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How not to miss your Flight

Bill4728

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So by the title you may have guessed we missed our flight from Seattle to Oahu. My family and I missed it because Alaska said it was too close to flight time to check the one bag we had to check.

1. Always check the traffic before you get into the car. And listen to radio traffic reports not just a cell phone traffic app.
( our 30 minute trip to the airport took 1 hour and 45 minutes because of a fatal accident on the freeway. BUT if I had checked before hand I could have taken a different route and made the trip in 50 minutes. Also the radio went on and on about the problem but we depended on the cell phone traffic app and didn't listen till too late)

2. If you are shuttling to the airport from parking, know when the shuttles run and if you just miss one drop off the family and bags at the airport then get shuttle. ( we waited 17 minutes for shuttle and would have had plenty of time if I had dropped the family and bags off then parked)

3 Always check the biggest bag first. OR JUST DO CARRY-ONS [We almost never check a bag but with 6 people traveling together we had one bag we had to check and several we could check or take as carry-on. Alaska allowed us to check two bags they cut us off with the biggest bag still waiting to be checked! :( ]

4. Always check for gate changes
( we had 5 people rush to gate with carry-on OK bags and they would have made the flight but a gate change to a different terminal killed that chance)

5. Arrive early
( we generally arrive 2 hours early but with 6 people we should have arrived even earlier because a missed flight with two people is bad a missed flight with 6 people can be a real problem because re-booking 6 people is way more difficult than re-booking 2 people)

So we flew out of Portland the next day and rented a van to get to Portland BUT still had a great vacation in Oahu, (for 8 days instead of our planned 9 days.)

A big shout-out to the Westin Surf-rider for allowing us to cancel our first night very late and giving us our points back when they didn't have to. 130K pts was nice to get back ( two ocean front rooms.)
 

klpca

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Well that was a terrible way to start a trip but I am glad that you were able to make the most of it. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be, I suppose. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that.
 

DaveNV

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Wow. So sorry to hear about this! I'm a pretty fastidious planner, especially where airports are concerned. Traffic and parking, as you saw, are great equalizers. Toss in returning a rental car for the trip home, and it adds even more time to things. When we travel I try to arrive at the airport two hours ahead of the flight, which generally gives us plenty of time. Get through security without rushing, get to the gate, and if there's time, relax in a nearby lounge with a refreshing adult beverage. I'd rather "waste" time before the trip starts than have to scramble to make the flight. Your experience is one I wouldn't want to have to go through.

Glad you were able to recover your first night's points, for something that wasn't really your fault. Kudos to them.

Dave
 

b2bailey

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So sorry to hear of your difficult experience, but glad to hear you made the best of it.

I used to wait until last minute when I was single, traveling alone, even for business. Never missed a flight. After I married, my husband convinced me to adopt his early arrival plan by saying: "What sense does it make to rush and hurry, raising your adrenaline level, only to strap yourself into your seat for hours?"

Have to admit, his slow but steady method is now my preferred way to travel.
 

Passepartout

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Another tip: If flying to a port to pick up a cruise, fly the day BEFORE the cruise departure, in case of lost bag(s) or flight cancellation or other mishaps like the ones above. The ship won't wait for you- or be particularly understanding if you only have the clothes you are wearing when you board.

Jim
 

Lydlady

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Another tip: If flying to a port to pick up a cruise, fly the day BEFORE the cruise departure, in case of lost bag(s) or flight cancellation or other mishaps like the ones above. The ship won't wait for you- or be particularly understanding if you only have the clothes you are wearing when you board.

Jim

We don't cruise much but this is something we always do.
 

Steve Fatula

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If I have an early flight, I also tend to stay at a hotel near the airport that offers an airport shuttle and allows parking. About the same price as paying for parking at a lot. Since we are 90 miles from the airport, too many unknowns.
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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Another couple of tips -

1. fly direct whenever possible. I will pay more for a direct flight. When you have a direct flight you don't need to worry about missed connections. If you check a bag, the chances being separated from your bag are much less. And the baggage handlers are more likely to recognize the airport code on your bag and route it to the correct location. (One time DIL was flying from Houston (IAH) to San Diego (SAN). Her bag went to San Salvador (SAL). Wasn't located until three days later. She was finally reunited her bag the morning of day five; her return trip to Houston was that evening.) And you spend less time in the air and in airports when you fly direct.

2. If feasible, don't book on the last flight of the day to your connection. That always gives a travel option in case something happens to the first flight. Also, the later in the day that you fly, the greater the likelihood that a flight will be delayed or cancelled. Having a backup also makes it more convenient to take a bump and get a credit voucher.
 
