Mark Mourer, a super Frog fan who wears his devotion to the TCU purple like a NASCAR team does with its sponsors – from head to toe, bumper to fender – traveled to Phoenix for the highly anticipated Fiesta Bowl thanks to a gift from his mother, who happily bestowed her son with unused points to travel with Dallas-based Southwest Airlines.
“I woke up this morning to a text message saying they were cancelled,” Mourer said via text message Tuesday.
Mourer is not the only one to find himself in a real “Planes, trains and automobiles”. For many Horned Frogs fans, the trip to Arizona for No. 3 TCU’s national semifinal against No. 2 Michigan has turned into an anxiety that even the Hypnotoad can’t ease.
A crisis in Southwest, the carrier of choice for many people heading west for the game, has put travel arrangements in jeopardy. On Monday, the airline canceled 70% of its flights, and more than 60% on Tuesday. On Monday evening, the airline told passengers at Hobby Airport in Houston that stranded people would not be able to rebook on Southwest until or after Saturday, according to WFAA/Ch. 8. The company also said it s expect more cancellations in the coming days.
American Airlines, United, Delta and JetBlue, based in Fort Worth, recorded cancellation rates between zero and 2% on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The southwest is obviously experiencing disproportionate disruption. Of the 2,890 U.S. flight cancellations early Tuesday, 2,522 were canceled by Southwest.
There are competing accounts of the reasons for the cancellations. The company attributed the blame primarily to last week’s Arctic storm.
Employees and travel advisors say that while weather was a contributing factor, the root cause was an outdated operations crew scheduling system that crashed over the weekend. Without it, Southwest has no automated way to schedule crews, instead of having to call everyone.
“Can you imagine the madness involved with that?” said a travel agent.
Ultimately, many, like Mark Mourer, try to find a way to get to Phoenix.
Dying packs the family of four and makes the 15-hour drive to the desert, hitting all the Allsup he can find for excellent and overkill West Texas-style groceries.
“Everyone is always trying their best to find a way to get into the game no matter what,” said TCU graduate Austin Patry. “They are looking for people who drive; as if they were all planning to take a road trip from here to Arizona.
The same goes for Alexis Crowley, a 2015 communications graduate.
Crowley and her fiancé are scheduled to leave Austin on Friday. However, a drive from San Antonio – where they live – from Friday would be an option.
“I’ve asked about carpooling to see if anyone in the area would like to hook up for the ride, but haven’t heard anything yet,” Crowley said.
Crowley said she could cancel her Airbnb and her rental car until the end of the day on Friday.
“We would be short $450 because of the [game] tickets,” she said, “but it’s not too bad. »
As for watching it elsewhere, Crowley said it’s either near their home in San Antonio or maybe driving here to hook up with friends for a New Year’s Eve party.
Like Mourer, Khang Do, who now resides in Modesto, Calif., is confident he’ll get to the game one way or another.
“I’m supposed to leave Sacramento around 7 a.m. Friday,” Do said. “Hopefully they’ll let us know the night before. At least that way I’ll make preparations for the ride rather than being canceled at the airport and then I’ll have to decide whether to go on the ride. “
Do drives an electric vehicle, so he will probably need three charges. Rain is also in the forecast for his potential alternate route.
Other fans are considering an Amtrak ride, though one TCU fan had a momentous idea: Uber has a charter bus partnership with US Coachways. Coaches departing Thursday from TCU were found at prices between $12,238 and $13,218. This particular trip departs Scottsdale Sunday noon.
It doesn’t seem that exorbitant if you can find, say, 55 more. Then you’re looking at $250 per person.
This dog is going to hunt.
Safe travels.
Comments are closed.