How can airlines change flight schedules without notifying you??

[nho9504]

There are several cities that Sun Country flys to only a couple times a week so it could be days before your next flight. Many cities they fly to are only one or two flights a day. I flew them once and had no problem except for the food. Don't eat their hamburgers, they taste like rubber.

I'm really surprised they are still in business since they don't operate MSP as a hub, 95% of the flights either start or end at MSP so if you want to go from New York to Las Vegas, pick another airline (even though SY serves both cities.) I do like the HHH terminal, security is always less than 5 minutes.

Would be nice to see JetBlue or Southwest move into Minneapolis. Wishful thinking, huh?

 

I believe SY got another capital infusion recently. It seems there are certain interest groups in Minnisota want to keep it in business.

[vjmatty]

You lost me here - do you mean you purchased 2 seats or 3 seats? If you purchased 2 seats, you are entitled to 2 seats, and even if you fly on the 757, there is NO GUARANTEE, someone would not be placed in the middle seat between the 2 seats you picked. :rolleyes:

 

Do you really believe the empty middle seat would remain unseated when you fly? Unless your flight is not a full flight and you are at the very back of the plane, I would not hold my breadth for it.

 

Such open-middlesat happenings in my AA flights, may be 1 out of 5, if that much. Usually by the time we fly, the flight is booked full and there is hardly any seat left unoccupied. I have to commend my husband - he never cares where to sit if the flights last less than 3 hours. He actually PREFERS the 2 seater side of the MadDog. On the other hand, he would not take anything less than business if it is over 10 hours. Me think he has set his priority right. ;)

 

Frankly I am not sure which is worse - having another passenger on the same 3-seat row, or sitting at the very back of the plane (the noise and the lav). :p I have to admit, we did have one flight that a gentleman had his body "spilled" over but luckily it was not a full flight and the FA came to rescue after we were underway. The gentleman got his own row and we could breath. Whew!

 

AAdvantage member - you mean you are a GENERAL member, I assume?

 

Oh, yeah, there are Gold members who are those flies 25,000 miles a year, or have 1 million lifetime miles with AA, (so become Lifetime Gold even they dont fly any), and Platinum members (50,000 miles flown per year), then Executive Platinum members (100,000 miles flown per year). The real differentials start with Platinum, and EXP got lots of differential treatments and that is only natural. I am sure GreatAm would wholeheartedly agrees on that. :D

 

If you are an EXP, on a flight that is not very full, you can ask for the middleseat being BLOCKED so no one could sit there. Or better yet, you can choose the EXIT Row when you go to the seat map. I should add, even Gold can pick Exit Row seats, after the PLT and EXP.

 

Unless you get to PLT - or better yet, like GreatAm, flies 100,000 miles a year, and be the Executive Platinum member of AAdvantage, there is hardly any difference between a non-AAdvantage member and an AAdvantage member as far as any special treatment or benefit.

 

General AAdvantage member, means nothing when it comes to the boarding, seat assignment, irregular operation accommodation, etc etc.

 

We routinely book an aisle and window for the two of us in case no one takes the middle. If someone takes it we offer them the aisle or window so we can sit together. It's only happened once and of course he took it.

[apeller]

We routinely book an aisle and window for the two of us in case no one takes the middle. If someone takes it we offer them the aisle or window so we can sit together. It's only happened once and of course he took it.

 

We often do the same thing. If there are going to be empty seats on the plane, why not try to sit next to one. Sometimes it works out to our advantage and sometimes not.

[nho9504]

We routinely book an aisle and window for the two of us in case no one takes the middle. If someone takes it we offer them the aisle or window so we can sit together. It's only happened once and of course he took it.

 

We do that all the time. Like I said, the scenario the middle seat remains empty by the time we fly, is like 1 in 5 happenings - our flights almost always jampacked - might have something to do with our routes - either they are Transcon non-stop or always to the DFW / ORD hubs, eventhough we generally travel on Tue/Wed because the fares are cheapest on these 2 days which, supposedly, are less crowded. Go figure!

 

Husband likes to watch the tarmac on take off and landing, so we always offer the other passenger the aisle seat and everyone is happy. ;)

 

Husband also prefers the 2 seater side of MD80 because that means if he needs to go to bathroom it is much easier than sitting at a window seat on the 3-seater, given our dismal score on still having the empty middleseat by the time we fly.

