Flight Change....grrrrr

[pjpoppins]

Not sure where you are located but what about trying another airport? JetBlue switched our times a couple years ago out of providence so they switched us no charge to Hartford. We live in northeast CT so Boston Hartford and providence are all easy (even NYC airports but I try to stay away from that area)

 

[usagibuffy]

Now I'm worried. We're planning to fly Delta on a red eye direct flight. I'll have to be diligent about paying attention to the flight times.

 

[maddiebee]

Delta did this to me about a week ago. I had specifically booked direct flights because we once got stuck in Atlanta over night on UHF way to Disney because delta sat on the jet way too long for us to make our connecting flight. They "put us in a hotel" which we ended up getting charged for.
So a week ago they changed my direct flight home to a flight connecting in Atlanta. When I called about it the woman I spoke to was like "oh this happens all the time. People who fly a lot are used to it". Uh ok.

But anyways, the only other flight we could take was an earlier one that still connected in Atlanta but would at least give us a flight after to catch if we missed the connection. I was very polite and got them to schedule my flight to Disney a day earlier, since they were eating up most of my final day. I'm not pleased we have to leave early but now we have an extra day!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Delta did this to me about a week ago. I had specifically booked direct flights because we once got stuck in Atlanta over night on UHF way to Disney because delta sat on the jet way too long for us to make our connecting flight. They "put us in a hotel" which we ended up getting charged for.
So a week ago they changed my direct flight home to a flight connecting in Atlanta. When I called about it the woman I spoke to was like "oh this happens all the time. People who fly a lot are used to it". Uh ok.

But anyways, the only other flight we could take was an earlier one that still connected in Atlanta but would at least give us a flight after to catch if we missed the connection. I was very polite and got them to schedule my flight to Disney a day earlier, since they were eating up most of my final day. I'm not pleased we have to leave early but now we have an extra day!

Please note that a direct flight has stops. A nonstop flight does not.

Airline schedules change. Equipment swaps happen. You have to check your reservation to catch any changes; don't depend on an airline to notify you.

 

[maddiebee]

Please note that a direct flight has stops. A nonstop flight does not. Airline schedules change. Equipment swaps happen. You have to check your reservation to catch any changes; don't depend on an airline to notify you.

Ah yes, excuse me.
I get that it happens. I've had times change before. I just thought it was kind of a big deal to change a non stop flight to one with stops, especially since most of the non stop flights were more expensive.

 

[Satchmo128]

Bummer!
This happened to us for our honeymoon (and we were never notified of it). Day after our wedding and I went online to check us in to our flights (we were going to take the red-eye to MCO that night). I typed in our confirmation code (Alaska Airlines) and an 8:00am flight the next morning showed up. WHAT?!?! I tried it a few more times and started freaking out. Called Alaska and they said that the red-eye had been cancelled months ago and I should have gotten an email. Nope! Grrrrr. So, we ended up leaving the next morning and losing a day of our honeymoon because we couldn't get ready in time for an earlier flight the same day. So annoying!!

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I'll one up you - This past May, Delta not only changed our departing flight time (pushed it out 3 hours) - they changed the city we were flying into. Really? Like we were going to say - "Thanks! Close enough!?".

 

[seashoreCM]

Thanks to Delta, we wound up having to pay double luggage fees on our last trip. ta.

The advantage of using a credit card is that you can dispute the charge. First you need to give the creditor (the airline) a chance to fix the problem but you don't have to do all the legwork.

 

[burne99]

Ah yes, excuse me. I get that it happens. I've had times change before. I just thought it was kind of a big deal to change a non stop flight to one with stops, especially since most of the non stop flights were more expensive.

That's what gets me! A non stop flight of mine was changed to one with stops. The non stop flight was $210 more expensive, but it paid it, as I wanted a NON STOP flight. Sure they changed it for free, but I didn't get a refund for the difference

 

[ConnieB]

AK is actually a better morning park with the animals being more active. Maybe consider Epcot or HS for an afternoon. I personally would do Epcot and see about getting some FP+ reservations.

Sounds like your time is more condensed so this may not be an option, but just going to downtown Disney on arrival day is fun too.

Looks like you are going early October.....Epcot has it's Food and Wine going....so maybe plan the evening eating and drinking.

 

[crazymomof4]

Legacy carriers are the original airlines - American, United, Delta, USAirways. They all release their schedules about 11 months in advance day by day. They do frequent schedule adjustments.

Southwest is different, they release their schedules in blocks, usually closer to the travel date. Southwest typically does not change schedules but there is a post right now on the transportation board where they did and messed someone up.

OK thanks!
Because of this thread I checked our flights and .... found a change! EVER SO SLIGHT... we are leaving a whole 5 minutes earlier on the trip down and 5mins later on the trip home so officially gained 10mins time in FL... haha
But.... I also noticed that both departing and returning flights went down in price so I re-booked all and got a total of 4190 points put back into my SW Rapid Rewards acct!!

 

[crazymomof4]

I'll one up you - This past May, Delta not only changed our departing flight time (pushed it out 3 hours) - they changed the city we were flying into. Really? Like we were going to say - "Thanks! Close enough!?".

