Do airlines change times often?

[rentayenta]

Is it common for reasons other than unforeseen circumstances? We will be flying, if we take this Sept. trip, and I am getting worried about my flight times being changed. Is this common? Do some airlines do it more than others?


Thanks!

 

[Rustysmom]

Jetblue changed my flight home from 10:30 pm to 6:30 and didn't even tell me. I wrote to them and they said they were in the process of notifying people, but I still haven't gotten an email. I'm kind of mad because that means we have to cut our last day short, but at least now the kids won't come home too late.

They also changed my flight going by 15 minutes, which is fine, but still didn't tell me.

Lord only knows how many more times it'll change.

 

[darlak]

Delta changed mine last for Sept. 6 different times between the time we booked it and our actual flight. The last 4 changes were daily the last 4 days before our departure date. Most changes were small and they did always notify me. By the day were flew out, with 5 small changes and 1 major one, our return flight was over 3 hours earlier than we originally booked. My frustration was that I had booked a flight with an Atlanta 2 1/2 hour layover just so that we could fly home later, allowing us more time in the park on our final day. With the changes, we left at about the same time I could have originally booked a direct flight for the same price, but we still had the long layover.

 

[bicker]

Airlines generally change flight scheduled four or five times over the course of the eleven months between when they first release schedules and the date of a flight, to better adjust to changing purchasing habits but us, the passengers. Some of the low-cost airlines don't even let you purchase tickets and make reservations until four or five months prior.

 

[DVC Grammy]

Southwest rarely changes flight times, probably because they don't set up their schedules as far in advance as the other carriers.

 

[pppiglet]

Delta changed ours twice and AA changed once. Both were just 1/2hr later flights than originally booked.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

AirTran is constanly changing their schedules. Sometimes by a little, but sometimes by a lot. I have learned to keep checking the schedules right up to our trip so I am not caught off guard. AirTran sent us an e-mail the last time this happened but I already knew about it.
Seems like the first flight out in the morning is not changed by much, if at all. During the rest of the day anything, including flights being cancelled, can and do happen regularly.

 

[TMB1203]

I just purchased my Airtran tickets for our November trip a couple weeks ago.
They have already changed the flights, but less than an hour for each.
I'm ok with that. I'd be upset if they changed my non-stop to a stop but an hour either way is fine with me.

They haven't notified me yet either though...
I'll just have to keep checking it as time gets closer.

 

[Detailor]

I think its more uncommon for an airline NOT to change a flight. I've even had an airline change both legs of a two-leg trip from Boston to Cancun and they had us landing at our stop over AFTER the new second flight was scheduled to leave!
I've flown with Delta, US Airways, United, AirTran, JetBlue, American and Southwest from and to various locations over the past few years and the only airlines that haven't changed my flight schedule at least once are JetBlue and Southwest.

Dick Taylor

 

[klwdisney]

It's happened to us a few times with Jet Blue and Delta. But we received emails and phone messages from Jet Blue each time. It wasn't a big deal... we just informed the airport van of the change. I kept an eye on my flights online too... checking in every once in a while.

 

[phillmolly]

i just purchased my flight a week ago for our Sept trip and we already had a time change, one and 25 minuters earlier. I am not going to get to upset over it right now though, NWA still has 4 1/2 months to make more changes. They did e-mail right away though.

 

[seashoreCM]

Here is an interesting experience (Delta).

Almost at IPO I booked flight A. There was also a flight B that I had in mind as a second choice and a flight C that was a distant third.

It was shortly after "9/11" but before the airlines really got into "no waivers, no favors". They cancelled flight A and their computers automatically assigned me to flight B which was only an hour or so different. I did not do anything. Then I saw that I was transferred to flight C but flight B still existed.

I called and they said flight B was overbooked. I did ask to talk to a supervisor giving him various song and dance (Song Airlines had not been invented yet) such as "I booked way in advance" and "I already had flight B as a second choice when I originally booked" and "I now have a printout of my being on flight B". They finally did squeeze me back onto flight B. This was still all about a month before the trip.

Next time I will call the airline more promptly to "accept" the new flight if I like it.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[pcgmom]

I had reserved our tickets with Delta almost 10 months in advance, and they made several changes to our flights. Now, our tickets were award tickets, so I don't know if they had anything to do with the major changes that were made. The main one was that our return trip had a stop when the original tickets did not, and the final leg did not arrive until after 11:00. This set of changes was about the 3rd or 4th that had been made. When I noticed them, I called Delta and explained to them that we were travelling with small children, and I was able to change the return leg to a non-stop arriving at a time close to the original plan. I was not notified of any of the changes, and I had not been checking my itineraries as often as I should have. Watch yours carefully and calmly ask for any changes if necessary. Happy planning!

 

[puffkin]

Airtran changes their times a lot....but usually only by 5-15 minutes either way. None of the other lines I have flown ever changed their times.

I do know that if Airtran changes your flight times significantly, they can rebook you on a different flight.

 

[beccasmom]

Often enough that it pays to double-check. They should call you when they do, but that is not something that always happens (although we have been called a few times). My next flight was changed and I found out about it when I called to make Magic Express reservations....the gal at the DVC reservations center told me! I have found it happens most often at the beginning of the month when they may be using different equipment than originally scheduled.

 

[Snowysmom]

Our Delta flight to Orlando was changed and I was not notified. It was scheduled for 11:55am, they canceled the flight and put us on the 2:30 pm flight. I noticed it when I checked our reservation online. I called and got our flight changed to 7:40 am. Now our flight has been changed to 8:15 am. Not a biggie, but I was not notified. I now check every day because usually when they make a change, the seats come up as unassigned and I have to get the seat assignments back on my itinerary. My advice is to check your reservation often.

 

[a1tinkfans]

The only time my flight plans were changed was with Delta.
I don't fly them anymore for several reasons, the MAIN reason is that using the skymiles for the free flights is a NIGHTMARE. With two roundtrip tickets just sitting their UNUSED it is VERY frustrating indeed!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Southwest!!!