Got out on the flight to MCO this morning. Airport was a zoo. There where hunderds if not thousands of people at the bagage drop in terminal C. with one kiosk in operation. Our flight was supposed to be fully booked, but left with about 20 seats open. One flight attendent was late due to traffic. That problem will probably get worse. Supposedly they are running a normal schedule throughtout Thursday

YEG-MSP-IAH-TPA Today
 

I'm in MSP after the first leg of my codeshare leaving on NW706 at 13:18 so I'll be in the air connecting to CO1506 with scheduled departure of 18:44 to TPA.

Wish me well! :) Hope my bags connect (especially golf clubs) too! :)

P.S. Free Wi-Fi as of last week now in the MSP World Club!! ^

Oil Shut-in back to Katrina levels
 

As of this AM, 1,379,000 BOPD (92% of Gulf production) shut in again. Even if the refineries are spared the hit, there's probably going to be a big fuel cost spike and maybe shortages at IAH.

As of 3pm CDT, CO has issued a directive to get the RJ's out of IAH and attempt to re-route any connecting PAX thru EWR and CLE, not IAH. No big mainline cancellations as of yet.

Main line flights have been cancelled for Friday starting about 9am out of IAH. I had DCA-IAH-SAN departing at 6:15am DCA (still flying) but 9am IAH-SAN cancelled and everything else that day.

So if you are flying out of IAH after 9am Friday - you are likely cancelled.
Problem is that CO can not reroute me on any flights through CLE or EWR to SAN on Fri 9/23 or even on Sat 9/24. Best they could do is Sunday morning DCA-SAN, but then I would arrive after my return flight.

I was willing to go next weekend - but flights are pretty full and they will not put you in a seat without the same fare code. This does not make sense to me. So next weekend is not an option. First available flight in my fare code is Dec. 2-4th (for a weekend trip). So my options are refund or rebook for Dec 2.

Turns out a fare code cheaper than what I have is available for Dec. 2-4 - so it was best for me to cancel and just rebook the new flight on Dec 2nd and get about $60 back.

So before you rebook, check and see if a cheaper fare my be available.

I had the same situation going to MSY during Katrina - refund was only option. CO's policy needs changed - if your flight is cancelled, they should let you book the same itinerary say the next week - days/times, if any seat is available.

My outbound could be rebooked from 9/23 to 9/25 without regard to fare code (because of no availability until 9/25) but my return would have to have the same fare code even though my outbound arrives before my return.

Good News- CO came through for me. I was scheduled to fly through IAH Saturday and when I called yesterday to make the change to NW codeshare (All my connections are through IAH) the agent told me I would have to pay difference in fare.

Just now they made the change to the NW codeshare through Minneapolis very simple with no charges whatsoever. Thanks to CO for a great CS experience.

I just noticed that my EUAd SEA-IAH-PHL flights for early Sunday morning now lists "Class: Coach (R)" with my F seat assignment, and that the equipment type is no longer listed. Earlier they listed "First" as the class. I guess I'll either be one of the first back to IAH after the storm or will have my flights cancelled.

FWIW, the Today's operations page at CO.com has been broken for over an hour.

This is really ridiculous. As a so-called "business airline" we need to keep this in mind, that in irregular operations, CO will not do what it takes to ensure customers are taken care of.

When you combine this stupidity with their standby stupidity, there really is a real risk of your trip going afoul when booking a CO ticket.

I wonder if you'd booked the very same flights with a NW code, NW would be taking care of you right now via MSP or DTW.

I agree, and we need to bring this up with Larry (pointedly) at the next get together.

Call the Elite phone number and ask them what's up. I did and they bent over backwards to help me.

The elite line has been extremely helpful to me the last two days, and has rebooked me three times now without charging me. I may have been lucky, but after explaining why I needed to rebook a third time (decided it was better to stay where I was rather than fly back to IAH early and then drive up to a family member's home north of the Houston area to ride out the storm) I was rebooked to fly back to IAH on Sunday without question.

They did the same for me -- but ONLY for flights that had different routings available with the same fare class. If your fare class isn't available and your flight isn't cancelled you're going to be in line with everyone else.

To some extent this is their way of pushing to the top of the heap those who have paid the most, with no reward of any kind for loyalty. The higher the fare class, the more likely there are seats left open in it. It's just another form of CO's favorite game, "What have you done for me lately?"

After having the misfortune of having to ride out Alicia, there were several things I learned about hurricanes
1. If you can get out of the way, do it. It was without a doubt the spookiest 24 hours I spent in my life. The building I was in downtown was large but it swayed back and forth like a boat. The wind noise was truely incredible.

2. Be prepared for a lot of damage. Driving home the next morning up Main street, I saw lots of windows blown out, but I also saw entire blocks of buildings turned into trash heaps. It looked as if someone had taken a bulldozer to them and left the debris in a big pile.

3. After the storm, be prepared for hot hot windless days and nights. If was as if the air had stopped moving. Without electricity for fans or AC, it was even more stifling

4. If you can get dry ice for your frig and freezer, do it

5. I know it is probably too late, but a portable generator after the storm is a life-saver.

if we don't fly, we'll ride out the storm in the northwest part of town

4. If you ride out the storm , I suggest you fill your bathtubs with water. You will need this for all sorts of things like flushing the toilet if you lose water pressure. (Of course I presume that you don't live near a bayou and are at risk for flooding)

Finally, I would suggest that if you are already out of town, stay out and don't come back to rescue the car. IMHO, it just isn't worth it.
I am not trying to be alarmist. These are things that experience taught me. Fortunately, I now do not live in the gulf coast, but I pray for all of those who do.

I called the Elite line - talked over a half hour - she checked with supervisor - still no good.

So if you have an advance purchase ticket - then what good is the ability to reschedule - since you then need to book several months out to get the same fare code. All that is available next weekend is Y fares - so any discount fare has a problem.

On the outbound they will reroute or reschedule without regard to fare code, but nothing is available until Sunday at any price - can not even buy a Y fare if you wanted. But the return still needs to be on the same code.

So refund is really the only option unless you want to change and rebook say 2 months down the road - and then you can likely book an equivalent fare (in my case - one even cheaper by $60). I did not ask about NW code share - likely should have - they did not even offer or check. I guess CO would rather give you a refund then book you on a CO partner code share.

All this means is more cash refunds - rerouting is not really an option. So with Katrina and Rita - CO is going to loose a lot of money in September. I have already received three ticket refunds - even though I would have done other equivalent distance city or other near term weekend.

I might add - it surprises me that CO did not take some of the IAH cancelled flights (aircraft) and add additional flights say from CLE. What are they going to do with the aircraft - just let them sit at remote (non-hub airports) and give everyone refunds.

They could for example added a flight or two from CLE to SAN to replace a couple of the IAH to SAN - these flights were already very full - and likely half the people were connecting.

You could do this for example by taking a flight from SAN to IAH and resend to CLE. Then fly it back and forth to CLE-SAN for two days, then return it SAN to IAH.