Just made a $350 MISTAKE!!!!

[KBT35]

So recently I boasted about getting such a great airfare to MCO and was worried that my departure time of 12:05 was too early!!! Well that was the least of it! For whatever reason today I was compelled to just look again at the dates and to my gut wrenching dismay realized instead of counting technically 5 days for a 4 NIGHT cruise I only counted 4 DAYS!!!!
So I called Delta to see what my options are and pulled up pricing on Kayak at the same time! Delta said it would cost me $245 per ticket to move or return date back 1 day! Yet on Kayak the fare to just rebook the flight came to $157 each roundtrip, which was actually cheaper than our original tickets!!! After 15 mins of going over and over different options I decided to cancel my original tickets, this gave me a credit of $147 to use towards future travel within a year and went ahead and rebooked us for $157 ea! I am so MAD at myself!! Uggghhhhhh!!! There goes our dolphin excursion money!! So all in all I've now spent $594 just in airfare alone! I know many spend much more but I only live a state away from Florida and I HATE wasting money because of mistakes!!
Temper tantrum over...carry on.....

 

[Mortlives]

I've done something similar, but I had entered the correct dates, but did some fooling around and only noticed months later that the departure date had somehow gotten changed to over a month early.

My carelessness cost me $900. Hope you feel better. Look on the bright side: now you'll have to book another trip to use up those credits.

 

[breakingd_awn]

I've also done something similar, I had booked our return airfare and about a month after checked all my ticket info and discovered I had actually booked our flights for that day(the day I was online!) I called southwest in tears and they were great! She said "yep , hun you missed your flight" Luckily I had booked with southwest and they just carried the credit over to the day I wanted. We weren't out any money.If it was any other airline we would have lost around $700. I love southwest Now I check,recheck and check again.

 

[princessmom29]

Something to think about for next time:
Why are you flying at all??? Unless I had a major time crunch I wouldn't even consider flying from Birmingham to Orlando. Just overnight in Mobile. Also, I don't know how you are getting flights that cheap out of Birmingham??? I have never seen less than $400 pp out of anything in south Alabama, Mississippi, New Orleans, or even Baton Rouge.

 

[StaciMay]

I just did something similar too. I have been bidding on Priceline for a hotel in Cape Canaveral for about a week, trying to see if I could get Country Inn and Suites for around $70. Well, one night I won for $65 and I was so excited. Then I realized that I hadn't entered the correct date (in April) and the hotel room was for that night (in Feb). I called them immediately and they said if I booked a room at there current rates ($99) or won the bid, that they would just charge me a $25 fee. So, I booked the room at the current rate. So the hotel room that would have only been $99 ended up being $125. Oh well, atleast I'm only out $25 for my stupid mistake.

Lesson learned... Always check and recheck dates when making reservations online!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So recently I boasted about getting such a great airfare to MCO and was worried that my departure time of 12:05 was too early!!! Well that was the least of it! For whatever reason today I was compelled to just look again at the dates and to my gut wrenching dismay realized instead of counting technically 5 days for a 4 NIGHT cruise I only counted 4 DAYS!!!!
So I called Delta to see what my options are and pulled up pricing on Kayak at the same time! Delta said it would cost me $245 per ticket to move or return date back 1 day! Yet on Kayak the fare to just rebook the flight came to $157 each roundtrip, which was actually cheaper than our original tickets!!! After 15 mins of going over and over different options I decided to cancel my original tickets, this gave me a credit of $147 to use towards future travel within a year and went ahead and rebooked us for $157 ea! I am so MAD at myself!! Uggghhhhhh!!! There goes our dolphin excursion money!! So all in all I've now spent $594 just in airfare alone! I know many spend much more but I only live a state away from Florida and I HATE wasting money because of mistakes!!
Temper tantrum over...carry on.....

