Airline changes heads up

[bUU]

From Atlanta there isn't much choice. I'm sure that factors in.

 

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[Randyk47]

From Atlanta there isn't much choice. I'm sure that factors in.

 

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As it worked out the initial CSR while pleasant didn’t have the authority to change our SAT>ATL flight as there was more than 90 minutes between the now later ATL arrival and the departure of the Rome flight. Without me saying a word he said he’d transfer us to the next level who could make that change. Next CSR was even more pleasant. She said that we should have enough time but volunteered to move us to earlier flight at no cost. She allowed that Hartsfield is a big airport and even a little hiccup coming out of San Antonio could be problem.

 

All that said I watch our flights like a hawk. While Delta has be good about sending us itinerary change alert emails I go by “trust but verify” so check periodically. I also have an app on my iPhone that tracks our flights and it also alerts me. A missed flight, cancelled flight, or broken connection is not a pleasant surprise especially when you’re talking International travel.

[slidergirl]

As it worked out the initial CSR while pleasant didn’t have the authority to change our SAT>ATL flight as there was more than 90 minutes between the now later ATL arrival and the departure of the Rome flight. Without me saying a word he said he’d transfer us to the next level who could make that change. Next CSR was even more pleasant. She said that we should have enough time but volunteered to move us to earlier flight at no cost. She allowed that Hartsfield is a big airport and even a little hiccup coming out of San Antonio could be problem.

 

All that said I watch our flights like a hawk. While Delta has be good about sending us itinerary change alert emails I go by “trust but verify” so check periodically. I also have an app on my iPhone that tracks our flights and it also alerts me. A missed flight, cancelled flight, or broken connection is not a pleasant surprise especially when you’re talking International travel.

 

It's called "HUCA" - Hang Up, Call Again. You have to be proactive and assertive. Don't take the first CSR's responses as gospel.

I'm shocked that some people did not realize you do not have to automatically accept the rerouting the airlines shows you. Common sense would say to check your flights frequently for any changes and, if something changes, look at your alternates BEFORE taking an automatic reroute or talking to a CSR. Don't assume that your routings will magically be OK. I was told to do this when I started flying for business and I was in charge of my own bookings. That was a LONG time ago, so this is not something new that just popped up in the world of Airline Travel...

[bUU]

In a way you're preaching to the choir, but the point I was making is that it is not always working the way it practically always worked in the past. I've done as you have described for decades. This time nothing worked.

[hrhdhd]

In these days of airlines authorizing airport security to drag seated passengers off planes, maybe people figure the airlines call the shots.

[Randyk47]

There’s no doubt for us at least that the bloom is off the rose when it comes to flying. I can remember when it was fun and exciting but today it’s mostly and frequently a giant pain in the backside and I mean that literally because the new coach seats are about as comfortable as an unpadded church pew. Add that you’re packed in so close that I fear I’ll have two crushed knees if the person in front of me reclines their seat. Two hours in a coach seat and I’d probably confess to most anything. And the food.....if you even get what they call food.....well that’s borderline cruel and unusual punishment. We can’t reasonably drive to a port so flying is a means to an end or maybe more correctly a beginning if it’s a embarkation destination. The excitement is we’re going on a cruise and unfortunately we have to fly to get there and back.

[Tampa Girl]

From Atlanta there isn't much choice. I'm sure that factors in.

 

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Much choice for what - flights? Atlanta is one of the busiest, if not the busiest airport in the country.

[bUU]

Much choice for what - flights? Atlanta is one of the busiest, if not the busiest airport in the country.

But only offers one nonstop flight to Vancouver, and again the issue was getting onto the nonstop flight. They had no problem accommodating me well on a connection.

[Randyk47]

Much choice for what - flights? Atlanta is one of the busiest, if not the busiest airport in the country.

 

In our case there were alternatives to get to Rome but the majority of those were connecting flights through London or Paris. We still could get there but instead of arriving in the early morning we’d get there in the late afternoon or early evening. Surprisingly there aren’t a lot of direct flights from Atlanta direct to Rome. Doesn’t help that many lines fly seasonal flights to the major Mediterranean cities like Rome, Venice, Barcelona, and Barcelona May to October and we’re traveling in November.

