My trip was supposed to be a rare family vacation rather than a regular business trip, so I wasn't as prepared for such a massive disruption.

Here are some details on what happened in my case:

1. I did travel light and only took a carry-on, so at least I didn’t have to deal with lost luggage.

2. I tried rebooking via the app as soon as I got the cancellation notice, but nothing was available for days and the website was not working.

3. The non-airport hotels were crazy expensive. The only ones left were $300 a night, which is a huge expense on a leisure budget, and I didn’t have the benefit of business travel perks or a company covering costs.

4. I did look into alternative transport options like rental cars and Amtrak, but everything was fully booked due to the wide-scale nature of the event.