Airline cancellations

[madera1]

Yesterday I was filling in passport information on American Airlines for flights booked and already ticketed by flight ease. I noticed that the 2nd leg of three flights was no longer listed. It turns out that this flight has been canceled. hAL nor I had been notified.  Spoke to agent with flight ease about 6 pm and their special line with AA was closed for the day but person said she would follow up with AA this morning. Flight leaves in 14 days!

Edited May 19, 2022 by madera1

[NavyCruiser]

I've been on hold at HAL air dept for 8 hours yesterday & so far 4+ hours today, with no one answering.

Do you have a direct contact phone #, pls?

Just need to make a quick change on our flights.  United air couldn't help us, since it's booked with/thru HAL.

Thanks,
 

[Hlitner]

I will post what folks do not want to hear.  The airlines (especially here in the USA) have been routinely cancelling flights with very little notice and it is difficult to keep up with the changes.  We just flew home from Prague on Monday (flights booked through Seabourn Flightease which is similar to HAL''s system).  In the middle of Sunday night (hours before our first flight to get home) United decided to cancel one of our 4 flights (necessary to get home).  They did not notify us (or Seabourn) but simply made several changes to our itinerary (only hours before our flights) including changing the airline (from United to Lufthansa) and changing our initial USA destination from Washington D. C to Newark.  Then, why we were sitting in the lounge (in Munich) waiting for the new flight to Newark we received a text from United that they had decided to cancel our flight from Newark to Harrisburg (later that same day) thus stranding us at Newark.   A couple of hours later we got another text that they would fly us home from Newark the following night (this flight was ultimately delayed 3 hours).  Of course United claims all the cancellations/changes were due to weather (which was fine) so they did not need to cover the cost of hotels, food, etc.  In the end we simply rented a car (at our own expense) and drove home from Newark.

 

Why do I post this?  Because this has become routine in the airline world because of the shortage of air crews (this will be a problem for many years).  While some want to blame the cruise lines for not keeping up with all the changes it is not entirely their fault since the airlines do not always get out their notifications.  Travelers need to make sure to log on to each airline (in their itinerary) and register their e-mail and cell phone number (which will usually get them notified).  If you choose to depend on the cruise line air folks you are really increasing the odds that you will have a very bad day.

 

Hank

[madera1]

The number I called was 1 800/628-4771. I tried phoning before 7 am Pacific Time. Another time phoned after 4 pm and spoke to someone about 5:50pm.  HAL flight ease person called me back about a half hour ago. They had 2 options. AA would only give us an option to fly out 2 days earlier. We had booked Business class and thus fewer options. Thus Hal will cancel and get $ back from AA and rebook us on British Airways. She said that she will email updated booking with no additional out of pocket cost for us.

Edited May 19, 2022 by madera1

[DaveOKC]

With all the turmoil going on with airlines right now I would book direct with the airline if at all possible.

 

Just this morning I received two emails from American telling me of flight changes on two different flights (going and coming home).  One was just  off by an hour, so no biggie, thus I just accepted that.  The second one moved my flight arrival by 6 hours to 11 PM in a strange town, so I was not happy.  I called the airline (after researching my options) and requested a different flight(s) which got us home 30 minutes later than original, even though we had to depart one hour earlier.  MUCH better situation.  The airline agent was quick to accept my suggestions and moved me at the same fare I paid!

 

What is funny is that the current fare on the flight they first put me on was about HALF the price as the one I requested (and ended up getting), so you can easily see what they were up to!  You really have to take control of your airline reservations these days.

 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

With all the turmoil going on with airlines right now I would book direct with the airline if at all possible.

 

Just this morning I received two emails from American telling me of flight changes on two different flights (going and coming home).  One was just  off by an hour, so no biggie, thus I just accepted that.  The second one moved my flight arrival by 6 hours to 11 PM in a strange town, so I was not happy.  I called the airline (after researching my options) and requested a different flight(s) which got us home 30 minutes later than original, even though we had to depart one hour earlier.  MUCH better situation.  The airline agent was quick to accept my suggestions and moved me at the same fare I paid!

