The airline industry has gone totally to shit.
My brother and SIL got stranded last month due to the airline cancelling their connecting flight. There were no airline representatives to guide them as to what to do and they were left to fend for themselves until a rep finally showed up and loaded them onto a bus to take them to a local hotel. After spending most of the day and half the night in the airport, they got to the hotel and stood in line for hours (literally), only to finally make it to the desk and be told, "Sold Out"! The airline rep was long gone by now and calls to Customer Service resulted in a standard recording which was no help at all. They finally WALKED (with 4 or 5 other stranded couples) down the street and checked into another hotel. They finally got checked in around 3:00 am after a looooong, frustrating day. Shortly after getting to their room, they received an eMail from the airline instructing them to be OUTSIDE in front of the (original) hotel at 6:00 am sharp to be picked up by the bus and transported back to the airport for their rescheduled flight. They had time to take a quick shower, re-pack, check out and WALK back down the street to the first hotel. Still no sleep, but they finally made it home.
A few weeks ago, we had a close friend pass away and one of the daughters lives in Australia. She rushed here and was at her dad's bedside when he passed away. We were supposed to be there also, but received word Lynn's brother had passed away and we dropped everything to get to California to comfort Lynn's mom as the death was a total surprise to everybody. I tried to get airline tickets, but the a-hole airlines were demanding insane prices and crappy flight schedules for last minute flights. I basically told them to "F" themselves and decided to drive 5200 (r/t) miles instead. The next day, I heard the airlines had cancelled 1500 flights and people were stuck in airports all over the US. I probably arrived in LA sooner than if I had flown .... and at a lower cost! While in L.A, I get a message from my friend who was on her way back to Australia after her dad passed. She was STUCK IN DALLAS! (DFW Airport) She was to make her connection there, but her flight was delayed and she missed her connection! She was booked for a different flight the NEXT day, but she could not leave the terminal because she had no boarding pass for the new flight, There were NO airline personnel to help, the desks were all closed, all airport lounges were closed, the internal airport hotels were completely booked and even the restrooms were closed for cleaning. Again, calling customer service she received only a recording informing her that they are "only taking emergency calls and are currently experiencing high call volume, so must email." The only option was to sleep on a chair (if one could be found), or stretch out on the floor! ZERO customer service available anywhere and she compared it to traveling in a third world country (she's VERY world traveled BTW). It finally took her 80 hours to get home which included 6 different flight delays.
That brings me up to today. My brother and I have been planning a 2-month long, 5000+ mile long motorhome trip for about a year now. Getting campground reservations along our planned route is a real PITA and requires a ton of research, planning and mostly timing. We finally got all the loose ends put together and now have firm dates with a schedule and prepaid campground reservations.
A month or so ago, I bought three airline tickets for Lynn. She's staying here with the cats and I'll be going alone to the Winnebago factory in Iowa to have some alterations and repairs done to the coach. (Expanded solar, etc) My brother and SIL will be bringing their motorhome from N. California and meeting me there. Then Lynn will be flying into Minneapolis/St. Paul and we will meet her there, pick her up and we'll all head up to Northern Minnesota to begin our trip. We'd planned on leaving the Winnebago plant the morning of the 15th, drive the short distance to MPLS/St. Paul and pick her up when her flight arrives at 10:00 am, then proceed to our reserved campground in Minnesota to spend the night. YESTERDAY, I get a message from the airline that they've cancelled her flight and she won't be arriving until 3:00 pm. That not only throws our schedule all off, but we had a friend who was taking her to Tampa to catch her flight, but they have an appointment that afternoon and can't change their schedule, so Lynn will have to get to the airport to check in at 6:00 am, then sit there half the day to catch her rescheduled flight out!
Now, things get more complicated. My bro and sil have to be at a wedding in Oregon in the middle of the trip. The friend who was their best man at my bro's wedding, is getting married and my bro is to be his best man also, so it's kind of a necessity. So we've planned three days in St. Louis where I'll stay with the motorhomes playing with my willy while they fly to the wedding. Lynn will also be flying home to take care of the cats (clean litter boxes, replenish food/water, etc), then the three of them will return at the same time so we can continue our trip. TODAY .... you guessed it .... I get a notice that Lynn's flight to AND from St. Louis has been cancelled and rescheduled! Now my bro/sil and Lynn are arriving at different times and again, our well planned schedule is fubar! Who knows how many further changes there will be between now and then? There's no way to plan anything these days where any sort of schedule is involved!
Am I finished? Nope. We have to go back to L.A. next week for Lynn's brother's service and will again stay 2-3 weeks with family there. Am I gonna gamble on flying? No F'ing way! We'll drive again. We'd probably end up missing the frigging service the way the airlines are conducting business these days. When we took cruises, we'd normally fly in the day before so we'd be there in the AM to board. The way the airlines are conducting their business now, I'd say anyone planning to take a cruise, better plan on arriving at the port city 2-3 days ahead of time ... that way, you MIGHT actually be there in time to board. Remember, if you miss the boat, you're FUBAR! Cruise ship schedules are pretty much set in stone and VERY seldom altered.