 

My point is, the empty middle seat you saw on the seatmap, may not always be there by the time you fly - and it is NOT a guarantee that if you picked that on the seatmap, AA (or any other airlines) would keep that middleseat unoccupied for you. Hence my comments to the poster who got upset on AA changed equipment and she "lost" her empty middleseat. Also about the comment that being AAdvantage member should get better treatment than non-member... well, it is not the case. That is why there are Elites and non-elites. :)

 

Disclaimer, I am a general member only but is working hard to achieve Lifetime Gold, probably in next couple years. However, I have not had a nano second to think a general member would give me any slightest benefit over a non-AAdvantage member - other than that I accrue miles to my AAdvantage account and the non-member got zero because they dont know anything about FF program.

[vjmatty]

We do that all the time. Like I said, the scenario the middle seat remains empty by the time we fly, is like 1 in 5 happenings - our flights almost always jampacked - might have something to do with our routes - either they are Transcon non-stop or always to the DFW / ORD hubs, eventhough we generally travel on Tue/Wed because the fares are cheapest on these 2 days which, supposedly, are less crowded. Go figure!

 

Husband likes to watch the tarmac on take off and landing, so we always offer the other passenger the aisle seat and everyone is happy. ;)

 

Husband also prefers the 2 seater side of MD80 because that means if he needs to go to bathroom it is much easier than sitting at a window seat on the 3-seater, given our dismal score on still having the empty middleseat by the time we fly.

 

My point is, the empty middle seat you saw on the seatmap, may not always be there by the time you fly - and it is NOT a guarantee that if you picked that on the seatmap, AA (or any other airlines) would keep that middleseat unoccupied for you. Hence my comments to the poster who got upset on AA changed equipment and she "lost" her empty middleseat. Also about the comment that being AAdvantage member should get better treatment than non-member... well, it is not the case. That is why there are Elites and non-elites. :)

 

Disclaimer, I am a general member only but is working hard to achieve Lifetime Gold, probably in next couple years. However, I have not had a nano second to think a general member would give me any slightest benefit over a non-AAdvantage member - other than that I accrue miles to my AAdvantage account and the non-member got zero because they dont know anything about FF program.

 

Any flight we take usually originates out of Burlington Vt (BVT) which means the first segment we get an empty middle seat, or it is a plane with two seats on each side so there is no middle. If our connection is in one of the NYC airports, we get the smaller plane with no middle. I think the United flight we take next April to LAX has a middle seat because it connects in Chicago each way. I still can't predict at what distance warrants a plane with three on each side.

 

Interestingly, we have an AA flight overseas in December that is 2-3-2. I thought all overseas flights were 3-4-3. We are taking 2 kids, so I put us in two different rows of two so the kids can be near the windows since they've never flown before.

[megr1125]

We often do the same thing. If there are going to be empty seats on the plane, why not try to sit next to one. Sometimes it works out to our advantage and sometimes not.

 

 

Empty seats??? On flights??? Now-a-days?????? Yeah right!:rolleyes: :D We used to do that too,.....i think it worked ONCE....

[tothemall&beyond]

I just don't get how airlines can make changes to a flight schedule and not notify passengers. Luckily, I frequent these boards and have learned to check for myself periodically. Here is a classic example:

 

I booked a Delta flight for our November cruise back in March. So far, the flight times have changed twice, but just by a few minutes each way. No big deal.

 

This morning I go to check it, and they have us arriving in ATL at 2:16 pm. with our connecting flight leaving at 2:15!!! I didn't get a phone call or an e-mail notifying me of the change, even though Delta has both on file. So if I hadn't checked, I may have gotten stuck in ATL! :eek:

 

I realize that airlines have to make changes sometimes. My only complaint is that they don't notify passengers. That just seems like bad business to me.

 

Delta is very well-known for doing this. As you said, you have to doggedly keep checking your reservations online.

 

Two examples...

 

In May 2006, our older son graduated college in NYC on a Friday, and our younger one was graduating high school the next day -- in South Florida. When we got to JFK at 6am for our early morning Saturday flight, we were told that our flight was cancelled and that they'd put us on another one --13 HOURS later. No notice, even though, as we later found out, they had actually cancelled the flight some 10 hours earlier. No weather or mechanical reasons for cancellation. Just cancelled. Probably not enough seats filled... We made them get us back home for the graduation, but it was by the skin of our teeth, and not to the airport where our car was.

