Help! Can my SIL make an 11:30 flight after Alaska cruise?

[Luckymommatoo]

She just got notified by the airline today that her 1:00 flight has been changed to 11:30! She has two kids, ages 4 and 6, plus her husband. I am worried for them now. Is this even possible? Any advice? Thanks.

 

[bumbershoot]

That's a big enough change that she needs to call her airline and say it doesn't work. They'll put her on a different flight at no extra cost or fee.

 

[Luckymommatoo]

That's a big enough change that she needs to call her airline and say it doesn't work. They'll put her on a different flight at no extra cost or fee.

Yeah, I was thinking that. But she's from the midwest, and what if the only other option on that airline is to wait until the next day? Will they move her to another airline?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yeah, I was thinking that. But she's from the midwest, and what if the only other option on that airline is to wait until the next day? Will they move her to another airline?

Possibly. We had a large time change on a flight once, and when I called to say "Nope, won't work", they moved us to a different airline with almost the same flight times as the original booking.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

Was on the first Alaskan cruise this year with the same situation. Airline changed our flight to 11:35am. We were a group of 11 traveling. We made to our gate at YVR with slightly more than an hour to spare. Had breakfast at Cabanas, did express walk off with our luggage and was on the first DCL bus to airport. I know we were lucky that all went well.

 

[cmwade77]

She should definitely call and the sooner, the better. If no other airline is available, they will probably put her up in a hotel at their cost if the only option is to wait for the next day.

 

[AndreAggie]

Maybe I'm making this too simple, but the cruise terminal and airport are about 30 minutes apart. Disney recommends departure times no earlier than 11:30. There are various routes from the cruise terminal to YVR. If they're really concerned, couldn't they take a cab or Uber instead of disney transportation? They shouldn't have any problems getting off the ship by 8:00 barring any unforeseen circumstances. That should still give them plenty of time to get to the airport for an 11:30 flight.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

They shouldn't have any problems getting off the ship by 8:00 barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Don't know if 8:00 is when the ship generally starts allowing people to debark, but it seems that the arrival time in port on the cruise timetables website is 8:00. If the arrival time is 8:00, then people will not be getting off at 8:00.

 

[firepuppy]

If she is still trying to get the 11:30 flight she will need to make sure all her checked bags are under 50 lbs. to save time at the airport and her cary on bags are ready for TSA. It is better to fix the any problems with packing when you are not rushed.

 

[richkaryn]

She just got notified by the airline today that her 1:00 flight has been changed to 11:30! She has two kids, ages 4 and 6, plus her husband. I am worried for them now. Is this even possible? Any advice? Thanks.

Last year ours got changed to 11:50. We did express walk off that morning, there were cabs available and waiting on passengers as they walked out of customs (not pre-booked. They literally just said "do you need a cab?" as you walked out and directed you to the next one in line) We were at the airport by 8:30ish and through security and customs and still had to wait 2 hours to board. So yes, it could be done if you do express walk off. We didn't change our flight when they changed the time, because all other flights were later and put us getting home a full calendar day later.

 

[bumbershoot]

It can be done it it doesn't sound like a fun end to a cruise to me! And don't you go through American customs at the airport when leaving out of Vancouver? So you have to allow time for that after going though customs getting off the ship then getting to the airport.

Yeah, I was thinking that. But she's from the midwest, and what if the only other option on that airline is to wait until the next day? Will they move her to another airline?

She needs to quickly look up flight times. I'm her airline and then also check out others. If the airline has a partner they might do what the app said, but if they don't and no other time works, if there's a reasonable flight on another airline she can ask for a refund from the airline she has booked, and book with the other airline.

She'll have to have some room on the Cc of course.

But her first step is to look at the other times of her airline and go from there.

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• doable.... but can be stressful. 11:30am flight means being at airport at 8:30am. The first walkoffs can be super busy.
• Vancouver is a great bonus port to explore without a boat or plane for 24 hours.
• What date is this? While most Monday's are OK..... there's a few Vancouver dates that is a 3 cruise ship debarkation dump on the city's cab fleet. Hope it's not August 2nd!

 

[Luckymommatoo]

I'm happy to report that we made it to the airport at 8:30. Our family group of 14 did express walk-off and were outside the Pan Pacific by 7:40 and got cabs easily. So my bro and SIL have plenty of time for their flight. There are never any guarantees of course, but in this case it worked fine.

 

[Deb T.]

I'm happy to report that we made it to the airport at 8:30. Our family group of 14 did express walk-off and were outside the Pan Pacific by 7:40 and got cabs easily. So my bro and SIL have plenty of time for their flight. There are never any guarantees of course, but in this case it worked fine.

Yay! That is great news. Thanks so much for providing a follow-up for all of us. We hope your cruise was wonderful, as well.

 

[Angie_Ohio]

My husband and I had 11:30 am flights on Air Canada. We ate breakfast, took our own luggage off, got a shuttle (waited 15 minutes in case anyone else arrived) for $16/person, and got to the airport in time to sit for 2.5 hours. Not too many people heading off the ship early. Many cabs and shuttles lined up ready to go.