has anyone ever had their flight changed by the airline?

[Mousema]

If you are flying Delta, it will probably change again. Ours have changed 3 times in 2 weeks. I now check daily. The last change was only a few minutes but the change before was 5 hours....giving us a 6 hour layover in Atlanta. Everything is fine now, so it will probably change again. We have 50 days to go.

 

[bicker]

If more people would cancel their flight with an airline when they changed schedules the airline wouldn't be so quick to just change flights at random.

However, people don't. People typically book solely on price. They generally don't consider any aspect of service. When they have a "bad" experience with an airline, they think they're making a critical decision when they avoid that airline in the future, but in reality they're simply riding a merry-go-round, because they typically don't bother trying to find out whether or not the next airline they plan to do business with does the same thing or not. (They generally do.)

If you are flying ______, it will probably change again.

If it is more than five months prior to your flight, you can fill in the blank with just about any airline, and you'll as likely as not be correct. A few airlines don't even let you book your flights that early. The rest let you book flighs to a projected, rather than actual schedule.

 

[battricia]

I wanted to add, they didn't just change the times of my flight. They cancelled my flight all together, (I doubt this was due to low attendance, since when I booked they showed the seating and almost all seats were taken), and they gave me a new flight. They're claiming there never even WAS a flight with my numbers. How could I book it then?? Anyway, I'm flying with United as of now. I'm considering cancelling as I've seen on travelocity other airlines have a flight that I wouldn't mind having, at the same EXACT price that I booked in april.

tricia.

 

[Lisa_Belle]

I wanted to add, they didn't just change the times of my flight. They cancelled my flight all together, (I doubt this was due to low attendance, since when I booked they showed the seating and almost all seats were taken), and they gave me a new flight. They're claiming there never even WAS a flight with my numbers. How could I book it then?? Anyway, I'm flying with United as of now. I'm considering cancelling as I've seen on travelocity other airlines have a flight that I wouldn't mind having, at the same EXACT price that I booked in april.

tricia.

Just curious because I'm in a similar boat - did you get a refund from Delta or a credit?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

While it has never happened to me (probably because I mostly fly Southwest).

You have been lucky. I don't understand why so many people think SWA never changes their flight times or has any problems. They do:

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/HomeDrillChart.asp?URL_SelectMonth=6&URL_SelectYear=2006

From Jan-June 2005, SWA cancelled 3,808 flights. 19.35% were delayed. 79.79% were on time.

 

[Pirate Dad]

Happens all of the time. I have had my flights for Oct on Airtran changed 4 times. They were originally scheduled for a 9am departure, now it is 130pm.

I've also had had two significant changes made to my Airtran flights. We are a party of 8 flying with 3 young children. I dealt with Airtran directly (even though I booked through Disney) and they were very accomidating. We are staying an extra night and I am now happy with my flights.

My question is, how soon before we travel could they still make changes? I'm travelling in 19 days (and I'm checking the flight schedule almost daily).

Also, is there any chance we might not get on our flight due to overbooking? We have paper tickets and can NOT choose our seats until I check in at the airport.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Actually, It is a matter of minding or not minding. To me as a consumer it is. If more people would cancel their flight with an airline when they changed schedules the airline wouldn't be so quick to just change flights at random.

That's just plain silly. Do you think that airlines like changing their schedules? That they do it on purpose? Not only does it make passengers unhappy, it affects airline employees as well.

Cancelling a ticket and paying $$$ to do so just because you want to "punish" an airline is foolish. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!

My question is, how soon before we travel could they still make changes?

They can make changes at any time, even after you board the plane!

Also, is there any chance we might not get on our flight due to overbooking? We have paper tickets and can NOT choose our seats until I check in at the airport.

There is always a chance, greatly reduced if you get to the airport at a reasonable time to check in.

 

[dkal95]

Delta changed ours from a non-stop to Orlando to having an almost 2 hour lay over in Atlanta.

I was NOT happy.

I called them and found out that they no longer fly direct to Orlando from Kansas City. They did change our flight to something a little better with a shorter layover but I still wish it was non-stop.

