I made a Mistake!

[cruiselvr04]

I just booked our flights this a.m. from DFW to Budapest.  I thought I was booking a 3 hour layover in Philly but I read it wrong....that was the flight time.  We only have an hour and 15 minutes to make our international flight! Am I in big trouble?  According to the website it does not indicate a terminal change ( it does say that on other ones).  And it’s 87% on time....it the other 13% that concerns me.  Should I go throw now and not sleep for 5 months or might we be ok? I’m usually so careful...sigh.

[CruiserBruce]

You just booked? You have 24 hours that you can cancel with no penalty, if there is a better option.

[slidergirl]

Please give us some more details.  If we know the airline and flights, we can better help.   

[cruiselvr04]

American Airlines 

[cruiselvr04]

Okay... sorry for the panic.  I was able to change to an earlier flight.  We change terminals but have 3 hours.  Thanks!  I thought once I booked it was all over!

so happy I may shed a tear!  

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Okay... sorry for the panic.  I was able to change to an earlier flight.  We change terminals but have 3 hours.  Thanks!  I thought once I booked it was all over!

so happy I may shed a tear!  

 

Changing terminals at PHL is pretty simple and generally not something to worry about. I am sure you'll be pretty much limited to the A/B/C gates with those flights, and in reality those operate almost as concourses instead of terminals. Besides, you could end up in one terminal...I know I have done a domestic to international transfer at PHL all within A Terminal.

[TruckerDave]

Just keep an eye on the flights at they might/will/probably get tweaked or changed between now and go time.  A couple years ago I had a nice 3hr or so layover at PHL on AA and over the course of time it got whittled down to about 1 or so. (and i was coming into PHL for CHS on a regional jet then on to a mainline plane to BCN).   Called and got everything changed to go via CLT and JFK.   So just keep watching as you might need to change again if the times change.

Edited January 26, 2019 by TruckerDave

[cruiselvr04]

Thanks for the heads up.  I hate the way airlines move you around after you book but you can't change without a hefty fee. So one sided.

[Globaliser]

Just now, cruiselvr04 said:

I hate the way airlines move you around after you book but you can't change without a hefty fee. So one sided.

 

That kind of flexibility is what you give up for choosing to buy a cheap ticket.

 

If you want to have the same amount of flexibility as the airline does to change flights, times, dates, etc, just buy the appropriate kind of ticket.

[Zach1213]

16 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Thanks for the heads up.  I hate the way airlines move you around after you book but you can't change without a hefty fee. So one sided.

 

Many airlines do offer a fair amount of flexibility when they change the schedule. I'm not saying you can completely change months and cities, but I haven't had too many issues with airlines worldwide by calling up and telling them which alternate flights I'd like to be accommodated on. That flight may even be the day before or after. It's always worth a try.

[Flymia]

I believe American (at least they used to) will let you change flights if their schedule changes by more than 30-mins. 

 

I once had a Ft. Lauderdale to Chicago flight change from 7:30pm to 3:00pm. I needed an evening flight out. After a bit of back and forth they gave in and let me change to a 7:00pm from Miami. 

 

Those these days American cares less and less about the customer like they used to. 

[Zach1213]

18 minutes ago, Flymia said:

I believe American (at least they used to) will let you change flights if their schedule changes by more than 30-mins. 

 

I once had a Ft. Lauderdale to Chicago flight change from 7:30pm to 3:00pm. I needed an evening flight out. After a bit of back and forth they gave in and let me change to a 7:00pm from Miami. 

 

Those these days American cares less and less about the customer like they used to. 

 

My colleague, who has zero status on AA, had a big schedule change last month...called them up and pretty much got the pick of what she wanted. She was able to switch to the next day even...no fees attached.

[sumiandkage]

Buried in each airline's contract of carriage are the rules that allow for a flight change or refund for a ticket whose original schedule has been changed, even if it was fro ma fare class described a no changes-no refunds. The criteria are typically:

 

1. Change of flight time more than X number of minutes

 

2. Any change that would put a connection shorter than the airline's filed minimum legal connection time for that aircraft type and routing type

 

3. Any change of operating carrier on any leg. This is not just the obvious ones like 'The Delta operated flight is switched to a KLM plane' but when there is a change from mainline service to regional partners 'United to United Express' and even a switch in regional partners 'SkyWest dba United Express to ExpressJet dba United Express'

 

It's my understanding that #3 is a DOT/FAA rule

 

There are some people who actively book in the hopes of schedule changes that will let them move from the cheap and worse option to a better flight option for no change fee and no fare increase. Just be prepared with the flights you prefer when requesting rebooking because if you don't know what you want, the airline will just give you what's cheapest and easiest for them even if it'd not ideal for you

[waterbug123]

20 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

That kind of flexibility is what you give up for choosing to buy a cheap ticket.

