Has anyone ever NOT received advanced notice of a canceled flight?

[pnelson]

And gotten to the airport only to be told your flight is canceled? What do you do if it's the last flight out of the day? I'm worried because the flight we are planning to take leaves at 10:10 p.m. out of San Jose, CA. I noticed over Thanksgiving, it was cancelled. When I called Delta, they say sometimes it gets cancelled. I'm wondering if I should book it for next year or take my chances or wait. Do they always give advance warning and then reschedule people?

 

[ducklite]

Generally you'll get advance warning. If you are that concerned, or your travel plans are that inflexible, you might want to make other arrangements.

Anne

 

[Esmerelda]

I was in early October. I had called on Sunday late to confirm our flight from Orlando to Indianapolis. We were leaving at 12 noon on the following Tues (less than 48 hrs to go). I was told that it was being shown as scheduled.

We got to the Orlando airport, Delta counter...and were shocked when she said "oh, that flight was cancelled, our next flight leaves at 4:30pm"....grrrrrrr......no one told us..no one called...and I had just confirmed it. I was NOT a happy camper. (not always the friendliest skies in my opinion..lol)

so to answer your question...YES...this has definitely happened to us....

E

 

[pnelson]

I think that is my big fear with taking a red eye. If it's canceled, they just can't put us on a later flight, it would have to be the next day. I wonder if I should book an earlier flight.

 

[Luv2Roam]

American Airlines did that to me right before Thanksgiving of last year. And basically didn't give a d*%$ if I got on another plane or not. (And I didn't.) And my flight was the last of the day.
Needless to say, I don't fly AA and don't recommend them.

 

[pnelson]

So what did you do? Cancel your entire vacation? Had you called ahead, been told you were leaving, and then when you got to the airport, they cancelled it?

 

[idontknow]

Don't know if this is what your after, but here goes our story......Sat after T-day, my cousin was supposed to fly home to Indy from MCO. Sat morning I called to see if I could find out the gate number. When I called, they told me that they had changed the flight AGAIN!!! (3rd time) No one notified me. I was the one that bought the ticket and my cell number was the emergency contact. (they had no info on him except his name) It did turn out better. He ended up leaving on Sunday and didn't have a layover. BTW, this was Delta.

 

[Kallison]

Yes, happens frequently

 

[Beverly Lynn]

its a shame this is happening. thats what I was a queue coordinator. all I did was notify people of cancelled flights, delays and reroutes. unfortunately cutbucks also means cutbacks in customer service. that sucks.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Beverly Lynn helped me through my grief with AA.
Now I know I have more options and rights that were offered when I was told I wasn't going anywhere that night. So it was a live and learn experience.
I was flying from Omaha, to O'Hare, to S Bend IN for Thanksgiving '00. (And leaving two days before Thanksgiving. So you wouldn't have thought I was hitting the peak time of the holiday travel.)
I got a full refund and I DROVE to Indiana and back. Not that big of a deal. It's just I was not anticipating driving it and was not prepared.
Upon my return, I ranted and raved, and complained to everyone from the DOT to the CEO of AA, and the Nebraska Consumer agency and Attorney General's office. Every branch of government I could think of.
I spoke with AA *customer service* too much and got nowhere very slowly. (Just like their airplane service.) After sending a certified letter to the AA CEO, I FINALLY got a whole whopping $100 voucher. (I had car trouble on the way back that set me back $800. Hence the reason I was flying in the first place!)
Beverly Lynn didn't even think much of that refund.
I had bought my airline tickets in July '00 and showed up at the airport 1.5 hours ahead of time. I never rec'd any call or notice the flight was cancelled.
I used the AA voucher for our DL trip last May. But that's the last time I will use A$% Airlines.
Prior to this I had always flown from Omaha to Midway (Chicago) via Southwest. And that's what I will do again. I have even flown during the peak Thanksgiving time and SW has always been on schedule and wonderful! I really appreciate them now! Plus I can fly RT from Omaha to Midway for roughly $80 pp.
And in case anyone was wondering --- the cancelled flight didn't have anything to do with weather related travel. It was clear weather -- no snow anywhere in the Midwest. AA was way behind schedule and didn't care enough to try to get me on another flight.

 

[pnelson]

Beverly Lynn,

Any advice to what my best options are for next November? I noticed this Thanksgiving, all the late night redeyes got canceled at the last minute. I'm thinking I should book an earlier flight even though it's not as convenient. Also, I 'm thinking of waiting a while to purchase my ticket. With the current state of air travel, there is likely to be a lot of changes before my Thanksgiving 2002 trip.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Just as added info -- my botched Thanksgiving trip was the last AA flight of the day, but not the last flight of the day. And it was scheduled for late afternoon/early evening. (I think 4:30-5:30 pm time frame.)
So even though it isn't late in the evening, you can still get the shaft.
Good luck.

 

[pnelson]

Thanks, Lov2Roam. I realize with all the airline changes it is going to be a gamble, but I think it would be that way no matter when I booked.

 

[mikek]

happens ALL THE TIME.

The airlines (managment, not front line folks) are basically one step above used car lots as far as honesty goes. (actually i take that back, dont want to insult used car salesmen).

Its almost always the "weather" or "air traffic controls fault". THat way they dont need to make any amends to you.

Most egregious example i can recollect:
One time on the way back from orlando to newark, Delta cancelled our 10 am flight supposedly because they expected thunderstorms on the east coast in the late afternoon. It was the second of probably 10 flights a day on that route, and i had checked the night before. Let me help you do the math quickly- two and a half hour flight leaving at 10am lands at 12:30. Slightly after noon is hardly what i would call late afternoon. In fact the storms didnt arrive until 11pm while we were finally arriving.