Susan and Norman have been in CA the past 2 weeks on a trip to visit some family that is still out there. It sounds like they had a good time- Raquel and Maxine had a nice birthday party, Norman went to Magic Mountain and played games with his friends he used to go to school with, and Susan won a little money in Laughlin with Grandma Emma + Grandpa Charles.
But they were supposed to fly in to the Richmond Airport at 11:30pm last night and never made it. Their connecting flight was out of New Jersey, and it was repeatedly delayed due to the weather, until around 3am, after everyone was in line to board, they cancelled the whole flight because they "had no pilot." And the next flight they could get out of there wasn't until friday night!
So they had to wait until 7am to retrieve their luggage for some reason, only to find out that it was lost!! They said it could be in Richmond...well, if they had no flights going there, how could it be in Richmond? So Susan got a rental car this morning and is driving to the Richmond Airport, about 6 hours, on no sleep.
They have been calling to directions and I believe they are close to Washington D.C. now, but I can't be sure because either both of their phones are off, or they arent charged and I am assuming the charger was probably in the luggage the airline lost..what hell!
So hopefully they can find their way home. Once they reach Richmond, it will be an easy 45 minute ride on the I-64-E. I feel bad for them what a horrible time they must be having! If John had known, he would've tried to get the day off and drive up and pick them up so Susan could sleep.
Does anybody know if she can be reimbursed for the cancelled/delayed flight, and/or the luggage lost? I don't think she got to ask them in the midst of all this crap!
6 comments:
I used to work for US Airways. I can say if they were booked on another flight, or at least offered and option of another flight to get them to their destination, then, no, they will not be reimbursed. (they were given another option at no fee but chose not to take it is how that is viewed, no matter how crummy the option is..) With weather delays, no reimbursment is ever given, however, with the "no pilot" issue, that's a staff problem, and its possible, but most likly what happened is the pilot of that flight went over his alloted "on the clock" hours because of the weather related delays, then it falls under weather and airlines do not reimburse for it in that scenario.(saftey inforced ruleings dictate how many hours a pilot can be on the clock before he/she must sleep for a specified amount of hours)
As far as the luggage goes, hopefully it will be in Richmond, most likly the bags are at their connecting city, and they will need to file a baggage claim. The bags will show up as long as they have filed a claim, and most likly will be delivered to them directly at their home, as long as the claim was filed, and they gave their address.
I'm sorry that happened to them, we've all been there and had bad flights/flight outcomes. It's sucky for all! (including the people working there getting screamed at by everyone!) Hopefully they talked to the agent helping them and informed them that they would be renting a car and driving so that it would be noted in their reservation, so that they know they didnt take the option presented, and also they talked to the agents in Richmond and explained the baggage situation. Their bags WILL make it to Richmond at some point, but if there is no lost bag claim filed, then nothing can be done with the bag when it arrives other that sent to the big lost baggage center in one of the airline's major hub cities, where it'll sit until someone asks about it again. Just make sure they file that bag claim! They can call customer service and talk to them about reimbursment/vouchers, but I'm 99.9% sure they won't be able to offer anything in this situation.
well thanks for the info. I won't tell her right away because I'm sure she'll be pissed when she gets home. But right now my concern is where they are! she got a rental car and is driving to richmond, but she didnt get directions so i told them briefly over the phone some of the directions, but their phones aren't on so I cant check on them. Hopefully they are at least past washington dc by now...
i dont think she should even bother going to richmond at this point. she should come home and file the claim on the phone and wait for it to be mailed. she was supposed to work tomorrow too...that sucks that she wont be reimbursed for anything since she couldnt wait 2 days for the next flight, but i am not sure if she also checked for flights to norfolk. we'll see. thanks.
What a mess! When Susan told me she was too "traumatized" to tell me what happened (this was yesterday) I had no idea it was this. I thought maybe their flight had lots of turbulence. I was way off. I know it's difficult to think straight on no sleep and in the middle of such a big mess but I HOPE she did what she was supposed to do to get any kinda reimbursement and of course, get their bags back.
i am doing the right thing. they'll not get away with this!!! there was almost a riot in the airport...no one was cool about this. as for this sort of thing happening to everybody...that is a crock..there were people in this group who fly on a weekly basis and they said this never happened to them before. there is no excuse for the way they treated us. continental airlines can eat a bag o' dicks. spread the word turd
GO SUSAN!
yeah, you heard me...i said turd
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