Basketball fans trying to cancel reservations and move flights after Big Ten cancellation
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Sports fans are trying to make last minute travel changes after the Big Ten announced that the tournament is cancelled.
The cancellation of the Big Ten Tournament and other major events scheduled to happen downtown this weekend brought many people back to the airport less than 24 hours after arriving in Indianapolis to try and figure out what to do next.
When fans started to arrive in Indianapolis on Wednesday, they were greeted by a giant sign celebrating the Big Ten Tournament. By Thursday, that sign doesn’t seem as welcoming as people try and switch flights to get back home.
“I think we bought our tickets last fall. We made our airline reservations last October,” said Jim Cubit. He and his friend flew in from Chicago.
“We were going to go to all of the games, we bought the whole package. We arrived on Wednesday morning, yesterday morning, and went to the games last night, we were going to stay until Monday and go to every single game,” said Cubit.
Cubit was inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse when the news broke that fans wouldn’t be allowed in the rest of the tournament.
“Everybody stood up and booed around us. People were not happy. We were pretty disappointed too but we understand why the decision was made,” said Cubit.
Adam Butler and his wife flew in out east their daughter was supposed to compete in the music for all competition which has also seen some cancellations.
“While we were here we were going to take in some Big Ten games now they have cancelled our tickets for that as well,” said Butler.
When fans tried to call to switch flights, they found they weren’t the only ones trying make arrangements.
“I mean I got through once and they gave me a six hour lead time for when my call would be answered,” said Butler.
While they weren’t necessarily surprised, “before we left we began to wonder what was going to happen,” said Cubit.
“I was a little surprised about a week ago that they hadn’t had more conversations about it,” said Butler.
That doesn’t make losing money on reservations any easier. Some fans losing hundreds of dollars in hotel reservations that are now getting cancelled.
“Didn’t want to have that conversation until we were sure we could make our airline change,” said Cubit.
Fans will be reimbursed for the tickets they bought for the Big Ten and NCAA games. You need to reach out to whatever agency you purchased your tickets through to start that process.