 

But most recently, we had a host of problems with Delta making changes to reservations we made in December 2007 for travel to Alaska in May 2008. We picked our seats for all four legs of the flights (FLL-ATL-ANC/SEA-ATL-FLL) when we booked in December. You would assume that we would be all set. Nope. Delta changed the equipment for 3 of the 4 legs, and unilaterally changed our seats from the front of the plane to the very back - near the bathrooms - on all 3 flights. No notice. Luckily, I knew to keep periodically checking the website and caught the seat changes. So, I got our seats (or comparable ones) back. Then they changed our outbound flight times so that we would have only a 35 minute connection in Atlanta. Again, no notice. Then they changed our return flight time causing us to lose lose three hours of our time in Seattle. Again, no notice. Then they again changed our seats on two legs (this time without any equipment changes). Again, no notice. And finally, only a few days before we flew, they changed the baggage rules from 2 checked bags to 1 bag. Again, no notice. But I caught it on the website. In each case, I would have never known of any of the changes had I not kept checking our reservations online at least once a week every week after the first changes.

 

The airlines do not believe in customer service on any level anymore. It's up to us to be our own advocates.

[tothemall&beyond]

Any flight we take usually originates out of Burlington Vt (BVT) which means the first segment we get an empty middle seat, or it is a plane with two seats on each side so there is no middle. If our connection is in one of the NYC airports, we get the smaller plane with no middle. I think the United flight we take next April to LAX has a middle seat because it connects in Chicago each way. I still can't predict at what distance warrants a plane with three on each side.

 

Interestingly, we have an AA flight overseas in December that is 2-3-2. I thought all overseas flights were 3-4-3. We are taking 2 kids, so I put us in two different rows of two so the kids can be near the windows since they've never flown before.

 

 

The 3-4-3 is usually a 747 which the airlines are all grounding now because they use too much fuel. Instead, they're using 767s for Transatlantic and Alaska runs. They carry just enough fuel and are more efficient. They are 2-3-2. We just flew one from Atlanta to Anchorage and had the two-seat up in first coach cabin. It was great!!

[FlyerTalker]

Interestingly, we have an AA flight overseas in December that is 2-3-2. I thought all overseas flights were 3-4-3. We are taking 2 kids, so I put us in two different rows of two so the kids can be near the windows since they've never flown before.

2-3-2 equals a 767 if you are talking about coach. Go to Seatguru.com for lots of different aircraft configurations.

[Host CJSKIDS]

You lost me here - do you mean you purchased 2 seats or 3 seats? If you purchased 2 seats, you are entitled to 2 seats, and even if you fly on the 757, there is NO GUARANTEE, someone would not be placed in the middle seat between the 2 seats you picked. :rolleyes:

 

Do you really believe the empty middle seat would remain unseated when you fly? Unless your flight is not a full flight and you are at the very back of the plane, I would not hold my breadth for it.

 

Such open-middlesat happenings in my AA flights, may be 1 out of 5, if that much. Usually by the time we fly, the flight is booked full and there is hardly any seat left unoccupied. I have to commend my husband - he never cares where to sit if the flights last less than 3 hours. He actually PREFERS the 2 seater side of the MadDog. On the other hand, he would not take anything less than business if it is over 10 hours. Me think he has set his priority right. ;)

 

Frankly I am not sure which is worse - having another passenger on the same 3-seat row, or sitting at the very back of the plane (the noise and the lav). :p I have to admit, we did have one flight that a gentleman had his body "spilled" over but luckily it was not a full flight and the FA came to rescue after we were underway. The gentleman got his own row and we could breath. Whew!

 

AAdvantage member - you mean you are a GENERAL member, I assume?

 

Oh, yeah, there are Gold members who are those flies 25,000 miles a year, or have 1 million lifetime miles with AA, (so become Lifetime Gold even they dont fly any), and Platinum members (50,000 miles flown per year), then Executive Platinum members (100,000 miles flown per year). The real differentials start with Platinum, and EXP got lots of differential treatments and that is only natural. I am sure GreatAm would wholeheartedly agrees on that. :D

 

If you are an EXP, on a flight that is not very full, you can ask for the middleseat being BLOCKED so no one could sit there. Or better yet, you can choose the EXIT Row when you go to the seat map. I should add, even Gold can pick Exit Row seats, after the PLT and EXP.

