Airline changed your flight?

[DaveOKC]

It seems that lately every time I make an airline reservation for more than a few months out, that at some point the airline changes my flight. Sometimes the changes are minor, a few minutes either way, but sometimes the changes really "mess up" my plans.

 

This happened again yesterday on a late January flight to Fort Lauderdale. My originating flight was moved back one hour, but it was not a big deal since I had a long connection in DFW. My arrival in FLL remained the same time.

 

However, I had really wanted to take an earlier flight than I booked (I did this to save money of course), so I thought, "what the heck, lets see what the airline will do for me". I called them and asked that since they changed my flight (including the flight number) would they be willing to change it to an earlier flight instead? The airline rep checked on the flight I wanted and quickly made the change for me!!

 

I just wanted to pass this information along as I know many people face this same situation and think they must just accept what the airline changes. My advice - check the airline's schedule and see if there is a "better" option for your situation and if so, call them and request it. Further, if you are not happy with their changes, you can request that they cancel you reservation without charging you a cancellation fee - most airlines will do this I have found.

 

So, don't be afraid to call and ask for what you want - you might just get it.

 

DaveOKC

[POA1]

You're absolutely correct. Schedule changes - or at least larger ones - often open up a negotiating opportunity for the passenger. As long as there are alternatives to your new schedule, and seats available, you have a shot. Of course, being nice always helps, too.

[1of4]

How nice to read a positive post about an airline. I am nearly afraid to check our flights for May return from Vancouver since the airline changed our flight by 5 hours :eek: and didn't notify me :mad:. I found out and it took a week to change. But I did manage to get a better flight home than the one I booked and only because we are getting off a cruise ship and they moved us from 4 pm to 11 am.

[POA1]

I should add that this doesn't always work out. We had a flight from JFK to Portland, Maine canceled while we were in Santorini. The scratched flight was at 3 PM. The next available flight was at 10:55 PM.

 

You know what's not a great way to end a trip to Greece? Eight leisurely hours of forced relaxation in Terminal 5 at JFK. You win some. You lose some. As long as you get a story out of the experience, and you can look back and laugh, it's okay. :)

Edited November 11, 2014 by POA1

[Hflors]

I should add that this doesn't always work out. We had a flight from JFK to Portland, Maine canceled while we were in Santorini. The scratched flight was at 3 PM. The next available flight was at 10:55 PM.

 

You know what's not a great way to end a trip to Greece? Eight leisurely hours of forced relaxation in Terminal 5 at JFK. You win some. You lose some. As long as you get a story out of the experience, and you can look back and laugh, it's okay. :)

 

I so agree. I once booked flights from Baltimore to Hawaii. Then several couples wanted to join us, but only if we cruised from San Diego. Ok, called the airlines they charged $150 each to make the change and the only way to use up the money was to fly 1 st class with a stop in Charlotte. So ok we can do that. Months later when I was setting up a spread sheet for the cruise I went online to the airlines and what do you know our flights had been changed. We were now flying Baltimore to Charlotte and Charlotte to (I believe it was phoeniz) that far 1 st class! But the last leg of the flight NO 1 st class because it was a small commuter plane! I called the airline and believe me we went round and round. Then so we could fly 1 st class they were going to re-route us some crazy way like to Washington state then back down to San Diego. I was so mad! I finally told them that if they couldn't fly me 1st all the way just get me my money back! Unbelieveably they did and they also refunded my original change fees. I can tell you at this point I was pretty nervous about no flights to San Diego and after final payment for our cruise. So I called Southwest. Direct flights from Baltimore to San Diego, 1 third of the original price and two free bags each!!!! (had lots of spending money for the casino on that trip)

[sapper1]

I recently went online to check our December Air Canada reservations to Fort Lauderdale which had been made last March. We paid for preferred seats with extra legroom.

I was prompted to check by a mysterious $40 credit from AC to my Mastercard.

When I checked I found that I still had my preferred seat on the return trip from FLL to Montreal but my husband had been moved to the back of the plane in a regular seat. Our TA got us back together in our preferred seats and AC did not recharge for the seat. You really have to keep an eye on your airline reservations.

[cruz chic]

This is a good thread. I always thought that I was stuck with whatever they dished out. Then I read a post on here a few years ago about calling and requesting a change. They seem to change my flights all the time. I was to get into calgary at 1:40 pm after my cruise. They changed my flight so I only had 45 minutes in Dallas when I had 1.5 hours before. That doesn't work. Now I don't get into Calgary until after 11 and I have to work the next day. Gotta take the good with the bad.

[paganwoman]

I recently went through this for our flights the end of January to Sydney for our cruise. Going the schedule was changed only 1 hour. Left us with a 6 hour layover in LAX going to Sydney but oh well. The problem was the return flight. The flight out of Sydney left 1 hour later (no problem so far) but our connection in LAX was shortened down to 1 1/2 hr. Now I have been through LAX and especially coming from an international flight, getting your luggage, going though customs, checking your luggage in again and getting to your next flight (which is a commuter airline-quite a walk) in that time frame would not work. The airline said "it is within our approved connection time" but I know better. So now we have a 6 hour layover in LAX again going home. Sounds like we will be using the Skyclub for Delta both ways. :D I usually book airfare quite a ways out and I always have at least one change. The last 3 months I check about every 2 weeks. Usually I get an email but most times I catch it before I get the message of the change......

