American Airlines making reducing/changing flights

[Mark]

FYI..I received my email this morning from American Express...advising me of change

[cruiselover00029]

I didnt get a change email, but when I went to check my reservation this morning there is was. My new flights connecting in Miami. The olny reason i did not cancel all together is because this is a family cruise and my husbnd really wants to go. My in laws will be there along with some more of his family and they do not want to cancel. Also to change carriers at this point would cost us signifacntly more so we have to ride this one out!

[margincall]

Well AA had no more nonstop flights from Newark so they gave us a full refund as soon as we asked

 

We are paying 200 more for 4 adults on Continental which isnt too bad

 

Of course now if we have 2 bags we will have to pay 25.00 for the second but i think that will only be 1 or 2 bags for the fee

[margincall]

Ortech

I see you said youre flying out of Newark-Obviously it may be different depending on the time of year but next January Continental with the fees for 2 people would be about 715 for non stop

We were paying 636 On AA and we felt it was worth it for nonstop flights

[MoonPet]

Just FYI for everyone affected by the schedule change. You are entitled to a full refund or to be accomodated on a different available flight if the airline makes a change to your itinerary by, for example, canceling your original flight.

 

I would call AA as soon as possible so that you have the most options available.

 

Good Luck!

[OleMissMom]

Thanks so much for posting this topic. I was able to get our flights changed from American to Delta at no additional charge. Delta came through in a pinch - I did not want to spend over 12 hours getting to San Juan!!

[Hflors]

Thanks so much for posting this topic. I was able to get our flights changed from American to Delta at no additional charge. Delta came through in a pinch - I did not want to spend over 12 hours getting to San Juan!!

 

How did you change your flight to a DELTA FLIGHT? I didn't know that was an option?

[OleMissMom]

I had booked though Orbitz and had Delta from Montgomery to Atlanta to Orlando and then American from Orlando to San Juan. I called Delta who was the ticketing airline and they accepted the entire flight so now we go directly from Atlanta to San Juan all on Delta.

[ortech]

Ortech

I see you said youre flying out of Newark-Obviously it may be different depending on the time of year but next January Continental with the fees for 2 people would be about 715 for non stop

We were paying 636 On AA and we felt it was worth it for nonstop flights

 

 

i paid 527.00 r/t for 2 and when i checked wit continental it was about 328.00 more so im good now and for those who booked before june 16th you don't pay the extra baggage claim fees . so im travling wit the family in august im good i can check my bags and not be charged! and that goes for my trip to sju so that is the only good thing, i just checked my flights again and my rtn trip was cancelled again so i have to pick another flight well im waiting till november to see if anything has changed.

[Hflors]

I just checked my flights again this morning. The price went from when I paid in March $248.50 rt pp to $666.50 pp for IAD - SJU in Jan! Can anyone say OUCH! Now how many people are going to pay $666.50 to go to SJU?

I checked my flights not many people are on them. I think a lot of people must have cancelled.:(

[kay995]

It is June 3rd and I never got an e-mail...

I checked my reservation on-line and sure enough it was

switched to a new schedule...from Newark to Miami to San Juan

 

So I just called them and got a direct from JFK to San Juan

instead...the lady was very nice about it. Thank God for

this posting, as I would be unaware and probably miss out

on getting new flights. We live on Staten Island and can

fly out of either Newark or JFK....I hate non-direct flights and

have this great fear our luggage will go one way and us another!

 

I cannot wait until Nov and our cruise on the Serenade of

the Seas....staying at El San Juan precruise...can't wait

to taste those pina coladas and some good food! Any ideas

where to eat? What not to miss in San Juan???

 

Kay and Tom

[green eyed lady]

I am not happy :( Got an email from AA that there was a schedule change for my flight. So when I checked, what changed was my SEATS! We originally had 5 seats in row 15...now they're telling me 3 of those seats are handicapped and I can't have them. So now I had to pick from what was left which wasn't much...so none of us are sitting next to each other. :mad: I know I should be happy that's all that changed since lots of people flying from Sept on had their flights cancelled but it still makes me mad...I picked these seats 6 months ago...and what confuses me more is it's the same kind of plane on the way home and we have the sames exact seats and they didn't change those...so when I questioned the AA agent she said there are 2different versions of that plane type, and on the one coming home those seats aren't handicapped...does that make sense to anyone here :confused: OK I feel better now that I vented...I guess I should be happy I still have a flight and that my kids are old enough to sit by themselves :rolleyes:

[TXMary]

I guess I'm the only one that the changes worked out BETTER for. I was dreading getting the email, but I got it early Sunday morning. We originally were booked on an 11:40 AM flight from SJU to DFW. I was a little nervous about making that. Our flight was changed to 12:40 PM. Still nonstop to Dallas. We are happy (but nervous and hoping they don't change them again!).