WHAT????
I that's crazy!!!!!
When you book is the ONLY assurance from them that you will fly..... somewhere... but they get to pick where???? Like an airline versioned "grab-bag"
What did you do? I'd have been royally steamed!

Note to self: avoid Delta!

 

[crazymomof4]

How frustrating. The airlines offer a certain service at a certain price, then once you have bought their product, they switch it on you. In any other business, it is called bait and switch and highly frowned upon. I'm not sure why airlines are the exception.

This happened to me a few years ago, when Midwest Express was experiencing a transition/selling their airline. They switched my flight from a morning flight to an afternoon, with arrival at night. I found a flight with a different carrier that had even better times than the original flight. Then I told them I had plans that evening which absolutely could not be changed (dinner at Cindrella's Royal Table) and they agreed to give me a refund. A couple months later, still no refund on my credit card statement. So I called them and they had forgotten. Ugh! The refund was on the next statement.

This is what I am thinking, reading thru these posts!
I am new to all of this.... This Sept will be my first time flying as an adult (flew to CA at age 14 and Europe at age 16- but I obviously didn't do any of the arrangements) and I'm astounded that airlines treat their customers like this!!

 

[chocovrdmicears]

WHAT????
I that's crazy!!!!!
When you book is the ONLY assurance from them that you will fly..... somewhere... but they get to pick where???? Like an airline versioned "grab-bag"
What did you do? I'd have been royally steamed!

Note to self: avoid Delta!

We originally had a connecting flight in NY. They figured with the flight delay, we wouldn't make the connecting flight - so instead of flying us into Manchester NH, the put us on a flight into Boston.
We told them that wasn't going to work for us, so they put us back on the delayed flight, which gave us 7 minutes to make the connecting flight out of NY. They told us if we didn't make the connection, the next flight out of NY was the next morning, so they would put us up for the night.
Good news - we made the connecting flight - Bad new it was because THAT flight was delayed 4 hours.

 

[tnd]

Delta did the same thing to us and I had them put us on an earlier flight. They were very helpful when I called.

 

[bumbershoot]

Note to self: avoid Delta!

The other airlines can do it, too.

Here's the thing; what happened to the person you were responding to was likely just a computer thing. The poster called, got on a different flight.

Last December when Dallas was hit by that awful storm, DH was trying to leave a business trip to get home for one day for DS's dance first performance as part of a dance company. This seemed totally reasonable in November. No one knew of the ice storm to come. He was on American, and while his flight to Seattle wasn't cancelled, it was the second one to SEA on American that got out in over 24 hours. He landed, very late, we got home, went to sleep. Next morning got ready for the performance, got to the venue, got on the phone about the flight back to Dallas. His flight was changed and cancelled SO many times. Most of the times he was automatically put on flights 3 days from then. Ha ha ha. We would call, get it changed to something that day, it would be cancelled and changed again to days later. etc.

Ultimately, because we kept calling and changing what the computer kept doing, he was only something like 12 hours late.


So don't accept it. Keep calling. Make sure you know what your options are. etc.

 

[Kristie911]

I booked a flight on Southwest a couple of months ago. It left at 11:40 and arrived in MCO at 4:45. It allowed my husband to work his night shift and still left us enough time to get to the airport that morning. On Tuesday I got an e-mail and a phone call from SW stating they cancelled that flight and switched us to a flight that leaves at 9:15 and arrives in MCO at 4:40. With a layover in St Louis for just over 4 hours. With two kids? Um, no. And DH was planning to work until 7am which means we wouldn't make it anyway...the airport is about a hour and a half away. I was completely freaking out.

The only other option that day, except for a 6pm flight was a 6am flight. Holy heck that's early. We have to leave for the airport by 3:30. But it gets us there at noon instead of at dinner time. We will use the afternoon to just explore the resort and hit the pool. And, obviously, go to bed early!! It's not a bad change but it definitely caused some serious anxiety!

 

[jcemom]

The only other option that day, except for a 6pm flight was a 6am flight. Holy heck that's early. We have to leave for the airport by 3:30. But it gets us there at noon instead of at dinner time. We will use the afternoon to just explore the resort and hit the pool. And, obviously, go to bed early!! It's not a bad change but it definitely caused some serious anxiety!

This is close to the flight time we usually aim for. We usually check in and head to a park until our room is ready, then go back to the room, go for a swim, have an early dinner and early to bed. We really like being checked into the resort by lunch time. Although we get tired early that evening, it's a relief to just be there. I hope it works out well for you.

 

[Kristie911]

This is close to the flight time we usually aim for. We usually check in and head to a park until our room is ready, then go back to the room, go for a swim, have an early dinner and early to bed. We really like being checked into the resort by lunch time. Although we get tired early that evening, it's a relief to just be there. I hope it works out well for you.

This is my dilemma now...add a day of tickets (it's less than $50 for all four of us) or will we be too tired to go to a park and will it be worth it for just 2 or 3 hours?

 

[jcemom]

This is my dilemma now...add a day of tickets (it's less than $50 for all four of us) or will we be too tired to go to a park and will it be worth it for just 2 or 3 hours?

You could wait until you get there and see how you feel, but then you couldn't schedule FP+ in advance.