A couple of years ago I was booked ORD-SEA-PDX on AS, with the SEA-PDX being the last flight of the day.

Sure enough in the air on ORD-SEA the PDX flight cancels. AS automatically rebooked me on the 6:00 AM SEA-PDX, with no hotel voucher. I wasn’t about to spend the night in the airport, so I promptly went to National and rented a car and drove to Portland.

After much hemming, hawing, and general overall whining, AS did send me a check to cover the rental car. As they frankly should have…the cancellation was of their own volition, never mind the fact they couldn’t muster up a swap to fly between their two largest stations and instead suggest passengers sleep in the airport.

As a side note, I now avoid that 11:00p SEA-PDX flight when I can help it. Too many times it’s either been delayed, depositing me at home at 2:00 or 3:00 AM or outright cancelled.