"Almost" Live from Explorer

[Travelcat2]

We do not board Explorer until Sunday, February 17th.  So, why am I posting now?  Because we are going through a weather and airline nightmare that may help someone reading this thread.  Apologize in advance for this long post.  Feel free to not read it if it is of no interest.

 

First, I have been quite outspoken about disliking U.S. based airlines.  However, sometimes you have no choice.  And, the choices from Vancouver or Seattle to South America offers mediocre flights at best.  We always deviate and the best flight that I could find out of Vancouver was on American Airlines.  There were two choices - one leaving at 6:00 a.m. - arriving in Dallas at 12:15 p.m. and then waiting 8 1/2 hours for our flight to Santiago.  The second choice (which we booked) was going to depart 1:30 p.m. and arrive in Dallas 45 minutes before the flight to Santiago.  Yes - I did think that the time between flights was very tight but would American sell that flight combination if we could not make it (YES).  We did think that since we were in First Class, we would get off quickly, take the skytrain (or whatever it is called) to the next terminal and board the plane.  Easy peasy!  WRONG!

 

It began snowing in Washington on the day of Super Bowl.  We weren't concerned because while Seattle was being blasted, we were getting 1 to 1 1/2" - not a big deal.  Now, 8 days later, we have 6 inches of snow on the ground (this is a tremendous amount for this city that rarely gets snow and when it does, it is very small amounts).  And, snow will continue on and off for the next two weeks.

 

It occurred to me on Saturday that flights out of Vancouver were leaving about 35-45 minutes late which would definitely mean that we would miss our flight to Santiago.  We were in communication with another passenger that used to be a pilot for AA.  He gave us advice as well as information as to how many seats were left on any possible flights.  So, we knew that:

 

1.  There were two seats left on the same flight - one day earlier.  We could have stayed at the hotel but, after check out, would still have a several hour wait.

2.  There were two seats left on the 6:00 a.m. flight (the one with the 8 1/2 hour wait).

3.  Flights on Saturday were overbooked by 8 people so there was no option there.  Either we arrived in Dallas in time for our flight or we would miss the ship.

 

Since we booked with Regent, I called Regent on Saturday and learned that we needed to wait until Monday when the Air Department would open.  I then called our TA and. learned that we would have to pay a fee since the tickets had been issued (not a big deal).  But, we still would have to wait until Monday.  We love our TA but they cannot work miracles.

 

Then my husband called American Airlines and spoke with them for 2 hours.  He was immediately told that there was "NO WAY" we could have made the connection -- even if the flight was on time.  First they were going to charge us $8,000 to cancel and rebook.  Then it became $3,900.  My husband kept repeating that the flights had already been paid for but could not tell the agent how much was paid because Regent booked it.  The very kind American agent got in touch with their consolidator.  At one point we only were going to have to pay $200/person - the normal charge.  It then became $400/person because of the international portion of the flight.  Of course, we paid the $800 but I did send the CEO of American Airlines a short and non-snarky email advising him that American Airlines was selling fights with impossible connections.  I did not expect a response and did not receive one.

 

We still have decisions to make.  We are snowed in today and tomorrow.  Hoping to get out on Wednesday or at the latest Thursday to get some very necessary things done (like getting money from the credit union).  At this point, my hope is to drive to the Airport in Vancouver at 3:00 a.m. on Friday morning.  If it is too icy, we will drive up Thursday afternoon and stay at an airport hotel.  

 

Not sure if this long story has helped anyone.  It kind of surprises me that after 30 years of international flights that I could get into this predicament.  One thing that I learned is that the "law" in the U.S.states that the shortest connection time between flights is 45 minutes which American Airlines is using.  They only have two flights per day out of Vancouver to Dallas (and I didn't really see any other flights on their website - they really do not serve Vancouver often).

 

The moral of this story for me is not only should you arrive one day early for embarkation but two days is better!

Edited February 12, 2019 by Travelcat2

[mrlevin]

Or, just fly from Seattle which has tons of flights a day that can connect to various American hubs in order to get to Santiago.

 

Good luck.

 

Marc

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, mrlevin said:

Or, just fly from Seattle which has tons of flights a day that can connect to various American hubs in order to get to Santiago.

 

Good luck.