 

What is funny is that the current fare on the flight they first put me on was about HALF the price as the one I requested (and ended up getting), so you can easily see what they were up to!  You really have to take control of your airline reservations these days.

 

Lets talk about this!  For lower cost domestic flights I think there is a good case to booking direct with the airlines.  But when we are talking about international flights (especially Business or First Class) I think booking direct (with the airline) is generally not a good idea.  Consider that if the cruise line cancels the cruise (we have had 8 cruises cancelled in the last 2 years) booking your air through the cruise line generally gets your money back.  But booking direct may (or may not) get you some kind of airline voucher (with all kinds of restrictions).  Also consider that when you book through the cruise line if your airline changes or cancels flights the airline will not generally book you onto a different carrier.  But the cruise/air folks have more flexibility to get you to your cruise (or home) on different airlines.

 

And finally, when it comes to International Flights you will often pay much less when booking Business/First through the cruise line.  In fact the savings are often in the thousands of dollars per person.  Just this week we flew from Prague to Newark on Lufthansa in Business Class (lay flat seats).  Booked through the cruise line the tickets cost about $1000 per person.  Booked direct it would cost about $3100 per person.  

 

Our advice is that the only rule (regarding air) is that there is no one solution fits all cases.  Folks need to evaluate the specifics on each trip (booking direct vs booking through their cruise line).  We often find ourselves spending more time comparing air options then the time it takes to choose and book a cruise.

 

Hank

 

Hank

[syesmar]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

...Of course United claims all the cancellations/changes were due to weather (which was fine) so they did not need to cover the cost of hotels, food, etc.  In the end we simply rented a car (at our own expense) and drove home from Newark.

 

Why do I post this?  Because this has become routine in the airline world because of the shortage of air crews (this will be a problem for many years)....  

Wow! Sounds like quite an ordeal you experienced, that's becoming more frequent for travelers.

 

Over the years, I've had airlines change their story on the reasoning for delays and cancellations. One time, it was a catering issue, I was told at the airport it was a catering issue and the reply from the airline's official form that's used for insurance purposes said it was a catering issue. But when I initially filed a claim related to EU Regulation EC 261/2004, they tried to say it was the weather and denied the claim; but I had documentation, and they overturned their initial rejection upon appeal.

 

@madera1I'm glad things worked out for you. I like Club World on BA. Happy Sailing!

 

 

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, syesmar said:

Wow! Sounds like quite an ordeal you experienced, that's becoming more frequent for travelers.

 

Over the years, I've had airlines change their story on the reasoning for delays and cancellations. One time, it was a catering issue, I was told at the airport it was a catering issue and the reply from the airline's official form that's used for insurance purposes said it was a catering issue. But when I initially filed a claim related to EU Regulation EC 261/2004, they tried to say it was the weather and denied the claim; but I had documentation, and they overturned their initial rejection upon appeal.

 

@madera1I'm glad things worked out for you. I like Club World on BA. Happy Sailing!

 

 

BA?  On some of their long haul aircraft we are still talking the world of rear facing seats (Business).  And with those folks you can pay thousands of dollars for a Bus Class seat and they still want you to pay another fee to choose a seat?  These kind of things do not happen on the decent Asian airlines, Emirates,  Turkish Air, etc.  You can keep BA :).  But I will admit that on some of their newer aircraft things have improved although they still have their silly rule about extra fees for advance seat selection.

 

Hank

[mpk]

21 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I will post what folks do not want to hear.  The airlines (especially here in the USA) have been routinely cancelling flights with very little notice and it is difficult to keep up with the changes.

 

You're right.  The pandemic really caused a surge of this bad behavior.  But it existed even before.

 

Right before the pandemic kicked in, SAS Airlines changed the airport on a connecting itinerary without notice.  My connection was in LHR, but SAS changed the landing airport to another London airport.  There would be zero chances of making such a connection.  We made lemonade out of those lemons, but that is a long story.