more travel questions - booking backup (refundable) flight?

[nfceagles]

How long is your layover in EWR? And what time of day is the flight out of Boston? There must be plenty of flights BOS to EWR daily. Are there any others that would get you to EWR in time? Evening flights are more likely to get canceled because the prior flights have gotten backed up and the crew runs out of hours. You could move your first flight earlier to give you more cushion to make your second flight. All that said, I still very much like the idea of the extra refundable flight.


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[basil]

How long is your layover in EWR? And what time of day is the flight out of Boston? There must be plenty of flights BOS to EWR daily. Are there any others that would get you to EWR in time? Evening flights are more likely to get canceled because the prior flights have gotten backed up and the crew runs out of hours. You could move your first flight earlier to give you more cushion to make your second flight. All that said, I still very much like the idea of the extra refundable flight.


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I just checked. I thought it was three hours but the schedule has changed so many times it's now 2 hours 15 minutes. We leave BOS at noon. I think there is only one United flight from EWR->ANC per day, but obviously United has other connections that could be options.

I wish I could change to an earlier flight to get a longer layover. For various reasons, I think it would be difficult because stupidly, we booked these flights through the cruise line instead of directly with the airline. I really regret that decision!

[georgiegirl]

I just checked. I thought it was three hours but the schedule has changed so many times it's now 2 hours 15 minutes. We leave BOS at noon. I think there is only one United flight from EWR->ANC per day, but obviously United has other connections that could be options.

I wish I could change to an earlier flight to get a longer layover. For various reasons, I think it would be difficult because stupidly, we booked these flights through the cruise line instead of directly with the airline. I really regret that decision!

Don’t beat yourself up. Our flight was first thing in the morning with a long layover (in DFW) and that morning flight was cancelled (because the evening flight from DFW was cancelled) there was still no other options on American for three days (but I’m in Des Moines, not Boston). Just buy the refundable back up tickets and hope for the best. This whole situation makes me not want to book air travel.

[AnnieW625]

You should try cancelling the flights through the cruise line if you can and then rebook the flights with the carriers you found. Can you do that? Or is the problem that is one transaction? We’re the flights booked through the cruise really that much cheaper?


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[basil]

You should try cancelling the flights through the cruise line if you can and then rebook the flights with the carriers you found. Can you do that? Or is the problem that is one transaction? We’re the flights booked through the cruise really that much cheaper?


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It's a long story. At the time we booked the airline tickets like 9 months ago, it was cheaper AND seemed more flexible than booking through the airlines. But we've had several problems since then, some related to airline schedule changes and some related to poor customer service on the part of the cruise line, which apparently has to be involved with everything now. I don't think I'll ever book via a third party for flights again, that's for sure!

Anyway, it's too close to cancel the tickets, we would not be eligible for a refund of any kind, it seems. That's why the backup tickets seemed like it could make sense. I definitely could have managed this better, in retropect. But I'm actually not a very experienced traveler, so this is all kind of live and learn I suppose.

[infocrazy]

If you booked them through the cruise line I thought they were obligated to either wait for you or help you catch up...that might be an old policy but definitely check into that! Ok brief Google seems like they won't wait...but definitely see what their policy is since I think that is the biggest benefit of booking flights with then

[AnnieW625]

If you booked them through the cruise line I thought they were obligated to either wait for you or help you catch up...that might be an old policy but definitely check into that! Ok brief Google seems like they won't wait...but definitely see what their policy is since I think that is the biggest benefit of booking flights with then

I think she said they will be there two days prior to the cruise but she was more worried about some Anchorage activities she already had booked.


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[carolinamama]

If you are able to make a back up plan, it’s not a bad idea. In fact, it’s a good one if you ask me. We are currently in London trying to get to Germany after our flight was cancelled. BA can’t get us on a flight to Berlin until Monday evening. Best case scenario right now - we get to a different city in a Germany late tonight and take a 3 hour train tomorrow to Berlin. Hopefully we can find a hotel for the night there. Since we would rather get there earlier, other than the flights to the wrong place, we are paying for all these changes so a back up wouldn’t be a big deal. We are definitely losing a day of activities because our travel time has been impacted. We are trying to make the best of it and took the train into London but at this point, we are all so tired and can’t wait to actually sleep in a bed. And get to enjoy our planned trip.

Good Luck! I know families that have traveled without any trouble but I can also attest that it’s crazy out here so who knows right now.

[nfceagles]

If you are able to make a back up plan, it’s not a bad idea. In fact, it’s a good one if you ask me. We are currently in London trying to get to Germany after our flight was cancelled. BA can’t get us on a flight to Berlin until Monday evening. Best case scenario right now - we get to a different city in a Germany late tonight and take a 3 hour train tomorrow to Berlin. Hopefully we can find a hotel for the night there. Since we would rather get there earlier, other than the flights to the wrong place, we are paying for all these changes so a back up wouldn’t be a big deal. We are definitely losing a day of activities because our travel time has been impacted. We are trying to make the best of it and took the train into London but at this point, we are all so tired and can’t wait to actually sleep in a bed. And get to enjoy our planned trip.

Good Luck! I know families that have traveled without any trouble but I can also attest that it’s crazy out here so who knows right now.

So sorry to hear this. I had a bunch of friends struggle to get to Berlin from London in April. Have you checked EasyJet and Ryanair? Flights out of Gatwick, Luton, Stanstead? I had some friends who eventually flew into Hamburg and took a train to Berlin. But be warned I hear the trains are pretty full this summer.

GOOD LUCK!


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[echoesofspring]

I think if you can afford to front cc cost and are very certain you'll be able to get a refund it'd be worth the peace of mind. I'm with PPs that this might be very smart todo I was relaying your question to DH this morning - he had been talking to a friend of ours yesterday who was to leave for Belgium today and had his flight canceled. He can only rebook over the phone and hasn't been able to reach anyone. He's running out of time to make it there for the event. That would be my one concern with your plan, somehow you end up in phone/rebooking/delay hell and miss the window for getting on our getting a refund on one of the flights- kwim? But maybe you're willing to EOD pay the extra 1500 to make it even if you don't get a refund on the first flight if it ends up getting rescheduled?

We had a flight for our upcoming trip canceled recently. Fortunately they gave us a ton of notice and were willing to change our itinerary to a more expensive flight into a different airport entirely (4 hours away from the original airport, we live between them) without the regular change fees. We didn't care about the arrival airport as it's the return for our flight but it would have sucked if it had been our destination, start of our vacation instead of the end.