 

Marc

 

Seattle has the twice the snow that we have.  It is really bad down there (Seatac is 100 miles south of our home).  A few years ago we flew home from Hawaii into Seatac.  The snow was so bad that it took us 8 hours to drive home.  Going to a hotel was not an option -- once we got on the freeway there were no options to go anywhere - could not move out of our lane and we we were in a rental car that I was unfamiliar with.  Flights continue to leave from Vancouver so it remains our best option.

 

Thanks for the suggestion though.

[forgap]

I feel your pain!   We are using points for our flight next week on a Delta - ATL to DTW to Beijing to Bangkok.   The transition time in Detroit is 1 hr and 15 minutes so not a lot of wiggle time if anything goes wrong.  I called Delta to try to switch to an earlier flight and the agent said not to worry, I was over thinking it and they had lots of ways to get us to Bangkok.    So I took a deep breath, prayed to the weather gods and tried not to think about it too much.  At any rate, we arrive 5 days before sailing so even in the worst case scenario we should be good.    Fingers crossed!

[Hambagahle]

Jackie - what a nightmare.  And you haven't even left home yet.  Yet another reason why I will never fly domestic in the US.    Swiss gets us there and Swiss gets us back...and on our next cruise Regent will get us from San Diego to Miami!!     The very thought of a 45mns "legal connection" at DFW appalls me.

 

Hope the snow melts, the flights are all on time and comfortable.  Will be crossing my fingers until you tell us all you are in Santiago!!   Bon voyage...to both and especially to the birthday boy!

[kjbacon]

I am pulling for you, Travelcat and wishing that all works out smoothly for you.

[RachelG]

I fly through DFW all the time.  While it is technically possible to make a 45 minute connection there, and I have done it many times, it requires everything to be perfectly on time with the incoming flight.  With only 1 flight per day to Santiago, if you miss your flight, you have no options, particularly when the next day’s flights are oversold.  Taking the long layover is a pain, but it is what you need to do.  And the admiral’s clubs at DFW are really nice.

[1teach53]

Oh.....Jackie I’m so sorry, what a stress! Safe travels! We are looking forward to your reports! Hope we will meet  you on a cruise sometime  in the future. 

If ever stuck at DFW , let us know, we are very close. 

Take care! 

Karen 😻😻💞

[bebop bonnie]

This is stressful...and I feel your pain!  I'll be on the Silversea Muse that ends in Tokyo.  Due to the upgrade to Biz, flights are booked through SS.  Thanks to your post, I now have a concern about the Japan Airline flight from Narita to DFW that connects with a JL/AA flight to Miami.  This is with a 2 hour connection time.  I've been 'reassured' that it's very doable.  Travel is in the spring so I don't anticipate Jackie' snow nightmare...but.............

 

Booking the actual cruise is clearly the easiest part of travel planning!!

[briar14]

🤞🤞🤞wishing you the very best from the flying and weather gods. Looking forward to your reports. Safe travels.

Edited February 12, 2019 by briar14

[UUNetBill]

Jackie - good wishes for you and Dennis (also from Greenville) - hope things come together.  Be safe, and enjoy!

Edited February 12, 2019 by UUNetBill
Fixed punctuation

[Uncle D]

Thank you for such an informative post.  You obviously made the wrong choice.  I’m very surprised any seasoned traveler would ever book an international flight with a 45 minute layover, especially this time of year.

 

Thanks for sharing so others do not make the same mistake you did.  

 

Good luck sorting through your travel issues.  Once onboard, hopefully you have smooth sailing and good champagne to assuage your angst.

[UUNetBill]

5 minutes ago, Uncle D said:

Thank you for such an informative post.  You obviously made the wrong choice.  I’m very surprised any seasoned traveler would ever book an international flight with a 45 minute layover, especially this time of year.

I think sometimes the airlines just want to make a booking regardless of the ramifications of missed connections.  We had a flight back from Europe a few years back, CPH, I think, that was coming through ATL with a connection to SDF (Louisville).  They gave us a 45 minute connection window which I knew we'd never make.  Both Regent and Delta assured us we'd be fine - of course, we weren't.  I think it's safe to say that we, as the paying passengers, need to be more vocal when it comes to connections - I don't feel comfortable with any connection less than 90 minutes in a major hub, especially with international flights.  Two hours makes me feel better.

 

I know that the thought of sitting in an airport for 8.5 hours isn't pleasant, but it sure beats spending the night in a rocking chair or on a bench or hauling your luggage to a hotel for a quick nap...

