Airline Changed our post-cruise flight!! What now?

[drmrchk]

Gah!! I got an email this morning that Delta changed our return flight. We were booked on a 2:15 from MCO to Minneapolis and Minneapolis into Montana. Apparently they just decided to take away the flight from MN to MT....so they moved the flight from Orlando UP THREE HOURS! So now they have us departing at 11 AM. From what I've read on here, there's no way we can make that right? If it departs at 11, even cutting it REALLY close we'd have to be to the airport by 9:30 to check bags...and it's an hour from Port Canaveral....if we got up early to eat and were first off the ship we still can't get off before 8.....

There is no way for us to get home on Delta it would appear. I can't fly through SLC because the latest flight home is 11 AM. I'm going to call customer service at lunch....but I'm at a bit of a loss. What do I do? I already paid for the tickets. I used my Delta Skymiles card, but I booked the lowest fare. If we have to re-book on another airline, we have to pay an additional ~$100 per person (x4) over the cost of the ticket I got on Delta. Do I suck it up and eat the $400? I don't really have $400. Do I make Delta pay for a hotel room in MN? Then I have extra food cost, and the return home is delayed by an entire DAY, and who wants to randomly hang out in a hotel room and get home like 12 hours before I have to be at work. I'm going to try to get them to book our last leg on a different airline but I'm not sure I can do that.

I just don't see a solution here Anyone have any bright ideas?

 

[Jestocost]

It's theoretically possible to make an 11 a.m. flight but it's going to be tight even if everything goes exactly as planned and you do the express walk-off option at disembarkation. If there are any delays in getting the ship cleared or any traffic problems between PC and MCO, you're going to have real trouble making the flight. You will get responses from people who have made such flights and didn't have any problems so you will just have to determine how willing you are to risk it. Recognize that if you keep the 11 a.m. flight and don't make it, Delta will consider it your fault and you will be completely at their mercy as far as getting booked on new flights. I don't know what they will be willing to offer you as far as overnight accommodations in MSP but if they are willing to put you up overnight they likely will be willing to give you some food vouchers (don't expect much) as well.

 

[Dug720]

Typically when the airline makes the change, if it doesn't work for you and you let them know that BEFORE clicking any kind of "accept" button, they are supposed to work with you to find a solution that works. I don't know what happens if you click that "accept" button and then decide that no it won't work.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

Sounds like an opportunity/excuse to take a next day or two flight out and hit the parks.

 

[ivanp91]

I believe DCL's requirement is flights need to be 1130 or later to take advantage of onboard check-in. You could always try to get there by 11, but it would mean having to collect your bags from the port and check-in yourself at the airport... probably not worth it that early in the morning. Jestocost covered this part pretty will, because it would be up to you to check-in and drop your bags off, not showing up in time would be deemed by the airline to be your own fault.

I work in the airline industry and honestly I don't see you being able to convince Delta into paying for a room for a night. When you book the ticket part of the terms and conditions is agreeing that the booking may be subject to unforeseen schedule changes. If the flight time is changed by more than a certain amount (generally an hour or so) you can be entitled to a cancellation with full refund, but aside from that Delta wouldn't be obligated to have to give you much else. I know, it sounds tough. I personally think the better option is getting a refund from Delta and booking with another airline - it seems like the cheapest, less stress worthy option.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

As mentioned, DCL recommends 11:30am from MCO so you aren't far off at all. I'm not a real risk taker when I travel, however I can vouch I've taken several 11:10am, 11:20am, etc., flights with no issues at all. We even go to the early breakfast in the MDR's and make sure we are off the ship as soon as we are done eating and don't dilly dally. We fly SWA so we even check our luggage at the airport, again no problems. Taking the DCL bus back to MCO we have never arrived past 9:15am which still allows plenty of time. The time needs to be given for TSA as that is usually the time-consuming part so I'd encourage you to go through TSA first, then grab any food or other items if you need to, after.

If you don't have any other options, you should in theory be ok. You might want to grab a quicker breakfast in Cabanas the last morning (if you even want breakfast) and just disembark as soon as you can. I know there are many other factors that could come into play however we've been fine and wanted to offer the other side of the coin

Thanks,
Heather

 

[jrabbit]

Yea, Delta Sucks. We had a really early morning flight out of MCO several years ago (6:30am or so and yea that totally sucks too!!)

