Check Your Flight Itinerary Often!!!

[Lil ole moi]

This is a reminder to EVERYONE that is flying!

My DBF and I are flying out of Bangor, Maine early in November. I had originally made reservations just a month ago and got assigned seating with that same call. I don't know why I did, but I got a gut feeling today to check on my flights. It turns out there were some major changes and that I no longer had assigned seating. So I called the airline to make further changes to the changes they made that were more to my liking.

I got a kick out of one of return flight segments....they had us arriving in Cincinnati at 8:15 pm yet somehow or other we had to make the connecting flight at 7:45 pm to Bangor. HUH???? Hey, I'm fast when I have to be, but that's downright impossible!!!!

Anyways, my flights are no longer "the perfect" flights that I had originally scheduled in June, but they'll do. Bummer.

I think I will be checking on-line weekly from now until my November trip. Had I not checked, I could have gotten some really crappy and odd times, with multiple-stops and perhaps even assigned seating that had us sitting in different rows! I would be sooooo

Has this ever happened to anyone?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The airline would have eventually notified you of the change, depending on when their policy determines these notifications. Since your flight is so far in the future, it's possible (and likely) that things will change again. That's why I personally would not obsessively check a flight 4 months in advance. It's too big a hassle to constantly make changes.

 

[bicker]

This is very common -- standard practice in the industry actually. Just like passengers work very hard to squeeze every last penny out of their airfare, the airlines respond by trying to squeeze every last penny out of their revenue stream, but adjusting their schedules in reaction to actual customer demand as it gets closer to the actual flight date.

This typically happens only until about five months prior. Some airlines don't even let you book flights that early, but those that do can adjust their schedules, sometimes quite frequently, until that point. After that point, changes will be less frequent, and typically smaller in context.

Airline policy is typically to notify passengers three weeks prior to the flight date, since by then it is very unlikely that they'll apply yet another schedule change.

 

[roadtripper]

The good news re: flight changes is that I was able to get a refund from Delta for a flight that they changed-- the new departure time would have required us to take off another day of work, which we can't do. But maybe I should withhold judgment until I actually see the refund!

 

[goofy4tink]

I learned my lesson very quickly years ago, with Delta. Now, I check every single day!! The last change in my Oct flights was about 2 weeks ago. I called, got the seats reassigned. Since it was a whole different plane type, I got great seats. So, as soon as I hung up the phone, I went to my itineraries, and double checked to make sure all was fine. Ahh, no. I had completely different seats, in the back of the plane. It looked like a huge group needed to be seated together and they put them all in the front. No big deal, however....3 days ago I got my paper itinerary from Delta. That's something I have never gotten..they have usually just sent it via email. And it has the 'old' seats, from the front of the plane. Wonder if they'll send new papers for the new seats? As long as dd and I are seated together and our friends are either directly in front of us or in back of us, it doesn't matter.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Our flight for September (American Airlines) just changed. They canceled our flight and we got moved up 3 hours. Is it possible for them to still make major changes like that now that we are two months away or will they just be little adjustments. Everything is fine how it is now (DH had to take off 1/2 day now with the new time) and it would really mess us up if there were another major change.

I know you can never tell just wanted to know what other peoples experiences have been.

 

[bicker]

It is possible but increasingly unlikely.

 

[PoohGal05]

After what happened to us with Delta the day before we left, I am diligent about checking flight information once a week. Last year, the day before we were scheduled to leave, Delta called and told us that our flight had been changed. I had to pull the information out of the rep. Then I called our TA and explained what had happened. She told us she would staighten everything out and call us back. Our early flight had been cancelled and they put us on another flight. As we booked our trip through a TA, they should have called her and not us.

Anyway, Delta ended up having to eat the cost to put us on another airlines. We ended up flying American where we actually ended up getting into MCO an hour earlier. We did discover something coming back. Because of having to fly on another airlines and the cancelled flight flying out, we couldn't check out at the resort. We had to go to the ticket counter at the airport to check out because of the earlier in the week glitch.

My mom asks me about every week if our flight is still on schedule.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

This December my family & I are flying WestJet Airlines which is another Canadian carrier to Orlando & flying back home from Tampa. Well this past week they sent us an e-mail saying there was a time change to our flight. When I saw our new flight times, they only made minor changes in the times that will not affect us. Going to Orlando we are now leaving at 10:35 AM, instead of 10:03 AM. Comming home from Tampa we are leaving at 2:24 PM & not 2:50 PM, so at least we will be landing earlier then we expected.

