Travel
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Missing your flight
If you miss your flight, do you have to pay for the next available? I'm asking because it looks like we are going to have book a flight back from our destination for a 6:45am flight...we should be able to do this, but I'm worried because we'll be traveling with an infant and toddler. It's a domestic flight. TIA!
Re: Missing your flight
I think it depends on the fare you purchase. The higher the price of the ticket, the more they'll be willing to work with you.
If you're so concerned you're going to miss the flight, why would you have booked that flight?
My advice - set several clocks and don't oversleep.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Mark Twain
My Travel Blog
I'd be more worried about there not BEING room on the next flight than paying for it. Right now most planes are running very full or even overbooked so you may be waiting a long time for the next available flight. Even days sort of thing....or sitting standby in the airport for hours, etc.
Just wake up extra extra early...I take early flights all the time with my kids since they are usually happier in the morning, so I'm used to getting to the airport at 5 am sort of thing. Just have several alarm clocks and everythign ready the night before...and I mean everything. I even usually have my kids sleep in the clothes they'll wear on the plane and pack their shoes in the carry on so that I just pick them up, carry then to the car, and go through security and then eat breakfast, etc then.
Most airlines will charge you to change the flight.
I am confused though, why are you worried? Is it because you just think you will be running late? What time does the baby normally eat at night? Don't leave with just enough time and then the baby needs to eat or spits up an you are late, you need to leave after the feeding before and you might be several hours early but you will make your flight.
We are purchasing hotel and airfare together...and the price jumps another $100 for later flights and those are the connecting ones...the nonstops are even more...
It may be more expensive, but if you are going into this wondering the cost of missing your flight, it may be worth looking at later ones. The cost and/or hassle of trying to get on a later flight when everything is full these days just doesn't seem like it'd be worth the risk.
Is that $100 per ticket or $100 total? If I was traveling with small kids, I'd probably be willing to pay an extra $100 just to avoid having to be at an airport at 5:30 am. I am not a morning person, and I hate getting up for early flights. Leaving the house at 4:30 is not a good way for me to start a travel day.
That said, I've never missed an early flight. Set your alarm. Set a backup if you're worried. And start getting everything ready to go early the evening before. It always takes longer than you think it will, and I end staying up so late that I only get a few hours of sleep. But the adrenaline of "OMG! Friggin' early flight!" usually means that I wake up in a mini panic ready to go.
The only times I've missed flights were later in the day, when I was doing something else, waited just a little too long to leave (or got my scheduling mixed up and left later than I should have), and/or got stuck in traffic. I was able to fly stand-by on a later flight without paying a change fee, but that would have been much harder if I wasn't traveling alone.
I'm just not sure how you can miss a 630am flight.
Plan to leave an hour earlier than you need to, end of story.
I'm just going to add, I sure as heck HOPE you would have to pay for the next available, especially when in your case the next flight is pricier.
There's a lot of things the airlines could do for people, but pay for people's mistakes shouldn't be one of them. Particularly when flights are often crowded & full as it is.
Anecdotal story - I once arrived early enough for a flight they had an earlier one that I could get on, so I said sure, I'd hop on that one. To thank me, they put me in business class. It was awesome. I had to cross the Canada-US border that morning, so I gave myself an extra 90 minutes to allow for the border crossing, since you never know. Instead of waiting at the airport OR the border, I got a big seat on the plane! Apparently they get fuller as the day goes on, so some airlines will actually move you earlier where possible to keep things rolling smoothly.
If you miss your flight day-of, I doubt they'd charge you a change fee. At least I never have been. If you try to change your flight ahead of time, you'll pay the fare difference plus any change fee.
I'd be more worried about there not being room on the next flight or the flight after that, etc. You could get stuck at the airport for a while. And if you're traveling with children, you'll probably want to sit together, which makes getting seats last minute a bit more difficult.
You may want to how many flights there are later that day, what time they are, and how full they are.
But to answer your question, I've never heard of an airline charging someone for missing their flight (but who knows now what they'll do).
Also, if you're running super late, I'd let the folks at the security line know that you're less than 30 minutes until your flight departs, and they might let you cut the line (if it's long). Annoying to other passengers, yes, but we all run late sometime.
I had been charged $250 change fee, on Delta, recently.
A colleague of mine had had to buy a whole new ticket after he missed his flight (don't know which airline).
Its $100 per ticket. With that said I was able to get a later flight (10am) for basically the same price by booking the air fare and hotel separately.
This past summer, we had an early flight...we were running on time and let's just say we had to make a stop because someone wasn't feeling well. Well, we got to the airport with a little over a hour before our flight was to take off and they told us we were too late to board and we had to wait for the next one. We were on standby for the next flight out and we weren't charge that time. That was the first time ever that we missed a flight, so I didn't know what regular procedures are/were. Thanks for your responses!