 

Anything less than 90 minutes and I'm the proverbial 'squeaky wheel' anymore.

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for all of your kind words and support.  It was definitely a huge error on my part. It so rarely snows where we live and the series of storms is breaking records.  When it does snow, it is typically in December/January.   

 

As I mentioned, I wanted to share our plight.  Even seasoned travelers make wrong decisions.  In our case, 90+% of our flights over the years have been international and I pay much more attention to connection time than I do in the U.S. (especially at Heathrow and Frankfurt).  

 

Hopefully my next post will be a positive one.  For today, there is nothing I can do other than look at the snow and think what an idiot I am.

 

forgap - hope everything goes well with your flights to Bangkok.  It sounds like we are both flying to a warmer climate the month!

[rcandkc]

My son and family drove from Vancouver to Seattle airport yesterday for flight to sfo.  They made the drive fine in a suv.  His father in law is experienced snow driver.  Their 4 pm flight was canceled but luckily got seats on 8pm flight.  It did take off...late but they made it back home.  I hope you also make it to your destination fine.

[Travelcat2]

1 minute ago, rcandkc said:

My son and family drove from Vancouver to Seattle airport yesterday for flight to sfo.  They made the drive fine in a suv.  His father in law is experienced snow driver.  Their 4 pm flight was canceled but luckily got seats on 8pm flight.  It did take off...late but they made it back home.  I hope you also make it to your destination fine.

 

Good to hear.  We do not have a large vehicle but I drive pretty well in the snow.  Once we get to the freeway (1 1/2 miles) we should be fine.  Just checked YVR and the flight that we will be taking on Friday at 6:00 a.m. took off the morning about 15 minute late.  

 

Another thing that I'm thinking about is that we don't need any jackets on our cruise but getting out of our car at Park 'n Fly - taking luggage, etc. means we'll be out in really cold weather.  I'm going to find a couple of tops that I want to throw out (for layering purposes) and dispose of them once at the airport.  At the moment, I have little to do other than sit and think.

 

Good to know that flights are flying out of Seatac again.  That is quite a drive from Vancouver and YVR is a much nicer airport than Seattle.  Guessing that your son and family got better fares out of Seattle.  For reasons stated in my first post, we avoid Seattle and prefer departing from YVR.  It is half the distance from our house and flights are on time more at YVR (even in the snow).

[ronrick1943]

I wish you the best and a great cruise once you get to the port.  This is why we always leave 2 days early and always going thur Dallas leave at lease 2 hours between flights---I'd rather sit at the airport in the lounge than see by flight take off because we're late for the connection.  I just don't like stress when I travel, the whole idea is to have fun and enjoy the trip. Hope all goes well for you and you make your flights.

[rcandkc]

They were flying on Southwest on vouchers they got from a bad flight experience.  Also, grandson wanted to go on train from Seattle to Vancouver. 

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

I wish you the best and a great cruise once you get to the port.  This is why we always leave 2 days early and always going thur Dallas leave at lease 2 hours between flights---I'd rather sit at the airport in the lounge than see by flight take off because we're late for the connection.  I just don't like stress when I travel, the whole idea is to have fun and enjoy the trip. Hope all goes well for you and you make your flights.

 

Thank you.  We will definitely consider arriving 2 days earlier in the future.  You're right - the stress is not fun or enjoyable!  At this point we're looking forward to being in the lounge and tasting some of the great food they have in Dallas.

 

rcandkc - That makes sense.  We have flown out of Seattle a few times but it either means driving in horrible traffic or flying out of our small "international" airport (international because it goes to Canada) where the flights are often delayed for dumb reasons (like no one showed up at the control tower!?). Actually, that actually happened once - go figure!

[UUNetBill]

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

This is why we always leave 2 days early and always going thur Dallas leave at lease 2 hours between flights---I'd rather sit at the airport in the lounge than see by flight take off because we're late for the connection.

I sure wish I had that luxury - I have limited vacation time each year, and although I'm in a job that can (mostly) be done remotely I still need to be in the office most times.  Kind of limits me on choosing itineraries; we even have to look at which day of the week our cruises start so we can maximize weekend time.  So although we usually try to fly in a day in advance, we just don't have the option of going in two days early most times.  There have been times I've flown back in and gotten home at 2:00 AM and been in the office by 7:00 AM the same day.  Not fun, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.   

