US AIR flyers

[laurenk]

Check your ressies. I jsut checked again tonight, and my direct flight out of National had been switched to a non-direct flying to Pittsburg first, then MCO. Our time to depart was also an 1 1/2 earlier. Yuck! Way too early for us! Anyway....we were happy since we were planning on driving this trip, and just getting vouchers for a future trip. Getting a refund was even better. Our flight was for November 30th, so they are already rescheduling for that far out. The person I spoke to was very nice and helpful. Make sure you check, so you don't have any suprises!!

[NicsMom1500]

Hi.
6 adult and 2 children flying on same flight from Rochester NY to Orlando on US Air in late January.

Purchased a direct flight.

Now the flight has a stop in Pittsburgh.

Are these flights being refunded, vouchers, etc?

We are driving but the above family members must fly due to less vacation time. Since they purchased a direct flight can anything be done?

Hoping some flight veterans can give us the scoop.

Thanks,
Kim
vow renewal in disney 1/30/02
and15 family members attending

[laurenk]

According to US Air, if you purchased direct flight tickets out of National, and have been switched to a non direct flight, they will, and I believe must, give you your money back. Call them if you want your money back, and see what they say. They were very accomodating.

[Miranda]

We had non-stop flights out of Boston for 11/8 and returning 11/17. They were cancelled and we were automatically rebooked on flights with a stop in Philadelphia. We had no choice, since all the non-stop flights from Boston to Orlando are Metrojet, now there are no more non-stop flights.

We cancelled the rebooked flights last night and rebooked on Southwest. Better times, leaving from Manchester, NH now instead of Boston (we are from NH), and non-stop flights. A lot cheaper too, even on only 3 weeks notice!

USAir did not give us any trouble about refunding the money for our flights (6 adult tickets) even though the tickets were nonrefundable.

[kimmar067]

I was all set (confirmed my flight of 11/7 out of LGA). "Just a change in time (15 min later) they assured me. Well, I called again yesterday, and the flight (MetroJet) was CANCELLED! I was rescheduled for a 5:05PM flight out of LGA (NOT a good time for us) so I am stuck with a connecting flight (out of Newark, which is actually better for us). The return flight, originally leaving @9PM 11/10 was changed to 4PM. Well the reason I agreed to take a Sat, flight instead of the Sun flight was because of $$ and I would , at least have the whole day to spend in one of the parks (not anymore, with a 4PM departure!). So, we wound up getting a flight on Sun at 11AM, so it really works out better for us. I was offered a FULL refund, so I am wondering if I should just try another airline to see if anyone else has non-stop flights.
We paid $208 R/T, so I don't think we will do any better than that price, though. (we bought our tickets in June). Should I keep what I have, or should I switch????

[ducklite]

That's NJ weekend, fares will likely be SKY HIGH! Don't cancel anything until you have your new tickets in hand...

Anne

[Miranda]

You might be able to. Our USAir flights were $235.50 apiece when we booked them in March. Our Southwest flights that we just booked to replace the USAir ones, on only 3 weeks advance notice, were $213.50 apiece.

[phowdershell]

USAir changed our non-stop from Dulles to a connection thru Charlotte on Dec 8. I was able to cancel at a full refund and book new non-stops from United. USAir was very nice about it. They did offer to route us on a non-stop from National and then offered BWI but I declined both. Doubt that National will be up to full speed by then and BWi seems to be having difficulty dealing with the new requirements (IMO).

[joe.hurley]

Regarding refunds,

They MUST (not may, but MUST) give you a refund if THEY changed the schedule and you are (or profess to be) unable to make the changed itinerary.

The rebooking fee they talk about only applies if YOU change you rmind, schedule, etc.

This is how I got a refund of my trip in November.

Regards,

Joe Hurley

[Beverly Lynn]

and to those that say they had a direct flight(which means it makes a stop but no chang eof planes) if this is indeed what you had then whats the difference if its now connecting? but if you had a non stop then I understand why you'd be upset. but I did warn at the end of sep that the schedule change was coming up. they do these on a quarterly basis. the next one will be jan. this one was extreme due to the major changes from sept 11th. in about 9 - 12 months it should hopefully be back on schedule(No pun intended)

[sunflower]

I checked the status of our Nov 26 and Dec 1 flights through the web site. The flight status screen told me that there are no changes. Should I believe this or call anyway. Did everyone call customer service?

[Miranda]

Well, I was one with a non-stop flight, not a direct flight, but I know that I would be kind of upset of I did have a direct flight and it got changed to a connecting flight, because at least with the direct flight, there's not as much chance they will lose your luggage since it won't leave the plane.