 

[gw_lit]

You have been lucky. I don't understand why so many people think SWA never changes their flight times or has any problems. They do:

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/HomeDrillChart.asp?URL_SelectMonth=6&URL_SelectYear=2006

From Jan-June 2005, SWA cancelled 3,808 flights. 19.35% were delayed. 79.79% were on time.

I don't think anyone said that SWA never has any problems. Southwest is delayed and cancels flights due to weather, mechanical, etc., just like every other airline.

What Southwest doesn't do, like most other airlines, is publish a flight schedule and then constantly tweak and change it. That's why Southwest only has flights open to book 3-6 months out. You can book 11 months out on legacy airlines. When Southwest publishes a flight schedule, it stays as published with very few exceptions.

 

[daisy_77]

I had my flight changed by United twice since booking in May. They offered no compensation the first time so I changed to come in a day early...they ended up changing that flight, too. It is VERY frustrating...especially if you have ADR's.

 

[m4travel]

Tricia - I'm a little surprised that you only have 20+ responses on this thread. It does happen all the time. Several posters have offered reasons for this, as well as time periods in which it is most likely to occur.

Last year Delta changed our flights many times. We thought we were lucky this year - nothing changed for several months - but it's happened again. They were able to give us the same seats (last year we lost our good seats for some in the rear of steerage with the changes). At least the times were not inconvenient.

And although I don't really believe that they change the flights for underhanded reasons, last year's flights did seem to change only a few minutes each time...

<Goes off to check the Delta website now>

 

[dudspizza]

My question is, how soon before we travel could they still make changes? I'm travelling in 19 days (and I'm checking the flight schedule almost daily).

Also, is there any chance we might not get on our flight due to overbooking? We have paper tickets and can NOT choose our seats until I check in at the airport.

Flights can change right up to departure... in fact, gates or flights can change for connecting flights while you are in the air. I make sure to check the departure board as soon as I land to make sure my connecting gate is still the same....

As far as overbooking goes, just make sure you get to the airport early to check in and you will be fine. A group of 8 that shows up 45 minutes before departure is asking for trouble. Make sure you get there at least 2 hours early, if not more, to ensure that you are fine. I personally like airports, so I get there really early to soak up the atmosphere!

Have a great trip!

Duds

 

[NotUrsula]

Pirate Dad, if a legacy carrier has told you that you cannot select seats until you arrive at the airport, be prepared to have your party separated, probably into single middle seats. If you have children in the group, prepare them for the possibility of sitting alone, unless they are small enough to be using a carseat (and ARE using a carseat.) Give each of them a bag with their own snacks, toys, etc.; you don't want to risk having to be passing stuff over strangers.

Any time legacy carriers refuse to give you advance assignments at all, it is nearly a sure thing that the only remaining seats are either a) isolated middles, or b) "prime" seats being held back for last minute full-fare purchase by Elite level FF. They are expecting one of two things to happen: 1) those "prime" seats don't sell last-minute, which means that they can bump other Elite passengers into them, then give you their original seats, or 2) that there will be no-shows whose seats that they can give you.

The odds of being denied boarding are low unless your ticket specifies that you are standbys, but it is possible, so you should arrive at least 2 hours early to grab whatever remaining seats there are (you can ask to change them at the gate if middles are all they have.) You will be compensated if you check in early but are denied boarding.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Also, is there any chance we might not get on our flight due to overbooking? We have paper tickets and can NOT choose our seats until I check in at the airport.

AirTran is different than most other airlines when it comes to seat assignments. Only passengers with more expensive tickets are assigned seats in advance. AirTran assigns seats at check-in time to passengers with better discounted fares, such as "Q","L" and "H." So, there's an advantage to checking in early.

Most airlines overbook flights. Although tourists with heavily discounted tickets are pretty much tied to specific flights, full-fare business travelers are free to change their plans — and they often do so.

The airlines are rather sophisticated at knowing which flights can be overbooked, and by how any seats. Usually, overbooking simply means that flights are fairly full, even though a bunch of ticketed passengers didn't show up.

