Is flying always this hard?

Submitted by PotentialCalm t3_zvhoi8 in springfieldMO

For context, my family moved here from California about 2 years ago. I still live in CA. The first 3 flights here and back home were fine, but the last two times I’ve visited I’ve been delayed and had flights cancelled multiple times. This year because of the blizzard I pushed my travel back to Christmas Day, but now I’m realizing that was a huge mistake. I’m stuck at my layover airport overnight because the hotel I have a voucher for doesn’t have a shuttle, and I can’t afford $80 for an Uber to get me there. Is this a common thing, or have I just had bad luck the last few trips? This is the second time I’ve had to stay overnight at the layover city.

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blu3dice t1_j1p8sav wrote

>or have I just had bad luck the last few trips?

Not to rub salt in a wound but thats not bad luck but bad planning. This wasn't a surprise storm, it's one of the busiest days of the yeat to travel and you dont have the funds for an emergency situation ($80 Uber).

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PotentialCalm OP t1_j1pas2z wrote

It’s okay, I learned my lesson. Watching the weather it looked way better today, so I thought it would be fine. I also didn’t know that they would run out of airport hotel rooms with the shuttle service. And flying Christmas Day is typically less crowded than flying in the days leading up to it, so I thought it would be okay. I just wish the airport had canceled my flight before I flew half way across the country just to get stuck. If a flight isn’t cancelled, me and a lot of other people are still going to attempt to make it happen.

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blu3dice t1_j1tb9xe wrote

Hey, checking in.... any progress with your travel?

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PotentialCalm OP t1_j27rf58 wrote

Yes, all is well! Thanks for checking in. Bummed that my trip home got cut short by 5 days, but what can ya do?

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Golden3ye t1_j1qjcwa wrote

Not to mention finding out your hotel doesn’t have a shuttle until after you booked and trying to get to the airport.

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MartonianJ t1_j1pypfq wrote

I’ve always had good experiences flying into and out of SGF on airlines. But that was a huge winter storm that affected a large portion of the US and you get a cascading effect of cancelations and delays even if the weather is ok a day later. I’m sorry you have had a difficult journey.

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417SKCFAN t1_j1qi2cx wrote

No, there were 2700 flights cancelled Thursday, 5900 Friday, 3400 Saturday, and 3100 Sunday. Already 1700 and climbing today. Somewhere around 17,000 flights cancelled in 5 days with over 1/4 million passengers impacted. Everywhere is impacted, entire airports have closed (Seattle, Buffalo).

Normally I try to stay in the southern airports out of Springfield in winter, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte. Usually it’s Dallas because American has the most presence at SGF and Dallas has onsite hotels and more food options. If I hit trouble I can still route through Charlotte or Chicago.

The real issue is traveling without an emergency strategy, look into credit cards with trip delay and cancellation protections if you can.

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PotentialCalm OP t1_j27r1q6 wrote

That’s great advice, thank you! We booked with United so my only affordable option was to connect in Denver, but I think next time I’ll connect in Dallas no matter the airline. And yes I’ll definitely have some emergency money next time, just in case. Also won’t be flying out after a blizzard

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bjork24 t1_j1q4f8m wrote

the convenience of flying in or out of SGF has to be weighed against the increased potential for delays due to layovers. i have to travel a lot for work, and have started driving to XNA or MCI specifically for the nonstop flights. time-wise it’s about the same, but you can usually save quite a bit of money as well (especially at MCI).

for instance, SGF to NYC is ~$550 with a layover, while XNA is about $100 less for nonstop. meanwhile, MCI is usually less than $200 for a nonstop, which leaves you more than enough for a rental car if you need one.

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PotentialCalm OP t1_j27qpf6 wrote

Thank you, I’ll definitely look into that option for next year! This was our first time experiencing intense winter weather, so it was a learning experience for everyone.

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WorldFoods t1_j1pothi wrote

I don’t know where in CA you live but there are direct flights at least once a week between Springfield and LA. You might have better luck trying for that flight and then get a connecting one closer to your hometown. That way you don’t have the layover.

We’ve lived here two years and have had great experiences flying out of Springfield , but we’ve never traveled at the holidays so I don’t know what’s normal then. I feel like there are always news stories, though, about the craziness of air travel at the holidays — bad weather, canceled flights, people stuck at airports, etc. so it may just be the time of year you’re flying (which you can’t help — I mean, of course you want to be with family at Christmas).

I’m sorry you’ve had this experience twice.

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PotentialCalm OP t1_j27rslz wrote

Thank you for your response! Unfortunately I live in a rural area nowhere near LA so flying is inconvenient from the very start. But I’m listening to everyone’s suggestions and will try some next time I visit :)

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Low_Tourist t1_j1phgpd wrote

If you're flying from a small airport to SGF, yeah, it sucks. There's a lot of moving parts that all have to align.

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