V-Flyer

Hurricane Irma

I am due to fly to Miami this Wednesday (6th Sept) on the VS005 and back again on the VS006 on the 18th.
I’m initially staying in North Beach Miami for the first 4 nights moving to Fort Lauderdale for the remaining 8.

I am becoming increasingly concerned about the chance of Hurricane Irma hitting South Florida while I am there.
Currently there are no warnings not to travel but all the local weather forecasts I have seen are all very cautious and indicating there may be trouble.
The general consensus I get is that firmer news/forecasts will be available Wednesday but by this time I could well be on the way to Miami.

Am I right to be worried?
What do I do if the Hurricane does strike (We have no car for the first four days)?
Should I cancel the trip? Both Virgin and my travel insurance are saying until there is official advice I would lose the cost of my flights and accommodation.
I would not want to be in the area if there is a Hurricane and am worried about flights being cancelled and unable to get home.

Your thoughts or personal experience would be welcome.

If I were in your position I think I would be worried!

All I can say for sure is that if it hits whilst you are on the way or meteorological reports show it imminent T24 VS would cancel or divert the flight. If either/or happen travel insurance should cover it (depends on fine print as with anything).

Hopefully, Irma will keep shifting south (as I have just heard on radio) away from Florida and you will have any enjoyable trip!

The storm is not due to Hit until the weekend coming (if it hits at all) so I cant see virgin cancelling my Wednesday flight hence the panic as I could get off the plane to find Miami being evacuated!

I hope not!

You'll have to play a waiting game to see if VS will permit any changes but that won't happen until the storm track is firmer so keep an eye on the media.

For example DL are, at present, only offering waivers for some destinations see here.

If you are there and if Irma pays a visit then you need to follow the instructions of the places you are staying in (hotel etc) and the local authorities.

As to getting home your return isn't until the 18th and it would would take extream damage for MIA to be closed for what would be something like 2 weeks.

Houston airport reopened within days of HArvey and a lot of the delays were because workers couldn't get there rather than damage to the airport itself.

Jaydun, I'm currently in Florida and the weather reports on the news over here are saying its too early to call it. The " models" they use for predicting show two predicting Irma going towards s florida but the majority have her veering up the coast to the Carolinas.
I was stuck in a hotel once during a hurricane and they have procedures in place, as tontybear stated above.
Lets hope it veers up the coast...

I'm currently at Cocobay in Antigua.
We are all being evacuated tomorrow (Tuesday) at 13:00 to a more solid accommodation...just in case the lovely cottages get battered ...safety first for everyone.
Dont know where we are to relocate yet . Management and staff are doing their best to get it all sorted.
There is ongoing tree.cutting to ease any tree falling damage that might occur.
Batten down the hatches,team, it might be a rough ride.
My flight home is on Thursday so this will be my last night at Cocobay.
Thursday flight seems to be operating as normal, for now
VS have updated their website with tomorrow's flight change info and options..nothing noted for flights to any other Caribbean or Florida destinations.
Paul

Glad the hotel are taking the necessary precautions, this looks like a really bad storm, stay safe Paul.

In 1995 we were in Florida when hurricane Opal made landfall.
We were in a fairly tall block and all had to go to the basement for a few hours.
Everything was well prepared and we had a great party.
Next day there was about a foot of water in the road but it soon went down.
I would not dream of cancelling at this stage.
Florida is a big place and Irma may or may not even make landfall there.
Even if it does, it's likely your building will be constructed to withstand it.
Have a great holiday.
Dick D

Stay safe Paul. Glad to hear Cocobay are taking precautions.
We’re due to head to Antigua next week. Am Keeping everything crossed that everyone is safe on the island.
See that the VS flight to Antigua went today but it does go onwards to St Lucia. BA cancelled their Antigua flight today.

Thanks for your safe wishes.
All the resort is moving to Nonsuch Bay ...a bit more protected apparently.
It's such a lovely day here albeit a bit breezy...the calm before the storm...
Paul

cooperman wrote:Thanks for your safe wishes.
All the resort is moving to Nonsuch Bay ...a bit more protected apparently.
It's such a lovely day here albeit a bit breezy...the calm before the storm...
Paul

Having just heard Irma is now Cat 5 just wanted to add my best wishes & to say I hope all goes well for you !

Jayden, the weather prediction models have now moved away from Carolina and seem to be converging in a line between Cuba and Florida. Still too early for them to call it BUT the wether guys stated it was 50/50% if it will impact S Florida or even eventually move up the Florida W coast ( where I am based- I'm out buying water etc today- just in Case)
Hope That Virgin will give some guidance in the next few days.

One of my sons is in Orlando with his girlfriend at the moment... I think if the model is right it might get there Sunday

Crew are being pulled out of St Lucia and anu today

Stay safe everyone. Let's hope it dies down as quickly as it built up, it looks like a nasty one

cooperman wrote:Thanks for your safe wishes.
All the resort is moving to Nonsuch Bay ...a bit more protected apparently.
It's such a lovely day here albeit a bit breezy...the calm before the storm...
Paul

That resort is wonderful and I'm sure you will be looked after well.

