Continental changed my flight time!

[Princess Mindy]

Slight rant: I decided to be proactive and buy my plane ticket early so as to lock in my arrival time and plan accordingly. Now that I am less than 30 days out they send me an email stating they have changed my flight number and time . I now leave and arrive one hour later than planned. This really irks me because I had planned to have a certain amount of hours before my ADR for dinner. And the worst thing is that there is nothing I can do about it.

Has anyone else had this happen to them recently? Did your airline give you a reason why? It penalizes those who plan ahead!

 

[DebbieB]

Slight rant: I decided to be proactive and buy my plane ticket early so as to lock in my arrival time and plan accordingly. Now that I am less than 30 days out they send me an email stating they have changed my flight number and time . I now leave and arrive one hour later than planned. This really irks me because I had planned to have a certain amount of hours before my ADR for dinner. And the worst thing is that there is nothing I can do about it.

Has anyone else had this happen to them recently? Did your airline give you a reason why? It penalizes those who plan ahead!

Almost all the airlines, except Southwest, make frequent schedule adjustments based on demand. Is there an earlier flight on their schedule you can take? They will usally switch you for free.

 

[Princess Mindy]

I guess I was unaware of this-I have typically flown Southwest in the past but got a better deal on Continental. Probably won't make this mistake again. And there is no earlier flight. I had the 9am one-the earliest available. Oh well. Still it seems unfair-in any other industry not getting specifically what you paid for would be considered unacceptable. Sigh.

 

[Alesia]

That's why I don't make ADRs for arrival day. My last flight (which I booked 9 months out) was changed close to 30 times.

 

[bumbershoot]

At least they emailed you; United did not notify us of changes.

And since Continental is busy merging with United, I might expect more changes for you (and maybe me, too).

 

[ls3015]

Call the airline on the phone and tell them there change will not work for you because of the time changes, and see if they can give you something that will fit your schedule better.
Airlines do this all the time, a lot of it is due to over booking so somebody has to get bumped, just bump back.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

ls3015 is correct. Call the airline. I did this for a flight from PVD to PHX and the net result was a much better flight time.

Ted

 

[DebbieB]

I guess I was unaware of this-I have typically flown Southwest in the past but got a better deal on Continental. Probably won't make this mistake again. And there is no earlier flight. I had the 9am one-the earliest available. Oh well. Still it seems unfair-in any other industry not getting specifically what you paid for would be considered unacceptable. Sigh.

You can ask for a refund.

 

[corster]

You can ask for a refund.

If it's only a one hour change, I very much doubt that.

 

[seashoreCM]

Call the airline on the phone and tell them there change will not work for you because of the time changes, and see if they can give you something that will fit your schedule better.
Airlines do this all the time, a lot of it is due to over booking so somebody has to get bumped, just bump back.

The airline may not move you to another flight in advance while your originally booked flight still exists.

However there are reports of airlines calling people at 2 AM of departure day and people unwittingly agreeing to a switch of flights.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I guess I was unaware of this-I have typically flown Southwest in the past but got a better deal on Continental. Probably won't make this mistake again. And there is no earlier flight. I had the 9am one-the earliest available. Oh well. Still it seems unfair-in any other industry not getting specifically what you paid for would be considered unacceptable. Sigh.

The thing is, when you booked your flight, you agreed to travel from Point A to Point B on a given day. You were not guaranteed a specific departure or arrival time, you were not guaranteed a specific aircraft or a seat assignment. This is all part of what you agreed to when you made your purchase, so you are getting specifically what you contractually agreed to.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Unfortunately, this is a pretty common thing. In January we flew on Delta and both our flights changed several times.

For October we're flying on JetBlue and our flight to MCO was moved 90 minutes later - it's the first flight of the day so not much we can do about it.

Seems like the earlier we book the more flight changes we see.

 

[ccgirl]

Slight rant: I decided to be proactive and buy my plane ticket early so as to lock in my arrival time and plan accordingly. Now that I am less than 30 days out they send me an email stating they have changed my flight number and time . I now leave and arrive one hour later than planned. This really irks me because I had planned to have a certain amount of hours before my ADR for dinner. And the worst thing is that there is nothing I can do about it.

Has anyone else had this happen to them recently? Did your airline give you a reason why? It penalizes those who plan ahead!

I would be thanking my lucky stars it was only a 1 hour delay and they notified you ahead of time. My last two SW flights were delayed greater than an hour and I didn't receive a phone call until I was already at the airport.

Unfortunately, this is a pretty common thing. In January we flew on Delta and both our flights changed several times.

For October we're flying on JetBlue and our flight to MCO was moved 90 minutes later - it's the first flight of the day so not much we can do about it.

Seems like the earlier we book the more flight changes we see.

Exactly. And, that is why SW does not release their flights as far in advance as the others. Less of a chance of flight changes. But, as you see from my post above SW still has flight changes too. Fairly common practice in the airline industry. They are not going to send up a half full flight. They would rather combine planes than waste the fuel for that. Not sure if that is what happened in the OP's case or not. I only book dinner ADR's for my day of arrival because of this. For our next flight, we are scheduled to get in at 10:30 am to Orlando and I still didn't schedule a lunch as I know delays/changes can happen. I will just grab counter service when we get there.

 

[bumbershoot]

Not sure if that is what happened in the OP's case or not.

IMO it's b/c she's booked on an airline that's becoming part of another airline. Changes are going to happen.