m always looking for the cheapest options, wondering “Why would I want to cancel my plans?” However, sometimes you need that flexibility when your plan is cancelled. I might be willing to pay a little more for a refundable option in the future.
Peace of mind is worth more than money. Likewise, it wouldn’t be fun to agonize over daily whether or not your trip was going to work out when you could spend a little more money to worry less. A colleague took the initiative to cancel her Southwest flight back home and rebook on another airline; Her original flight took off as planned, but she didn’t spend her vacation worrying about it. The money spent on the new flight is worth the peace of mind.
Be prepared to be flexible. Vacations don’t always go as planned. If you can, take a flexible approach. You’ll be more satisfied with the trip you got than sad about the experiences you’ve missed if your plans change.
Have a backup plan. Many of my TPG colleagues research alternative flights, so they may be ready to rebook if their original flight is delayed or cancelled. Think ahead of time about what you’ll do if your winter flight is disrupted, so you can calmly make changes instead of stressing out when things go awry.
Consider travel insurance. If you’re booking non-refundable accommodation, flights, tours, or other parts of your trip, consider purchasing travel insurance that will refund you when unexpected circumstances make it impossible for you to travel. Now the trip is planned.
bottom line
I saved my winter break through research, proactive planning, and luck. My heart goes out to all Southwest customers who lost their vacation or suffered a lot this December.
Whether you’re an occasional traveler or an airplane savvy, I hope the lessons I’ve learned will help you better plan your upcoming winter trips. .
For anyone else whose vacation was disrupted by the Southwest crisis, travelers are reporting a successful refund request via the form I linked above.
Also, check your email for this subject line: “Message from Southwest CEO Bob Jordan.” It contains a code for 25,000 Quick Bonus Points — a consolation prize from the airline. I still haven’t received this hot email, but I can’t complain because I had a great stay, even though my flight was cancelled.
