What happens when connecting flight is missed?

[Twilbury]

We are booked on the Celebrity Beyond sailing out of Rome on October 3, 2022.  We booked our flights through Celebrity (AA: San Francisco to Charlotte to Rome) departing October 2.  Our concern is that the layover time in Charlotte is only one hour and 42 minutes.  We have contacted Celebrity Flights and are waiting for confirmation of a rerouting through Dallas that would give us two hours and 20 minutes layover. 

 

Given the current state of flight delays and cancellations, we are concerned that if we miss the connecting flight to Rome it will be a travel nightmare getting to Rome or to Corsica (first port of call after Rome). Our questions are:

 

1. Has anyone had experience with missed flights when booked with Celebrity Flights and if so, how did it go?  Celebrity has stated that they will get us to our cruise, but with how much pain?

 

2. Any suggestions to reduce risk of missing our sailing?  We looked into cancelling with Celebrity and booking our own flights but decided not to because we would only get back $250 of the $1500 already spent with Celebrity Flights and new flights are very expensive ($1000-$2000 pp one-way).

 

Thanks!

[Nachosdelux]

there is no way I would plan to arrive the day of departure.

 

Plan on ARRIVING in Rome at least 1 (but preferably 2) days early.

 

If you can't do that, schedule a long layover (4+ hours) in your connecting city.

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Nachosdelux

[mchell810]

By now your flights should have been ticketed so you can deal with the airline directly.  If I were you I would call the airline directly and see if they will make a change, but I think it's unlikely. 

 

Was there a change to your flights that is making you uneasy with the connection time? The change may give you a better leg to stand on.

 

[Retired888]

I second the post above that you need to plan on arriving a day or two before the sail date.  

[carolina_yankee]

If you can’t get the change through Dallas, the 1:42 connection time in Charlotte should be fine as long as you leave SFO on time. Summer storms won’t be a problem in Charlotte and it’s too early for winter issues to creep in anywhere. It should also be an adequate time for luggage transfer, but you could always pack a carry-on with essentials and a couple of days of clothing if you are worried about that. Your bags would eventually catch up with you.

 

 

[broker1217]

I think the CLT connection time is okay, but instead of changing the routing I would be departing one day earlier. I would find out how much that would cost. 

If you can't leave a day or two earlier then be prepared. Know what your options are for flights and plan accordingly.

Have a contingency plan if you miss the ship. Maybe make a cancellable hotel reservation just in case.

Think through what you need in your carry on luggage if you miss the ship.

 

If you have not already done so, download the AA app and also set up flight notifications (text and email) for each flight. 

The app will also give you visibility to your luggage in transit.  We have AirTags in each checked bag.

 

We also set up flight notifications for the incoming flights for each leg. Because if your incoming equipment is not there---you can't take off. 

 

 

 

[scrapcreator]

You leave SF on the 2nd. Do you arrive in Rome on Oct 3rd? Do you have transportation from the Rome Airport to the cruise port in Civitavecchia? It is about an 1 hour 20 minutes

 

And I second what broker1217 said.

Edited September 17, 2022 by scrapcreator

[cdn_tbird]

I'm with everyone else in suggesting you try to fly out on Oct. 1st, or preferably Sept. 30. The other thing to keep in mind is that Italian transportation workers are notorious for wildcat strikes on Fridays. While it's more common during the summer, early fall isn't immune. 

[Lastdance]

I keep reading about people having issues, even within Europe, departing the same day.  No one knows how these things will work, and there is no guarantee that traveling a day, or two earlier is the answer, but it does give time and peace of mind.  I just read on FB where a family had their cruise canceled because they were traveling the same day on a flight with no crew.  They ended up returning home, cruise canceled and feeling so overwhelmed by the experience.  all their options, including Eurostar, did not work.

 

I wish you the best of luck!  Luggage can follow your cruise to an upcoming port; this happened when my cousin's plane was canceled and another flight was available; however, it was a little scary and frustrating for them.  Their luggage did arrive and Celebrity was great in helping the situation.  This was a weather incident.  I know that you are very concerned and posted on CC for help.  Stay positive, but keep on trying with the airlines.  "I told you so" is of no help, but you certainly know that now.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Lastdance

[gold1953]

Celebrity will get you to the first port thar they can which may or may not be the actual first stop

[Loracpin2]

When you booked your flights through Celebrity was this the only option available or were you asked if you wanted to fly on October 1st?

