A Change to your Flight Itinerary - UGH!!

[tinlizzy]

This is ridiculous.....I bought a ticket to San Juan in February. I have now been notified 4 times that they have changed my flights. I know the airlines have to make a profit but this is maddening. I booked thru Orbitz. I know they have nothing to do with flight changes but do the airlines mess around with the seats purchased on those sites more often then tickets purchased directly. I saw on the news that flight cancellations are up 91% this year as airlines try to increase profits and jostle people around to fill a plane completely. So my question is what has been everyone's experience so far this year?

Liz

[CruiseCentric]

This is ridiculous.....I bought a ticket to San Juan in February. I have now been notified 4 times that they have changed my flights. I know the airlines have to make a profit but this is maddening. I booked thru Orbitz. I know they have nothing to do with flight changes but do the airlines mess around with the seats purchased on those sites more often then tickets purchased directly. I saw on the news that flight cancellations are up 91% this year as airlines try to increase profits and jostle people around to fill a plane completely. So my question is what has been everyone's experience so far this year?

Liz

 

This might get moved over to the Cruise Air board, so be sure to check over there.

 

As you mentioned airlines are doing all they can to make a profit and that means canceling flight and moving equipment. Its fairly common for your flight itinerary to change multiple times, especially when you book far in advance. I once had an flight itinerary change 10 times. Thats one of the reason I like to fly a day before and leave a day after the cruise.

 

It has nothing to do with who you booked your air through. Hopefully they arent giving you time that will make it impossible to make connections, catch the ship or meet the flight.

 

What are your current flight times?

[pholter]

Mine was changed 5 times when I flew into San Juan, but the funny thing was that it was always within 1/2 an hour time wise and I ended up with the original flight time when all was said and done.

 

It'll all be good once you get there, no worries! :) :)

[CorbinCatFan]

Our April '08 flights have been changed once so far. We also used Orbitz but are flying in the day before so I'm not too worried getting to San Juan.

 

Our worry is getting back. If this return changes to an earlier flight, we might be spending the night.

[tinlizzy]

Flight is a day early but this is annoying none the less. I am peeved that I paid for a more expensive ticket because I wanted to have time to sightsee the first day. I know there is time on Sunday. First change was one hour, no problem. 2nd change had me arriving at 10:55pm, I called and they got me on an earlier flight, 3rd change was different connecting city, similar times, today's change had me leaving at the crack of dawn with a 5 hr layover in Chicago arriving 8pm.

[dms_cruisers04]

It's every-stinkin'-body. We're flying AirTran from OHi to Fl and our flight back was changed by an hour.

 

First they take away our food, then they take away our peanuts and now the flight times we want. What's next? Frequent Flyer Miles. ;)

 

:D

[dms_cruisers04]

Flight is a day early but this is annoying none the less. I am peeved that I paid for a more expensive ticket because I wanted to have time to sightsee the first day. I know there is time on Sunday. First change was one hour, no problem. 2nd change had me arriving at 10:55pm, I called and they got me on an earlier flight, 3rd change was different connecting city, similar times, today's change had me leaving at the crack of dawn with a 5 hr layover in Chicago arriving 8pm.

Um, okay, yeah .... THAT STINKS!!

[tinlizzy]

I'm a little worried for you dms.....

You can call and object but it hardly helps because they have the nerve to tell you that your original flight is full! YEAH I purchased that flight months ago when it was empty!

[chitown cruisers]

double check....tripple check

 

My first cruise I had the air change AND had my hotel change owners and they didn't transfer the reservations.........I only found out that I didn't have rooms because I called and verified.

 

My Oct cruise coming up I booked air in Dec....recently while "verifying" I noticed a flight time change(minutes).......I pulled up the flights to see if there was an effect on my seat assignments...........I noticed a price drop......what!! they actually went down:confused: So I spent an hour on the phone with the airline and ended up with $49 dollar vouchers / person for the 5 of us.

 

Verify everything!!

[Maryutah]

We had complained because our flights were changed multiple times, the biggest resulted in our connection flight leaving an hour BEFORE we arrived! They were good at getting us rehooked up, and ended up actually flying out of Atlanta and back in through JFK to accomodate us.