[sandyss]

I always check our air reservations around every few months, when I make the reservation far ahead. The worst problem that I encountered was our reservation made through American Airlines for an Etihad non-stop flight to Abu Dhabi (used FF miles for business class). When I checked a few months ago, the reservation information on both airline sites looked funky. I called, and found out that Etihad no longer has non-stop flights out of San Francisco. Neither airline had notified us of the change. We now have to fly through DFW to connect to an Etihad flight. We were able to get business class on the Etihad flight, but so far, we only have coach class on the American flight to DFW. Luckily I checked, or we would not have been able to get business class for our long flight.

[bUU]

My understanding is that many airlines issue notifications regarding schedule changes after the final schedule change before the the flight.

 

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[Oregonpoppa]

OK, so I'll add my tale of (almost) woe.

After a family member notified me that her flights had changed, I decided to see what was happening with ours since we were also flying to FLL on Dec. 22nt. Turned out we had similar changes on our flight to FLL, but our flight home on Jan. 1st was changed from 7:45 a.m. departure to 5:45 a.m. The new schedule also had us laying over in Portland for 4 hours.

I called American Airlines ready for a battle royal. Turned out a nice rep took care of things in a jiffy, giving us an 8 a.m. departure on a better route with no long layovers. She said I didn't get notice of the change because I had booked through a third party (credit card points) and that it was up to the third party to keep us informed. That is a bit suspicious to me, since I had received two earlier very minor schedule change notices.

Anyway, AA has my; contact info now. Although I haven't received the promised email confirmation, I can see my new itinerary online and have even made my seat selections. There was no extra charge. She said it was the airline that made the change, so they would take care of it. Good thing. Have you ever booked flights at Christmas/New Years? They know if you're headed for FLL you're trapped and they really sock it to you.

[avian777]

Since many of us book airfares well in advance for our cruises, very often (in my case MOST of the time) we experience the airline making changes to our flights prior to our departure.

 

This happened again yesterday to me on a Dec, 20 flight from San Diego to OKC (after our cruise). I had booked a 12:15 PM departure out of SAN and the airline changed it months later to 12:45 PM. Not a big deal, except that we now have only a 45 minute layover in Dallas (DFW) and on American this can be pushing it a bit, especially being Dec. 20 (weather and holiday traffic).

 

So, I looked at American's schedule and found that they also have a 12:11 PM departure (only 4 minutes from my original one) which gets me home at the same time but now we have an hour and 15 minute layover! Why they did not change me in the first place to this 4 minute earlier flight I cannot figure out.

 

So, I called American and spoke to a very nice rep who was happy to redo my reservation (no charge since they made the change originally, not me). It took about 15 minutes on hold (for some strange reason), but it was done and I am much happier with the extra layover time.

 

My point is, if you find that your flights have changed (even on a non-refundable fare), do not just blindly accept what you are rebooked on. Do your homework and see if there is a better option for you and then do not be afraid to call the airline and ask to be changed. Further, if you cannot find something that works for you, the airline may even simply refund your money, so be sure to ask about this option (of course they have rules and procedures to address this).

 

I hope that this information aids someone on our board in the future.

 

Thanks, Dave, for the very helpful info. We have had similar experiences with Delta, but have always relied on our TA to get the matter rectified. So far, our TA has not failed us and, on one occasion, got us an "inconvenience voucher" (for $200) from Delta, in addition to getting our reservations changed at no cost to us.

I think it's all in how you approach the airline as to how well or poorly you fare (pardon the pun) in these matters. And that is why I leave it to our TA to deal with the airlines, as patience is not one of my long suits!

Smooth sailing :ship: :ship: :ship:

[Hlitner]

It is pretty obvious, that based on our own personal experience and several other posts, AA has issues with failing to notify flyers of schedule changes. In fact, the last time this happened to us I did mention to the AA rep (on the phone) that we hoped their aircraft maintenance software (aircraft maintenance is so complex that it must be tracked by computer) was better then their customer notification software :). That did get a pretty big laugh from the customer service lady until I demanded my reservation be canceled and a total refund issued.

 

Hank

[blizzardboy]

It is pretty obvious, that based on our own personal experience and several other posts, AA has issues with failing to notify flyers of schedule changes.

