On January 1st, 2022, we received word that my Father-in-law had passed away. Sue immediately began finding flights to Chicago. On the assumption that Southwest Airlines would allow the most flexibility in modifying the return flight, if necessary, she booked a flight with them for Monday, January 3rd. We would fly out on San Jose about 2:30, through Denver, and then to O'Hare.
We dutifully arrived at the airport a couple hours early on Monday, only to find out our flight to Denver was canceled. Why we weren't notified of this is a mystery. But our daughter, who had dropped us off, was now on the way home. I called her to turn around and pick us up again. Meanwhile, Sue was trying to figure out what to do. Southwest happily scheduled us for a 6:30am flight Tuesday to Orange County, connecting to Las Vegas, connecting to Denver, and finally to O'Hare. Unfortunately, Sue had a meeting with the funeral home on Tuesday, so we couldn't be flying at that time.
Kira arrived to pick us up, but Sue still wanted to get the flights resolved, and Kira couldn't wait, because she had class in half an hour. So she drove back home, again. I stayed with Sue, in case she managed to get a flight the same day. We sat around at the airport for another hour until Kira could return after class.
Eventually, Sue scheduled us for the same Wednesday flights as we had on Monday: 2:30 to Denver, then to Chicago.
Tuesday night, we get an e-mail that our flight from San Jose to Denver was again canceled, and they rebooked us on the insane 6:30am San Jose to Orange County to Las Vegas to Denver to Chicago odyssey. Fine, whatever. If you're keeping score, that's two canceled flights.
So instead of arriving at the airport at 12:30, we now had to arrive at 5, which meant getting up at 4am. Once there, checked in, through security, and to our gate, we finally relaxed. Until the dreaded e-mail came in that the flight from Las Vegas to Denver was canceled, and they rescheduled us on an afternoon flight directly to Las Vegas. So, it's 5:30am, and we have a 2:00pm flight. It's gonna be a long day. Cancelation number three.
'Round about noon, we got yet another e-mail, saying the flight from Denver to O'Hare was again canceled. There's no way we're making the funeral now. After four canceled flights, Sue is at wits end and ready to give up.
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| Notice EVERY cancelled flight, and most of the delayed ones, are Southwest! |
As a last resort, I bring up Google Flights and amazingly found a United flight at 2:30, through Denver, to O'Hare, and quickly book that. After that, everything went well, and we arrived at our hotel in Chicago at 1am. Door-to-door it was 18.5 hours.
The Southwest agent we spoke to claimed that we would get a full refund, due to the canceled flights, but we have yet to receive that. We did get two $100 vouchers toward a future flight as an apology.
I'm not sure we'll be using those...