 

However, i'll never complain again after the cutest lady and her family we met on the cruise explained her situation. They were in Oklahoma, she printed off her plane tickets, an hour later they call her to tell her the flight is cancelled! They scramble, ends up it's better for them to drive hours and hours to Dallas and fly out - then they get to Newark, end up on the tarmac for like 2 hours on a mechanical situation - they finally arrive in Rome, their excursions now screwed up, so they go straight to the ship - guess what.. no luggage! About 4 days into the cruise it finally showed up -

 

But bless her - she was such a good spirit - we'd see her and check up on their luggage situation, she'd always be upbeat - once she said she hoped her luggage was having as good as a time as she was - NOW that is a lady who knows how to have a good attitude! They did finally get their luggage, it was...all that time/days...at the Rome aiport!

[gypsygirl]

You're all making me feel better. This is the first time I've had to deal with flight changes. I was really upset. I wasn't aware that this was happening all the time. Guess I'll just relax now until it's almost time to leave.

[pholter]

You're all making me feel better. This is the first time I've had to deal with flight changes. I was really upset. I wasn't aware that this was happening all the time. Guess I'll just relax now until it's almost time to leave.

 

Yep, no need to "freak out" if it's just your first change, cuz it will most likely be changed several more times :) I would make a call though if you're pretty close to sailing time just in case.

[niffer03878]

We've had our flight changed twice. We were notified for one change but not the other. The flight going to Orlando was changed by 10 mins earlier, which is fine with me. The flight home went from 3:00pm to 6:05PM which stinks because we have all day (get off the ship around 8:30am or so) and nothing to do. We don't want to hang out at the airport all day. We were looking at doing the excursion to Cape Canaveral, but we've already paid for our transportation to and from the ship so we would lose that $$ if we did book it. Then we don't get back to Boston until after 9:30PM and then we have to wait for our shuttle and maybe get back to NH around midnight or so :confused: .... We've already checked and there are only 3 flights going from Orlando to Boston on that day, one is too early to make, the 2nd is the one we got bumped from and then the current one we are on.

 

To make a long story short, the airlines are changing flights and they may or may not let you know. Just keep a close eye on your flights. My main concern is getting to Orlando on time to make our cruise.

[Mysticks1]

The flights that I took last week were changed three times within a 6 week period - one was only the flight number itself but the others eventually changed my arrival home by 2 hours which was good for me. I booked through a TA and it was booked through Delta Vacations so I don't think who you book with matters. If you are particular about your seats be sure to check your seats weekly as mine were changed twice after I picked them (not counting the flight changes).

[mapsmith]

If your flight departure changes by more than an hour (I think) you have the right to have your flights rebooked at no additional charge IF A COMPARABLE FARE EXISTS ON THE NEW FLIGHT. This can be very benficial if you have booked the air thru the cruiseline. This means that if they change your flights, you can then have the flights changed to the day before so you can come in a day early.

 

I think that if they had changed my flights 4 or 5 times, I would be really considering going in TWO days early, just in case they cancel at the last minute.

 

Also remember, that if the airline cancels the flight because of weather, your non-refundable tickets become refundable. (Of course, then you have to find new tickets which will be higher priced) I have had to take advantage of this fact recently to attend a trade show.

 

Keep checking your flight times!

[AZaTaz]

Glad you ask the question as it reminded me to check my October flights. Getting to the ship have not changed but return trip has changed several times. I was checking once a week then just decided to wait till it was closer. So far the changes have been nothing to worry about but I do want to make sure I get to the ship and have time to get to the airport to get home.:eek:

[TortieGal]

I would say be thankful they are even notifying you. I have a flight booked on Delta for August that I booked in January. There have been 7 changes of one type or another and not once have they called to tell me. I've found out by checking the reservation myself.

[HeidiHo]

Just make sure you keep checking your flights. They don't always notify you. I booked flights for a trip to Colorado theu Orbitz and was never notified when they changed the flight time AND the flight number. It was no bigiI hadn't noticed on my own that the flight number had changed, it sure could have caused some confusion. Check your seat assignments too. On our flight to Tampa for our last cruise I chose our seats when I bought the tickets. There were no changes in flights but they changed the type of plane we were supposed to be on and we got bumped out of our assigned seats. Didn't find this out until we arrived at the airport. Our flight was overbooked and we had no seats. Luckily enough people took the airlines incentive offers to give up their seats so we got on.

[HeidiHo]

How ironic! After typing my previous post I went to the AA website to check on our flights for our upcoming Liberty cruise and guess what! Our flights have changed and I wasn't notified. Not yet anyway. One flight has been changed by 15 minutes and the other one was changed by 20 minute AND the flight number has changed. Now, I know it just changed because I check them almost every day so maybe I will still be notified. I'm fine with the changes. They aren't by much and are actually for the better.

