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A Bay Area family said they lost all their $10,000 vacation due to air travel disruptions when they tried to leave SFO for a trip to Jamaica.
Their itinerary was a convoluted network of independent bookings, and it all came crashing down Tuesday morning the moment Southwest Airlines’ first flight from SFO to Miami was cancelled.
From there, they were scheduled to fly to Jamaica on American Airlines. However, Khuranas called his American to reschedule an international flight and was told that he would have to start over and rebook everything.
In total, Khuranas said he lost about $10,000 on plane tickets, Airbnb reservations, and prepaid long-term parking at SFO.
“[American Airlines] just told us that [the Southwest cancellation] Khurana said as the family packed up to drive home. “If you want a refund, you’ll have to ask Southwest.”
Southwest Airlines said Monday it will operate about a third of its scheduled flights over the next few days as winter weather continues to wreak havoc on holiday travel across the United States.
Due to the mass cancellations, the U.S. Department of Transportation said: They were looking to see if Southwest could have done more to prevent them.
Khuranas, who refused to give his first name, didn’t get much sympathy from Airbnb hosts either.
“I understand why property owners have to be strict, but this is the definition of anomalous nature,” Khurana said. “I don’t think I’ll ever book or prepay for a restrictive fare in the future. Pull out one pin and the whole thing falls apart.”
With two college-aged children, the Khuranas were looking forward to a rare opportunity for their family to get together. However, there were no departure flights from SFO, so I returned to Danville to find another flight.
“At least we were able to spend some time together as a family this morning,” said Mrs. Khurana with a weary laugh.
We have reached out to Southwest Airlines and SFO for comment.
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