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Readers share horror stories of holiday travel
Our flight to Honolulu was cancelled on Dec. 21, the soonest we can fly out again is Dec. 24th. We have lost over $700 on our hotel as it was prepaid.
— Val, Portland, Ore.
I was stranded in Chicago on Fri thru Sat (12/19, 12/20) at the Greyhound bus terminal for 17 hrs. Greyhound could not have cared less about the passengers. After 7 hrs they passed around cots for the women & children, but this was after 7hrs of sleeping on the floor. They were rude including security & would not do anything to help us.
— Irv Sherman, Chattanooga, Tenn.
I live in the Phoenix Arizona area, and I am not travelling. I did, however, send two packages filled with Christmas gifts by ground with the post office on Dec. 1st to avoid the holiday rush. This was for my daughter, 3 granddaughters and a great grandson. As of this writing on Dec. 22, those packages still have not arrived. I am banking on the fact that the weather has been so bad that it is delaying not only travellers, but the packages, also. So much for early shopping and getting done.
— Lori, Mesa, Ariz.
Here in Portland, OR, we have received at least 18 inches over the weekend and the entire city is completely immobilized, it's like the end of the world. There are no plows, they do not salt or de-ice the roads because of environmental concerns, and nobody owns shovels or ice picks. The freeways are covered in snow, and all sidestreets are impassable. Everything is closed, cars are snowed in everywhere. ... My husband and I have no chains and do not have 4WD so are housebound. ... We will be stuck here for the next few days until the temperature rises. In the meantime they are predicting more snowfall.
— Claudia Rusek, Lake Oswego, Ore.
My son is a Private in the Army, stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash. He has been stranded in Seattle Airport for 3 days. All his flights have been cancelled. We pray he will make it in time for Christmas.
— Tim Pishdad, Richmond, Va.
We've been snow bound for over a week. Thankfully in my house. The whole last week of school before Christmas break was cancelled for my kids. My parents were supposed to fly here today from Las Vegas, but I told them to stay home even if their plane flies here I can't get to them and they will become part of the stranded. While typing this I heard some dreadful sounds of tree limbs cracking and saw part of a big pine fall apart across the street. We are living in fear of a tree landing on our home from all of the weight of snow 2 feet where we are in the mountains of Beaverton. Last night the power went out and I thought it would be out for the week, but luckily it came back on this morning.
— Jessica, Beaverton, Ore.
I live in Iowa and we have had below single digits for the past couple of weeks. My vehicle won't start, I had it in the shop all last week, picked up Friday evening, started Saturday but not Sunday. Tried to start it today and even with tow/jumpers it wouldn't start. Had it towed back to the shop today. In the meantime, I have missed 6 days of work and I am not sure I will have a vehicle to go to my family's for Christmas. Ho Ho Ho.
— Sherry Hunter, Iowa City, Iowa
Had a USAIR flight Sunday from LAX to PHL canceled for mechanical reasons. Next available flight is 3 days later. USAIR could care less. They overbooked every flight and even people with tickets got bumped. Awful.
— Cameron, Los Angeles
Temperature dropped down to below 55 but now it's back up to high 60s. Airport is quite busy at arrivals. Not much going on at departure level. Driving conditions are getting tougher as more and more snow birds are arriving each day. But we are coping as well as we can. Gulf water is too cold to swim in but heated pools do fine. Wish you were here!!! I'm writing this for our friends who are still stranded in Seattle - attempting to get to London and then on to Israel. Their travel plans began last Thursday, 12/18 when they received a call from the airline that their flight had been cancelled. 12/19 they were scheduled on a flight to SF only to find that plans were not landing in SF so they were diverted to Seattle to make a connection to London. Upon arrival due to the storm flights were cancelled and they were then booked into a hotel Friday evening. They were scheduled to fly out 12/20 on a flight to London and one again the flight was cancelled. Luggage has been lost and getting a hotel room has been very difficult. It's now Monday 12/22 and they are still in Seattle. Have given up hopes of London and now attempting to get to Israel to meet up with family. Luggage has finally been located and they can now change clothes they have been in since Friday.
— Michel Bergier, Sarasota, Fla.
— Sue Hinkle, San Diego
The central and northern Oregon coast are shut off and have been since Sunday not only due to the snow and ice but due to the trees that have fallen and are blocking the highway arterials. There are so many closures that the Oregon Department of Transportation has not updated its Web site or phone information service since late afternoon Sunday. Not only did I cancel the Christmas celebration with my children who live in Portland yesterday but today the business meetings I had with clients from the Portland area are in limbo due to the lack of information from the road departments.
— Anonymous, Neskowin, Ore.