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VacationForever

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Great advice. I am sorry you learned the hard way.

I have missed my flight only once when a typical a 30-minute commute became a one and a half hours commute from my Beijing expatriate condo to the airport. On that particular day I ran a little later than usual and my driver waited at my home for 30 minutes for me to pack. I had never had traffic on the route but that day for no rhyme or reason, traffic was backed up.

I almost missed my flight twice. Once when I went shopping prior to heading home to pack for an afternoon flight. The freeway was stopped by police for about 2 hours as there was a person trying to commit suicide from an overhead pedestrian bridge. The other time was when I was on a business trip in Hong Kong. Taxis were always available and I had waited until the last minute to leave the office to head out to the airport. No taxi and no bus. When I got there at 8pm for the 8pm flight, it turned out that the flight was delayed and the check in counter person gave me a restaurant voucher to use while waiting for the flight. I ate at the restaurant and then headed to the gate. Well, it turned out that I should have headed straight to the gate instead of stopping for dinner as I was the last person to get on before they closed the plane.
 

northwoodsgal

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I'll add one more suggestion: check your news feed. Last year, we were flying out of Chicago for a three week South Africa trip. Fortunately, United Airlines sent us a text about a planned protest on the Kennedy Expressway (entrance area to O'Hare that was schedule for the day and time of our flight. We left early and had figured out alternative ways to get to the airport. It turned out that the police were able to stop the protest but we didn't know that until we arrived (it's a 3 hour drive for us) and were able to make our flight.
 

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The Waze app does a great job of identifying problem routes and automatically rerouting. I use Waze over the car navigation. On my Ford (which has Apple CarPlay), I can use the Waze app on my vehicle screen.
 
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T_R_Oglodyte

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More tips:

1. If you have to make a connection, route through a large airport, such as O'Hare. That way, if your connection does get messed up, you are more likely to have options.

2. If your flight get cancelled or has a long delay, do NOT get in the line for reticketing with the gate agent. Find a spot to sit down and call in to the airline reservations center. You should get served more quickly, and you are effectively jumping ahead of everyone else waiting in the line. This happened to me last month, where I was on the last flight of the day, and the flight got cancelled. While there were about 60 people waiting in line, I called airline reservations and had my choice of flights the next day. Another passenger started waiting in line, then finally took my advice to call the reservation center after waiting in line 20 minutes. By the time he got into the call center, is only option was the same early evening flight the next day.

3. If you are in a situation where they are putting up people in hotels because they can't get people out until the next day, do not waste your time standing in the long line. Find a comfortable seat and read your kindle while you wait for the line to dwindle. You will pass the team more pleasantly. Also you will likely get a better room, because when the airlines starts putting up people in hotels, they start with the hotel that has the cheapest rate, then start working their way up the price list as the hotels run out of room. Last time I was involved they were initially putting people up at a Hampton Inn. By the time I got my voucher at the end of the line, I was in an Omni. And I got another hour of work done while I was waiting.
 

Talent312

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More tips:

1. If you have to make a connection, route through a large airport, such as O'Hare. That way, if your connection does get messed up, you are more likely to have options.

Usually so, but OTOH:
At airports with fewer gates, you won't have as far to travel to make a connection. At Minneapolis, we ran from one end to the other and reached the gate as they were closing the door. In Barcelona, connecting from an International to Domestic flight meant that we were the last to board, but our bags spent the night in Barcelona.


2. If your flight get cancelled or has a long delay, do NOT get in the line for reticketing with the gate agent. Find a spot to sit down and call in to the airline reservations center...

Usually so, but OTOH:
Gate agents are gods of the flight-line. If you find an alternative flight about to leave, the agent at its gate may be able to put you in a seat. When my leg home from ATL cancelled, I saw another still at a gate. Its agent told me to wait and handed me a boarding pass after the last passenger boarded.
 

VacationForever

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Before the days of change fees, I used to simply go to the gate agents to put me on an earlier flight when I got to the airport early. These days, they are not so flexible. Fortunately I have not had to make too many flight changes in recent years.
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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Usually so, but OTOH:
At airports with fewer gates, you won't have as far to travel to make a connection. At Minneapolis, we ran from one end to the other and reached the gate as they were closing the door. In Barcelona, connecting from an International to Domestic flight meant that we were the last to board, but our bags spent the night in Barcelona.

A longer trek to a gate (or getting on a people mover to switch to a different terminal) is a minor price if it means being able to continue your flight. The problem with those smaller airports is that there is usually one connection, which is the one that you happened to be booked on and which you just missed. If want convenience, take the small airport. If you want to have better assurance of being able to mitigate damage from a missed connection, the larger airport is better.