Update:

Just to let you know after a lot of pressure, and the best part of the day on the phone we have managed to get Virgin to allow us to reschedule our flights to the end of the month.

The villa people ( who are worried sick) were more than helpful and have promptly refunded us along with the the Car Rental Company, Airport Parking and even Avios (for a further hotel booking).

Unfortunately VA were not very helpful which after many years of travelling with them I find disappointing.

Anyway more important things to worry about such as those still on the ground in Florida and the Caribbean Islands. My thoughts are with you, stay safe.

Hi, we were due to fly to Miami on Saturday this week & I called VA yesterday to see what the advice was for passengers on that route , if indeed there was any. I was told there is currenly no official advice however due to the circumstances anyone on the the Miami flight can rebook alternatives with no penalty. We are now going to Atlanta ( with no real plan from there at the moment!!).
They were very helpful to me & im sorry the op had such a different experience.
Hopefully everyone in that area will be safe & not have too many disruptions to their trips x

Hi, most recent report this morning is that the storm has started to turn NW. That's great news for the Keys and Miami, as long as it continues to turn NW, however, that's devastating news for the Carolina's, where it would probably end up if it continues this trend. I also wouldnt want to be anywhere near a hurricane strike zone for vacation, been there, done that. It's not pretty. Worst case scenario, you can always rent a car and bail, drive out of the path and try to find somewhere else to stay. Just FYI, massive evacuations of the Florida Keys underway right now, all tourists out today, all locals out starting tonight.
Good luck and stay safe, smart decisions save lives...

Doh... Just saw your update about rescheduling. Good call.

In 1995 we were in Florida when hurricane Opal made landfall.
We were in a fairly tall block and all had to go to the basement for a few hours.
Everything was well prepared and we had a great party.
Next day there was about a foot of water in the road but it soon went down.
I would not dream of cancelling at this stage.
Florida is a big place and Irma may or may not even make landfall there.
Even if it does, it's likely your building will be constructed to withstand it.

This is not great advice above, no offense to the OP but I worked for FEMA and National Flood as a damage inspector for over 20 years and have been on the ground in a lot of hurricane recovery areas. This action may be ok for a small storm or a glancing blow but you never know the true track until it's done. A couple of obvious hazards below...
Flooding - Generally basements are sub-grade, the laws of physics dictate that when you have street flooding your basement will be full of contaminated flood water.
Power - There wont be any... Maybe for weeks. That means no A/C as well as most other luxuries that make living in the Southern US tolerable.
Drinking Water - See Power...
Eating Out/Eating In and Eating in General - I hope you develop a taste for MRE's, I never could, god knows I've tried enough times...
Sightseeing - Yeah, it's an eye opener alright, plenty of sights to see after a major hurricane.
Looters - They'll be around, you may want to arm yourself.
Sorry, like I say, not trying to burst any bubbles but please peeps, don't fly into a hurricane zone if you can possibly avoid it.

Latest update from VS Trade:

Virgin Atlantic VSbulletin 010- UPDATE- Adverse Weather Disruption- Hurricane Irma

We need to let you know that we are monitoring the expected weather conditions caused by Hurricane Irma over Antigua (ANU), Havana (HAV) and Miami (MIA).

We have made the decision to cancel the VS33 LGWANU on 7 September 2017.

We are continuing to monitor the weather conditions, however for the most up to date information on any forthcoming disruptions, please visit our website.

Any customers travelling to, from or through ANU, HAV and MIA between 5 September and 14 September will have the option to re-book to a later date or re-route on any Virgin Atlantic operated flights.

VS now issuing the following text message to passengers travelling to MCO on Sunday:

"Due to Hurricane Irma your flight may be disrupted. We are offering free of charge date changes subject to seat availability. Please call [number] if you wish to take up this offer."

I'm currently in Orlando (due to fly home Monday evening) and have just had the text message & email from Virgin advising of possible disruption.

Am going to sit this one out as Orlando is not directly in the path Irma is predicted to take. If this prediction changes, I may contact Virgin and see if they'll fly me home from NYC - assuming of course I can get a flight up to NYC from Orlando.

It's currently a very pleasant 29C, overcast & dead-calm in Orlando. Not over humid either - all in all very pleasant.

Updated to now include MCO as well now:

Rebooking options for passengers travelling to, from or through Antigua (ANU), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO) and Havana (HAV) from 5 September to 12 September.

In view of the forecast weather conditions, customers booked to travel to, from and through Antigua (ANU), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO) and Havana (HAV) from 5 September to 12 September 2017 who would like to change their travel dates, or travel to an alternative Virgin Atlantic destination, may do so without penalty.

Rebooking is subject to availability and travel must be completed on or before 14 October 2017.

Please contact your travel agent or, for customer who booked directly with Virgin Atlantic via our website or contact centre, call our flight disruption line on 0344 209 8711 or 1 800 862 8621.

Passengers booked on all-inclusive packages should contact their travel agents, as they may not be operating the same policy.

If your flight has been cancelled, please refer to our Flight Disruption Policy.