We are on the plane and they pull away from the gate and then go "What was THAT!!", 30 minutes later we are back at the gate getting off of the plane. THey didn't know when the plan would be fixed, and had NO PLAN for dealing with a plane full of people. The on site customer service was a JOKE. The bank of phones they had for us was not much better. No One was able to get onto another flight - well we were able to get a different flight out 13 hours later. At lunch time we had to go fight with them to get some vouchers for lunch and they really didn't want to give them to us at only $6.00 per person - so we had to pool a couple of them together to get a couple of pieces of bread (airport prices you know). Then another 6 hours later we had to beg to get more $6 vouchers.

After being held hostage all day by Delta (well Delta encouraged us to leave so they wouldn't have any further responsibility to us) we finally got on our flight. Most of the people that we were with all day were still in MCO and had at least another hour to wait before getting on their cross country flight. We were "just" going home, but there were a lot of people going to Hawaii that missed at least one day, probably more of their holiday.

I wish you the best of luck dealing with Delta - They Really Don't Care!!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

TSA does offer their pre check program at MCO for Delta. If you had that you'd make it with no problem. You have to enroll ahead of time, usually takes 3-4 week to process and is $85/person but that is good for 5 years. Just a thought. I'm sure it will all work out for you.

 

[ldo]

Explain cruiseline requirements of flight after 11:30 and ask Delta to book you on a flight leaving the next day. You will have to pay for an extra night at a hotel, which can be at the aiport, or even WDW, which gives you a day to enjoy DTD, pools, etc. You can also ask Delta to rebook you on another airline. Sometimes they will, sometimes not. Other option is to use self-disembark @ 7:30 am or so and private transfer to MCO. Good luck.

 

[wombat_5606]

They may have other flights you can use. Just explain to them that 11:00am is not possible. We have had this happen to us several times.

 

[JenniHP]

We did an 11:30am flight back on Delta in May and had no problem making the flight. But we were able to check the majority of our bags from the ship, so we only had one bag to check at the airport. Plus we had pre check, so our wait at security was minimal.
I can see the situation from both sides, and think that an 11am is doable with express walk off and catching the 8am Disney shuttle to the airport. But, depending on the time of year your traveling, you can run the risk of a weather delay (boat or bus) as well as the amount of people you have to wrangle in the morning to get to the airport.
I agree with others that a call to Delta to ask about a different flight since your cruise line doesn't recommend flights before 11:30am and see what happens. Best of luck

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Gah!! I got an email this morning that Delta changed our return flight. We were booked on a 2:15 from MCO to Minneapolis and Minneapolis into Montana. Apparently they just decided to take away the flight from MN to MT....so they moved the flight from Orlando UP THREE HOURS! So now they have us departing at 11 AM. From what I've read on here, there's no way we can make that right? If it departs at 11, even cutting it REALLY close we'd have to be to the airport by 9:30 to check bags...and it's an hour from Port Canaveral....if we got up early to eat and were first off the ship we still can't get off before 8.....

There is no way for us to get home on Delta it would appear. I can't fly through SLC because the latest flight home is 11 AM. I'm going to call customer service at lunch....but I'm at a bit of a loss. What do I do? I already paid for the tickets. I used my Delta Skymiles card, but I booked the lowest fare. If we have to re-book on another airline, we have to pay an additional ~$100 per person (x4) over the cost of the ticket I got on Delta. Do I suck it up and eat the $400? I don't really have $400. Do I make Delta pay for a hotel room in MN? Then I have extra food cost, and the return home is delayed by an entire DAY, and who wants to randomly hang out in a hotel room and get home like 12 hours before I have to be at work. I'm going to try to get them to book our last leg on a different airline but I'm not sure I can do that.

I just don't see a solution here Anyone have any bright ideas?

As noted by Dug720, when the airline changes your flight, and contacts you they should ask if the change is acceptable to you. If you say "no" (don't even really have to tell them why, but you do have a reason - the cruise line policy of "no flights before 11:30"), they must help you either get on a later flight, or even on a different airline.

We've had this happen on two of our cruises.

I'm not sure how it works if you say it's OK initially, though. You may be out of luck.

 

[Chaitali]

I just had this happen yesterday (non-cruise related). Delta changed my flight going somewhere and had me landing 7 hours later. I didn't accept but called them and they changed it to a more acceptable option with no problem. They didn't ask any questions about why it wasn't acceptable. Research in advance to know what flight you would like to be on instead and just suggest that to them when you call. She said that there would be a change fee if this had been a voluntary change but since this was due to a schedule change made by Delta, the fees and the difference in cost would be waived.

 

[JW9DVC]

Why not talk to the airline first and see what other options are. While it's not a requirement of the 1130, more a guideline really. It would be tough and stressful.

