Airline phoning in the middle of the night re canceled flight

[encinc]

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

DH is scheduled to fly on a business trip today. His flight was due to leave at 1 p.m.. He got a call from the airline at midnight letting him know that "something unexpected happened at the last minute" and they need to change him to a 6 p.m. departure. He's not happy about the schedule change (it means missing an important dinner meeting), but can live with it, because this sort of thing happens. But, what was with the phone call in the middle of the night? Could they not have waited until this morning? I'm now reluctant to give airlines our main contact number when we book our tickets. If DH had only given his cell number, we wouldn't have heard the phone ring and could have had a full night sleep.

 

[goofy4tink]

I have had Delta call us late at night (maybe 11ish) to tell us they are overbooked and would we consider being bumped the next day. Drives me nuts.

 

[disneygrandmom2007]

DH and I just had this happen to us today! We were scheduled to fly to visit friends in Myrtle Beach on the 6:20 AM flight out of Atlantic City. At 1 AM, they called to inform us that the flight was cancelled due to the lack of a crew and that we were being placed on the 7:15 PM flight later today. There goes my DH's 12:30 tee time. I resent the fact that we have now lost a full day of a short 4 day vacation and we had no control over the situation. I only wish SW flew to Myrtle Beach! And I know that we will never book this other airline again! Next time we will drive!

 

[safetymom]

It seems the airlines can't win. People complain when they aren't notified, people complain when they are. I don't know how they would decide when a good time is to call. I would rather get the call.

 

[Tara]

It seems the airlines can't win. People complain when they aren't notified, people complain when they are. I don't know how they would decide when a good time is to call. I would rather get the call.

Exactly.

The late night call isn't that unusual in terms of when these notifications happen. It really can be at any time.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yep. While I understand the first two posters' irritation, I have to agree with safetymom and Tara. The airlines just can't win. Either they don't notify passengers quickly enough of a flight change (note all the "I bought my December ticket in January, it's March, they changed my flight, and nobody told me!" posts), or they notify passengers of last-minute flight cancellations the INSTANT the airline is aware of them (see above ), or they don't notify the passenger at all because the flight is cancelled while the passenger is on their way to the airport (see recent thread started by zimaaaaah), or after the passenger arrives (did I ever tell you about the time I...).

 

[seashoreCM]

Not a most often asked question on these boards or on Flyertalk dot com but you are far from being alone in encountering this angle.

Three independent topics although it is okay to discuss them all in one thread.

1. Your flight was cancelled.
2. The airline wants to bump you.
3. The airline woke you out of a sound sleep.

If your flight was cancelled, you don't have any choice in the matter (other than hand picking another flight or asking for a refund).

If the airline is trying to bump you,
2a. I won't accuse them of conducting a scam to get you to agree by being half asleep and with only the other half of your smarts and ergo being more gullible.
2b. It is a he said she said about what compensation you get when you finally get to the airport to claim it.
2c. I generally recommend saying, "no, I will keep my reservation as-is," and going to the airport and making your decision then.

3. Only this one the airline can't win, either call you ASAP saving you the trip to the airport and waking you up, or not calling you and you waste the trip to the airport.

1a a' la 2a. Ideally you should say you intend to hand pick new flights later in the morning after you have a chance to log in to their web site.

I never (what never? well, hardly ever!) get out of bed to answer the phone.

He got a call from the airline at midnight letting him know that "something unexpected happened at the last minute" and they need to change him.

Warning! Warning! Warning! (said the parrot with a patch over one eye. Question: Where is he? Hint: At Magic Kingdom) See 2a. Quick! Check the airline's on line flight status or automated telephone status line to see what's up with that flight.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[maxiesmom]

It seems the airlines can't win. People complain when they aren't notified, people complain when they are. I don't know how they would decide when a good time is to call. I would rather get the call.

That is what I was thinking.

Heck, I booked my last flights on Delta thru Orbitz, and Orbitz calls you many times to let you know that everything is flying as scheduled. My sis (who I had listed as a contact) really didn't appreciate the phone calls in the wee hours of the morning.I figured they would only call if there was a problem. Oops.