I live in Boulder City, NV. We were hit by a huge snow storm in the Las Vegas area a few days ago. Driving a Subaru with AWD, my little mountain goat cleared many a road for sunshine dweller drivers. Pickups were driving sideways down the road. Night freezing temperatures made the roads icy. Snow is still on the ground in areas and we are holding our breath regarding the next system coming through. Snow or Rain, it's a toss up.
— Therese, Boulder City, Nev.
Business as usual in Billings, Montana. We don't let little things like snow and sub-zero temperatures interfere with work, school, Christmas shopping, etc.
— Joan, Billings, Mont.
We were scheduled to fly from Raleigh, N.C. to Toronto, Canada and then onto Calgary for Christmas ski holiday, but our flights are canceled and we can not get out for two days ... not happy at all.
— Tracy Norman, Raleigh, N.C.
Here in Oregon we are getting a big blast of winter as well, and roads are bad ... chains are required on all highways, a severe ice storm is coming at the beginning at the week ... we are here in Baker County and it seems like it is making up for the last two months which started in October of last year this year is even worse a typhoon coming in off the coast is strong enough to put wind chills and temperatures back down into the [single] digits and creating heavy snows across Oregon and Washington.
— Brenda Dickison, Baker City, Ore.
We live in Ohio and we know what it's like to drive in bad weather. We try to visit my folks in NC every year for the holidays. ... Call us crazy but my mom has cancer, so yes we're going no matter what the weather. My worst fear this year, would be an ice storm, and waiting at tolls for two hours. We're leaving at 3-4 am on Christmas Eve in hopes to avoid some of it. And we always pack a cooler with snacks, sandwhiches, and juice boxes. Activities for the kids, and of course jumper cables, cell phones (which don't do much good in the mountains of WVa.) and all that good stuff. But I'd still rather drive it than fly it! At least I can decide when I can go and when I can stay. ... I'd say we got it planned as much as we can. Now we just wait to see what the weather does.
— Ginny, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Mall at Danbury Fair, Conn., had a deserted look after 2 p.m. ET. Many retailers had to shut down shops as mall traffic waned down and overall accumulation was six inches. It is still snowing heavily in western Connecticut.
— Jay, Danbury, Conn.
Even though schools, churches, community activities are canceled, I still have to trudge through the deep snow and deliver the mail. I was stranded out in the middle of nowhere when my mail car was stuck in a snow bank in the middle of the road. I was trying to shovel my car out, but the wind kept blowing the snow back.
— Torie, Minot, N.D.
My 93-year-old mother-in-law is now stuck in Minneapolis. Her flight from Milwaukee was diverted to Madison, Wis., before heading back out to MSP. Northwest is now saying they can't get her to San Francisco, her scheduled destination, until Monday. We may have to fly her to L.A. and then up to Northern California so the family can be together for Christmas.
— Joel Goldsmith, Gilroy, Calif.
I drive a limo, and I have a passenger coming into JFK at 5 a.m. Sunday, going to the Jersey Shore. There is a pretty good chance none of this will happen. For me to get to JFK by 5 a.m., I would have to leave by 2 a.m. My kids were supposed to fly from Washington D.C. to Canada to visit their Dad on Friday evening. Their 5 p.m. flight to Newark and their flight from Newark to Halifax were both canceled. The airline could not rebook their flights until Christmas Eve! The airline offered me a refund, which I accepted, but I have not received it yet. Meanwhile, I had to buy new tickets on a different airline, and the kids can't leave until Sunday morning. Thank goodness the flights were cancelled while they were still at home, instead of getting stuck in Newark for days!
— Ed Sofield, Barnegat, N.J.
— Rebecca Lake, Arlington, Va.
My 10-year-old son flew unaccompanied from Dallas to Seattle today. His plane circled Seattle for some time then diverted to Oakland due to the runway being dangerously snowy. He'll stay the night in California with no one he knows. I love the snow ... but I've had my fill.
— Nikki, Whitehouse, Texas
I got lucky. My son was coming in from L.A. and was scheduled to land at Logan Airport at 4:15 p.m. I made the most treacherous 80-mile drive of my life to get there. I encountered everything possible. Whiteout, blizzard, and unplowed roads. I was happy to see no spinouts or accidents. Everyone was driving slowly and being very courteous. My son's flight was only about 45 minutes late and then we had the joy of driving another 80 miles home. Unplowed roads, stuck cars but not one spinout or accident. I think we did a top speed of 40 mph all the way from Boston. But, at least I had my son with me and that's what I wanted more than anything!
— Vicki Chambers, Orange, Mass.
Eastern North Dakota has had storm after storm, we are completely snowed in, we haven't had this much snow in Fargo since 96/97. It's one storm after another.
— David Hitch, Fargo, N.D.
Our daughter was to fly into JFK from West Palm Beach, Fla., Friday and her flight was canceled. Now she is to be on a flight to Chicago before heading home to Cleveland Sunday morning. I hope she makes it this time!
— Dee K., Lakewood, Ohio
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