Sooo, about that trip to San Diego… Yeah, it didn’t happen. Our flight got cancelled.
On Friday I posted about our soon to happen getaway to San Diego. It was going to be a quick trip, flying down Saturday and back home on Sunday. We were going for a 10th wedding anniversary party. Basically, a big family reunion for my husband’s side.
Sadly, it never happened.
Our family was one of the thousands of people that had their flight cancelled due to Southwest’s computer malfunctions, and later staffing issues.
Our flight was scheduled for 7:15 a.m. I got up extra early at 3:30 to fit in a quick workout video. As I was rustling around in the bedroom (I tried to be quiet!), my husband woke up and saw the text from Southwest that our flight was cancelled.
The group traveling together wasn’t small- in addition to my husband and me, I had my in-laws, stepdaughter, and nephew all staying over so we could go to the airport together.
Instead of waking up the group, my husband and I jumped into action.
First, what are the other options?
We immediately called the airline and got in the phone cue, but also looked online.
I highly recommend coming up with your own plan of action instead of hoping the overwhelmed customer service person that gets your call will have the best plan. Maybe they will, but why not have some suggestions?
My husband and I travel a lot and we’ve done this before.
If our flight is cancelled, or delayed and we know we’ll miss the connection, we’ll wait in the check-in line and also be on our phones finding solutions for where we need to be.
One time we came up with a solution the ticketing person said she would never have thought of. It saved us from sleeping at the airport- PRICELESS.
Unfortunately, we were sh*t out of luck in this case. All the other Southwest flights to San Diego were sold out through 8 p.m. Considering the anniversary dinner was at 5, a late flight would be pointless.
Second, are there other airport options?
Of course, this is great for cities with two airports in close proximity, like Los Angeles, New York or Washington D.C. In the case of San Diego, our only other option was an L.A.-area airport.
On top of change fees, which likely would not be reimbursed, we’d have to drive from L.A. to San Diego with people that range in age from 12 to 72. After quickly mulling it over, we decided to skip that idea.
Finally, admit defeat, but stop the bleeding.
After weighing all the options, and chatting with my in-laws, we came to the realization that this trip was not happening. However, there were still a few loose ends to tie up before we all (thankfully) could go back to bed.
Just to avoid any confusion, we all cancelled our return flights.
We called our hotel. We were going to stay at a Hilton and they were completely understanding about the situation. They only asked for our flight information so they could confirm the cancellation, and then they refunded us the Hilton Points we used for the room.
We cancelled the rental car. Thankfully, no penalty there.
We let our pet sitter know we weren’t leaving and didn’t need her to watch our pets. However, I did give her a little something. She is a small business owner and exceptional to our dog and cats, so I didn’t want to leave her high and dry.
Finally, make the most of it!
Of course, we were all bummed that we weren’t going to party with everyone else, but we also didn’t want to waste the weekend. Because we planned to be out of town, we ended up with a whole weekend unscheduled!
After enjoying breakfast with my in-laws, they left for home with my nephew. We spent the rest of the weekend doing a mix of chores and relaxing. It was the best kind of weekend, where you are able to take care of some of those nagging chores you never seem to have time to get to.
We also got in a healthy dose of relaxing. My stepdaughter had a date on Saturday night, so my husband and I went out on a date of our own.
I’m so thankful that the change in plans didn’t mean the end to an amazing weekend. Life throws curveballs all the time, but letting things go and making the most of every situation is one of the few things we all have control over. I’m blessed that a cancelled flight resulted in a few moments of stress, not a weekend of frustration.
