Flight cancellation - Madrid to jfk

[IAmKerplunk]

My dd is currently in Madrid (flew from LHR this morning for onward travel to jfk) they have just been told their flight is cancelled. Nobody is telling them anything and they say everyone is just standing around. I haven’t flown for 30yrs so no idea if I can help them from home to find anything out? Their bags were checked in at LHR and they weren’t going to see them again till they landed in JFK. I’m sure they will get info at the airport but is there anything I can do from home? Probably not but want to help if I can. They are only going for 4 days 🤦🏽‍♀️

Your DD may also be eligible for compensation of up tp €600 via EU 261. She should keep notes of all correspondence. If she is spending any of her own money, she should also be eligible for reasonable spend refunds, so she should keep all receipts.But I would definitely be contacting the airline re not having her home leg cancelled due to no-show!

Yes I have told them to contact AA. I know they have spoken to their insurance who have hopefully advised them of all outcomes 🤞🏼 They are keeping receipts for everything. They didn’t want to wait to fly out tomorrow as they have already paid out for things for tomorrow morning. And we thought the biggest problem would be the 1hr15mins between flights in Madrid! Thankfully they have funds so they won’t be stranded anywhere (I hope!)

I think AA is obliged to get them to JFK which tomorrow's flight is but there is also something about 'within a reasonable time' which that might not be considered. They need to contact AA and tell them what they have booked and ask about implications for return flight.

Sorry, just realised the timings. Hope they got it sorted.

They are currently across the Atlantic with their alternative, paid for themselves flight, but said they will contact AA as soon as they arrive/earliest opportunity. They literally didn’t have time before in order to make this flight.

Thank you all again for your help and advice - has been invaluable - wouldn’t have occurred to us that return flight might be cancelled for them if they are no shows for the second leg flight 🤦🏽‍♀️

The flight they are on was half an hour late leaving due to lots of people from cancelled flight booking onto it and people still boarding at time they were due to depart.

Hopefully this is the only stress they encounter and they have a fabulous 4 days in NYC

Great!
Hope they have layers - I'm there now and it's 0° with Realfeel of -6°!

Eek - I told them to pack lots of layers! So excited for them 😀 I haven’t been for 30 years so my advice was way out of date though I did remember the cold! Although having checked bbc weather it looks to be cold but clear whilst they are there 🤞🏼

@IAmKerplunk Although having checked bbc weather it looks to be cold but clear whilst they are there 🤞🏼
Yes, fingers crossed. Local forecasts said possible snow Saturday night , but not a major event. 🤞🤞

My daughter just came back from NYC to our home in Maine and was telling me how warm NYC was while she was there 😂
TBF our 'feels like' was -22C the other evening...

Almost 30 years to the day I landed in New York to spend a week there before travelling up to Boston to spend a year as an au pair and it snowed on ur first day in NYC! I remember it being so magical and I was so excited!
I think my dd and her friend would love a sprinkling of snow ❄️ 🤞🏼

OP it is really important that they contact the airline. I've had return flights cancelled because I didn't show up for the outbound flight. It was a PITA to resolve - hopefully they have an easier time.

Ha ha I was living in Boston for the blizzard of ‘96! That was the coldest I have ever been.
Aww Maine is beautiful - very jealous you live there.

Honestly, I have drummed it into them. Plus they are tightarses with a bit of gumption so I trust they will get onto it at the earliest.

Important life lesson for her there!

Some great advice up thread, hopefully she can get hold of the airline

We haven’t had much snow yet this winter but the forecast is showing snow on Sunday! I hope your daughter has a fab time. My first visit to NYC was absolute magic (and consequently I moved here a few years later!).

Keeping my mouth firmly closed rather than saying told you so 🙈

They left home at midnight last night and are still only over the Atlantic!
They are coming home NYC-Raleigh-LHR (if their flights aren’t cancelled) so no idea what that will be like. Their new mantra is ‘direct, always direct’ 🤣

So jealous - I would have loved to live there. When living in Boston I went down every month for the weekend on the greyhound and just loved it! Spent NYE there too and it was all magical - though I was a lot younger then and it has probably changed an awful lot!
I love the east coast (well New England and New York)

Little update - I have spoken to AA who were incredibly helpful. The rescheduled flight today is already delayed by 3 hours so if they hadn’t sourced their own flights yesterday their delay in Madrid would have been at least 27 hours! Anyway, AA have cancelled their flight Madrid to JFK but kept their return flights - phew! But did say if they had been no shows today their return leg would have been cancelled so thank you all so much for flagging that!

Glad you got it sorted! I hope they have a lovely time. I have generally had good experiences with AA customer service too.