College students going on spring break last week were disappointed when their flights from most northeast cities were cancelled. My son and his five friends never made it to Punta Cana on Saturday. After spending 6 hours at Boston’s Logan airport with promises from US Airways to depart with delays, the airline finally cancelled their flight at 1 PM. There was no weather problem that day, but the snow from Friday caught US Airways off guard…poor planning from them and not enough crew to fly.
No meal vouchers, no hotel assistance: the airline’s suggestion for the groups’ beach trip was to either drive from Boston to Charlotte (over 800 miles) to catch another flight (not even Chitty Chitty Bang Bang could do that) or get to Philly on their own and get a flight on Monday. So, they rented a mini van, spent their first night of spring break at my house in CT and then drove on Sunday to Philly. They had to stay in a hotel at the airport in Philly and fly out Monday morning for what was left of their spring break, only 5 days. All this, I might add, at their own expense. After pleading with US Airways that their dorms at school were closed and they had nowhere to go or to sleep and no extra cash either, they were told, “too bad…we don’t have any crew to fly you there and it’s not our problem.”
Even as a travel agent, there was nothing I could do. They paid about $400 to rent the van for 2 days for all 6 travelers; $400 for 2 hotel rooms, plus gas and meals for 2 days. US Air offered nothing. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT EACH OF THEM HAD TRAVEL INSURANCE that covered them for all these expenses PLUS their 2 days of missed vacation. They each were covered up to $750 for their meager $52 travel insurance policy. A wise investment, wouldn’t you agree?
Next time you travel and decline the insurance, remember this scenario and rethink it!
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