Not to brag, but we had fun without you last week. The Dallas metroplex was caught up in a significant ice storm for several days. We had plans to fly in Tuesday. This would give us a week before a new grandchild was expected.
On Sunday the weather warnings began, so we moved our flight up to Monday night. The storm came early. First flight cancelled. Moved it to Tuesday, as planned; flight cancelled. Moved it to Wednesday and then added a flight purchased with miles for Thursday. Cancelled and cancelled. At 6:00am Thursday morning it dawned on me to check Southwest. There was a flight available and I had the miles for it. Booked it. Flew out alone Thursday afternoon and Tom followed on Friday.
In the meantime, our new grandson made an appearance on that Wednesday. So, no matter your plans, ice storms and babies have schedules of their own. It took a great deal of juggling and there were another set or two of unusual circumstances that aren’t mine to share, but six days later, we’re back into a routine. Wow was that work.
Here’s what we learned from our time waiting to fly:
1) In today’s current environment since airlines will let you bank your purchases or refund them if they cancel, it might be worth considering a second rotation of flights to bet on. We ended up banking our purchased flight and flying out on two frequent flyer mile tickets.
2) Look at nearby airports. To our surprise, DAL (Dallas Love Field) did not have the severity of icy conditions that DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) experienced. And from talking to others at DAL, they never really did. It’s one time that 20 miles distance really made a weather difference.
3) Learn how to use Flight Aware. They offer a way to track inbound flights, but also alert you to airports that are having trouble. They even keep a Misery Index. (78% of flights were cancelled on that toughest day.)
4) Know that sometimes you are going to lose. I saw so many frustrated people missing cruises, etc., because of the weather situation. If it’s a big trip and you want assurance, trip insurance might be for you. We’ve never used it, but we’re starting to talk about it a bit more and we’re looking at a couple of big ticket cruises. I’ll let you know more what we decide in a future post.
That’s it for today. I have a baby to rock. 😀
Leave a Reply