[DebbieB]

With a connecting flight, you also have to worry if your first flight is late you may miss the connection. With a direct flight, you wouldn't have to worry about that. One thing though, I've seen cases of direct flights where they do change the plane at the stopover. For example, I was on a flight from MCO to PIT that was continuing to Albany. They made an announcement after landing that people continuing to Albany would have to go to a different gate for a new plane. When checking the flight status online, you will see that the gate the first leg arrived at was not the same as the second leg departure.

[CarolA]

Actually the situation where your direct flight requires you to change planes seems to happen a lot. I have been on lots of planes where the flight attendant announces that if you are continuing on flight 123 to xyz, you must get off and change gates.

[laurenk]

Sorry, I am not that familiar with the correct airline terminology. I had non-stop flights that were changed to connecting. Not direct flights. I didn't know there was a difference. See...you learn something new everyday!!!;)

[Beverly Lynn]

sorry but its a huge pet peeve of mine when people call a non stop a direct flight. a direct flight makes one or more stops along the way. anything ya want to know just ask and I will try to explain the best I can!:jester:

[LindaBabe]

was going out by December I knew we were in trouble (2 seats on non-stops from Albany, NY), so I quick booked two seats on SW non-stops. Metrojet rescheduled us by way of somewhere, I forget - flights would take an hour and a half longer each way. I said that wasn't acceptable, want my money back. Guy said it could take up to six weeks. It didn't. The charge for my SW tickets and the credit for the Metrojet tix hit the same billing cycle. I got a better flight and saved about $15 per ticket.

[seashoreCM]

Many airlines' actual contract with you gives themthe right to add or omit stopping places, thus they can suddnely announce that your non-stop flight is going down somewhere in between.

However some airlines agree to refund your money for the unused portion of your ticket (all of it if your journey hasn't started) if the next flight (first flight if your journey hasn't started) is cancelled.

Most of the exact rules between you and the airline has to do with Rule 240. The airline may mention Rule 120 dot someting but that is an agreement between one airline and another. If there is a conflict, Rule 240 prevails because that is the rule between the airline and you.

*********

I forget what the Rules of the Air URL is but you can click to that via:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

9/65 Disneyland
3/75 (World Inn* off I4 near DD)
4/85 (Kon-Tiki* on 192)
'80s Disneyland once or twice
7/94 PORiv
9/97 ASMu
11/98 ASMu
12/98 (Knights Inn on 192)
9/99 ASMo
12/00 ASSp
9/01 ASSp
11/01 ASSp planned
*no longer exists

[kimmar067]

Since USAir cancelled my MetroJet flights (non-stop), I was given a choice of either a full refund or rebooking. I chose to search for other flights. Unfortunately, the only alternative I could take was out of EWR instead of LGA. It is a connecting flight, which leaves 20 minutes earlier than the original one. but I do not have to travel to NYC to catch a flight. As it turns out, my original flight of Sat. (11/10)was scheduled to leave 9PM and was changed to 8:45PM. That flight was cancelled, with the only alternative being 4PM. That meant our family would lose a day in one of the parks. As luck would have it, we were able to get an 11AM flight on Sunday, so now we have ALL of Saturday to spend in one of the parks!!! Woohoo!!! What a lucky break for us!
I guess the moral of this story is: definitely keep checking with USAir (did I mention that, NOT ONCE did I receive a phone call from USAir to inform me of the changes/cancellations)....

(17 days and counting.....!)

[n8ivcelt]

Leave tomorrow so I called US air one more time to check on flight. Luckily, no changes. But finding that out is not easy. Every time I call them I get some dunce who acts like I am inconveniencing them. I they would let passengers know about cahanges we wouldn't have to call. Oh, for the good old days when companies believed in putting the customer first ( or at least 2nd., 3rd .... ok how about in the top 10).

[cdntowdw]

Sorry to hear of your communication problems with USAir. I on the other hand have had terrific service over the telephone from them.

Just a warning though, if your non-stop is cancelled it could still come back.

I had a non-stop from BUF to MCO flight which I bought back in February. Now I know that is a long time out and schedule changes are likely. It was for an 11:00 am departure. Two weeks ago I got the dreaded call from USAir that the flight had been cancelled and they rebooked us on an 10:45 departure with a stop in CLT and arrival in MCO at 3:30. A full two hours later than original ticket. Made me mad, but what can you do. We took that one.

A few days ago I was checking the flights on their web-site, and what do you know, there was our original non-stop flight available. I immediately called and spoke to a wonderful agent who switched us back to the non-stop flight, gave us four seats all together, with a good view out the window for the kids. He was very helpful.

I jokingly asked if there would be any further schedule changes, and he said my guess was as good as his. Not sure if they would have automatically put us back on that flight or if they only do it if you call:confused:

I do feel lucky to have got this one though:)