[neverlaysup]

11 hours ago, Twilbury said:

We are booked on the Celebrity Beyond sailing out of Rome on October 3, 2022.  We booked our flights through Celebrity (AA: San Francisco to Charlotte to Rome) departing October 2.  Our concern is that the layover time in Charlotte is only one hour and 42 minutes.  We have contacted Celebrity Flights and are waiting for confirmation of a rerouting through Dallas that would give us two hours and 20 minutes layover. 

 

Given the current state of flight delays and cancellations, we are concerned that if we miss the connecting flight to Rome it will be a travel nightmare getting to Rome or to Corsica (first port of call after Rome). Our questions are:

 

1. Has anyone had experience with missed flights when booked with Celebrity Flights and if so, how did it go?  Celebrity has stated that they will get us to our cruise, but with how much pain?

 

2. Any suggestions to reduce risk of missing our sailing?  We looked into cancelling with Celebrity and booking our own flights but decided not to because we would only get back $250 of the $1500 already spent with Celebrity Flights and new flights are very expensive ($1000-$2000 pp one-way).

 

Thanks!

You are only 1 delayed or cancelled flight from missing that cruise. NEVER fly in the day of embarkation.

 

[sndral]

I assume you’re currently on AA1960 @ 7a.m. from SFO to CLT - here’s how it’s performed lately https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/aa1960 it usually arrives half an hour early w/ an on time departure, even the couple of days where it was almost an hour late departing, it still made it to CLT in time to make your connection to FCO.

Likewise AA720 CLT to FCO looks like it’s been departing pretty much on time & arriving early morning in Rome https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/aa720

Routing through Dallas on AA1198 leaving SFO at 6 a.m., if there’s a problem w/ that flight in SFO you could take AA2598 at 8 a.m. - if there’s room, and still make it to Dallas in time to catch AA240 to FCO.

At this late date I personally wouldn’t mess w/ changing flights unless I could leave Oct. 1 or Sept. 30. I’ve stayed at the airport Hilton in Rome & walked back to the terminal to catch my cruise line transfer the next day & found it to be very convenient, I also saw lots of folks arriving that day.

Good luck.

 

[cruisestitch]

It’s too bad that an unwise decision to fly with an arrival on embarkation day is now causing you stress.  I think you know now that you should never arrived and embarkation day. At this point you can ask yourself, how much money is it worth to reduce that stress?

 

if you miss your Connection, Celebrity will do what it needs to in order to connect you with the ship. It might not be in Corsica, so you are looking at possibly missing a couple of days of the cruise.

 

be sure to pack all your medications and a couple of changes of clothes in your carry-on in case you and your luggage are separated.

Edited September 18, 2022 by cruisestitch

[adolfo2]

"Our concern is that the layover time in Charlotte is only one hour and 42 minutes.  We have contacted Celebrity Flights and are waiting for confirmation of a rerouting through Dallas that would give us two hours and 20 minutes layover."

 

I agree that a longer layover is "better" (in your case practically the same) but it does nothing for you if there aren't any other connecting flights to Rome if something happens w/yours.

Better, IMHO is seeing which airport (Charlotte or Dallas) has better "lift" to Rome if you miss the connection or your original flight is cancelled.

[terrydtx]

We have flown through CLT many times and the 1hour 42 minutes should be more than adequate for connecting. 

[hrhdhd]

36 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We have flown through CLT many times and the 1hour 42 minutes should be more than adequate for connecting. 

Agree.

[Z'Loth]

Good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor. 

[wikoffclan]

3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We have flown through CLT many times and the 1 hour 42 minutes should be more than adequate for connecting. 

Agree that CLT is a fairly small, efficient airport and connection times typically don't need to be long... in the case of domestic flights. In my experience, for International flights, airlines usually advise at least 2 hours.

[NeroliGirl]

Hello

 

I have  personal experience of missing the connection - this happened to us in July. This is rather a long post!

 

We booked flights through Celebrity, from Heathrow to Barcelona via Munich. We had a 90-minute layover in Munich, but the Heathrow flight was delayed and Immigration at Munich was rammed so we missed the Barcelona flight by minutes. The airline automatically rebooked us on the next flight to Barcelona, but that was for the following morning so no use to us. 
 

After eventually getting through to the travel team at Celebrity they told us there were no flights that would get us to Barcelona before checkin closed, so they booked us on a flight to Valencia where the ship would be next day. They also booked us into a hotel in Valencia for the stop-over. 
 