But not all large airports are good. MSP, for example is almost all Delta. So if you miss a connection, you don't really have alternatives until Delta gets around to their next flight. I look for an airport, such as ORD, SFO, LAX, DEN, or DFW, that has a significant presence of more than one carrier.

Usually so, but OTOH:
Gate agents are gods of the flight-line. If you find an alternative flight about to leave, the agent at its gate may be able to put you in a seat. When my leg home from ATL cancelled, I saw another still at a gate. Its agent told me to wait and handed me a boarding pass after the last passenger boarded.

Indeed, it always pays to keep your eyes open and know what is going on.

Similar story for me was flying out of Tulsa to Seattle, connecting at DEN. There was a severe blizzard crossing the Rockies. As I got to the gate there was concern that DEN might close. The agent was busy and not of much help. I looked at the board and saw that a flight to ORD was boarding. I figured that: 1) I would be heading away from the storm; and 2) it's pretty easy to get to SEA from ORD since there are four carriers that serve that route. So I headed to that gate; the agent there changed my ticket to route to Seattle through ORD.

So I got to ORD, went to my gate, and saw everyone gathered around the TV monitors at the gate. The monitors said, "Earthquake in Seattle", and as they were showing pictures of damage they showed the building where my office was located. (It was the day of the Nisqually Earthquake.) American said my flight was on hold until they knew the status at SeaTac. My traveling partner called United, and they said their Seattle flight was still a go, so we hopped on airport train and went to United gates, where we booked onto their flight, which they assured was still departing but was delayed, until about an hour later when they said SeaTac was shut down. We ended up going back to American, and getting on a flight to PDX, arriving about 11 pm Pacific time. I collected four other people who were doing the same thing, Knowing the circumstances, Hertz gave us a Town Car on a one-way rental at a good rate, and we drove back to Seattle, arriving in the early morning.

An extreme story, but had I not made the decision to skip to O'Hare, it would have been much harder getting home to my family.
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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Before the days of change fees, I used to simply go to the gate agents to put me on an earlier flight when I got to the airport early. These days, they are not so flexible. Fortunately I have not had to make too many flight changes in recent years.
I used to do that all the time as well. It worked as long as you weren't checking a bag. In fact,, traveling between the Bay Area and Los Angeles, I would usually book the cheapest return fare from any LA area airport. Then during the trip I would change my ticket to the flight I really wanted. The reservations agent would advise me of the fare difference and that the added money would be collected at the airport. But when I went to the gate, they would just accept my old ticket.

I thin that worked because at the gates, they didn't have the ability to accept or handle money or credit cards, so the gate agents would accept any ticket on any carrier that was valid to the destination (except for a Southwest Airlines ticket). But if you were checking a bag, that put you at the ticket counter, and they would charge the fare difference and change fee.

Then one time I tried my gambit at SFO, and the gate agent said there was a fair difference and I had to return to the ticketing counter to get a new ticket. So that little trick came to an end, and not long after most of the carriers added credit card machines at the gates, so the gate agents started doing reticketing when I showed up with original ticket.
 

geist1223

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On a perfect day it should only take 60 minutes to drive from our Home to PDX. After several near misses we have learned to give ourselves 2.0 to 2.5 hours. This means killing time at the Airport most of the time. We have a meal, read, walk, window shop, etc. But we do not miss the flight.

As we approach Wilsonville Patti checks Google Maps to see if we should take I205 or stay on I5 to I84. We also have the Radio on for Traffic Reports every 10 minutes.
 

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Another tip:
When you're a young college student who doesn't fly very frequently, don't let your new boyfriend take you to the airport for an early morning flight and decide that since you have so much extra time that going to eat breakfast with him would be a great idea! The stated flight time doesn't mean you just need to get to the gate before that time...they close the doors early. You know that feeling when you're watching something unfold, seemingly in slow motion, and you can't do anything about it? Just as the FA closed the door I started running at top speed, trying to get there as it sloooowly swung closed, arriving just in time to pound on the door crying "my plane, my plane." I sounded so pitiful they broke every rule in the book and re-opened the door for me. I scurried onto the plane and made the flight (which was just as well as I was meeting my parents halfway across the country for the groundbreaking ceremony of a library in honor of an old family relative...said parents would not have been amused at my missing the flight, especially due to a boy and co-ed stupidity).