 

[ScubaCat]

And I know that we will never book this other airline again!

That usually holds up for a year at the most. Time and a good fare always buy forgiveness..

 

[Lewisc]

Calling early accomodates passengers who live a distance from the airport. It also accomodates passengers who might want to take an earlier flight, take a different airline (even if it costs the passenger $$$), cancel their trip or need to contact someone at the other end. Move a meeting. Contact a person picking them up at the airport.

A passenger wouldn't be happy if the phone call was made at 9a and the passenger left for the airport a 8:45a.

I think the airline did the right thing.

BTW I think you should give your cell number. Makes a lot of sense.

 

[DebbieB]

It's never good news when your phone rings in the middle of the night when you have a flight in the morning. But I'm glad they do it, gives me a chance to look at my options.

 

[Allison]

Calling early accomodates passengers who live a distance from the airport. It also accomodates passengers who might want to take an earlier flight, take a different airline (even if it costs the passenger $$$), cancel their trip or need to contact someone at the other end. Move a meeting. Contact a person picking them up at the airport.

A passenger wouldn't be happy if the phone call was made at 9a and the passenger left for the airport a 8:45a.

I think the airline did the right thing.

I agree.

 

[bumbershoot]

It seems the airlines can't win. People complain when they aren't notified, people complain when they are. I don't know how they would decide when a good time is to call. I would rather get the call.

That's what I was thinking too.

Heck, I booked my last flights on Delta thru Orbitz, and Orbitz calls you many times to let you know that everything is flying as scheduled.

I booked MIL's ticket to Korea through travelocity. The flight time kept bouncing back and forth. We got no calls, but we did get an email each and every time! I liked the emails, but I'm sure if it had changed the night before her flight they would have called, to make sure we got the info.

 

[disneygrandmom2007]

Just to clarify.......I was not complaining about the 1 AM call. I was complaining about the flight being cancelled due to a "lack of available crew". While I understand that these things happen with airlines, I was very disappointed at losing a whole day waiting 12 hours for another flight. And we were not offered any other option than the 12 hour wait, with no compensation offered. I think that the airline could have offered something for our inconvenience due to the fact that this was not a weather related, unavoidable situation.

But I agree that the early morning call was appreciated so that we could wait at home and avoid a 12 hour wait at the airport. The timing of the call was appreciated but not the cancellation of the flight.

 

[encinc]

Lots of differing opinions here, and I totally agree that it's hard for the airlines to know when is the best time to call.

I posted while severely sleep deprived and was annoyed that the airline disturbed my sleep (I don't sleep well for the rest of the night when awoken by a phone). I suppose it's the annoyance that DH wasn't presented with any other flight options, and there wasn't anything he could do in terms of canceling his dinner etc until morning, so for us, it would have been much better had they waited until morning. We live only 45 minutes from the airport, so he wasn't planning to leave until about 10 a.m., leaving plenty of time to make the arrangements this morning.

We've learned our lesson, and won't give the airlines a number that can't be turned off in the future!

 

[Zion21]

I would never use them again if they did that to me. Simply unacceptable.

 

[meowser]

Yes, I have been called in the middle of the night about a flight change and I was happy to have received he call. And any time that's happened, I've been able to go online and select a flight that works for me - I haven't had to accept the flight I was automatically rebooked on unless it worked for me. You have to be creative in looking at alternate routing, but it's been possible for me to find an acceptable alternate flight - regardless of the flight you're automatically rebooked on.

 

[dudspizza]

I would never use them again if they did that to me. Simply unacceptable.

????

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would never use them again if they did that to me. Simply unacceptable.

Did what? Cancelled a flight on you at the last minute due to lack of flight crew, lack of equipment, weather, or other unforeseen condition? Changed your flight the day of the flight? Called you in the middle of the night to notify you of a last minute flight change?

 

[ssawka]

I don't know how they would decide when a good time is to call.

I don't know, the telmarketers have figured out how to call when you are available!