Next morning in Valencia we had an email to say that Spanish immigration wouldn’t allow us to embark in Valencia. So Celebrity booked us a flight for the next day to Ibiza, which was the next port of call. Plus another night in the hotel in Valencia. 
 

We flew to Ibiza the next morning, were picked up in a gull-wing Tesla and whisked to the dockside. By that point our covid tests had expired so we had an anxious wait by the side of the ship while we did two new tests before being allowed on. All negative thankfully. 
 

So we joined the ship on day 3 having missed two nights of a 7-night cruise. But because we’d booked our flights through Celebrity they made all the arrangements to get us to our cruise. 
 

We learned three things from the experience:

1. Try and fly direct if that is an option 

2. Definitely consider flying out the day before 

3. Use Flights by Celebrity otherwise you’re on your own if you miss your flight 

 

The flights home from Rome at the end of the cruise were trouble-free. 
 

We think we’ll stick with Southampton from now on!

 

[Twilbury]

I wanted to thank everyone who has posted to this thread--your comments have been very helpful

 

Based on a common theme in the comments, we have contacted Celebrity's Choice Air and are now requesting a flight that leaves a day early.  We have also left in our request in to fly through Dallas which buys us a little extra layover time.

 

They say we have to wait another 72 hours for confirmation from the airline on both of these requests.  Fingers crossed that we are able to go a day early!

[bespin]

Our experience was many years ago, but it’s the one that made us religious about always arriving at the embarkation port at least one day early. 

 

We booked air through Celebrity from Detroit to Santiago, Chile, with a change of planes in Atlanta. On a Saturday night. On a NASCAR weekend. Which matters because the airline overbooked the flight to Santiago. 10 couples who were booked on the cruise (full transit through Panama Canal) could not get to Santiago in time to board the ship.

 

Celebrity said this was the airlines problem. We were sent to a hotel for the night - and rooms were very limited due to the NASCAR weekend. We were lucky - we got a room at the first hotel we were sent to. Other couples had to try several hotels to find a room. We were flown the next day to Houston, then to Santiago. We were sent to a hotel in Santiago for two nights, then flown to the first port - Arica, Chile, which is very small. No transportation in place to get us to the ship. We had to caravan in taxis to the port. 

 

We were given a LOT of onboard credit for the inconvenience and the missed days onboard. This ended up as our most memorable cruise due to the “we missed the boat” stories we have to tell now.

 

The worst part was that when this happened, we were relatively inexperienced travelers, and we relied on Celebrity and the airline to resolve the issue. This meant we accepted the hotels and the flights that we were offered. We are much more proactive now in making our own choices.

 

The lessons learned: 1) always get to the embarkation port at least one day early, if domestic, and preferably two days if overseas,2) make our own hotel and flight arrangements, to have the flexibility to choose when and with which airline, and 3) ALWAYS have travel insurance.

Edited September 25, 2022 by bespin

[hmorrow]

On 9/18/2022 at 7:01 AM, adolfo2 said:

"Our concern is that the layover time in Charlotte is only one hour and 42 minutes.  We have contacted Celebrity Flights and are waiting for confirmation of a rerouting through Dallas that would give us two hours and 20 minutes layover."

 

I agree that a longer layover is "better" (in your case practically the same) but it does nothing for you if there aren't any other connecting flights to Rome if something happens w/yours.

Better, IMHO is seeing which airport (Charlotte or Dallas) has better "lift" to Rome if you miss the connection or your original flight is cancelled.

Charlotte connection time is fine. Arriving on the same day of cruise is not.

[Nancycat]

We missed a connection, and missed our overseas flight 

 

we had booked through Celebrity and had a flight out of Orlando in the summer with only 2 hour layover in Newark for Paris

 

I knew the chances of a thunderstorm in the afternoon was high, so I asked for a flight 3 hours earlier, I went through the entire we will check and get back to you, etc etc

in the end they refused to change the flight!! As I predicted a storm delayed our departure,we missed our flight to Paris .

 

Flights by Celebrity, did get us to Newark that night, transportation to a horrid hotel was provided and the next day we were on our way to Paris.

We had an extra week in France before our cruise so that was fine, I did have insurance that covered our transportation and hotel is Paris

But I missed a day in Paris 

I hope all goes well for the OP