9 hour Lyft rides and 3 a.m. wake ups: How travelers got home after Southwest cancellations

For some this holiday season was not what they had envisioned for it to be.

Travelers plans were upended when thousands of flights were canceled by Southwest on Monday. This continued into the week, leaving people stranded and searching for alternate routes to their destinations.

Thousands of pieces of luggage are still waiting to be claimed at airport terminals and people are still figuring out how to get to their travel destinations.

The Bee spoke with people on standby at Sacramento International Airport and also received emails from readers who had stories to tell.

Here’s a glimpse of what the last week of 2022 has looked for some:

The serendipitous 9 hour Lyft ride

A nine-hour Lyft ride was not something Jarrett Carlston-Mathews, 18, of Salt Lake City, had in mind when he planned a Christmas vacation to see relatives in California.

But when Carlston-Mathews’s travel plans from Salt Lake City to Burbank got disrupted by Southwest Airlines and he was stranded in Sacramento, that turned out to be his only saving grace.

Carlston-Mathew was scheduled to depart Salt Lake City on Christmas afternoon, have a one hour layover in Sacramento and touch down at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, ready to spend time with his aunt and uncle by the evening.

When his first flight was significantly delayed, Southwest gave away the seat on the second leg of his journey. Upon touchdown in Sacramento, he was told he’d have to wait until the next day to get out. He spent Christmas night sleeping on a bench in the Sacramento International Airport because every hotel he tried calling wouldn’t let someone under the age of 21 book a room.

The following day, he was rebooked on three other flights — all of which were canceled one after another. He was too young to rent a car, so his relatives tried booking him a train or bus ticket but everything was sold out.

Then, in a last-ditch effort, they told him to try the ride-sharing app Lyft. And even to his surprise, someone accepted the nearly 400-mile ride from Sacramento to Burbank.

When the driver, Alijah, pulled up in his Ford RAV4, he told Carlston-Mathews that he thought the final destination might have been some sort of glitch in the system. But when the 18-year-old explained his situation, Alijah graciously obliged.

“It was a miracle,” Carlston-Mathews said. “He didn’t hesitate one second. He just said ‘Alright, let’s get you to Burbank.’”

The 7-hour drive turned into more like nine hours due to traffic and pit stops for snacks and gas. The pair passed the time chatting, swapping stories and watching movies, according to Carlston-Mathews.

The cost of the ride totaled about $400, and Carlston-Mathews said his family members pooled together more than $100 in tips on top of that.

It was a small price to pay to be surrounded by family after a stressful and lonely couple of days.

“If I had to, I’d 100% do it again,” Carlston-Mathews said. “Especially if it was the same Lyft driver.”

Almost late to the Birthday party

Margie Delez of South Pasadena was scheduled to take a Southwest flight up to Sacramento on Monday to celebrate her daughter’s 32nd birthday and meet the parents of her daughter’s boyfriend for the first time. But when Delez and her girlfriend, who was traveling with her, arrived at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, they were informed by a gate attendant that the flight had been canceled. The line of affected customers — including families with children and people with pets — wrapped around the airport, she said.

So when they found out that it could take days to get their flight rebooked, the pair got a ride home and began planning a road trip.

“It was definitely not the kind of trip we could blow off,” Delez said, adding that she hadn’t been up to Northern California to visit her daughter in nearly 9 years. “We needed to get up there now.”

Because so many others were making similar calls due to canceled flights, traffic was expected to turn the 7-hour drive into more like 10 hours. They made the calculation decision to wake up at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday and hit the road, getting just in time for the planned birthday activities.

Delez said she hadn’t flown with Southwest for decades, and after this experience, she’s not sure she ever will again.

“I want my money back and a serious apology,” she said. “This was just totally uncalled for. It’s not like there was a snowstorm here, so there’s obviously something deeper going on.”

Stuck in Austin

Linsey Wight, 63, and her husband whose name was not stated, 62, are from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The couple had travel plans to see their three kids, their kids’ spouses, and seven grandchildren for Christmas in St. Louis. Their itinerary was to leave at 10 a.m. on the 24th then catch their connecting flight in Austin.

