The day two flights were canceled

I believe that every traveler’s nightmare is reading or hearing that their flight was cancelled, because all we want is to reach our destination.

I never thought I would live this experience, but there is always a first time and mine included two canceled flights that were not even from the same reservation. So I want to share my experience with you in case you are in the same situation or go through something similar.

Many may wonder why you did not buy your flights in the same reservation, if in Alan around the world we always recommend doing so in case there is a setback it can be resolved faster? Well, the answer was because I hadn’t planned to do those trips together.

I will tell you step by step.

A few days ago I traveled with my friends to Puerto Escondido, from Mexico City, to celebrate the wedding of one of them, who notified us a year in advance so that we would have time to organize everything. So as good travelers, we planned everything very well and we bought the flights and lodging several months before.

Some time later, with other friends, the plan came up to travel to the city of Monterrey to attend the Pal Norte music festival, which would take place a week after my friend’s wedding, so everything could be accommodated in an excellent way.

Due to price issues, both for lodging and flights, it was convenient for us to arrive in Monterrey a few days before the festival and leave a couple of days later, so I organized everything, together with Karla, who was also at the wedding, to fly from the Mexico City to Monterrey the same day we would arrive from Puerto Escondido; Of course we accommodated everything so that we arrived well in advance of the flight from Monterrey.

The day we were returning to Mexico City, very early, we received a message that our flight was delayed for an hour and a half. That’s when the stress started a bit, however we still had enough time to get to the Monterrey flight.

We arrived at the Puerto Escondido airport and while we were waiting to board, I went to my social networks and saw that many of my friends and contacts were posting photos and videos that an “apocalypse” was going on in Mexico City, because there was too much wind, it was completely cloudy, it was raining and even in some areas it was hailing.

My concern continued to increase, I went to see the weather in the weather application and it said that there was a thunderstorm, a fact that increased my concern, the flight was delayed a few more minutes, and to top it off my flight to Monterrey appeared on time , even so we would still manage to arrive.

We boarded the plane and once inside they told us that we would have a delay of 20 more minutes because the weather was bad in Mexico City and landings at the airport were becoming difficult… Ok, we could still make it to the other flight but we should run.

Minutes passed and the pilot of the plane told us that the delay would continue indefinitely because the Mexico City airport was not operating until further notice, so they got us off the plane and took us to the waiting room so that we could be . Obviously we would no longer make it to the Monterrey flight, which still appeared on time.

When we got to the gate, the first thing Karla and I did was contact the airline to tell them about our situation and ask what would happen to our flight to Monterrey if it left on time and we didn’t arrive.

The airline told us that despite the fact that the flights (from Puerto Escondido and Monterrey) were not part of the same reservation, they could help us since they were both operated by it and we automatically had protection, since it was justified that for problems with the first, we couldn’t get to the second.

Tranquilized me.

We continued in the boarding room for several minutes until they spoke again through the loudspeaker: “Passengers of flight AM 2547, we announce that your flight has been canceled…”

They asked us to leave the room and approach the counter to receive instructions on what we had to do.

We left the room and the line at the counter was already very long, so while we waited, we notified our acquaintances about our situation, and a friend told me that we should investigate our rights very well because the airlines then take advantage of the ignorance of the travelers to waive their obligations.

Therefore, while it was our turn to go to the counter, my friends and I began to investigate the options we had in the situation.

At that moment I received a notification on my cell phone: “Your flight AM950 to Monterrey has been cancelled.”

Two canceled flights!

I spoke to the airline again to request a new orientation.

Once again, they were very kind and told me not to worry about my situation, that they could accommodate us on a flight to Monterrey at the time that best suited us.

In the case of the flight to Puerto Escondido, it would be rescheduled or, if we wanted, they could reaccommodate us on another. In addition, in Puerto Escondido they would pay or reimburse me for the lodging that I had to pay to spend one more night, since due to the schedule and the weather situation in Mexico City we could not return until the next day.

In that call they even offered to give us a new flight to Monterrey but recommended that I first fix the situation of the Puerto Escondido flight to have a safer schedule for Monterrey.

They reassured me again.

We kept waiting for the resolution of our situation in Puerto Escondido and finally they asked us for our telephone number so that they could call us as soon as they had the departure time of our flight to Mexico City, since like us, the plane and the crew were stranded. and sooner or later we all had to return to the capital of the country.

And indeed, they told us to pay for one night’s lodging but that they promised to reimburse us for that expense, so they shared some information with us to request it.

There was also the option of moving us to a hotel in Huatulco and accommodate us on a flight from that destination to Mexico City, however, due to space issues, it would not be possible to accommodate all the passengers in the Huatulco lodging, but in a flight.

We decided to stay in Puerto Escondido and wait for our flight to Mexico City.

We went to the hotel, we finally settled in and with more calm I dialed the airline again.

In this call they told me that in their system they already saw that the flight back to Mexico City was scheduled for 11:00 the next day, so they already recommended that I book the flight to Monterrey, and that if due to some problem With the flight from Puerto Escondido we did not make it to the flight from Monterrey, we had a protection in which they could once again give us a seat. So we trusted and reserved our place on a new flight to Monterrey.

By the way, four of us were flying to Monterrey, two were stranded in Puerto Escondido and two were in Mexico City, so I also asked about their situation since we were all on that same reservation. The airline told me that if those of us who were in Puerto Escondido didn’t get to the one in Monterrey, my other friends could take that flight and they could give us a new one.

Now with a new confirmed flight to Monterrey, we slept in Puerto Escondido, woke up, went to have breakfast and at that moment they called us to tell us to arrive at the airport at 10:20 because our flight was already ready to leave.

We finished breakfast, went to the airport and now, finally, we left and arrived safely in Mexico City.

We arrived in time for the flight to Monterey, so there was nothing to worry about. Although, in the end something happened that only made us laugh.

The flight was on time, we boarded at the scheduled time and… small drops began to fall from the sky, doors closed, we pushed back, I saw lightning in the sky, the plane headed for the runway, it began to rain more heavily and we stood still way to the track. The captain spoke to us and told us that we would stand still for a while because there were no takeoffs due to the weather.

In summary, we were detained for almost two hours and finally we flew to Monterrey.

By the way, about the lodging in Monterrey, we managed to communicate to notify about our problem and we managed to cancel the first night at no cost.

Now I write this story from my room with the emotion that Pal Norte begins.

I wanted to share this experience with you because if you ever experience something similar, it is very important that you know your rights very well. And now you know, if you have two different reservations but fly with the same airline, it is very likely that this airline will help you if you have any setbacks. But do your research very well, because the policies of each airline can change a little.