I know you must be absolutely sick over it but better to find out your error now instead of later. While on a beach in Jamaica on a Carnival cruise, I ran into a receptionist from our pediatrician's office. She had just discovered that morning that they accidentally booked their flight home 1 day too early. She had to use the ship to shore phone to call home & have her niece call US Airways to quick have her flight moved. She ended up paying a ton for expensive call home, change fees & much higher fare due to being less than 14 days prior. Try to look on the bright side.

 

[KBT35]

Something to think about for next time:
Why are you flying at all??? Unless I had a major time crunch I wouldn't even consider flying from Birmingham to Orlando. Just overnight in Mobile. Also, I don't know how you are getting flights that cheap out of Birmingham??? I have never seen less than $400 pp out of anything in south Alabama, Mississippi, New Orleans, or even Baton Rouge.

LOL! I'm flying because I drive for a living (sales rep, whole state of Alabama & panhandle) when I'm on vacay I'm on vacay!! From B'ham to Mobile is 4hrs, then another 4 to Orlando! And the drive home is always the worst part!! I NEVER drive to Orlando, I want to still like my son when we get there! The furthest I will drive for vacation is Pensacola, Panama City, Orange Beach, Destin....And though I drive for a living driving for long distances is not my strong suit, I'm good for 3-4hrs then I get crazy! LOL!
As for tickets, the past 3 years I have lived here I have never paid more than $247 pp to Orlando and $247 was the original price per ticket for this trip. I usually am able to grab tickets for $150-$180, traveling between B'ham-Orlando, DC, Texas, New Orleans & even Buffalo NY (Corp headquarters for my last company). I use Kayak a lot to book...and I always pay attention to Tuesday Wednesday fare sales. I haven't paid $400 pp since the late 90's and that was from Arizona to Virginia!

 

[KBT35]

I know you must be absolutely sick over it but better to find out your error now instead of later. While on a beach in Jamaica on a Carnival cruise, I ran into a receptionist from our pediatrician's office. She had just discovered that morning that they accidentally booked their flight home 1 day too early. She had to use the ship to shore phone to call home & have her niece call US Airways to quick have her flight moved. She ended up paying a ton for expensive call home, change fees & much higher fare due to being less than 14 days prior. Try to look on the bright side.

Very true!!! I am really glad I caught it just sad that it may take an excursion away...glad I looked at fares on Kayak again too because the fare that Delta had available directly was twice as much as my original fare. They weren't showing the internet pricing so they couldn't offer it.

 

[clten]

This is the one thing I am most paranoid about -- whether doing it for me or for clients. What I do after I book it, is the next day (or just several hours later so my head is clear from looking at dates/flights), print out the air itinerary. Then pull up the cruise itinerary (not just the cruise dates) and compare the two for dates. Most airlines allow you to cancel your ticket for any reason within 24 hours. So I make sure I do a double check before that 24 hours has expired; but wait until I can look at everything with fresh eyes.

It's a hard lesson to learn when you have to pay airline change fees; so I feel your frustration. But at least it wasn't too expensive and it was caught early enough that you could do something about.

 

[RedSox68]

Geez -- I always thought a change ticket fee was about $50-$100. I didn't know it had gone up so much

 

[Mortlives]

Frequently, it's not just the change fee. If the flight you want to take costs more because the price has gone up or the sale is over, you're good for that, too.

 

[MelissaE1]

From B'ham to Mobile is 4hrs, then another 4 to Orlando!

Four hours from Mobile to Orlando? I live on the Panhandle and it takes us about 6-1/2 -7 hours to get to Orlando. I want whatever you're driving!!

 

[KBT35]

Four hours from Mobile to Orlando? I live on the Panhandle and it takes us about 6-1/2 -7 hours to get to Orlando. I want whatever you're driving!!

LOL! I was guesstimating as the other poster had suggested overnighting in Mobile. Like I said I NEVER drive to Orlando from B'ham it's just not worth it and totally ruins my mood!

I do have a pretty heavy foot though, but not that heavy!