[igraf]

This works best if one originally booked directly with the airline, but more trouble if booked through a travel agent.

 

I had my cruise travel agent book our precruise flight with Air Canada. The airline cancelled our flight but then refused to talk to me directly about any rebooking because I had purchased the airfare through an agent. Never mind that the only reason that I was trying to talk to Air Canada was because they cancelled my flight!! To make matters worse, my cruise agent was away on travel at that time and we had to wait a few days while alternative flights were filling up.

 

Since then we have booked all our cruise flights ourselves directly with airlines.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

You're absolutely correct. Schedule changes - or at least larger ones - often open up a negotiating opportunity for the passenger. As long as there are alternatives to your new schedule, and seats available, you have a shot. Of course, being nice always helps, too.

Edited November 11, 2014 by igraf

[cruz chic]

This works best if one originally booked directly with the airline, but more trouble if booked through a travel agent.

 

I had my cruise travel agent book our precruise flight with Air Canada. The airline cancelled our flight but then refused to talk to me directly about any rebooking because I had purchased the airfare through an agent. Never mind that the only reason that I was trying to talk to Air Canada was because they cancelled my flight!! To make matters worse, my cruise agent was away on travel at that time and we had to wait a few days while alternative flights were filling up.

 

Since then we have booked all our cruise flights ourselves directly with airlines.

 

igraf

 

Another good reason to not use a ta.

[Spendogirl]

I booked our flights next Jan/February through Southwest, and so far the flight to Fort Lauderdale dropped $61, which they credited to our account, and then while randomly checking the return flight, I noticed they added an earlier flight for $73 less, to which they moved us to and credited our account for that also.

 

I love Southwest and their no-hassle policy. They are best!:D

 

It always pays to keep on top of the flights and prices.. however, alot of airlines charge fees for the slightest change.

 

I am lucky that I have the choice to fly out of Toronto or Buffalo.

[DaveOKC]

I booked our flights next Jan/February through Southwest, and so far the flight to Fort Lauderdale dropped $61, which they credited to our account, and then while randomly checking the return flight, I noticed they added an earlier flight for $73 less, to which they moved us to and credited our account for that also.

 

I love Southwest and their no-hassle policy. They are best!:D

 

It always pays to keep on top of the flights and prices.. however, alot of airlines charge fees for the slightest change.

 

I am lucky that I have the choice to fly out of Toronto or Buffalo.

 

I have been flying SW since 1978 and just LOVE their service. I also rebook fairly often - you HAVE to watch their fares as they change often.

 

One tip with them - book two, one ways instead of a roundtrip. The cost is the same, plus this way if one segment goes down and price, even if the other one goes up (it happens alot) you can just rebook that one and get future credit for the difference (must use within one year though). Its a bit more work to do this, but worth it IMO.

[cruisin'mama]

Yesterday I was checking my Aug. flight post-cruise from Vancouver to LAX. I got the notification in bold red lettering to contact Alaska Airlines right away! Oh no!

 

It seems they have cancelled our 5:45pm flight. The only non-stop flight they have is at 6:00am. Well that can't work for a post-cruise flight! My husband has a severe fear of flying and has to take XANAX in order to fly, so we can only do non-stops. So, now we are going to have to stay overnight in Vancouver ( which normally isn't a bad thing, except it's a holiday weekend, there is a fireworks convention in town and the PRIDE parade happens that weekend too, so a crazy busy weekend in Vancouver! ) Now we will have to get up at 3am to catch a cab by 3:30am and be to YVR by 4:00am for our 6:00am flight! Not a very relaxing way to end a vacation!!

[igraf]

Try alternative airports. We found better post-cruise flights from YVR to Burbank, CA rather than to LAX, but unfortunately for you these are 1-stop flights. You might try taking a car/bus/train down to Seattle for a direct flight home.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I was checking my Aug. flight post-cruise from Vancouver to LAX. I got the notification in bold red lettering to contact Alaska Airlines right away! Oh no!

 

It seems they have cancelled our 5:45pm flight. The only non-stop flight they have is at 6:00am. Well that can't work for a post-cruise flight! My husband has a severe fear of flying and has to take XANAX in order to fly' date=' so we can only do non-stops. So, now we are going to have to stay overnight in Vancouver ( which normally isn't a bad thing, except it's a holiday weekend, there is a fireworks convention in town and the PRIDE parade happens that weekend too, so a crazy busy weekend in Vancouver! ) Now we will have to get up at 3am to catch a cab by 3:30am and be to YVR by 4:00am for our 6:00am flight! Not a very relaxing way to end a vacation!![/quote']

[liv2cruise4ever]

This happened to us on our Virgin America flight from SFO to FLL next month. We booked it in March. Virgin emailed us in July and stated that they have cancelled the flight. But.....I have to say, they were very accommodating in changing our flight to what would work for us. Plus...they gave us a credit to use for our extra luggage. Yes, it was a little unnerving at the time....but....Virgin came through and that's why we fly them! :cool:

Edited November 11, 2014 by liv2cruise4ever