Air Lines.. Mini Vent.. Grrr ...

[pfishgirl]

Let me start by saying, now I KNOW why I make sure we always fly out the day before we REALLY need to be somewhere !!!

Back in March, I purchased 3 tickets for Jan 27 2006 to Orlando. We are going on the DCL Magic Western Caribbean (1st time on Magic) ok so, so far Spirit Airlines has switched our scheduled times to depart NJ and arrive at MCO 3 times !!! If we were to leave on the date of the cruise, we would now MISS the boat... Now, we WERE planning on meeting our friends at MCO, our flight WAS coming in 30 minutes prior to ours, but NOT No More, which means now they have to rent a car too or hang around an airport for several hours...

AND yesterday there was a message on our answering machine that DH's flight next Thursday to Colorado has been changed from leaving at 4:10 pm
to leaving at 3 something, which now means he will miss DS's DR. 1st DR appointment since after his surgery..

WHY do airlines allow you to purchase tickets so far in advance with set times if they are just going to change the times and more then once ???

 

[Chicago526]

I've been a travel agent for 9 years, and I still can't figure it out, either. I can see tweeking it by 5 or 10 minutes here and there, but I've seen flights moved from 7 AM to 8 PM and back to 9 AM in less than 6 weeks time. Try explaining that one to a client!

Good for you for realizing that it's best to arrive 1 day before a cruise, I wish I could convince more of my leisure clients of this! Perhaps I'll cite your example to convince them! Thank God, 95% of what I do is corporate!

Anyway, good luck! I hope you don't have any more schedule changes, or if so, they work for you instead of against you!

 

[Beth76]

I know it's strange. I will always fly in the day before for a cruise. I would hate to miss the boat.

 

[bicker]

It's good that we have airlines now that do it both ways: Most airlines allow you to book almost a year in advance, with the proviso that their schedules will change, and some airlines won't allow you to book until their schedules have changed for the last time and they're ready to call them official.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

This is the chance you take when you book way in advance. It's a trade-off: you get a cheap fare but no guarantee that the flight times and/or equipment will stay the same. This happened to us on our flight on Spirit tomorrow. Our first choice was cancelled and we were bumped to another flight. The flight times have changed several times. However, we got the tickets at bargain-basement prices almost 10 months in advance, so we decided to just go with the flow.