When your flights disappear....

[msmayor]

Could use some advice from the learned veterans of this forum...

 

Booked air for a cruise next March with AA. Normally book closer, but due to dates being in the 'spring break' period and finding a fare of $278pp RT which included one checked bag each, I thought it was a good price.

 

Roundtrip PHL --> FLL flying in the day before the cruise and home on the morning the cruise returns, at times I was very pleased with.

 

Now having followed these forums for a few years I know that legacy carriers are notorius for schedule adjustments that involve either changing flight times or changing flights altogether. I accept that as inevitable...our flights for this past March's trip were changed three times before we actually flew, though it appeared to only be by minutes, and a couple of flight number changes...and American was great about notifying me via email as soon as the changes occurred.

 

Even thought I've booked non-refundable fares and know that any changes in price won't benefit me, I still check occasionally on AA's website to see how the flight is pricing out and look at the seat maps. This morning, I couldn't help but notice that BOTH my outbound and inbound flights are no longer there. No emails from AA to notify me of any changes.

 

I'm still six months from my trip. Certainly not panic mode by any stretch. Is this anything to warrant an inquiry with American, or is it possible they are working on tweaking things up and my flight will either re-appear or I'll hear from them about changes?

 

By the way, in reading an older thread I saw something about looking at ITA for more complete information. My flights aren't there either...

 

Thanks in advance....

[ccastner]

If you have purchased airfare and you have record of purchase and no flight and no communication from AA, I recommend picking up the phone and calling AA with you confirm code handy (should be on your email confirm from AA and is usually 6-digit alpha-numeric)

 

 

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[ducklite]

Are you just perusing, or have you logged in with you confirmation number? If the former, they probably changed the times and rebooked you. Log in and make sure you are still happy with the times and your seats. If it's the latter, call them asap to get it sorted.

[msmayor]

Are you just perusing, or have you logged in with you confirmation number? If the former, they probably changed the times and rebooked you. Log in and make sure you are still happy with the times and your seats. If it's the latter, call them asap to get it sorted.

 

Never even thought about logging in...figured I'd try this first before suffering through a phone call.

 

And good advice indeed. My flights DID change...there was a big notice in red across the top of the page that there was a schedule change. Not sure why I didn't get an email about it. I did make sure I had notifications created so if (or rather when!) they change again, I'll hear about it. The good news is the changes are not a problem; timing-wise I'm still within an hour of departure on my outbound and my inbound shifted only 11 minutes later.

 

But now I'll make sure I log in periodically to check. Obviously can't always trust that I'll get the notification.

 

Thank you so much!

[FlyerTalker]

One thing I might comment on is the use of your word "disappear". Do you mean that the flight numbers are gone, the times are not there, your reservation has gone up in smoke or what?

 

As you found out, you still had a ticket and reservations for a set of flights. You don't say if there were flight number changes or routing changes or anything but a mention about time. Which means exactly what part of "disappear"?

 

Simple rule....when in doubt, always check what is showing for you in the airline's computer system. There have been a number of times when people have posted saying their flight is not there (OMG!!) when what has happened is that the flight is sold-out and thus not showing FOR NEW BOOKINGS. But their tickets and reservation was still the same as before.

 

Glad all is well for your plans.

[msmayor]

One thing I might comment on is the use of your word "disappear". Do you mean that the flight numbers are gone, the times are not there, your reservation has gone up in smoke or what?

 

As you found out, you still had a ticket and reservations for a set of flights. You don't say if there were flight number changes or routing changes or anything but a mention about time. Which means exactly what part of "disappear"?

 

Simple rule....when in doubt, always check what is showing for you in the airline's computer system. There have been a number of times when people have posted saying their flight is not there (OMG!!) when what has happened is that the flight is sold-out and thus not showing FOR NEW BOOKINGS. But their tickets and reservation was still the same as before.

 

Glad all is well for your plans.

 

Valid point on the terminology, FlyerTalker.

 

When looking as if I was booking a new ticket, I put my airports and dates in and hit 'Search'. Neither the flight numbers OR the departure times I had purchased were there, hence my use of the term disappear. You're right in that it may have only meant that it was sold out...guess I just never thought that six months out it would be completely full.

 

The first thing I did was go to the days on both sides of my departure and return dates to see if the flight was listed on those days, and it wasn't. Then I came here and after posting realized that actually using my locator number to check my flights was a better first step.

 

At that point I discovered that my flight numbers had changed, as well as the departure times...to flights that are now listed as for sale. No routing change: the original flights were non-stop between PHL and FLL.

 

In an interesting side note, guess what showed up in my inbox this morning? An email from AA notifying me about the change in my itinerary. Go figure...

[TruckerDave]

and between now and March, there will probably be 3-4 more changes. :D

[msmayor]

and between now and March, there will probably be 3-4 more changes. :D

 

Oh for sure...our flight this past March changed three times! Always a new flight number and twice time changes, but fortunately just a few minutes so I never had to reach out to AA to make adjustments.

 

Right now though I"ll suffer through anything that comes along. I paid just $275pp for RT flights that include one checked bag each. The same flights I'm on now are $465pp RT, no bags included. I'm ahead of the game.

[zdcatc12]

Then I came here and after posting realized that actually using my locator number to check my flights was a better first step.

 

At that point I discovered that my flight numbers had changed, as well as the departure times...to flights that are now listed as for sale. No routing change: the original flights were non-stop between PHL and FLL.

 

In an interesting side note, guess what showed up in my inbox this morning? An email from AA notifying me about the change in my itinerary. Go figure...

 

Not sure if it is coincidence or not, but I've had two AA flights this year change with no notice to me, but after I looked up my reservations on-line (I usually do it once a week or so), I magically got an e-mail with the new flights. I'm not sure what they use to determine if they send you notification or not, but these flights just had equipment and flight number changes and a few minutes either side like yours.

 

I have also had AA twice this year change my flights to the day before with an overnight layover or a flight later in the same day with an overnight layover. Those I were pissed about. When I called, they said the computer does it automatically when a scheduled flight is taken out of the system.

[BDHPlayer]

A few years ago I had booked a flight then found out that we needed to cancel the trip. US Air changed the departure time by a few minutes but it was enough to get a full refund on non-refundable tickets.

[ducklite]

When the change is only a few minutes, they typically send an email a few days before the flight, because if you are more than a couple weeks out, they might change again by a few minutes and end up where they were when you booked. If it's a major change, they usually send an email as soon as the change happens to allow people to adjust their plans, cancel, change flights, etc.

 

 

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[rockdoctor]

Same thing happened to us with American In October. The aircraft was different so our seats were changed. You might want to check.