 

Unless you get to PLT - or better yet, like GreatAm, flies 100,000 miles a year, and be the Executive Platinum member of AAdvantage, there is hardly any difference between a non-AAdvantage member and an AAdvantage member as far as any special treatment or benefit.

 

General AAdvantage member, means nothing when it comes to the boarding, seat assignment, irregular operation accommodation, etc etc.

 

You don't need to do the eyerolling while asking me a question that you were confused about as I am not stupid enough to think that a middle seat would remain open. I purchased 3 seats, though only 2 of us are flying. 2 seats were paid for using money and 1 seat was paid for using some AA credit that I had. So therefore, I am entitled to the 3 seats that I paid for.

 

American moved us to 3 separate areas of the plane when they changed the equipment on both flights even though we have the same locator number. And instead of being in the front, I am now in the back of the plane for both flights, only way I could get 3 seats together. We usually fly business but this time around the flights were $1200 pp and the flight is only 1.5 hours so I couldn't justify either the price or using my miles to upgrade.

[tothemall&beyond]

But most recently, we had a host of problems with Delta making changes to reservations we made in December 2007 for travel to Alaska in May 2008 ....

 

(text deleted here)

 

Then they changed our outbound flight times so that we would have only a 35 minute connection in Atlanta.

 

 

I forgot an important follow-up tidbit here:

 

When Delta shortened our conection time in Atlanta for the flight to Anchorage, it became questionable as to whether we'd make it in time for their highly desirable non-stop flight on a 767 (seating upfront as 2 by ourselves). So I called them to see what they would do for us.

They had three other earlier flights running that route -- I asked if we could get on one of them without any charge because of the scarily tight connection. To my great surprise, the agent said yes, and put us on a flight leaving more than two hours earlier, at no expense. Although we had a long wait in Atlanta-Hartsfield, we didn't care. We got comfortable seats and a table in the gate area, had time to eat lunch, put on our antii-embolism stockings (LOL), watch TV and rest.

But most importantly, it turned out to be very fortuitous because the Anchorage flight was way overweight due to headwinds, and in order to avoid a fuel stop out west, they announced that 28 people would have to come off the plane, either by volunteering or by getting booted. The volunteers were given the standard $400 voucher and a vague promise to get them out to Alaska by the next morning, although not necessarily on a 767 or a non-stop, or even a one-stop. 25 people volunteered, the other three were selected based on check-in time (ie. last in, first off) and physically removed from the plane after boarding. We had checked-in online so I think we would've been safe, but who knows? We didn't volunteer and stayed on the flight. It really did go off with 28 empty seats, and still took an hour longer than scheduled because of those head winds.

[nho9504]

You don't need to do the eyerolling while asking me a question that you were confused about as I am not stupid enough to think that a middle seat would remain open. I purchased 3 seats, though only 2 of us are flying. 2 seats were paid for using money and 1 seat was paid for using some AA credit that I had. So therefore, I am entitled to the 3 seats that I paid for.

 

American moved us to 3 separate areas of the plane when they changed the equipment on both flights even though we have the same locator number. And instead of being in the front, I am now in the back of the plane for both flights, only way I could get 3 seats together. We usually fly business but this time around the flights were $1200 pp and the flight is only 1.5 hours so I couldn't justify either the price or using my miles to upgrade.

 

Sorry, I should have picked the :confused: instead of :rolleyes:, my apologies.

 

I did not think about you paid a 3rd seat for the extra room, as the flight is super short in my opinion, does not worth to be bothered about even if people cannot sit together... Let alone needing some extra room...

 

I am still puzzled by your not using the existing credit to pay for one of your 2 paid seats, and instead choosing to pay 2 seats, using the credit for the 3rd one, for extra room but as you said, it is a super short 1.5 hour flight...

 

I would not pay $1200 pp for a business seat on a 1.5 hour flight either. We usually dont bother to fly business on a pure domestic flight or a very short flight down to Carribbeans - the F on shorthaul equipmentis is simply a slightly larger seat and a few more inches legroom - not of much use for us. Even flights to Hawaii are not really worth it. We would only sit upfront on a domestic flight solely because it is part of an international itinerary which we generally try our best to fly premium cabins. The settings at the front on a 767 or 777, for example, has MAJOR differences from the settings at the front on a 757 or 737 - no way I would squander my money and miles on the 757/737 F. :o

 

The new business seats which we flew on our BCN/JFK leg this May, has infinite adjustments between upright and recline. Though it is still NOT a Flatbed, just a lie-flat seat that is like 170 degree I believe. One could actually "slide" down towards the bottom of the seat if one is of heavy-set. I saw the gentleman sitting accross aisle from me did just that in his sleep. Still, it is vastly better than the domestic F seats.