Happily, I learned my lesson, and husband of 30+ years (yes, that guy) and I have never missed a flight since.
 

moonstone

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Another tip: If flying to a port to pick up a cruise, fly the day BEFORE the cruise departure, in case of lost bag(s) or flight cancellation or other mishaps like the ones above. The ship won't wait for you- or be particularly understanding if you only have the clothes you are wearing when you board.

Jim

We have only ever driven to Florida for our cruise departures but we scheduled our trip to arrive at least 1 day ahead of the cruise departure. DH is always worried about having car or traffic trouble on our 1,500 mile journey and doesn't want to be stressed about missing the boat. It is nice to get into town early and relax for a day or 2 before getting on board.


~Diane
 

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Things certainly have changed over the years. In 1969, before we were married, my future wife flew out to visit me. We were late getting to the airport, and had trouble finding a parking space. We hurried to the gate (no security check points in those days so I could go with her), and when we got to the gate, the plane was already pulling away from the jetway. When the desk agent saw us coming, she contacted the pilot, and he pulled back into the gate. They got her on the plane, tossed her suitcase in the luggage compartment, and took off.
 

pedro47

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Awesome thread, suggestions, advice and information . To the OP, thanks for sharing this thread and your true experiences.
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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Things certainly have changed over the years. In 1969, before we were married, my future wife flew out to visit me. We were late getting to the airport, and had trouble finding a parking space. We hurried to the gate (no security check points in those days so I could go with her), and when we got to the gate, the plane was already pulling away from the jetway. When the desk agent saw us coming, she contacted the pilot, and he pulled back into the gate. They got her on the plane, tossed her suitcase in the luggage compartment, and took off.
I remember routinely arriving at the parking garage at SFO 30 minutes before my flight, parking the car, and getting to my gate in either terminal 1 (PSA) or terminal 4 (AirCal) with about ten minutes to spare.

After moving to Seattle, I remember occasions when I was rushed getting to the airport about 25 minutes before departure. This was pre-9/11 security screening. I would pull up to departures, check my bags curbside, then park the car in the garage. I would easily make it to the gate with about ten minutes to spare.

If it was really tight, I would pull up to the curb, check bags, and then give my keys to an attendant for valet parking.
 

rapmarks

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I am chuckling remembering an incident with our type A friends. It was first time we were flying from fort Myers. We had an eight AM flight and the airport is a ten to fifteen minute drive. Our friends insisted on picking us up at four am. We tried for five am, compromised on 4:30 but they arrived at 4:15. They dropped us off at 4:30 and I called before they even got home to say we were at the gate for a very long wait. When we discovered a taxi was only $20, we never asked again.
 

DaveNV

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I'm reminded of one time during my Navy days, when I was flying back to San Diego from a software delivery to the Litton Naval Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The office that made the reservations on the poorly-scheduled flight had us deparing from Mobile, Alabama, at the crack of dawn, connecting first through Atlanta with a long layover, (like two hours.) Then we had a plane change in Dallas, with a 30 minute window. My travel companions and I thought it was no big deal, since the gate numbers were adjacent, (something like Gates 47 and 48.) Turned out they weren't next to each other, they were at opposite ends of two different terminal wings at the airport. We had to nearly run to make it to the other Gate, dodging people and whatever along the way. (Think of the old OJ Simpson TV commercial.) We barely made it. Needless to say, we had some choice words for the Travel Desk people at the Base in San Diego on Monday morning!

Dave
 

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Dave comments reminded me of two different occurrences.

1. Back in 1997 my oldest son and I were flying from Eugene Oregon to LAX on a Sunday for a USC College visit. We lived in Roseburg, Oregon. The previous Friday I had picked up my Jimmy from the Auto Shop that had worked on the engine. As we were approaching the top of Rice Hill I started to lose power. Luckily I was able to crest Rice Hill and coast down off the freeway and into a gas station. I called my wife and told her she had to jump in the Van and drive like h*** to get us to the Eugene Airport. She threw the the younger 2 Kids (while in their PJ's) in their cars seats. She dropped us off at the front entrance and we sprinted to the Gate. Luckily we only had carryons and Eugene has never been a large airport. It turned out that the rebuilt oil pump (NAPA) that they put in was bad. NAPA provided all the parts for free and the Shop provided the Labor to rebuild the Engine.

2. We were returning from Cancun and our transfer Airport was Phoenix. Within 15 before and after our flight numerous flights from Mexico and the Caribbean landed at Phoenix. The were only 3 US Custom Agents on Duty and only 2 Security Gates open. Our friends got through all the rigamore first and ran for the Gate. They were engaging the airplane staff in conversation to keep the Airplane Door open. We ran up, got on, and they shut the door even before we were belted.
 
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