Hank

Our problem was mostly due to their "notify the TA" policy on tickets booked through one. We had to use the credit card TA to use our points. The TA had my internet address mis-entered, and no provision to notify by phone if an email notification returns as undeliverable. I raised hell with American for not notifying both of us as they had my AA rewards number on the tickets. They gave us each a $100 voucher.

[Himself]

Since many of us book airfares well in advance for our cruises, very often (in my case MOST of the time) we experience the airline making changes to our flights prior to our departure.

 

This happened again yesterday to me on a Dec, 20 flight from San Diego to OKC (after our cruise). I had booked a 12:15 PM departure out of SAN and the airline changed it months later to 12:45 PM. Not a big deal, except that we now have only a 45 minute layover in Dallas (DFW) and on American this can be pushing it a bit, especially being Dec. 20 (weather and holiday traffic).

 

So, I looked at American's schedule and found that they also have a 12:11 PM departure (only 4 minutes from my original one) which gets me home at the same time but now we have an hour and 15 minute layover! Why they did not change me in the first place to this 4 minute earlier flight I cannot figure out.

 

So, I called American and spoke to a very nice rep who was happy to redo my reservation (no charge since they made the change originally, not me). It took about 15 minutes on hold (for some strange reason), but it was done and I am much happier with the extra layover time.

 

My point is, if you find that your flights have changed (even on a non-refundable fare), do not just blindly accept what you are rebooked on. Do your homework and see if there is a better option for you and then do not be afraid to call the airline and ask to be changed. Further, if you cannot find something that works for you, the airline may even simply refund your money, so be sure to ask about this option (of course they have rules and procedures to address this).

 

I hope that this information aids someone on our board in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the tip. It is good to know these things and what to do if it does happen.

[iancal]

We have found that we get far better service, especially if we are fortunate enough to be flying business which is seldom) when we select a Europe based airline for Europe or an Asia based airline for Asia vs a domestic airline. This past winter we did a few United, Air Canada, a Copa flights on our South and Central America trip. Copa outshined them all in terms of checkin, in flight service, and condition of the aircraft.

 

So far the one exception would be Alitalia. No thanks.

[Hlitner]

We have found that we get far better service, especially if we are fortunate enough to be flying business which is seldom) when we select a Europe based airline for Europe or an Asia based airline for Asia vs a domestic airline. This past winter we did a few United, Air Canada, a Copa flights on our South and Central America trip. Copa outshined them all in terms of checkin, in flight service, and condition of the aircraft.

 

So far the one exception would be Alitalia. No thanks.

 

You echo our own experience, which is why we always (when possible) opt for foreign airlines on International trips. Ironically, the worst issue we ever had with a US Airline was when we paid for First/Business Class on American (we had to eventually cancel that flight and use Delta as an alternative).

 

Hank

[iancal]

Absolutely. Even our trip on discount Sky AIrlines from Santiago to Montevideo was far better than any of our United or Air Canada flights on that trip- in all respects. And it was only $50!

 

We think that the North American airlines have one thing in common with the mass market cruise lines. They are all at, or heading toward, the lowest common denominator.

 

Our local grocery store has self serve checkouts. I am half expecting the cruise lines to ask us to sling our own hash and the airlines to ask us to load our own bags or fuel up the plane.

Edited October 1, 2017 by iancal

[bUU]

If they could get away with that legally and from the standpoint of safety they would do that, and not because they want to offer a service that is the lowest common denominator but because their customers, the typical American consumer today, rewards suppliers of this sort for offering the very lowest cost structure. If we want higher quality services we're going to have to change the way our society is, raising higher quality-seeking customers, willing to pay the price for the superior quality.

 

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[iancal]

Dollar for dollar we simply find we get much better service when we fly Lufthansa, AF, BA,KLM,TAP, ANA than we do with AC, United, Delta, etc. In fact, we are much happier with AIr Asia, a discount airline that we regularly fly than we are with any North American domestic airline. Better service, better pricing, better on time it seems to us. The same in Europe with the likes of Air Malta, Vueling, etc.

 

So we avoid NA airlines as much as possible when flying internationally. AC has won some sort of award. We just shake our heads and wonder how many advertising dollars they had to spend with the publication/organization to attain that rating. It simply does not mirror our experience.

 

We usually do not pay more to select European and Asian airlines over our domestic choices. They are competive but for our preferences they tend to deliver more value.