Sun Country passengers stranded in Mexico due to snow, end of seasonal flights
Apr 15, 2018, 5:29 pm
#1
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Sun Country passengers stranded in Mexico due to snow, end of seasonal flights
Heather Garnett of Minneapolis, along with her husband and three children, were among hundreds of Minnesota travelers whose flights home from Los Cabos in Mexico were canceled Saturday because of the snow.
But they were doubly stranded when they learned that Sun Country Airlines had ended its season Saturday and had no more flights — outbound or returning — from Los Cabos.
But they were doubly stranded when they learned that Sun Country Airlines had ended its season Saturday and had no more flights — outbound or returning — from Los Cabos.
Apr 15, 2018, 6:10 pm
#3
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 2,279
Not a fan of airline regulation...but this is a solid way to get them regulated again, abandoning passengers and being like too bad we don't have any more flights so can't rebook you.
If I were DL/UA/AA I would throw an extra flight crew together, send a plane down there, tell anyone with a Sun Country ticket that was cancelled to come to the counter and put them on a flight back to MSP. The positive PR situation would far outweigh the cost of giving away that flight to people, and prove the industry is capable of managing themselves when one of their members is completely irresponsible.
If I were DL/UA/AA I would throw an extra flight crew together, send a plane down there, tell anyone with a Sun Country ticket that was cancelled to come to the counter and put them on a flight back to MSP. The positive PR situation would far outweigh the cost of giving away that flight to people, and prove the industry is capable of managing themselves when one of their members is completely irresponsible.
Apr 15, 2018, 10:46 pm
#5
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Apr 16, 2018, 9:52 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 367
Even beyond that, there's instances where taking an ULCC without interline agreements can still make sense. If it's a business trip; probably not worth the savings as reliability is extremely important. But in certain situations (leisure travel without any major obligations within a day or two of arrival or departure) I think it's okay to use an ULCC...except Allegiant (terrible safety record) or now Sun Country (as they've actively abandoned passengers.) I've yet to hear of a case where Spirit (or Frontier) have actively abandoned passengers without any alternatives (they've taken a week to get passengers home at times, but to me that's still different than completely abandoning passengers without giving them a confirmed ticket home at some point in the near future.)
Apr 16, 2018, 2:54 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 34
I found this article comparing credit card trip interruption coverage
Many of them cover cancellations due to severe weather, which I think was the proximate cause of the airline cancelling their last flight. But it is not clear what they cover for a cancellation. If it is just the ticket price then they would not help since the airline refunded that.
Anyone have experience as to what is covered by your credit cards?
edit:
I only fly with tickets from airline miles so I would be SOL on credit card reimbursement. But most programs do not charge extra miles for last minute trips--just a fairly large fee of ~$80. So using airline miles is a less sucky way to deal with this. Also, as mentioned staying away from cr*ppy airlines like Sun Country.
Many of them cover cancellations due to severe weather, which I think was the proximate cause of the airline cancelling their last flight. But it is not clear what they cover for a cancellation. If it is just the ticket price then they would not help since the airline refunded that.
Anyone have experience as to what is covered by your credit cards?
edit:
I only fly with tickets from airline miles so I would be SOL on credit card reimbursement. But most programs do not charge extra miles for last minute trips--just a fairly large fee of ~$80. So using airline miles is a less sucky way to deal with this. Also, as mentioned staying away from cr*ppy airlines like Sun Country.
Last edited by herx; Apr 16, 2018 at 3:04 pm
Apr 16, 2018, 7:31 pm
#9
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Well, now a US senator is getting involved: (from the StarTribune)
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.
"As many travelers are already financially squeezed by the airline industry, it is troublesome to see a domestic carrier abandoning its passengers in a foreign country, forcing them to find their own way home and to incur further expense of time and money," Smith wrote in a letter asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate Sun Country's move.
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.
"As many travelers are already financially squeezed by the airline industry, it is troublesome to see a domestic carrier abandoning its passengers in a foreign country, forcing them to find their own way home and to incur further expense of time and money," Smith wrote in a letter asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate Sun Country's move.
Apr 16, 2018, 7:46 pm
#10
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Not a fan of airline regulation...but this is a solid way to get them regulated again, abandoning passengers and being like too bad we don't have any more flights so can't rebook you.
If I were DL/UA/AA I would throw an extra flight crew together, send a plane down there, tell anyone with a Sun Country ticket that was cancelled to come to the counter and put them on a flight back to MSP. The positive PR situation would far outweigh the cost of giving away that flight to people, and prove the industry is capable of managing themselves when one of their members is completely irresponsible.
If I were DL/UA/AA I would throw an extra flight crew together, send a plane down there, tell anyone with a Sun Country ticket that was cancelled to come to the counter and put them on a flight back to MSP. The positive PR situation would far outweigh the cost of giving away that flight to people, and prove the industry is capable of managing themselves when one of their members is completely irresponsible.
It's not so simple. DL has been experiencing massive IROPs (centered at MSP) and the SunCountry standings involved at least three different airports in Mexico. I don't believe it, but one media source was reporting that about two dozen SunCountry flights were cancelled.
The latest news is that SunCountry is offering to refund the entire total fare of the entire RT ticket that was originally purchased from SunCountry, not just the fare for the direction that was cancelled.
The latest news is that SunCountry is offering to refund the entire total fare of the entire RT ticket that was originally purchased from SunCountry, not just the fare for the direction that was cancelled.
Apr 16, 2018, 7:56 pm
#11
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My guess is that will still, in many cases, not be enough to cover the cost of the one-way walk up ticket that many had to purchase. I am sure there were people with advanced purchase tickets on SY for, let's say $350. I read that people were paying $700 to fly on Delta, making that a $350 difference. Now let's say you are a family of 4, now you've lost $1400 on airfare, plus extra nights at hotels and meals at restaurants. SY needs to reimburse people's flight at 100% of their cost. It seems reasonable that they do not pay for hotels or meals because it is a weather situation, but they should be 100% liable for the cost of air travel.
