jammin

Hi folks,

First off, apologies if this is a really silly question.

I live in Ireland and, in Europe at least, when you buy an air ticket from A to B but with a stop somewhere (e.g., DUB to SIN but transiting in AMS), and if you're late getting to AMS because of a delay on the DUB-AMS flight and therefore miss your AMS-SIN flight, the airline will accommodate you. I.e., they'll put you on the next available flight and give you meals / drinks / hotel accommodation (as appropriate) in the mean time.

Now, we're off to the US next month and our return to Ireland is LAX-JFK-SNN (all with Delta), but the transit in JFK is only 1hr 48mins. Now, that might be fine, but if the LAX-JFK is late, we might miss the flight to Shannon. If so, what will happen? Or are the procedures / rules in the US the very same as in Europe?

djk7

They will put you on the next available flight, although with a lot of flights being fully booked, might not be the next actual flight. Typically, food and lodging are only supplied if the first flight is delayed due to circumstances under the airline's control, such as mechanical problems. If the delay is because of weather or ATC issues, they generally won't supply meals and hotels, except possibly for their elite or premium class customers. The airlines take a broad view of what constitutes a weather delay, including the plane or crew being delayed due to weather on their previous flights.

Yaatri

If your LAX-JFK is on the same airline as JFK-SNN, you should not have any problem. If the LAX-JFK flight delay makes you mis the JFK-SNN flight, you will be provided a hotel, if the delay is not due to weather (act of God). In any case, you will be booked on the next flight, although it would require intervention on yiour part after you arrive in JFK.
If the two segments are on different airlines, you will have problems in case of a mis-connection they are on two separate tickets. My nephew was stuck in ORD indefinitely when his LAX-ORD flight, ticketed and operated by AA, was late that caused him to mis-connect with a SWISS ticketed and operated flight. I had to buy him another ticket. AA paid for hotel for one night, after which, he was on his own with no help from either airline.

If the two segments are on the same ticket but different airlines, I am not sure what will happen. You are supposed to be accommodated on the next available flight. Instead, they might put you on the next flight operated by the airline, which means 24 hours or more. You you should insist on the next available flight on any airline, not just on that airline whose flight you missed. If the delay is weather related, your chances of getting a hotel are almost nil. YMMV as some agents are more proactive than others.

jammin

Thanks a million guys.

In Europe, we are protected by law so that airlines are obliged to "care" for their passengers in case of non-travel due to factors outside the passenger's control - this includes non-travel due to bad weather conditions. "Care" means re-routing or refunding. In the case of re-routing, "care" also means food, lodging, transportation and phone calls, depending on the duration and circumstances of the delay and remedial action.

It's worrying to learn that equivalent protection doesn't exist in the US. Just hope there's no weather-related delay for us and all will be fine!

Btw, what are Delta like? It's our first time flying with them.

Yaatri

Are you asking about cabin service (in-flight service) or over all experience? I think they are no better, maybe slightly worse that major European airlines.

jammin

Slightly worse? Oh my!

Delta are partnered with KLM and Air France. In both cases, I've found them to be a nightmare on the ground (customer service centres), but excellent in the air (the cabin crew and aircraft / facilities are excellent).

BearX220

DL in economy is only slighly worse than European airlines in the air, although you will find no free food or alcohol on your LAX-JFK leg; they charge a fee for everything. (There will be a free meal on the transatlantic leg.) DL ground handling, especially at JFK, is appalling. The JFK staff is hateful and the facilities haven't been appreciably improved in 40 years -- they're the old Pan Am facilities from the '70s and totally overwhelmed by human traffic.

Jenbel

Do you have travel insurance? That would cover you if the airline didn't cough up.

(or in future, book an EU airline which is obliged to do this regardless of which direction the flight is in!).

jammin

Yikes! Doesn't sound good. No free food? It's a six hour flight! Delta are not a budget airline, I expected complimentary food and beverage would be standard. I've never known a full service, scheduled airline to charge for meals. Wow.

