Inbound flights and airlines

[sanders3]

We're doing the Jan 15 star wars cruise and coming in from upstate NY the afternoon/evening before, staying at the Hyatt. Short question is, we're flying in the day before - should we nonetheless avoid an airline that has a single flight daily, where the next flight (on cruise day) won't make it in time? And related question is should we avoid Southwest given recent issues?

We typically fly Southwest, but between more expensive fares and the recent bulk cancellation debacles, I thought we should avoid SW on the way in and maybe Jet Blue would be better (it was also cheaper and direct). I'm now having second thoughts (good thing I paid a bit more to make them refundable tickets). There's a single Jet Blue flight daily that arrives around 5pm (so we can't just take the next days if something goes wrong).

Other options are not so great. I was trying to preserve a half day of work and school at least, so leave in the afternoon, and avoid connecting through northern cities. SW has an earlier direct, midday. It has several connecting after that, which are more expensive (except for the one arriving at 1:30am, after an 10pm Chicago connection...). And then 2 Saturday (a connecting and a direct) that would theoretically get us to MCO in time. Our other options are ugly (a 6:45pm Delta with a 11:30pm Atlanta connection, arriving at 1am, but a very nice price) or even more expensive (everything else - a couple of delta, american, and a united or two, all connecting).

We have trip insurance, and I'd rather avoid ugly with two kids (young enough to get really cranky, big enough to be having to walk on their own two feet whenever it is we connect/arrive). But obviously would also like to make the cruise. I'm having trouble assessing the risk - and whether I should just abandon the idea of preserving part of Friday for work/school - maybe leave first thing Friday and...do something to occupy ourselves/maybe stay near port instead of Hyatt? - and adjust to the idea of eating up extra cost.

 

[Cheburashka]

I will probably never fly JetBlue again, after they not only canceled our flights but also canceled several routes from our city (including Orlando). Yes, at this time especially, flying an airline that offers only one flight per day is a risk.

All of the airlines seem vulnerable to cancellations right now due to understaffing & pilot union disputes about vaccine mandates. Southwest has had major problems, American canceled several hundred flights last weekend when I flew them (though I was unaffected, I saw an unbelievable rebooking line in the terminal), so there's no perfect solution, no airline that's really safe.

I recommend trying to find a particular flight that's flown daily with a high on-time rate, as those seem less likely to be canceled. This is also a good time to pay extra & book first class if you can afford it, because 1st gets priority with rebookings. Also, when you fly with a legacy airline (American, Delta, United), they will cooperate with each other to the extent possible to get customers where needed in the event of cancellations. Southwest doesn't cooperate with other airlines, so if their flights are down, you're out of options unless you completely book with someone else.

 

[BmarieT]

We are flying Delta on Black Friday one day before our 5-day cruise out of Miami and I am a little worried too!! Fingers crossed.

 

[lcarter0922]

We are flying Black Friday for the cruise in Miami on Delta. Im less likely worried about that one then I am the return flight on American.

 

[princessmommyx3]

Like others have said, things can happen with any airline right now. In my opinion, your best safety net is time so I would fly out Friday morning and forget about the half day of work/school. Having time on your side will be what matters most to make the cruise if things go wrong.

 

[lklgoodman]

Like others have said, things can happen with any airline right now. In my opinion, your best safety net is time so I would fly out Friday morning and forget about the half day of work/school. Having time on your side will be what matters most to make the cruise if things go wrong.

I agree with this, especially since you're flying in winter out of a place that can get a lot of snow. We have done several Jan cruises and always get the first flight the day before. We live in Ohio, fly on SW, and are able to get a direct flight to Orlando. We haven't had any cancelations before any cruises, but one year a huge snow storm hit all the NE and trying to get home was a nightmare. And we had originally had a 2 hr direct flight. I'm sure there were a lot of people on the cruise after ours who missed it because of all the cancelled flights. My dh recently flew on SW. He was worried because his trip was just 10 days after all the cancelations. Thankfully he had no problems with any of the flights, he had several connections.

 

[Sconny]

We have opted for the extra day and driving...I saw the Southwest debacle in the airport a couple weeks ago and also the American airlines last week and that looked like a nightmare.

Also these days with connections (dont live in a major hub) for us it takes about 10-12 Hrs (no delays) from leaving the house to getting to our Hotel in Cocoa Beach. It takes me 20 Hrs to drive, I am one that does not mind driving etc..The cost savings is right around $750-$1000 to drive (Yes I know my car can break down, wear and tear on the vehicle adds up etc). So for my 8 Hrs of my time driving I am paying myself over $50 an Hour to do it, makes it nicer to think about.

Another major thing (that hopefully will go away) is the need for a negative test right now. Having a car gives us lots of options in case we test positive at the port, that actually right now is the biggest thing for us. If that was not in place I would would be looking at flights at least to see what the costs are (as we did before covid).

Best of luck to everyone thats "Trying" to go on a cruise right now...been since Feb 2020 for us and I for one am counting down the minuets till nov 28th departure!!!

 

[spiders]

So the thing about winter weather is that cities that typically experience true winter weather are capable of handling it. A smaller city like Buffalo knows a thing or two about snow and isn't busy enough where any weather capacity restrictions heavily impact it. Chicago has issues because of volume.

Now, Atlanta will run just fine in the winter right up until it doesn't. If there is any type of ice or snow then you can consider yourself screwed. Atlanta does not have enough deicing equipment to handle it's volume because it just doesn't happen often enough but when it does -- you can expect massive cancellations.

 

[pjsmith67]

We experienced that issue in Houston (non-Disney trip) a few years ago. A rare ice storm hit and we got stuck on the plane for 4+ hours while they waited for deicing. We had to back to the gate after the max wait time expired where they let us off and then called us back again in 15 minutes. It became complicated as some passengers left and didn't come back so it took them another 2+ hours to account for them. What should have been a 4 hour trip turned into a 12+ hour nightmare. It would have been quicker for us to just rent a car and drive home.

 

[g_ppetto]

We recently took the Auto Train south for our cruise on the Fantasy followed by a couple of days at WDW, then drove home to South Jersey. I enjoy the drive. The traffic around DC can be pretty bad but this time there were no problems. The only back up was going north in Delaware. Bad accident just north of the rest stop. Traveling northbound we stay in Smithfield NC.

 

[CBMom01]

I would never count on a same day flight even before covid. Now? No way.

 

[Cheburashka]

I would never count on a same day flight even before covid. Now? No way.

Worked for me last week. Flying in the day before could also go wrong, and depending on the airline, leave you unable to get to the ship on time. There is always some risk. I minimized it by choosing an early morning nonstop that is a daily recurring flight with a high reliability rate- very unlikely to be canceled. At the end of the day, there are no guarantees & you have to do what works for you. Flying in early wasn't possible for me last week. I didn't borrow trouble by worrying about things outside of my control, and fortunately, it turned out just fine.

 

[Julia M]

I am really concerned about this. I have an earlier morning (8:30am) flight to Houston in early December on a Thursday. Our cruise is Friday. I've thought about flying in Wednesday afternoon instead, but then would either need to not fly non stop (adding in another potential issue), or take another day off work, by flying early (which will also add $100 to our costs each). We can't drive.....at best it's a 28 hour drive and that's with no stops!

It's really a quandary. I'd change airlines, but American has a bunch of issues too, no non stop and not as many flights. At least Southwest has 7 additional flights that day to Houston. And if I fly early (on Wednesday) and there is an issue, I have lower priority for flights on Thursday than if I was just on the flight.

I really don't know what to do.