[nho9504]

Any flight we take usually originates out of Burlington Vt (BVT) which means the first segment we get an empty middle seat, or it is a plane with two seats on each side so there is no middle. If our connection is in one of the NYC airports, we get the smaller plane with no middle. I think the United flight we take next April to LAX has a middle seat because it connects in Chicago each way. I still can't predict at what distance warrants a plane with three on each side.

 

Interestingly, we have an AA flight overseas in December that is 2-3-2. I thought all overseas flights were 3-4-3. We are taking 2 kids, so I put us in two different rows of two so the kids can be near the windows since they've never flown before.

 

The 2-seaters on each side is the RJs - Regional Jets which are used to fly those 1 to 2+ hours routes. They are not very fuel-efficient in terms of per passenger basis if I understand it correctly, so the airlines may have to resort back to the 737's on some of these routes.

 

The 2-3-2 configuration in coach is the 767's - these are being used for the Transatlantic runs.

 

You can go to Seatguru.com to look up different aircrafts each airline uses - this is an interesting exercise, at least to me - because it not only has the pictures of the configurations, but also has brief descriptions on each type of seats, as well as the pro / con if the seats got a half green half yellow mark. On the top of each aircraft page, it gives you the "Pitch" of the different seats on this plane - there you can see, the F seat on a domestic configuration (including Hawaii run, Canada, Mexico and Caribbeans run) is very unimpressed, when you compare that to an F or even a business seat on a plane that is configured for TransAtlantic or TransPacific runs. You will also see in some airlines, the "Front" cabins have a Herringbone set up so the passengers have a bit more privacy. Air NZ, and BA come to mind. I have to say we like NZ setting very much though it is not condusive to conversation, but it really gives each indivual the most possible privacy during the 14 hours long flight downunder if you are going LAX/AKL run and seat at the nose section of the 747. The SFO/AKL 777 is not as good as the 747. We will see if we like BA's "Head against Toe" set up when we fly it this Sept. May be I should ask Global about how he likes it. HaHa.

 

It also gives you the row numbers of the exit rows. In the old days, when flying the first, very early flight out from FLL, we could always ask for the exit row seats at the gate when we flew Transcon - because most business people (the Elites) usually would not pick such an early flight, given the West Coast is 3 hourse behind us. Nowadays, with the flights always fully booked, and we lost all our non-stops to California, this exercise becomes moot.

[nho9504]

I forgot an important follow-up tidbit here:

 

When Delta shortened our conection time in Atlanta for the flight to Anchorage, it became questionable as to whether we'd make it in time for their highly desirable non-stop flight on a 767 (seating upfront as 2 by ourselves). So I called them to see what they would do for us.

They had three other earlier flights running that route -- I asked if we could get on one of them without any charge because of the scarily tight connection. To my great surprise, the agent said yes, and put us on a flight leaving more than two hours earlier, at no expense. Although we had a long wait in Atlanta-Hartsfield, we didn't care. We got comfortable seats and a table in the gate area, had time to eat lunch, put on our antii-embolism stockings (LOL), watch TV and rest.

But most importantly, it turned out to be very fortuitous because the Anchorage flight was way overweight due to headwinds, and in order to avoid a fuel stop out west, they announced that 28 people would have to come off the plane, either by volunteering or by getting booted. The volunteers were given the standard $400 voucher and a vague promise to get them out to Alaska by the next morning, although not necessarily on a 767 or a non-stop, or even a one-stop. 25 people volunteered, the other three were selected based on check-in time (ie. last in, first off) and physically removed from the plane after boarding. We had checked-in online so I think we would've been safe, but who knows? We didn't volunteer and stayed on the flight. It really did go off with 28 empty seats, and still took an hour longer than scheduled because of those head winds.

 

WOW - how can they miscalculate the weight so much? They must have taken on some cargos that they are obligated to fly - would be cheaper to give VDB vouchers at $400 a piece than to boot the freight?

 

We always check-in online if at all possible.