Presumably there's no policy prohibiting customers from bringing their own food on board?

DL ground handling at JFK is appalling? That's worrying. We'll be travelling with a pushchair and a child's car seat in the hold. What's the chance of them losing / damaging either?

I've just thought, we're also travelling internally with Delta on this trip, JFK-LAX. Will that flight be foodless, too?

Yaatri

I wasn't sure about the food in economy on transcontinental domestic flights as I get the elite upgrades. No food on a transcontinental flight is bad. When I have transited through JFK, I have not found the staff to be hateful, but they are indifferent until they find out that they are dealing with a Diamond or Platinum elite.

Yaatri

There will be food on the transatlantic flight (JFK-SNN). BearX220 was talking about the domestic leg (LAX-JFK) when he said no food. Your luggage will be checked through to SNN when you check-in at LAX. Your luggage will be no less safe than on KLM or air France.
You can bring food on board.
Since your child seat would be travelling as checked baggage, a comment is in order. It would be better if you put the child seat in a bag.sack so that anything, such as, straps are not dangling. Straps can get caught in mechanisms of conveyor belt. Even then there is a chance that it might get damaged. Our child seat, even though it was securely packed in a cloth sack
was damaged on a KLM flight. At first, they denied responsibility but eventually agreed to pay for replacement limited to their per pound/kg rate. I think it was $20 per kg. Examine your child seat for damage when you retrieve it SNN. It wkill be more difficult to file a claim for damage once you have left the airport. We discovered the damage the following day. We had two identical seats, one of which was left in the car at the airport. When we arrived in Washington, we did not unpack the seat that travelled with us as we already had one setup in the car.

BearX220

There is no longer any free food in economy class on any of the major / "network" carriers on any flight within the US, regardless of length. (As I said up top and Yaatri reiterated, DL does still offer a free meal on transatlantic flights, only because their foreign competitors do.) On domestic flights cabin staff will often offer food for purchase -- expect to spend US$8-$12 for a cold sandwich -- but demand often exceeds supply and if they run out before you get to your row, you go hungry.

They will allow you to bring your own food on board if you have time to buy it in the terminal before boarding.

Non-alcoholic beverages remain free, but a beer or cocktail will be US$7-8 I believe.

As for DL mishandling your pushchair and child's car seat if you check them n(why not use your child's car seat in cabin?)... they probably won't, but there's always a chance of delay or loss, especially on the homebound transfer. Photograph the items before you check them; this will help with the claims process if they don't show up back in Ireland.

jammin

I do have travel insurance, quite a good policy with zero excess. Thank goodness.

The only EU airline which flies directly to the US from Ireland is Aer Lingus, and I really don't fancy them long haul. Alternatives might have been BA via LHR, AF via CDG or KL via AMS, but they were more expensive, indirect and logistically not pleasing to my mind (going East to go West). Plus, I hate UK airports (and I'm from the UK).

Yaatri

I just noticed that the JFK-SNN flight is on a 757. I don't like travelling on long flights in economy on 757.

As for alcohol, beer and wine are complimentary on international flights but mixed drinks cost. That's how it was in Dec when I travelled from ATL to LHR in economy on Delta. I was even obliged with an extra meal upon asking. I was starving as I had been running all day due to numerous reroutings that day ( I had arrived at the aireport at 6:30 a.m. ) and boarded that flight at 10:30 p.m.).

QueenOfCoach

Welcome to our world.

Airlines in the US stopped serving complimentary meals on domestic flights a long time ago. They sometimes offer food for purchase on board, but I never partake. I'm too cheap.

You can indeed bring your own food in. Lots of people do. Most airport concourse food vendors are equipped to pack up food "to go".

Note the expression "to go" which is the American way of saying carry out or take away food. "I'd like that sandwich to go, please."

My suggestion is to bring food along for your child, something you know the kid likes. The adults can eat a hearty meal before getting on the plane and just wait it out. You will have airplane food on the over-water international segment.