When more passengers show up at the gate than the capacity of the aircraft, the airline asks for volunteers. A typical offer would be a $300 travel voucher per passenger and a seat on a later flight to the same destination. Usually, there are eager volunteers who are thrilled to accept the offer. Voluntary bumping hurts nobody. The airlines win because they can sell more high-fare seats. The volunteers win because they'll have free air travel on their next vacation. Be careful when volunteering. Some airlines limit you award travel inventory, so it can be difficult to use the vouchers. Always ask what the restrictions are before saying yes.

There can also be cases of involuntary bumping. That's called denied boarding. It's quite rare. In the case of denied boarding, the unlucky passengers are entitled to real money, not just airline vouchers, and a guaranteed seat on a later flight.

Quite frankly, I wouldn't worry about denied boarding. It's never happened to me or to anyone I know. It's not worth losing even a minute of sleep over.

On the other hand, delays and flight cancellations are much more likely to mess up air travel. These can be due to weather, mechanical problems, crew shortages, late aircraft arrival from another city, and air traffic control. Always allow a comfortable time cushion to allow for delays. For example, I would never book a flight to arrive just a few hours before a cruise or a wedding. (For a cruise, we always fly the day before boarding.)

 

[dudspizza]

Pirate Dad, if a legacy carrier has told you that you cannot select seats until you arrive at the airport, be prepared to have your party separated, probably into single middle seats. If you have children in the group, prepare them for the possibility of sitting alone, unless they are small enough to be using a carseat (and ARE using a carseat.) Give each of them a bag with their own snacks, toys, etc.; you don't want to risk having to be passing stuff over strangers.

Any time legacy carriers refuse to give you advance assignments at all, it is nearly a sure thing that the only remaining seats are either a) isolated middles, or b) "prime" seats being held back for last minute full-fare purchase by Elite level FF. They are expecting one of two things to happen: 1) those "prime" seats don't sell last-minute, which means that they can bump other Elite passengers into them, then give you their original seats, or 2) that there will be no-shows whose seats that they can give you.

The odds of being denied boarding are low unless your ticket specifies that you are standbys, but it is possible, so you should arrive at least 2 hours early to grab whatever remaining seats there are (you can ask to change them at the gate if middles are all they have.) You will be compensated if you check in early but are denied boarding.

Airtran does not offer advanced seat assignment on their lowest class tickets. You either have to pay a higher price or book via a travel agent. My first suggestion to Pirate Dad is to call Disney to see if they can get the seats assigned for him. Disney is acting as the travel agent and "may" be able to get this done.

If not, lots of seats are assigned at check in, online or at the airport. I suggest getting to the airport very early to have the best chance of getting seats together, even if it is in a couple of groups together. I wouldn't expect to all be together, and if you are, then great!

Duds

 

[NotUrsula]

OK, I missed that he was flying on AirTran, but technically my advice is still accurate, because AirTran isn't a legacy carrier.

In situations where it is SOP not to assign seats until arrival at the airport, then separation is not a serious worry, of course. Getting to the airport early is sufficient.

 

[WDWorBUST]

It definitely happens. We chose to fly Delta for a direct, non-stop flight to Orlando - now they are no longer offering it. We still got a decent deal but it has changed once more since then. They were very accomodating about changing me to my preferred flights (we only flew the time we did because it was non-stop) so we are actually getting to Orlando earlier but I still have to deal with a carseat in the airport - at least they didn't make me keep the 4 hour layover in Atlanta with an almost 3 year old.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We have NEVER had flight changes like we are experiencing with AirTran right now. They have changed our flights (significantly) 4 times already. I was already leery of using AirTran to begin with and this answers my question on whether or not we'll fly them again. We won't be!

We usually fly SWA or American and never have issues. I'd rather pay a little more than deal with the constant changes.

 

[Pirate Dad]

Thanks to everyone who responded... a great help!

 

[TDC Nala]

this reminds me to check my Airtran flight again - I already cancelled one and rebooked it elsewhere because they switched me to a layover in Atlanta.

I don't much like turning a 2 hour flight into a 5 hour flight.