[captjohn]

Jackie, I know this a bit off topic but could you comment on the Fairmont Hotel at YVR.We are planning a trip and the air puts us through YVR over night. Thanks  Also wishing you a great cruise 🚢 As I think you know we will be boarding the Explorer in LA.

 

John

[Travelcat2]

First an update.  I heard from American Airlines and the call left me more frustrated than when I started.  Apparently Vancouver to Dallas is considered a domestic flight because we clear U.S. customs before we leave Canada.  However, it is considered an international flight in terms of change fees. In his opinion, it takes 2 minutes to get off of the plane - 2 minutes to walk to the Skytrain - a maximum of a 2 minute wait until the Skytrain gets there - 2 minutes on the Skytrain and then walk to the gate.  Since the gates close 15 minutes prior to take-up, this would leave us with 1/2 an hour to change terminals and assumes that the plane will not be delayed getting to the gate, etc.   I calmly thanked him for his time (I only go ballistic at someone about once every 10 years or so - I tend to internalize my anger).  

 

Then I wrote back to the CEO - told him what I was told and suggested that they look into these particular flights as some of their customer service people feel that it is impossible to make.

 

This may be news to people that live in Canada or maybe not (when the flights are domestic and when they are international - or in the case, it was both).

 

caption - yes - we know that you will be boarding in L.A.  In terms of the Fairmont Hotel at YVR, we have stayed there before and it was lovely.  I suggested to Dennis that we stay in a hotel 1/2 mile from the airport at half the price and has a shuttle to the airport 24/7 - every 20 minutes (I'm always looking to save money -- especially after spending $800 to change flights).  Dennis would much rather stay at the Fairmont.  

 

I'm sure I'll have more updates as we go along.

[ArtsyCraftsy]

Wow -- "nightmare" is right!!  I don't travel well under the best of circumstances.  I always say I love visiting new places, but I detest the process of getting there -- too much anxiety and stress.  Keeping fingers crossed that all goes smoothly for you over the next few days.  I'm sitting here looking at 18" drifts across my driveway as the snow continues to fall today, so I feel your pain.

 

Living where I live means trying to decide which airport works best (Vancouver or SeaTac), arranging transport to the airport, determining whether the flight time will necessitate an overnight stay before the flight, and now that most of my travel involves a cruise, making sure I get to the port in time (at least a day in advance unless I'm sailing out of Seattle).  At this point, I'm just getting to the point where I *might* consider a 10+hr flight to or from some far-flung location for the right cruise/itinerary.

 

Honestly, this is one of the reasons I book longer cruises -- if I'm going to put myself through the stress of getting to/from my destination, I want a super payoff when I get there, and for me, that's a cruise of at least 21 days.  The only exception is a cruise that both starts and ends in either Seattle or Vancouver -- I'm OK with a shorter cruise in that case.

 

Lana in Bellingham, WA

[vegasdriven]

I can also comment on the Fairmont yvr, as we have stayed there 4 x., most recently before and after our cruise last month. As far as we are concerned it is the best- yes it is kind of expensive (we used Alaska miles to pay for most of the two nights- a much better deal than Aeroplan, and we don't seem to be able to use the Alaska ones for flying lately). However, the value of staying there really makes it worthwhile.

Very comfortable rooms, not the most modern(though, I think the higher level rooms have been recently redone), but very well cared for, super comfy bed. The whole place just has a cocoon like effect.

There is a terrific lounge, with tons of comfy seating, and evening entertainment, I prefer to eat in the lounge for dinner, but the restaurant is wonderful for breakfast. I highly recommend the continental breakfast buffet.

As we do not have any lounge privileges, if we have a long layover we use the lounge there as a great place to spend a couple of hours in comfort. They store your bags for you, and are very welcoming. Of course we order a drink, and something to eat.

[RachelG]

2 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

I sure wish I had that luxury - I have limited vacation time each year, and although I'm in a job that can (mostly) be done remotely I still need to be in the office most times.  Kind of limits me on choosing itineraries; we even have to look at which day of the week our cruises start so we can maximize weekend time.  So although we usually try to fly in a day in advance, we just don't have the option of going in two days early most times.  There have been times I've flown back in and gotten home at 2:00 AM and been in the office by 7:00 AM the same day.  Not fun, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.   

I am in the same situation as is my husband.  I too have gotten home from an international flight at midnight and been in the OR at 7 am.  But I still try to make sure I arrive at least 1 day prior to embarkation.