[FlyerTalker]

Likely not a miscalculation, but rather extraordinary weather.

 

The seats were sold on the basis of normal, expected flight patterns. If you get a wide variance from that, you have to adjust your flight plan. To carry enough fuel for the flight, and make all of your other "requirements", there had to be X fewer number of passengers and their luggage. The weather conditions were immediate, not something that could have been forecast when the seats were sold (months earlier).

 

I have also seen this at "hot and high" airports (such as SLC, RNO and MEX) during the summer.....reduced aircraft performance due to those factors means it can't take off with a full passenger load. Thus the need to deny boarding to make the flight plan fall into safe performance parameters.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Sorry, I should have picked the :confused: instead of :rolleyes:, my apologies.

 

I did not think about you paid a 3rd seat for the extra room, as the flight is super short in my opinion, does not worth to be bothered about even if people cannot sit together... Let alone needing some extra room...

 

I am still puzzled by your not using the existing credit to pay for one of your 2 paid seats, and instead choosing to pay 2 seats, using the credit for the 3rd one, for extra room but as you said, it is a super short 1.5 hour flight...

 

I would not pay $1200 pp for a business seat on a 1.5 hour flight either. We usually dont bother to fly business on a pure domestic flight or a very short flight down to Carribbeans - the F on shorthaul equipmentis is simply a slightly larger seat and a few more inches legroom - not of much use for us. Even flights to Hawaii are not really worth it. We would only sit upfront on a domestic flight solely because it is part of an international itinerary which we generally try our best to fly premium cabins. The settings at the front on a 767 or 777, for example, has MAJOR differences from the settings at the front on a 757 or 737 - no way I would squander my money and miles on the 757/737 F. :o

 

The new business seats which we flew on our BCN/JFK leg this May, has infinite adjustments between upright and recline. Though it is still NOT a Flatbed, just a lie-flat seat that is like 170 degree I believe. One could actually "slide" down towards the bottom of the seat if one is of heavy-set. I saw the gentleman sitting accross aisle from me did just that in his sleep. Still, it is vastly better than the domestic F seats.

 

When I purchased the 2 seats I did not have the AA credit. I had 4 business class seats purchased for a spring trip and the price went down so I got a credit issued. The credit had to be used prior to the end of November and I knew I wouldn't be flying American on another flight before the end of November with the exception of our October Cancun trip so instead of wasting it I purchased another seat.

[nho9504]

When I purchased the 2 seats I did not have the AA credit. I had 4 business class seats purchased for a spring trip and the price went down so I got a credit issued. The credit had to be used prior to the end of November and I knew I wouldn't be flying American on another flight before the end of November with the exception of our October Cancun trip so instead of wasting it I purchased another seat.

 

You may not know eventhough you need to use the credit prior to the end of November (I assume the Spring trip was purchased LAST NOVEMBER, hence the deadline for this credit), you do NOT need to travel before the deadline of the credit. You can purchase something even for NEXT year's travel. You only need to make that purchase prior to the end of November.

 

I have 2 cancelled ticket credits with AA from last July. I must purchase something before July 11 and 12 respectively. Otherwise I would lose them all, $1700 x 2 that is. When I saw AA had a sale on FLL/SJC or SFO for just $200 plus $40 tax travelling Sept and Oct, I jumped on it, bought 2 tickets on June 3rd against these 2 credits, for travelling the first week of Sept. I got 2 $1400 vouchers back, which are good for 1 year from June 3rd. Our next pay tickets on AA would definitely be next year, and most likely a domestic one that would not use the full value of $1400. A new voucher will be issued after subtracting the new ticket fare, and the new voucher will be good for another year from the date it is issued.

 

I will have to do similar thing with CO very soon (deadline is July 13). I need to use up CO credit more quickly as CO would only give 1 year life of the residual value from the initial credit. There is no re-issuance of the first voucher (CO calls it Travel Certificate, and it is a e-cert, vs AA's paper vouchers.)

[Cruise Cat]

American changed our flights for late August. No e-mail notification though I have gotten them in the past. Just found out by checking yesterday. They probably laid off the person that hits that button on the computer. Good thing we have a very large gap between our first two connecting flights.

[marving9999]

We have booked the Crown Princess for November 16 from FLL. At the moment we are flying non-stop from Richmond to FLL on November 13. This gives us a cushion.

