tstauck

My flight is Sat morning, so normally straight down is 95 miles and 1 hour 20 min. Usually no traffic first thing Sat morning. The only alternate route is north to Santa Maria (75 miles), east to Bakersfield ( about 100 miles), then Bakersfield to LAX (115 miles). The Santa Maria to Bakersfield section on RT 166 is the bad part, because all the big rigs are detouring there and the news is reporting it's totally backed up all the time now. Pretty Crazy.

Also my departure and return flight are both Sat, so this extra distance would be both ways same day.

I’ll call into UA shortly and report back what they say. Thanks again for the tips!

- Tom

spongenotbob

I don't know how practical this is, but have you considered:

Boat rides between Santa Barbara, Ventura harbors continue during US 101 closure - KEYT

prestonh

We had a bridge go out a few years ago between here and Seattle, added about 3 hours of travel time each way (turned a 2.5 into a 5.5 hr trip) on the 2 alternate routes because traffic gets plugged up when the freeway traffic gets rerouted onto windy two lane routes. No one thinks of that until it happens I guess.

If you are thinking of driving that far, consider BFL as an alternate.

TA

Well, either way, to any agent examining the reservation, it would appear that an itinerary with no waivers / issues affecting it, is being asked to be changed to one that *does* involve a city SBA that is being affected by a disruption. That seems out of the ordinary / not usually allowed to me, but I'm just an internet commenter.

Your issue is probably that you bought a cheaper ticket originating in LAX while you live in Santa Barbara. And now the weather has affected your ability to get to the flight which otherwise is operating normally. It's also probably a much more expensive $ ticket out of SBA. Maybe you can throw yourself on the sympathy of a supervisor to get special consideration, and please report back if you do have success -- I'm sure people will be curious.

prestonh

Or the result is going to be that he phones in a 'flat tire rule' request on the day of travel because the road is closed, they look up the caltrans report, bam and gets a waiver anyway. Not really a hard sell if his address is in SBA.

Oxnardjan

I live in the area and the 101 is not going to be open for another week. My husband works in Santa Barbara but we live in Ventura County and he has be able to work from home. He has been unable to commute for a total of 4 weeks since the Thomas Fire and now the Freeway closure due to the mud slides
.There is a ferry transport out of Ventura Harbor that takes 2 hours to arrive in Santa Barbara. The Trains (Amtrak) are working too but are generally full during this time, they are taking essential personnel as a priority before other travelers. The are Highway Patrol is escorting essential personnel only by bus on the otherwise restricted side roads. It really is difficult to get around. If you can change your routing to fly into Santa Barbara that would be the easiest way to get into Santa Barbara. I hope that you can either get the trip postponed or flight diverted to Santa Barbara Airport. It is a difficult time for those living and trying to work, but we are blessed to have a home and our lives. So many have lost everything.

FlyingNone

I think if I had to add 2-4 hours to the normal one hour+ drive, I would seriously consider driving the day or early evening before and getting a hotel room at LAX airport.

tstauck

I hear you, everyone's been stranded for weeks now but at least safe!

tstauck

So great news. called in and they wouldn't allow me to fly out of SBA, and technically because the flight is out of LAX, it's not a travel waiver area. But I did mention I'm approaching my 1 million miles and this was a mileage run, and she saw my flight was LAX-MCO and back, same day. She said thank you for your loyalty and spoke to her supervisor, and they allowed me to rebook LAX-MCO for Jan 31st instead with no change fee.

Best part, the fare priced out cheaper (only $75 on the way out), and they kicked me back a $20 e-certificate!

Great service overall and very happy with the outcome. 4 more flights like this for my million...

- Tom

Flying Machine

SS255

Mudslides, mileage runs, and a million miles. Glad UA was able to accommodate you!

B407

Weather delays are acts of god and those are certainly covered by travel insurance.

In addition, if a natural disaster destroys your principal residence requiring you to cancel your trip, that is covered.

tstauck

Thanks again everyone!
- Tom