SNOW, SPIRIT AIR and AC INT'L AIRPORT ? ?

[bethg0516]

OUR FIRST CRUISE (family of 4).... Any advise from experienced/knowledgeable flyers out of Atlantic City International Airport? We're "booked" on 7 AM Spirit Air flight out of AC tomorrow, Tues, to FLL for the NOS 12/28 cruise. "Scheduled" arrival around 10. We have no experience flying out of AC Int'l when there's been major snow storm. Airport was closed yesterday. Should we bite the bullet and start driving down to Florida today?? :confused::eek:

[Maybaybie10]

I have no experience with that airport, but if it were me I'd start driving! I know all airports up this way (we live in Maine) are closed until Tuesday and there are thousands of people stranded. Since your flight is so early, I would guess there is a chance it may get bumped or canceled as well if the planes are somewhere else since the airport has been closed. There may not be a plane to take you anywhere if they closed the airport before all the planes returned to where they were supposed to be. And since you are due to sail tomorrow I wouldn't risk it.

 

We are sailing in May when there should be no snowstorms and we are booked to fly the day before, but if for any reason they cancel our flight we are planning on renting a car and driving to make sure we make the ship.

 

Good luck to you and safe travels. Let us know what you decide.

 

Melissa

[baggal]

OUR FIRST CRUISE (family of 4).... Any advise from experienced/knowledgeable flyers out of Atlantic City International Airport? We're "booked" on 7 AM Spirit Air flight out of AC tomorrow, Tues, to FLL for the NOS 12/28 cruise. "Scheduled" arrival around 10. We have no experience flying out of AC Int'l when there's been major snow storm. Airport was closed yesterday. Should we bite the bullet and start driving down to Florida today?? :confused::eek:

 

The 3 major airports in NYC are closed until at least noon today, Monday. Don't know about Atlantic City airport but they have at least 20 inches of snow. Today, New Jersey is in a state of emergency - only "essential" vehicles are permitted on the roads. What does the airline say? I would opt for the early flight tomorrow.

[sailaway211]

Probably the worst carrier there is. You have zero choices if Spirit cancels as no other airlines fly out of AC. We have had to leave that airport when they cancelled our flight for no reason and drive to Philadelphia to book another flight. I would start driving south and maybe catch a flight from an airport not affected as you go further south.

[cruiseguy1016]

Along with what sailaway211 had to say. My understanding is that Spirit has no agreements with other airlines. If their planes are canceled, they can't put you on say, Delta or United. If the Spirit plane doesn't fly, you don't fly. My recommendation is to start driving. It sucks to have to forfeit the airfare but if you miss the cruise, you lose out on that money too.

[Croozin Soozin]

Before you start driving south you should check the road reports. I know that my niece had 12 inches of snow in North Carolina. The roads will be a mess and I doubt they're as used to it or as prepared for it as the northeast is.

[bcsurvivor2001]

I agree with some of the other responses - IF major airports like NY, etc are closed due to the weather - what makes people think you can drive your car thru there? I know it's scary and I'd be a mess worrying......BUT to get in your car to drive to Florida during one of the worst east coast snow blizzards sounds a little dangerous to me. My SIL lives in Virginia Beach and has 12" in her backyard........unheard of :eek:

 

We leave 2 weeks from today and with all this crazy weather of late I'm even getting a little nervous............

[JandD Mom]

Beth,

 

This is a follow up to my messages to you on our sailing thread.

 

I think you will be fine. Spirit cancelled the 7 am flight this morning, but the 10 am is scheduled to go out 2hours late. The evening flight is also scheduled.

 

I agree spirit is a customer service nightmare, but AC international is attached to the FAA technical center and I guarantee they'll have the snow out of there.

 

I would not recommend that you drive to Florida. There is snow the entire length of the eastern seaboard and the further south you drive, the less they know how to remove it.. It would be very unsafe to drive.