 

[KBT35]

Geez -- I always thought a change ticket fee was about $50-$100. I didn't know it had gone up so much

Yea the fee that they had access to had more than doubled since my original booking...so I would have had to pay an additional $500 just to move the return portion back 1 day! It was cheaper to cancel and rebook online....

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Something to think about for next time:
Why are you flying at all??? Unless I had a major time crunch I wouldn't even consider flying from Birmingham to Orlando. Just overnight in Mobile. Also, I don't know how you are getting flights that cheap out of Birmingham??? I have never seen less than $400 pp out of anything in south Alabama, Mississippi, New Orleans, or even Baton Rouge.

LOL! I'm flying because I drive for a living (sales rep, whole state of Alabama & panhandle) when I'm on vacay I'm on vacay!! From B'ham to Mobile is 4hrs, then another 4 to Orlando! And the drive home is always the worst part!! I NEVER drive to Orlando, I want to still like my son when we get there! The furthest I will drive for vacation is Pensacola, Panama City, Orange Beach, Destin....And though I drive for a living driving for long distances is not my strong suit, I'm good for 3-4hrs then I get crazy! LOL!
As for tickets, the past 3 years I have lived here I have never paid more than $247 pp to Orlando and $247 was the original price per ticket for this trip. I usually am able to grab tickets for $150-$180, traveling between B'ham-Orlando, DC, Texas, New Orleans & even Buffalo NY (Corp headquarters for my last company). I use Kayak a lot to book...and I always pay attention to Tuesday Wednesday fare sales. I haven't paid $400 pp since the late 90's and that was from Arizona to Virginia!

OP, I don't blame you for flying. If it's longer than a 6 hr drive, we fly. With stops it would still be a LONG time in the car.

 

[KBT35]

OP, I don't blame you for flying. If it's longer than a 6 hr drive, we fly. With stops it would still be a LONG time in the car.

Yea we did the drive to Orlando from Atlanta this summer with a GF and her family...IT WAS TORTURE!!!! I was stuck in the back with our boys both 8 yrs old and by hr 4 I was ready to push one or both of them from the truck! LOL!

He got more fries than I did, his milkshake has more whipcream, he has more chips in his bag, I have to peeeeee.........OMG.....No thank you!!!

 

[princessmom29]

Four hours from Mobile to Orlando? I live on the Panhandle and it takes us about 6-1/2 -7 hours to get to Orlando. I want whatever you're driving!!

It is right at 8 hours from Mobile with no stops. I suggested the overnight in Mobile becuase I was thinking get off on Fri and drive to Mobile that night then get up Saturday morning and head for Orlando. The 8 hours from Mobile really isn't a bad drive if we get though Gainsville before about 3pm.
We travel a lot to vist family, so my 8 year old is used to several hours at atime in the car. It is 40 min one way to school/ work every morning and afternoon for us!

 

[KBT35]

It is right at 8 hours from Mobile with no stops. I suggested the overnight in Mobile becuase I was thinking get off on Fri and drive to Mobile that night then get up Saturday morning and head for Orlando. The 8 hours from Mobile really isn't a bad drive if we get though Gainsville before about 3pm.
We travel a lot to vist family, so my 8 year old is used to several hours at atime in the car. It is 40 min one way to school/ work every morning and afternoon for us!

Yea maybe if I had someone splitting the drive with me....otherwise it's just not worth the exhaustion & stress. We do lots of road trips too but it's really not relaxing to me at all and would require me to take even more time off of work making the trip even more expensive. Plus my son (9) LOVES planes! There's just something about hoping on a plane that screams VACATION!!!! Probably because I drive so much for my job!

 

[tufbuf]

If it makes you feel better, $594 is a good rate for flights out here on the west to MCO, pp.

 

[Chilly]

I did a similar thing last year, I booked the wrong airport hotel and it cost me a lot to change.

Flights from the UK are at least $800 each