[Corsair41]

I've had a similar issue with the flights I booked on Expedia. I originally booked the air for this December's cruise back in March, and the flight numbers and times have changed twice that I know of since. I've found that as time progresses, these things happen on a somewhat regular basis. Certainly maddening, but unfortunately, a part of the world of air transport these days. :eek:

[ata1976]

We have airtran booked for this Sept. They have changed our flights by 10 minutes earlier and 1 minute earlier. They keep sending me emails that says accept the chages but apparently it can't remember that I accepted the changes because now it sent me an email that says second notification to accept changes.

[tinlizzy]

double check....tripple check

 

My Oct cruise coming up I booked air in Dec....recently while "verifying" I noticed a flight time change(minutes).......I pulled up the flights to see if there was an effect on my seat assignments...........I noticed a price drop......what!! they actually went down:confused: So I spent an hour on the phone with the airline and ended up with $49 dollar vouchers / person for the 5 of us.

 

Verify everything!!

 

If your flight departure changes by more than an hour (I think) you have the right to have your flights rebooked at no additional charge IF A COMPARABLE FARE EXISTS ON THE NEW FLIGHT. This can be very benficial if you have booked the air thru the cruiseline. This means that if they change your flights, you can then have the flights changed to the day before so you can come in a day early.

 

I think that if they had changed my flights 4 or 5 times, I would be really considering going in TWO days early, just in case they cancel at the last minute.

 

Also remember, that if the airline cancels the flight because of weather, your non-refundable tickets become refundable. (Of course, then you have to find new tickets which will be higher priced) I have had to take advantage of this fact recently to attend a trade show.

 

Keep checking your flight times!

 

Well you guys have been great. Chitown I checked the prices after reading your post and they had switched me to lower priced but odd times, long layover flights. I called Orbitz and asked them to refund me the difference if they expected me to take the crappy times or put me back on my original flight. They claimed the original flight no longer existed but I had already found the flight (which was an afternoon arrival with only a 1 hr layover now selling for a premium price). She said are you a travel agent!? No but will you quit lying if I say I am? Let me call American Airlines she said.......American has agreed to refund your fare she says. What? Then quietly she tells me that anytime that an airline changes your flight schedule by more then an hour you are entitled to a refund even if the ticket is non-refundable. Almost what you thought mapsmith. So I asked how in the world could I decide in that moment without knowing what else was available and for what price. No problem, call back anytime to cancel or just keep the flight. She even made the AA agent put a note on my itinerary to that effect. Today I found a better flight on United AND it was $110 less and I cancelled the American flights.

 

I did know that you had to accept any changes to your itinerary or they would try and accommadate you on a different flight if you called but am dumbfounded that I never knew about the refund policies. Makes sense though. If I ordered a large green shirt and a small blue shirt arrived in the mail I wouldn't be required to accept it.

 

I am lucky I found that flight. I imagine they have you over a barrel most of the time though. American now has a whole slew of new times and prices to San Juan and will end up deleting most of those flights and jerking other people around.

 

American Airlines you suck!

[PINEVIEW01]

This is ridiculous.....I bought a ticket to San Juan in February. I have now been notified 4 times that they have changed my flights. I know the airlines have to make a profit but this is maddening. I booked thru Orbitz. I know they have nothing to do with flight changes but do the airlines mess around with the seats purchased on those sites more often then tickets purchased directly. I saw on the news that flight cancellations are up 91% this year as airlines try to increase profits and jostle people around to fill a plane completely. So my question is what has been everyone's experience so far this year?

Liz

Every single flight I have booked, all thru the different airline, has been changed at least twice. Except the TA flight to London and it has only been changed once.

[skyscanr]

The airlines would not be delta would it? They changed flights on us so many times, I do not think I will use them again.

[tinlizzy]

Delta changed upcoming flights to NYC to arrive 5 hrs later (10:15pm) then planned. They actually moved us to a closer airport to accommodate my request for times closer to the original itinerary. Travelling with my mother and 2 teens may have been why they bent over backwards to rectify the change.

 

American was the airline with all the wild changes to San Juan. BTW: I paid $515 for that ticket in February to get the times I liked.

 

If the airlines want to make a profit then they need to

forecast demand instead of offering a multitude of flights then paring them down to save on fuel and employee costs. They also need to adjust fares if they want you to take an off-time flight with long layovers.