I deserve a homebrew because....

[Whamolagan]

I am glad I don't drive on the holidays

[Brewbirds]

Sometimes dried chili just blows the lid off your Harissa paste they are so darn hot...

Bad Condiment Day.JPG (52.14 KiB) Viewed 1619 times

[FedoraDave]

I don't want to be around the morning after you have this for dinner.

[Beer-lord]

Oh my! Maybe paint the cabinets a different color.

[Whamolagan]

Refacing the cabinets? I would try another paint swatch Maybe a yogurt, or a strawberry jam?

[John Sand]

Because I just removed the ice-maker from our freezer. Which is a bottom drawer freezer, and I'm 54 years old and 6'5" tall. Therefore I do Not Like lying on the ceramic tile floor to reach into a freezer to remove blind screws.
Now I'm drinking beer. I'll clean up later.

[RickBeer]

Because we left for vacation last night, but didn't. Got to airport in plenty of time. Flying Detroit to Midway to Salt Lake City. Son meeting us there from Florida. Earlier Midway flights were delayed due to weather. Our plan got taken for an Atlanta flight, then for a San Antonio flight, then cancelled. 3 hour line to rebook, so I called and learned what web showed me - no flights until Tuesday. Went home after stopping my son in Vegas. Cancelled trip, 4 days skiing for that money isn't a good deal, besides that it is too warm out west. Out hotel in Vegas, possibly his ticket. Came home and drank a Finally Graduated, Mom and Dad are over the Moon Blue Moon clone. Today I will send nasty email to Southwest, not for weather, but for disorganization, no excess capacity, 800 line giving different stories than on the ground personnel, ....

[FedoraDave]

Wow, Rick, that stinks. I hope Southwest offers some kind of make-good.

[MrBandGuy]

Good luck with that. SW did nothing when they closed the Austin airport and cancelled my flight to a wedding, then lost my luggage for three days. "Sorry, we can't control the weather." They can control how they handled it, which was poorly. But, alas, nothing for my trouble, rental car, or purchase of clothes for the wedding.

[bpgreen]

Because we left for vacation last night, but didn't. Got to airport in plenty of time. Flying Detroit to Midway to Salt Lake City. Son meeting us there from Florida. Earlier Midway flights were delayed due to weather. Our plan got taken for an Atlanta flight, then for a San Antonio flight, then cancelled. 3 hour line to rebook, so I called and learned what web showed me - no flights until Tuesday. Went home after stopping my son in Vegas. Cancelled trip, 4 days skiing for that money isn't a good deal, besides that it is too warm out west. Out hotel in Vegas, possibly his ticket. Came home and drank a Finally Graduated, Mom and Dad are over the Moon Blue Moon clone. Today I will send nasty email to Southwest, not for weather, but for disorganization, no excess capacity, 800 line giving different stories than on the ground personnel, ....

I travel pretty frequently (although not as often as I did in the past).

For future reference (too late now, I know), but if something similar happens to you (or anybody else reading this), you may be able to avoid paying for the hotel due to a late cancellation. Hotels generally have a policy where they'll charge you for canceling a reservation after a certain time on the date that you're supposed to check in. But when it becomes clear that your plane will not arrive in time, and it's too late to cancel, call them and tell them that your flight is delayed, so you want to shift your reservation by a day. Most hotels will charge for canceling a reservation after the deadline, but they won't charge for changing it. But since your reservation is now for the following day, you can cancel it by the deadline for the new reservation without penalty.

Airlines aren't required to give you any form of compensation for any weather related delays. So they almost never give anything for a weather delay, even if you're a frequent flier at their highest status level.

They'll delay canceling a flight as long as possible, since canceling one flight doesn't just impact that one, it also impacts the one that would be using that plane the next day (or later that day, etc) and each flight down the line. So they hold out, delay as long as they can and only cancel if they absolutely have to. That is the reason they kept giving new estimates and explanations. It really isn't anything malicious on their part.

One thing you can do when you're getting delayed and it looks like you'll miss a connection is to call the airline and ask what your options are. Sometimes, you may be able to book another flight, while keeping your seat on the current flight, and if you make the current flight, they free up your seat on the other flight. Of course, if you wait until the flight is canceled, you've lost out to all of the people who made those tentative booking arrangements.