 

I'm sorry that so many others have had so much trouble.

[scrappin' crazy cruiser]

The AA flights have worked out for the better for us also. We are not going until Feb. 2009. We are flying in 2 days before we cruise and were not going to get in until 9:40 pm ( longer layover)...now we will be in SJU at 7:45 pm (only 1 hour layover in Miami) We like that a lot better. I hope everything works out for everyone. I don't know when I would have found out that I had flight changes. Thank you....my CC friends...for starting this thread.;)

[ststop]

We're lucky so far also. Our 1/24 flight was changed from 8:00am departure to 11:30am. Would like to get to San Juan a lil earlier, but oh well. Our post cruise flight was changed from 6:30pm to 1:10pm departure. Both non-stop. Paid 390.00 each about 2 1/2 weeks ago..... Now, the not so good news. Having no luck booking reasonable hotels for that 1/24 pre-cruise night. Have bid up to134.00 so far on priceline( No Luck)

[Billaskier]

I lucked out too...We were on the AA BOS-SJU at 9:30, pushed up to 6:15 - more time in San Juan! Coming back, SJU-BOS from 3:10 to 1:55...for once, something in my favor! My seats even stayed the same.

 

But like most of you - never got an e-mail. Had to look online.

[Bobblsc]

Fuel costs are the single largest operating cost for an airline. With oil now up to around $130 per barrel, those fuel costs have to be hitting the airlines hard. American lost money each year from 2001 to 2005. They have recovered enough to earn some profit in 2006 and 2007, but so far this year they are again losing money.

 

All airlines have to eventually make operating profits to pay lenders and investors. We as consumers may like low prices and frequent services, but the airlines have to earn money or they can no longer exist. At that point we are all in a "pickle".

 

As we pull up to the gas pump and see almost $4.00 per gallon and that price's impact on our costs, let's also consider the costs for the airlines, and indeed the cruise lines. We do not have a right to low fuel costs.

 

All members of the United States Congress are to blame for our current situation. These people have continually blocked oil exploration and drilling time and time again. They have praised the value of ethanol while at the same time defended high tariffs for ethanol imported from Brazil. Brazil wants to sell us more.

 

There are oil reserves available on our continent and offshore. We can build additional nuclear power plants. (More than 50% of France's electric power is nuclear generated.) We cannot wish away our problems. We must really solve them.

 

To whoever reads this, it is an economic post, not a political one.

 

Bob

[Hflors]

Well I have lucked out. AA, yesterday allowed me to change my IAD - SJU to PHL - SJU which is a direct flight. Actually the plane is pretty empty! The return is connecting thru Miami, but will get us back to Phili in time to drive home that evening. Now I just need to keep my fingers crossed that this flight doesn't get cancelled!

[jmraggs]

Just checked our reservation for September from Ft. Lauderdale to San Juan and AA changed it and never notified us. They changed us to leave at 7:30 am from FTL to DFW for a two hour lay over, then on to San Juan from there getting in after 5 pm. How ridiculous is that! This went from a mere 2 1/2 hour flight into an all day event traveling in the opposite direction. Of course I have had them change that, but now I am leaving from Miami.

[joyride21]

I see I'm not the only one in the position of having my airfare jacked up astronomically overnight. I guess that's what I get for not booking sooner. I have always been loyal to American as my uncle worked there for many years, but it's time for a change. (But even at their $544 rate, that's still way cheaper than the other two carriers that fly non-stop from Chicago - United is $713 and US Air is $769. Utterly ridiculous.) So I'll have to stop in Atlanta on the way there and Orlando on the way back. $333 on Airtran. (Which is sad because when started tracking fares American's non-stop was only $298. She who hesitates...)