When they landed in Austin, their plans were derailed. After two canceled flights and hours in lines in hopes to rebook the quickly realized they weren’t going to St. Louis.

“They booked us one for late Christmas Day, which ended up being canceled as well,” wrote Wight in an email to The Bee. “To make a long story short (and after trying all sorts of alternate ways to get home) we are still in Austin.”

The couple has a scheduled flight with United for Friday night to get home after missing Christmas with their family.

“We have had no luggage, including the one that has my husband’s c-pap. We are not financially well off and are putting everything, hotel, meals, clothing etc on credit cards,” Wight wrote. “We are trying to keep costs down, eating a big lunch and then maybe a lunchable in our room at night. And yes, we were booked on Southwest.”

Christmas brunch at IHOP

Catherine Windham, from Sacramento, is a retired teacher. She saved for three years to take her daughters and granddaughters on a New York City adventure. The trip was supposed to makeup for everything that was missed during the COVID lockdown.

“Stay positive, flexible, all will be well we said,” Windham wrote to The Bee. “Last Christmas I told them, 2022! Six days of Broadway musicals, Rockettes, carriage ride in Central Park, skating at Rockefeller Center, 911 memorial, winter clothes, borrowed luggage lined up in the dining room for a 4 am departure to SMF the 25th—excitement was intense—especially for the four 11-18 year olds.”

Their plans quickly vanished when they received notice that their flights were canceled.

“Hours on hold, internet. Tears. Inconsolable faces. More godawful hold music from 4 phones. Midnight. Done. We called it. Thankful we weren’t stuck, but Christmas brunch at our Folsom IHOP was a sad replacement. I gave our server a $200 tip—she asked for a hug. We all cried,” Windham wrote.

Their New York City adventure will have to wait until next year.

“I’m proud of my girls for their flexibility and fun spirit, but as they’ve learned over their past 3 pandemic year sacrifices,” Windham wrote.

Five extra days in Utah

Candince Krueger, from Rancho Cordova, flew to Utah for Christmas to visit family. This was her first flight since the birth of a child. The day before her return flight she received a text message that her flight had been canceled. The earliest flight out is not until Jan. 1st.

“I am currently stuck in Logan, UT for an extra 5 days,” wrote Kruegar to The Bee.

LA to Sac in a van

Claudia A Gutierrez, from Sacramento, and her “party of 15” flew down to Los Angeles for the holidays.

When they were all getting ready to fly back, they heard the news about flight cancellations. They check the status of their flights and realized they were also affected by the mass cancellations. They quickly decided to rent a car for the six-hour drive back to Sacramento.

“Many car rentals had no cars to rent because many people were not returning their vehicles,” wrote Gutierrez to The Bee. “Then some other car rental locations wanted to charge an arm and a leg to rent for a day as well as change drop off location. The prices were anywhere from $1400-$1800”

Gutierrez showed up to National Car Rental and was lucky enough to get her hands on a big van. They all arrived back to Sacramento Monday night.

Surprise happy ending

“Not everyone wanted to travel this week so my family and I were actually ok with our canceled flight,” wrote Sacramento resident Travis Newton to The Bee. “I feel terrible for those trying to get home or see loved ones.”

Newton and his family had plans to visit family in Phoenix. They spent six hours at the airport on Dec. 26 patiently waiting to start their family vacation. Instead they saw “one Southwest flight depart” and planes being parked with “no crew or pilots.”

Once their flight was canceled they were lucky enough to retrieve their luggage and child’s car seat within 45 minutes.

They heard rumors that cancellations would continue through the week so opted to cancel their flights and received refunds through Southwest airlines that same night.

For Newton’s 5-year-old daughter Quinn their scheduled trip was “supposed to be the 3rd best day of her life” since they were flying home to see her grandma and grandpa in over a year.

“Our grandma was able to book a round trip flight on Alaska for $415 and arrived today with no issues and will be enjoying the next few days with her,” Newton wrote to The Bee on Wednesday.

This story was originally published December 28, 2022 at 5:07 PM.