Talk to Delta, see what they have to offer and then make a decision based on that.

JW

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Yea, Delta Sucks. We had a really early morning flight out of MCO several years ago (6:30am or so and yea that totally sucks too!!)

We are on the plane and they pull away from the gate and then go "What was THAT!!", 30 minutes later we are back at the gate getting off of the plane. THey didn't know when the plan would be fixed, and had NO PLAN for dealing with a plane full of people. The on site customer service was a JOKE. The bank of phones they had for us was not much better. No One was able to get onto another flight - well we were able to get a different flight out 13 hours later. At lunch time we had to go fight with them to get some vouchers for lunch and they really didn't want to give them to us at only $6.00 per person - so we had to pool a couple of them together to get a couple of pieces of bread (airport prices you know). Then another 6 hours later we had to beg to get more $6 vouchers.

After being held hostage all day by Delta (well Delta encouraged us to leave so they wouldn't have any further responsibility to us) we finally got on our flight. Most of the people that we were with all day were still in MCO and had at least another hour to wait before getting on their cross country flight. We were "just" going home, but there were a lot of people going to Hawaii that missed at least one day, probably more of their holiday.

I wish you the best of luck dealing with Delta - They Really Don't Care!!

I had the exact opposite interaction with Delta 2 months ago. We booked our flights from PHX to Barcelona via Cheapoair.com, they were a combination of Delta and Air France (partner airlines), 3 days before we were supposed to return, Carnival put a notice in all the cabins about a possible upcoming Air France Pilots strike and some flights may be cancelled. While in port in Marseilles I called Delta to ask them about the flights. Our itinerary was Air France from BCN to CDG, then CDG to JFK, then Delta from JFK to PHX. The Delta agent confirmed they CDG to JFK flight would not be affected and at that time the BCN to CDG flight was not scheduled to be impacted and should be fine. She then said to me, "Honey, I'm just not comfortable with you and your family taking the chance, how about I put you on a Delta flight directly from BCN to JFK, and take Air France out of the equation?" She was able to get all 6 of us on the Delta flight sitting with each other without any problems. When we got to the BCN airport the day of our flight, sure enough the Air France flight from BCN to CDG was cancelled. She saved us a great deal of aggravation and stress and I'm very grateful for her, especially how I felt after traveling with my 80 year old parents for almost 2 weeks!!!

 

[Jestocost]

Yes, PPs are correct that such a change should allow you to rebook another option on Delta or cancel without penalty. However, it seemed as if the OP already has researched alternatives and there's nothing on Delta that wouldn't involve an overnight stay in MSP and other airline options are more expensive. So I guess the good thing is that the OP does have some options. The bad thing is that all of them involve either a risk of missing the flight, an additional day of travel, and/or additional cost. It's certainly worth calling Delta to see if there are any other flights that might get them home that day but if they don't have anything that will work there's nothing they can or will do.

 

[phinz]

Keep in mind, accidents *do* happen on the Beeline/Beachline and can delay arrival at the airport since there is *no* other way to get there without backtracking and going way out of the way. I've seen accidents with traffic completely stopped literally for miles because an accident had both lanes blocked and emergency crews were working. I'd never book a flight same-day for that very reason.

 

[Quellman]

I'm so confused, they aren't flying from Minnesota to Montana anymore? How exactly were they planning on getting you home? Is this where Salt Lake City comes in? They are rerouting you from Orlando to Salt Lake, then to Montana?

I hope you find the solution that works best. Try and push for a somewhat later time of departure. No reason to be stressed out after a perfectly good vacation!

 

[hanscarlet]

Do you have trip insurance? I think you'll be fine with the 11am... we always end up getting to MCO by 9:30am and that's with stalling and taking our time... if you leave the ship as soon as they allow you to debark then you'll be totally fine

 

[Dug720]

Yes, PPs are correct that such a change should allow you to rebook another option on Delta or cancel without penalty. However, it seemed as if the OP already has researched alternatives and there's nothing on Delta that wouldn't involve an overnight stay in MSP and other airline options are more expensive. So I guess the good thing is that the OP does have some options. The bad thing is that all of them involve either a risk of missing the flight, an additional day of travel, and/or additional cost. It's certainly worth calling Delta to see if there are any other flights that might get them home that day but if they don't have anything that will work there's nothing they can or will do.

If there is nothing acceptable on the booked airline and they made the change, they are supposed to make arrangements that are acceptable - even if that means putting you on another carrier.