 

So I bet you the cost of a mojito at sail away tomorrow night that we'll be together. Best wishes! Maria

[CruisinManiac]

We had 4-6" here in NE Tennessee/NC border. The main roads and highways are fine. We do know how to clear snow. ;)

 

You also need to worry about your connecting airport if you have one. If it's Atlanta or CLT, they should be fine by tomorrow.

 

Good luck and if you run into trouble, I hope you purchased good travel insurance. :)

[patseacruiser]

Customers must call the Spirit Reservations Center at 800-772-7117 (or en Español 800-756-7117) to make their flight changes

 

Call and check if they are going. We are about 25 minutes north of Atlantic City airport and we have 2 feet of snow. The parkway and expressway is most likely clear and the road to the airport are probably clear since it's close to the expressway and a state road.

[39august]

to Bethg- I am so sorry this has happened for your first cruise. I'd guess you have very little chance of making the cruise, but I wish you luck. Next time, book your flight to arrive the day or night before your cruise date, especially in winter months. Most experienced cruisers do so.

[joand452]

I have a friend who just drove I-95 from Virginia to NC yesterday, round-trip. He said I-95 was fine. We had very little snow in the DC area -- more snow fell well to the east of the I-95 corridor.

 

Maybe you can get a flight out of Dulles (IAD)? I know JetBlue flies direct to FLL from IAD (we're booked on JB in March). Southwest also flies direct out of Baltimore. The cost might be prohibitive at this late date, so I'd start driving, too!

 

Good luck, and please come back to let us know how you did.

 

Bon Voyage, and I know you'll enjoy your first cruise!

[caribbeancruiser90]

I would head to the airport and see what spirit says. I fly out of ac all the time, and love spirit, especially the low prices. Air Tran is also flying out of Atlantic City now, so you might have options.

[stobe1]

Just because an airport is reopened does not mean that a flight will go. Crews and aircraft may still be out of position for several days after a major storm such as this one.

 

Trust me on this one -- I'm in the airline biz and can tell you from first hand experience!

 

If you truly want to make it, I would suck it up and drive the 18 hours or so it would take to get to Florida.

[steve20832]

She has one of the first flights leaving in the morning which means the plane would come in the night before.

All of the late afternoon flights going to Atlantic City are scheduled to fly there according to Spirits website.

Seems to me tomorrrow's flights will be fine (but full because of people that missed the flights yesterday and today will be re-booked)

My suggestion for the future is book though Southwest from PHL which has a lot more options. With Spirit, there is one flight that you can catch to make the cruise. At least with Southwest, you can be routed to several cities to make a connecting flight (Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Raleigh) if you can't make the non-stop flight to FLL. At least the FL cities have a very slim chance of getting ice/snow in the winter.

[stobe1]

To be fair, that may be true that the website is saying that.

 

However, let me say that I have been here in Raleigh for two days now.

We were supposed to fly to La Guardia tomorrow but crew scheduling has already called us and told us not to report to the airport tomorrow. In fact, I just looked at my airline's website and it shows the flight that we were supposed to work as still operating on time; however, I can tell you that it will not be. I was able to verify this through our internal crew tracking system and the flight has indeed been cancelled. I guess they haven't put it on the public website yet.

 

To add to that -- we went to the airport today and sat for 3 hours before our flight was officially cancelled, then went right back to the hotel. We had a plane, and the crew was definitely there, but we never did go anywhere. The entire system is extremely fluid and it can and does change at the drop of a hat. A flight that looks like it's going to go may be cancelled at the last minute for some unknown reason.

 

My recommendation to her would be start driving if she truly wants to go on this particular vacation. The flight may go, yes...but it also may not.

[stobe1]

Beth,

 

This is a follow up to my messages to you on our sailing thread.

 

I think you will be fine. Spirit cancelled the 7 am flight this morning, but the 10 am is scheduled to go out 2hours late. The evening flight is also scheduled.