 

If JetBlue cancels this flight and attempts to book us with connections through JFK, that will be unacceptable. We will either ask for another non-stop from Dulles or we will request a full refund and drive.

 

These days, I WILL NOT fly unless it is a non-stop. If I have to drive to Dulles or Baltimore in order to catch the non-stop flight, so be it. I would rather do that then take a chance with connections at a city where I could actually get stuck.

 

Even if we have problems with the flights on November 13, we have enough of a cushion built in to drive to FLL.

 

Today, with the airlines like they are, if you want to cruise, you must prepare for the alternatives.

[Lois R]

Hi marvin,

When you say you will not fly unless it is non-stop, what happens

if that is not possible?

I am going to Seattle in September. There is no so thing as

a non-stop from here to there.

Just curious if you aren't able to find something that is non-stop

what you end up doing?

[nho9504]

Hi marvin,

When you say you will not fly unless it is non-stop, what happens

if that is not possible?

I am going to Seattle in September. There is no so thing as

a non-stop from here to there.

Just curious if you aren't able to find something that is non-stop

what you end up doing?

 

He is driving....

 

It is impractical for us to drive, if we need to go to Seattle... or Vancouver...

 

I guess the other option is to stay home - always a viable option.

 

For us, we will fly to Vancouver via Houston in late July, and then fly to California via Dallas. Both are non-cruise related, just that we have the urge to travel. :)

[Lois R]

He is driving....

 

It is impractical for us to drive, if we need to go to Seattle... or Vancouver...

 

I guess the other option is to stay home - always a viable option.

 

For us, we will fly to Vancouver via Houston in late July, and then fly to California via Dallas. Both are non-cruise related, just that we have the urge to travel. :)

 

Hi, I saw that he said they drive. I was just asking because

what if there is cruise they wanted to take and those 2

airports mentioned don't come through for them.

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic with my question. I was really

curious.

 

I guess I just figure 1 stop is always part of the plan

when I fly.

I am going to Seattle and I have to go to Atlanta in order

to get there. Jacksonville doesn't have a direct flight across

the country.

[rsinj]

Airtran notified us of their schedule change for our flights next month, but it made no sense.

 

Red eye departing flight was changed to leave 5 minutes later. Original connecting flight the next morning was after a 2 1/2 hour layover. With the 5 minute later departure on the initial flight, they moved us to the next connecting flight an hour later (for 3 1/2 hour layover)! Original connecting flight wasn't canceled or anything, and the website showed seats on that original connecting flight. A call to Airtran got us back on the original connecting flight.

 

Still scratching my head about that one.

 

 

Howard

[marving9999]

Lois, you said you were in JAX. If it were my decision, I would drive to Atlanta and then fly non-stop. Sure, it might be a two or three hour drive. But consider the time for your flight from JAX to ATL and then your layover in ATL, and determine the differences. In addition, the fares might be a little less since ATL has service from multiple carriers.

 

Also, if you connect in ATL, and your 2nd leg is cancelled, and the airline says there are no flights for 3 days, what are you gonna do. You are actually stuck there. If you drive and the same thing happens, at least you can go home.

 

These days, you must look after yourself, because the airlines are not going to do that for you.

[Lois R]

Lois, you said you were in JAX. If it were my decision, I would drive to Atlanta and then fly non-stop. Sure, it might be a two or three hour drive. But consider the time for your flight from JAX to ATL and then your layover in ATL, and determine the differences. In addition, the fares might be a little less since ATL has service from multiple carriers.

 

Also, if you connect in ATL, and your 2nd leg is cancelled, and the airline says there are no flights for 3 days, what are you gonna do. You are actually stuck there. If you drive and the same thing happens, at least you can go home.

 

These days, you must look after yourself, because the airlines are not going to do that for you.

 

Hi, thanks for the reply:)

I guess we look at things differently.;) Atlanta is actually

5.5 hours from Jacksonville....and my flight is the first one

out at 6:30am. There are at least 6 other connecting flights

after mine (after looking at Delta's website).

 

The flight I got was only 131.00 total (including taxes).:D and that

is Jax to Seattle...pretty cheap!:)

 

I bet it would cost me over 100.00 in gas to just get up there.

 

Anyway, as the old saying goes...Different strokes for

different folks.:)

Oh, the one thing I do agree with...looking out for myself...there is nobody

else. I do everything on my own, including cruising solo and flying to

wherever I am going solo.