 

If you want to have the same amount of flexibility as the airline does to change flights, times, dates, etc, just buy the appropriate kind of ticket.

 

^^^this.  You CAN buy a ticket that allows you to change/cancel without penalty, you just pay a higher price for that flexibility.  Most people value a low price over flexibility though, but you can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

15 hours ago, Flymia said:

I believe American (at least they used to) will let you change flights if their schedule changes by more than 30-mins. 

 

 

This is pretty standard.  If the airline initiates a change of X minutes (varies a bit across airlines), you can either change to a different flight, or cancel for a full refund.  Sometimes you can also change the airport if the airport is considered a "co-terminal" with another nearby airport.

[Flymia]

11 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

 

This is pretty standard.  If the airline initiates a change of X minutes (varies a bit across airlines), you can either change to a different flight, or cancel for a full refund.  Sometimes you can also change the airport if the airport is considered a "co-terminal" with another nearby airport.

 

Right. It makes sense, especially when changes are hours apart from the original schedule. The frustrating part with my time doing it was the American was fighting me on switching me to MIA from an FLL flight. They gave in, but why they even fought me on that was ridiculous. 

[Zach1213]

5 hours ago, Flymia said:

 

Right. It makes sense, especially when changes are hours apart from the original schedule. The frustrating part with my time doing it was the American was fighting me on switching me to MIA from an FLL flight. They gave in, but why they even fought me on that was ridiculous. 

 

I know AA used to have a policy of co-terminals, because I have seen those rules and been re-accommodated a few times (LAX instead of ONT, EWR instead of JFK), but when I try to find them now, they're not listed. I wonder if their official policy is gone?

[FlyerTalker]

7 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

 

I know AA used to have a policy of co-terminals, because I have seen those rules and been re-accommodated a few times (LAX instead of ONT, EWR instead of JFK), but when I try to find them now, they're not listed. I wonder if their official policy is gone?

 

I have always found that "co-terminal" designations (if they exist) are explicitly spelled out in the fare rules for each fare.  Though it has been a few years, I've noticed that on some deep-discount buckets, there's no provision for co-terminals.  Nor for anything other than a singular routing rule.

 

YMMV.

[Zach1213]

6 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I have always found that "co-terminal" designations (if they exist) are explicitly spelled out in the fare rules for each fare.  Though it has been a few years, I've noticed that on some deep-discount buckets, there's no provision for co-terminals.  Nor for anything other than a singular routing rule.

 

YMMV.

Could be. I swear there was a blanket “here is our across the board airline policy re: co-terminals” page on an aa.com as recently as maybe three-to-five years ago...but I have no proof of it. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Zach1213

[sumiandkage]

12 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I have always found that "co-terminal" designations (if they exist) are explicitly spelled out in the fare rules for each fare.  Though it has been a few years, I've noticed that on some deep-discount buckets, there's no provision for co-terminals.  Nor for anything other than a singular routing rule.

 

YMMV.

 

Some airlines like Delta also have informal co-terminals in terms of allowed changes during IRROPS recovery. The coastal northern Gulf Coast is prone to bad fog during the winter, and gate agents that know that climate well will often give a fair amount of leeway from Biloxi, MS to Panama City, FL in terms of rebooking requests regardless of original fare class because, heck, they know that your scheduled flight that day is probably going to end up diverting to Dothan, Alabama or Baton Rouge, LA anyways and you're one fewer person they have to find ground transportation for to reach your final destination. 

[Zach1213]

11 hours ago, sumiandkage said:

probably going to end up diverting to Dothan, Alabama

 

Nobody should have to suffer like that

[cruiselvr04]

We are spoiled....A list with Southwest.   No change fees or baggage fees.  We don't care we sit domestic.

 

And yes it the cheap seats....of course I don't think any international flight is really cheap except for some more budget airlines that charge for each carry on and bring your lunch.  Have yet to try those.....and probably wont.

[Zach1213]

16 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We are spoiled....A list with Southwest.   No change fees or baggage fees.  We don't care we sit domestic.

 

And yes it the cheap seats....of course I don't think any international flight is really cheap except for some more budget airlines that charge for each carry on and bring your lunch.  Have yet to try those.....and probably wont.

 

"Cheap" is all relative. I've flown Chicago to Tokyo roundtrip for $400 with taxes/fees. That's pretty dang cheap to me. It was on American, and since I am EXP I used a SWU to bump up to business class and had free bags and booze. But even without that, $400 for over 25,000 miles flown seems cheap to me 🙂