 

I agree spirit is a customer service nightmare, but AC international is attached to the FAA technical center and I guarantee they'll have the snow out of there.

 

I would not recommend that you drive to Florida. There is snow the entire length of the eastern seaboard and the further south you drive, the less they know how to remove it.. It would be very unsafe to drive.

 

So I bet you the cost of a mojito at sail away tomorrow night that we'll be together. Best wishes! Maria

 

 

I'm not trying to sound like Mr. Smarty Pants or anything...I promise...but the FAA has absolutely nothing to do with the snow removal process. It is up to each individual aiport's port authority/airport board to maintain its grounds (ie mowing grass, snow removal, etc...). That's one of those "hidden" taxes that are rolled into your fares that you pay each time you fly. If you break down the fares, one of the taxes or fees that you pay is an airport tax/fee that helps pay for these types of things.

 

All the FAA does is control air traffic in the air and on the ground.

[mikeblum]

start driving now...it may take a while...but change drivers every 2 hrs and pack your patience...you will need it but i promise it will be worth it...take lots of pictures...

[DeepWaterMariner]

I'm not trying to sound like Mr. Smarty Pants or anything...I promise...but the FAA has absolutely nothing to do with the snow removal process. It is up to each individual aiport's port authority/airport board to maintain its grounds (ie mowing grass, snow removal, etc...). That's one of those "hidden" taxes that are rolled into your fares that you pay each time you fly. If you break down the fares, one of the taxes or fees that you pay is an airport tax/fee that helps pay for these types of things.

 

All the FAA does is control air traffic in the air and on the ground.

 

True for every other airport in the country, but not Atlantic City since the airport is part of the FAA Tech Center. It is more akin to an air force base than a city airport.

[stobe1]

True for every other airport in the country, but not Atlantic City since the airport is part of the FAA Tech Center. It is more akin to an air force base than a city airport.

 

I was not aware of this. Thanks for the info!

[stobe1]

Beth,

 

This is a follow up to my messages to you on our sailing thread.

 

I think you will be fine. Spirit cancelled the 7 am flight this morning, but the 10 am is scheduled to go out 2hours late. The evening flight is also scheduled.

 

I agree spirit is a customer service nightmare, but AC international is attached to the FAA technical center and I guarantee they'll have the snow out of there.

 

I would not recommend that you drive to Florida. There is snow the entire length of the eastern seaboard and the further south you drive, the less they know how to remove it.. It would be very unsafe to drive.

 

So I bet you the cost of a mojito at sail away tomorrow night that we'll be together. Best wishes! Maria

 

I take back what I said. I was wrong and I apologize.

[bethg0516]

Friends...we bit the bullet and are driving to FL...currently passing thru baltimore in a Cherokee jeep loaded with excessive amounts of luggage and 2 older kids asleep in the back. We will likely cancel the spirit tix which can be done up to midnight today I think. It will be a $440 hit but at least we will have a credit for 4 tix to use in the future. So far the roads are "smooth sailing". Like I said- we are NOT missing this cruise!! Hoping MerionMom and fam get out of Phila ok tonight!!!

[stobe1]

Wise choice! Have fun, but more importantly drive safely!!

[CruisinManiac]

Friends...we bit the bullet and are driving to FL...currently passing thru baltimore in a Cherokee jeep loaded with excessive amounts of luggage and 2 older kids asleep in the back. We will likely cancel the spirit tix which can be done up to midnight today I think. It will be a $440 hit but at least we will have a credit for 4 tix to use in the future. So far the roads are "smooth sailing". Like I said- we are NOT missing this cruise!! Hoping MerionMom and fam get out of Phila ok tonight!!!

 

Thanks for checking in, and watch out for black ice tonight...especially on bridges!

[JandD Mom]

I take back what I said. I was wrong and I apologize.

 

No offense taken!

 

Beth and family, I wish you a safe trip!