Early Departures and DME - Please Help!

[julielovestigger]

I just found out that NWA changed my flight to a day earlier. I am so mad!

My outbound flight on January 1 is at 7:30 a.m. I need to know if they run the DME departure buses that early. Also, when do we have to have our bags packed? We plan a long day (NYE) in the parks and will probably not get back to the room until 3 a.m. If they pick the bags up before 3 a.m. then I will need to pack the day before.

I am so upset. Your guidance is appreciated!

 

[beccasmom]

We had an early flight back in June - 7:00 a.m. ME picked us up at 4:30 a.m. You will find an envelope on your doorknob the day before you leave letting you know your pick-up time so you can somewhat plan for the day.

 

[julielovestigger]

I know this may be a dumb question.... Do they pick up your luggage at the same time they pick you up?

 

[goofy4tink]

The biggest issue with those early departures is that you can't check your luggage at your resort if you are flying a participating airline. I don't think the desk opens until 6, or maybe 5 now. So, if you have a 7 a.m. flight, DME is going to be picking you up at about 4:30-4:45...too early to check-in for your flight at your resort and send your bags ahead.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm presuming you know that you don't have to accept that flight change, right? When the time changes by that large a margin, there are several options, so you can ask to be accomodated on a different flight (including flights w/ alternate routing), get a refund, etc. Personally, I'd raise the roof before I accepted a flight change that shortened a holiday vacation by 24 hours.

As for having your bags picked up for an early flight on the 1st, I'm pretty sure that the counter closes in the afternoon, so you would essentially have to have them ready before you left for the parks on the 31st. I think that with an early flight the best bet is just to take the bags with you on the bus.

 

[julielovestigger]

I did raise holy ****. After further investigation, I found out why this happened. I previously called to change the time on my departure flight (Dec 22). When the rep did this, she also grabbed the wrong date on the return flight (Jan 2 to Jan 1). I would never have changed the flight back. However, to NWA, I called to make the change and they will not do anything about it. I agree that I called to change the Dec 22 flight, but not the Jan 2 flight. They offered another flight which had a connection on Jan 2, for $800 more!!!!! Also, the flight I was originally on is completely booked.

Does DME take into consideration the extra time needed to check bags at the airport when the flight is too early to check luggage at the resort?

Thanks again everyone. I am so bummed!

 

[Lewisc]

DME picks you up 3 hours before your flight which allow enough time to check your luggage.

 

[julielovestigger]

Thank you everyone for your support. Really.