Apr 16, 2018, 8:06 pm
#12
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My guess is that will still, in many cases, not be enough to cover the cost of the one-way walk up ticket that many had to purchase. I am sure there were people with advanced purchase tickets on SY for, let's say $350. I read that people were paying $700 to fly on Delta, making that a $350 difference. Now let's say you are a family of 4, now you've lost $1400 on airfare, plus extra nights at hotels and meals at restaurants. SY needs to reimburse people's flight at 100% of their cost. It seems reasonable that they do not pay for hotels or meals because it is a weather situation, but they should be 100% liable for the cost of air travel.
Of course it won't cover the cost of buying a replacement ticket, even if space can be found during the next several days. People have been reporting prices of a thousand dollars and more.
Earlier one local TV station was saying that passengers were being told that they could submit receipts after returning home and SunCountry would pay the cost of the new ticket, but this information seems to have been incorrect.
In addition to the additional expenses for hotels and meals (versus probably cheap advanced purchase rates), people are missing work and school over this incident. There was someone interviewed on TV (who was was fortunately able to find a flight and pay by credit card) that needed to return home for cancer treatment at the Mayo Clinic.
Earlier one local TV station was saying that passengers were being told that they could submit receipts after returning home and SunCountry would pay the cost of the new ticket, but this information seems to have been incorrect.
In addition to the additional expenses for hotels and meals (versus probably cheap advanced purchase rates), people are missing work and school over this incident. There was someone interviewed on TV (who was was fortunately able to find a flight and pay by credit card) that needed to return home for cancer treatment at the Mayo Clinic.
Apr 16, 2018, 8:11 pm
#13
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I saw that on KARE. I really thought that with that kind of PR that SY would have made a course correction by now. They are making so many PR mistakes that it almost seems intentional. I wonder if the goal is just to tell SY to another airline in the near future, and that they just trying to keep costs down on the books to increase value.
Apr 16, 2018, 10:02 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 5,813
What Sun Country did was horrible and I'm not sure whether the old owners or the new ones are responsible. But airlines have no ability to force people to take vacations they can't afford. If your finances are that tight, don't take a vacation in a foreign country or buy travel insurance.
I don't believe in travel insurance but then I can afford to buy a walk up ticket to get home from pretty much anywhere. I've had to pay for a couple of hotel rooms due to cancellations.
10 years ago I was at a U S Passport Office renewing my passport because my wife's as well as mine had expired but she had a sudden need to travel out of the country. I decided to tag along and get mine renewed since they both expired at the same time. The previous renewal was another story involving leaving our passports in another city just before Christmas. I was given a surprise trip to Belize for Christmas (departing on December 26). In that case I could have flown to get our passports and gotten back the same day (fortunately it's easy to get a flight on Christmas Day) however one of our wonderful employees was willing to take part of her Christmas Day away from her family to pick up our passports and take them to the airport for us. We recently mailed our passports in for renewal again. We're waiting for them back. I'm hoping for less drama this time.
10 years ago while we were sitting in the waiting room after paying a bunch of fees to get a passports the same day I watched a continuous parade of people pleading they couldn't pay the fees, couldn't wait as long as it took or any number of other stories. One woman was near tears because if she paid the fee who wouldn't have any money to spend on her vacation. Another woman was constantly badgering the clerks because she had to catch a flight that afternoon.
Apr 16, 2018, 10:39 pm
#15
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Delay, Misconnection, Cancellation, or Schedule Change
To the extent reasonably possible, Sun Country Airlines will provide onward transportation to passengers delayed significantly or misconnected due to schedule irregularities or cancellation of flights or service as follows: • If the significant delay or misconnection is caused by Sun Country Airlines, Sun Country will transport the passenger on its next available flight in the same class or, if unavailable, a higher class of service at no additional cost to the passenger. At Sun Country Airlines' discretion and cost, Sun Country may arrange travel for the passenger on another carrier in lieu of providing alternate transportation in the manner described above. If Sun Country Airlines is unable to provide air transportation acceptable to the passenger, Sun Country Airlines will refund the value of the unused air transportation in accordance with Rule 260 - Involuntary Refunds. • If the delay or misconnection is caused by a carrier other than Sun Country Airlines, Sun Country may transport the passenger on the next available Sun Country flight in the same class of service at no additional cost to the passenger. • If the passenger is holding a confirmed seat on a higher class ticket and space is only available on a lower class of seating, Sun Country Airlines will refund the difference in fares pursuant to Rule 260 - Involuntary Refunds.
To the extent reasonably possible, Sun Country Airlines will provide onward transportation to passengers delayed significantly or misconnected due to schedule irregularities or cancellation of flights or service as follows: • If the significant delay or misconnection is caused by Sun Country Airlines, Sun Country will transport the passenger on its next available flight in the same class or, if unavailable, a higher class of service at no additional cost to the passenger. At Sun Country Airlines' discretion and cost, Sun Country may arrange travel for the passenger on another carrier in lieu of providing alternate transportation in the manner described above. If Sun Country Airlines is unable to provide air transportation acceptable to the passenger, Sun Country Airlines will refund the value of the unused air transportation in accordance with Rule 260 - Involuntary Refunds. • If the delay or misconnection is caused by a carrier other than Sun Country Airlines, Sun Country may transport the passenger on the next available Sun Country flight in the same class of service at no additional cost to the passenger. • If the passenger is holding a confirmed seat on a higher class ticket and space is only available on a lower class of seating, Sun Country Airlines will refund the difference in fares pursuant to Rule 260 - Involuntary Refunds.