 

[Lisa_Belle]

Our flight for September (American Airlines) just changed. They canceled our flight and we got moved up 3 hours. Is it possible for them to still make major changes like that now that we are two months away or will they just be little adjustments. Everything is fine how it is now (DH had to take off 1/2 day now with the new time) and it would really mess us up if there were another major change.

I know you can never tell just wanted to know what other peoples experiences have been.

Our flight for September (Delta) has changed three times this WEEK! And not those little changes like the 15 minutes or so my departing flight has changed, but 2-3 hour changes (each time) for our return flight. I'm now arriving home six hours after originally scheduled. And, get this, I spoke with two call center folks who both told me that to change my flight would cost me $50 plus difference in airfare for each person. I didn't think they charged you to change flights when they were the ones changing them?

 

[vellamint]

Our flight for September (Delta) has changed three times this WEEK! And not those little changes like the 15 minutes or so my departing flight has changed, but 2-3 hour changes (each time) for our return flight. I'm now arriving home six hours after originally scheduled. And, get this, I spoke with two call center folks who both told me that to change my flight would cost me $50 plus difference in airfare for each person. I didn't think they charged you to change flights when they were the ones changing them?

I could have sworn if an airlines changes your flight time by more than 2 hours (90 minutes (?)) you have the right to cancel free of charge. I know that is probably not what you want to do but I am mentioning this because if you have the right to cancel penalty-free I dont understand why they would not change you to a flight more accomodating to your needs? I would call back (after researching which flights you DO want) and ask to speak to a supervisor.

 

[mommyrom]

My sister flew home from CT to TN this week and I suggested checking online to see if her flight was on schedule before her 2 hour commute to the airport alone with her daughter6. Well, the airline (Delta) had cancelled her flight! She had her cell phone listed as the contact method and she received no notice of this change... Luckily, she was on standby for the next flight out 4 hours later and she was there very early and flew out on that flight...I was shocked that Delta acknowledged they did not feel any need to contact her......

Well, this gave me the idea to check our Delta flights (through NWA) for November and I find our once assigned, then unassigned, then reassigned seats (2 adults and 3 kids under 8) were UNassigned AGAIN!!! I went to the choose seats option and was not happy to find that we are no longer on a 747 from PVD to ATL (ATL then to MCO) ~ We are now flying from CT to GA in a 14 row plane! I am further surprised to discover that from ATL to MCO, we are on a 757 plane! I don't get it. NWA sent me to Delta to inquire about this and then Delta sent me back to NWA (We bought tix through NWA for a "Delta operated flight", which were MUUUCCCHHH cheaper than Delta!)

Sooooo, I am also checking on a weekly basis, b/c who knows what we will be flying in and how many more changes we will encounter without notification before we go...

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

(We bought tix through NWA for a "Delta operated flight", which were MUUUCCCHHH cheaper than Delta!)

I would recommend NEVER buying one airline's tickets through another airline's web site. It makes things very complicated if there is a problem.

 

[bicker]

I didn't think they charged you to change flights when they were the ones changing them?

No: Rather, if they make such a large change in your itinerary (typically more than two or four hours, depending on the airline), and you don't like the new flights, you can get your money back. Typically, that's enough to give you the leverage to get different flights without a fee, but that's not what you're promised.

if you have the right to cancel penalty-free I dont understand why they would not change you to a flight more accomodating to your needs?

It does seem strange, but there are sometimes important reasons. For example, they may already be overbooked on some flights.

I was shocked that Delta acknowledged they did not feel any need to contact her......

Airlines don't have the staffing to try to contact each passenger when there is a schedule irregularity on the day of the flight. We simply don't pay them enough for that level of service.

 

[snowy76]

We are now flying from CT to GA in a 14 row plane! I am further surprised to discover that from ATL to MCO, we are on a 757 plane! I don't get it.

I'm oretty sure this is based on passenger traffic. From SYR to ATL Delta flights are on regional jets but there are several flights per day. It makes sense that ATL to MCO would be a larger plane because ATL is Delta's hub; therefore there are many smaller flights from cities up north coverging in ATL with passengers going on to Orlando. We experienced the same for flights from ATL to New Orleans last year.

I actually love the small jets. For some reason I feel more secure in them, maybe because I can trick myself into thinking I'm on a bus and not thousands of feet up.

BTW, I DID have Delta contact us last year about a flight change... it was automated... I didn't realize this wasn't the norm... maybe it was a special circumstance because the flights were to and from LA after Katrina?

 

[Hugpug]

My American flights have been changed twice since I booked in Febuary. So far I have no problem just changed my seat assignment they gave on line myself. But I do check every other week or so just in case they make a change I can't live with. I do expect they will chage it at least once more before I leave would not surprise me but I do get an e-mail of the change. But I check anyhow myself. Don't trust nothing.