Metro Boy Scout Troop Drives From Florida To Minnesota After Flight Cancellation
WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Weather in Florida was to blame for the travel nightmares of several Minnesotans this weekend.
Eight adults and eight Boy Scouts from West St. Paul's Troop 248 drove back to Minnesota from Miami in three rental vans over the course of Saturday and Sunday.
Their Sun Country flight Saturday was canceled hours before takeoff with no rebooking options for days.
Jennie Robinson Kloos, an assistant scoutmaster, says the airline could only give a refund.
"You have to be able to count on your airline," Kloos said. "They have one job: get you to and from safely. We didn't count on a 26-hour drive home. We weren't prepared for that."
Thunderstorms in Florida canceled hundreds of flights this weekend and delayed several others for virtually every major airline.
"The best thing you can do is just like keep opening up your reservation, keep opening that app, check on it, and as soon as you see something go awry, start doing what you need to do to deal with that," said David Slotnick, a senior airline business reporter for The Points Guy travel website.
Experts also advise being first to the gate agent's desk, calling international customer service lines for faster service, and being polite to the airline representatives.
As for the scouts, the cross-country drive didn't manage to ruin their weeklong trip adventuring through Florida.
"The Scouts have been great about it," Kloos said. "They've been really patient and making the most of it."
A Sun Country spokesperson gave this statement to WCCO:
There were severe thunderstorms in northern Florida on Friday. As a result of delays imposed by Air Traffic Control, some of our crews timed-out and flights could not operate within the parameters ATC was allowing. We cancelled six flights since Friday night and delayed several others over the weekend.
We are very sorry for the disruption for our guests. We ask passengers for patience in calling the customer care number for rebooking, refunds or future travel vouchers.
The other airlines cancelled hundreds of their flights, so Sun Country was not alone in the impacts. Flights are very full as a result of pent-up demand for travel and the spring break season. Every airline has had to scale up to meet the demand. We are working to mitigate these disruptions.