[nomarfan5]

We haven't booked yet but I have my own American story to share. Back for our first cruise we booked with them. They cancelled our flight and "forgot" to mention that to us. My SIL happened to go online and noticed it. As if that wasn't bad enough, they wanted to charge us $100 to change to a different flight. Have never flown with them and will only fly with them as a last resort. Good luck to all of you who are affected by their changes. We may be cancelling our cruise because we only have so much budgeted for airfare. Wasn't expecting prices to be what they are. :(

[Mark]

Nomarfan5

 

That is what I did...I told them cancel my flight and give me my money back...even though it was non-refundable, they pushed my flight back by almost 4 hours...so I got my money back from American. Next I called RCCL and got my deposit back from them for AOS.

 

I ended up booking a Carnival cruise out of Miami and got a TBD suite for the same total out of pocket expense and am flying 1st class for free NYC-Miami on Delta by using some of my miles. It is much easier to get good non-stops in and out of Miami and Ft Lauderdale than it is to San Juan and you have more flights and airlines to choose from.

 

Unfortunately the cruise lines sailing out of San Juan are going to feel it as well as the tourism in San Juan with the flight cut-backs. My prediction is that the cruise lines will start marketing themselves more aggressively to people who live in Puerto Rico.:cool:

[Hflors]

Nomarfan5

 

That is what I did...I told them cancel my flight and give me my money back...even though it was non-refundable, they pushed my flight back by almost 4 hours...so I got my money back from American. Next I called RCCL and got my deposit back from them for AOS.

 

I ended up booking a Carnival cruise out of Miami and got a TBD suite for the same total out of pocket expense and am flying 1st class for free NYC-Miami on Delta by using some of my miles. It is much easier to get good non-stops in and out of Miami and Ft Lauderdale than it is to San Juan and you have more flights and airlines to choose from.

 

Unfortunately the cruise lines sailing out of San Juan are going to feel it as well as the tourism in San Juan with the flight cut-backs. My prediction is that the cruise lines will start marketing themselves more aggressively to people who live in Puerto Rico.:cool:

 

I wish we could have done the same thing, but other people from different areas of the country and different airlines are also joining us. This is my last cruise out of San Juan, actually we are thinking of only doing cruises that we can drive to. At least we don't need to worry about all these changes. I have seven months until my cruise and even after all the changes being made none of my three flights (non stop going down from Phl and the connecting in Miami flights coming back) are even near filled. I am keeping my fingers crossed that our flights aren't changed again. IF too many people cancel I am sure they will cut flights again and again until they get full planes. I am not sure they will get many more new bookings as the fares are soooo high!

[Host CJSKIDS]

I am not happy :( Got an email from AA that there was a schedule change for my flight. So when I checked, what changed was my SEATS! We originally had 5 seats in row 15...now they're telling me 3 of those seats are handicapped and I can't have them. So now I had to pick from what was left which wasn't much...so none of us are sitting next to each other. :mad: I know I should be happy that's all that changed since lots of people flying from Sept on had their flights cancelled but it still makes me mad...I picked these seats 6 months ago...and what confuses me more is it's the same kind of plane on the way home and we have the sames exact seats and they didn't change those...so when I questioned the AA agent she said there are 2different versions of that plane type, and on the one coming home those seats aren't handicapped...does that make sense to anyone here :confused: OK I feel better now that I vented...I guess I should be happy I still have a flight and that my kids are old enough to sit by themselves :rolleyes:

 

Call back again and get someone else to help you or change your seats yourself online. You are allowed to have those handicapped seats, it even states that directly on their website. AA screwed around with my seats for a flight from MIA to Cancun in October because they changed from a 737 to a 747. I had picked our seats back in February, 3 together in row 10. They changed us from there to scattered around the plane way in the back. I called and complained and they placed the 3 seats together, just still in the back of the plane and one of them is a handicapped seat.

[TXMary]

Maybe I'm not so lucky. I have a sneaking suspicion that our flight is changing again. I keep checking it and last night I couldn't find it as an option at all. This morning it's back, but when I pretend to book it, it says it's sold out. That's exactly what happened with the 5:45 PM flight and then it was gone completely. I'm very nervous. I wish they would make up their minds. Final payment isn't due on the cruise until the 22nd. If we can't get home from San Juan, we will just have to cancel the cruise and I really don't want to do that. I want to go!!! Hopefully I am just being paranoid. My flights are booked through Travelocity and they have been great about keeping me up to date on the changes so far.