There's an old saying that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you want grease, that may be good advice, but if you want to make the best of a bad situation, maybe not so much.

When you're on the phone (or at the desk, if you're so lucky; sometimes, the gate agents have control over seats and other agents can't even access them because of the priority given to the gate agents), BE POLITE. I know you're frustrated and stressed. But so are they. They've got do deal with a whole planeload (at the gate) or many airportsful of people who have to rebook and may have vacation plans, wedding plans, etc, disrupted or outright ruined. They're frustrated and stressed, too. I know somebody who watched a guy cuss the gate agent out, demand an upgrade, yell about his status, etc, and the gate agent gave him "the only seat available." The next person in line started with a thank for the help, then said that the middle seat in the last row that wouldn't recline and got the full benefit of being closest to the rest room would be welcomed if he could just get home. Then thanked again, adding that he was thankful for the help, even if he had to wait for another flight. A seat in first class somehow miraculously appeared on the gate agent's screen. You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar (although, as Woody Boyd pointed out, if it's flies you're after, nothing beats a dead horse).

Ask if there are any options on other carriers. Airlines have agreements with each other to take passengers in these situations, but it's more profitable for an airline to keep you on their flights than to take advantage of agreements with the other airlines, so they'll try to avoid that, but if you ask, they may be more likely to check (they may not, but they may; and in a case where it's weather related, the other airlines may be having similar problems, but sometimes, if your airline is flying regional jets and another airlines is flying 737s, maybe the other airline is still flying).

If the agent is being helpful, ask if there's a website you can visit or a phone number you can call to give positive feedback and ask for the correct spelling of their name. Most service people only get negative feedback, so positive feedback is REALLY appreciated. Depending on the airline, it can also lead to some sort of customer appreciation bonus for the employee. So if they were already being helpful, they'll now go out of their way (I've had agents open multiple windows on multiple terminals, holding seats for me on several flights while they tried to get me the best result). Whether they're able to help you in the end or not, if they really went out of their way to help, go to the website or call the number and tell them about the help that the person gave you.

I'm probably forgetting a few tips, but those are some of the first ones that came to mind.

Oh, when you pack, don't fold your clothes. Roll them. If you're going to wear a suit, turn it inside out and roll it. You may not have to iron at all. If you do need to iron, you'll need to iron a lot less.

[FedoraDave]

Brian, thanks for the advice on how to be the customer who doesn't take the bad situation out on the poor guy who's just doing his job.

As a service technician, I've had to deal with my share of irate, irrational people who seem to blame me for the presence of bugs in their home. If it's an ongoing problem that I can't get a handle on, I'm just as frustrated, and I want to solve it as much as they do. If it's a new problem, well, I'm not responsible for acts of nature, and in any case, I'm there to help. I've got plenty of customers that I don't like visiting, even though they only gave me a hard time once. I've got others that I'm glad to see because they treat me well. Guess which ones I go the extra mile for?

[RickBeer]

Hotel was with points and they gave them all back. SW has no agreements with anyone, but they are the only ones with free baggage including skis. Got airfare back, still waiting on 2 of 5 bags that they sent before our plan was to depart.

I have been the highest level on Delta, US Air... In recent years, airlines have no spare capacity and on Presidents' Day Weekend they showed their weekness. SW did not even communicate to us officially at all. I sent them a list of where they failed. Working on getting my son's airfare back plus more. I am persistent, we'll see.

Gate attendees at counter had huge line and little info. Supervisor trying to not deal with customers did not avoid me... Never raised my voice, but she had no info as they took our plane for Atlanta, then the next plane for San Antonio. Even if they had got us to Chicago, no planes out with room for 2 days.

Oldest son enjoyed overnight in Vegas apparently....

Utah not great this week anyway. Rain, warm, no snow. Arctic dip brought warm to west...

[John Sand]

Rick, you may also find that your credit card provides travel insurance. Check the card-holders benefits.

[RickBeer]

SW refunded our 3 tickets fully. Since my son's trip from Florida to Salt Lake City could have been completed (i.e. no weather issued), despite us having all his ski gear, SW refused to refund his ticket. They did give a $50 x 4 credit for future flight though, so that's just under 1/2 the cost of his ticket.

[mashani]

Because I've got 7 dogs here again. 7 is just too many LOL.