If your flying United or Continental check your reservations!!!

[jenbarnwell]

UGH!!! This sucks! How can they do this....we book in December!!! Now our flight is two hours later! Getting us in disney two hours later (((

The flight on the way back was only changed by 15 minutes!

 

[newyorkmike]

Probably all of these options will be available. Be warned that rebooking on another airline at this late date could result in a large price increase for the new tickets. You need to have them call the airline to discuss their options.

Thank you for the info. We already checked other flights and the nonstop flights out of Akron Canton on Airtran are $123 cheaper roundtrip than what I paid for the continental flights, and they have flights at approximately the same times as the original booking. But that will only work out if we get our money back from Continental.

UPDATE:

Finally got through to Continental. The wait time on the phone to modify the reservation was 36 minutes. The agent I spoke with was very nice and said they have been flooded with calls after the flight changes due to the systems integration with United. Their policy is that if a change in flight time is greater than four hours, we are entitled to cancel the ticket and get a full refund, which is what I did. If the change had been less than four hours, then they would only offer accomodations on an alternate flight +/- 24 hours.

I now have my parents booked on the nonstop flights on Airtran out of Akron Canton, which is only an extra 15 minute drive for them. The $123 in flight savings will cover their Alamo rental car for the week plus $12 in gas money!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Their policy is that if a change in flight time is greater than four hours, we are entitled to cancel the ticket and get a full refund, which is what I did. If the change had been less than four hours, then they would only offer accomodations on an alternate flight +/- 24 hours.

Good information - thanks.

Glad things worked out.

 

[mikegood2]

As dudspizza stated earlier in the thread make sure you check your flight reservations on a fairly regular basis.

United has once again changed our reservations, this time for our returning flight. The good news is that it is only a few minutes later and we still have assigned seats. The bad news is that we are in row 37 or the last row on our plane now.

Are these seats as bad as I have heard they are? Seat Guru lists them as poor seats that do not recline and located very close to the laboratories and galley. Am I looking at a very uncomfortable flight, being that I am 6'4" with long legs.

Sorry about the post but just wanted to do a little venting and remind people to check your reservations on a regular basis.

 

[toocherie]

I know that I booked a flight through Priceline once and they regularly sent me updates about flight changes--luckily my flight only changed about 10 minutes!

 

[bjscheel]

I have now gotten two notices from United about changes to our flight next month. They are not major time changes, but we have to leave Disney 45 minutes earlier and get home 15 minutes later.

Our seats changed, too, but the notices list seat numbers for each flight (different from before), so I assume we have assigned seats yet. They are much further back, but we are still usually 4 across or two and two close together. No problem.

I wanted to add that all of our flight numbers changed, so when we arrive at DME, I need to tell them our new flight number going back. Otherwise we will not be assigned the correct DME bus. So that's something to keep in mind for those of us with changes!

 

[mikegood2]

I've learned a few things from the booking of our flight:

1. Airlines are more likely to change flights around now
2. Don't count on the airlines emailing you the change (even if you are signed up for notification)
3. Make sure to check your flight status on a regular basis
4. When they change your flight, there is a good chance your seat reservations will change or get lost
5. The quicker you spot a change the better your chances of doing something about it
6. Have your sister-in-law call the airlines to talk to them
7. The airlines may do something for you if you talk to the right person

I called my brother up last night to inform him that United had changed our flight once again and my sister-in-law was upset enough that she cut our call short so she could call United. She actually got thru to someone in about 3 minutes and asked if they could do anything for us because the last row (where they had us assigned to) would not work for us. She was informed that the flight was just changed in the last day or two for some maintenance reason, and that the seating assignments were just temporary. The woman told us that she would put a request in the system for row 10, and that the change should happen/show up in the next week or two. Looking at the seat diagram row 10 is in the economy plus section, but she said they were not so we will have to wait and see. My sister-in-law also asked about our other flight where we lost our seat assignments and she also requested the same seats for us, but couldn't guarantee that we would get those.

So we are still not sure about or seats and maybe she was just giving us lip service, but we feel much better about our flights at the moment.

Best case we were bumped up to economy plus. Worst case we are in the same situation as we were when we called.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Are these seats as bad as I have heard they are?

Yes, the last row of seats are terrible. No recline and right by the restrooms. Often passengers congregate here to chat, which can be very annoying if you are trying to sleep or listen to music or a movie. Keep checking the seating chart to see if other seats open up. You also might want to consider a buy up to Economy Plus, if these seats are available.

Best case we were bumped up to economy plus.

Not going to happen. You won't get E+ seats unless you have elite status, are on the same itinerary as an elite flyer, or pay to sit there.

Be warned that with the merger with Continental, United flights are going through some changes, including renumbering seats on their planes to match Continental's numbering systems (this is happening June 9).

 

[mikegood2]

Not going to happen. You won't get E+ seats unless you have elite status, are on the same itinerary as an elite flyer, or pay to sit there.

Be warned that with the merger with Continental, United flights are going through some changes, including renumbering seats on their planes to match Continental's numbering systems (this is happening June 9).

Good to know, didn't think they would put us in E+, even though row 10 is according to the flight diagram. Makes since that they are renumbering so the Continental/United seats would match. Did a quick search and saw that the numbering system so that exit rows are numbered the same on all the different types of planes. Do you know of or have a link to what the new numbering will be on an A320?

I would still assume that row 10, wherever it is located, is better than the last row or not having an assigned seat?

As far as paying for an upgrade for E+, I know my brother would not go for it. When we booked our initial flight, the flight they moved us too, was available for $35 less a ticket, so in his mind we are already losing $35 per with the change. I know that the price difference is not a United problem, but the last thing he will want to do is give them $200 more for 4 E+ upgrades.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Do you know of or have a link to what the new numbering will be on an A320?

Here you go:

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,1078,00.html

Row 10 is in Economy Plus under both numbering systems. You never know, maybe you were assigned row 10 by mistake and the assignment won't change.

 

[mikegood2]

Thanks for the link lost*in*cyberspace I appreciate it.

Not much we can do about it anyways. Hopefully we end up with the seats but even if we don't our seats won't be any worse than what they were. Its at least nice to think that we had a successful phone conversation and they did something nice for us.

Also, I didn't have the conversation so I am just going off what I was told. My sister-in-law was told the seats hadn't been assigned yet (were temporary) and she put in the request for us and we should get them.

I guess we will find out when we fly. The flight is still a month away so who knows how many more times our flights will change.

 

[dudspizza]

Here's another place to look.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/United_Airlines/information.php

They list the seating configuration before and after June 9th.

duds