I'm mad but don't know at who!

[dejavu]

My DH are headed down to AKL for a long weekend -Wed thru Sun- and I booked air, car & hotel thru Disney. Yesterday for no particular reason I checked my reservation online and my flight times have been changed. Here's the problem now the day we arrive our flight arrives at 1:30p instead of 10a and our departing flight leaves at 3p instead of 8:30p. Which really stinks because it's like losing a day and a half of our long weekend- we will have to give up golf those two days which is why we are going in the first place- AA doesn't offer the early morning or late night flights in December now in the past we have always taken those fights- Here's my question -finally- should I pay the penalty and go with a different carrier that has better times or make the best of the now 3 day vacation? We could use the tickets in Feb for another trip we are planning I think. Sorry to be so long winded. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[javaj]

They may give you the option of cancelling without penalty since they changed the times significantly. When we've had that happen, they are usually able to accomodate better times. Since no better flights are available for you, they might give you the option of cancelling -- I'd ask just in case!

 

[kelleigh1]

Sounds like you were flying American Airlines. This is exactly why I won't fly with them ever again. A few years ago, I was headed to Florida and less than a week before my departure, I received a postcard in the mail saying they'd been trying to reach me regarding my flights. Funny...there were no messages on my answering machine and not a single call from them. Must not have been trying very hard.

So I called the number listed to work out my flights. I find out that the problem is that they pushed my departure time back by 4 minutes, which caused us to get into NYC for the connection 4 minutes later than originally planned. Due to FAA rules, they require at least 29 minutes between connections. With the change, it only allowed 25 minutes for me to get from my first flight to my connection...so I couldn't take that connection. I was supposed to be in Tampa at 11:30am...which wasn't my final destination, but I was going to stop and spend the day with a friend at Busch Gardens before heading to Ft. Myers and my hotel. End result...after all the connections and problems and the drive from Tampa, I finally got to my hotel at 10:30pm after having left Providence at 7:00am. And American's response to my complaint and the problem that I paid for tickets to Busch Gardens that I couldn't use - "Sorry. These things happen and we don't refund for $$ lost on event tickets." I was furious. It was ok for them to change my flights without warning, but had I called and tried to change them myself, I would have been slapped with a change fee. (Sorry about the long vent.)

Honestly...I'd change the flights and take the penalty. You're paying enough for the weekend anyway, you should get to enjoy it. But you have to do what's right for you.

 

[dejavu]

Thanks-I was planning on doing that today with American first and then with Disney to see what they say.It just seems that there is less and less customer service so I really don't know what to expect- AA is our preferred carrier out of O;Hare.

 

[SB in KY]

If they change your flight times by more than 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the airline) they have to either refund your $$ without penalty or let you change to any available flights without a change fee....don't let them tell you otherwise. Ask to speak with a supervisor if you have to. Delta agents can do it themselves, at Continental and NW you have to talk to someone way up the chain (don't know about AA cause we very rarely fly with them)...but be persistant and either get your $$ back and find better flight times with another carrier or pick a flight that works for you on AA. You can check schedules and costs on other carriers and flight times on AA so you know which you want when you call them.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Here's my question -finally- should I pay the penalty and go with a different carrier that has better times or make the best of the now 3 day vacation?

In mid-May, American Airlines changed their schedule for flights between Chicago-O'Hare and Orlando. Effective August 22 through mid-December, American's schedule went from their usual 5 flights per day in each direction to 4. From Chicago-O'Hare to Orlando, American is eliminating the early morning (approx. 7:00 a.m.) flight. Returning from Orlando to Chicago-O-Hare, American Airlines is eliminating their evening (approx. 8:00 p.m.) flight.

I had two WDW trips planned, and we were ticketed to fly home on the evening American flight both times.

I wouldn't have known if I hadn't been checking http://www.aa.com/ for something else, and I happened to look at my future itineraries.

For both itineraries, American put us on an earlier flight -- 4 1/2 hours earlier! American's afternoon flight (approx. 3:30 p.m.) is now their last nonstop of the day from Orlando to Chicago-O'Hare.

That wasn't good news. It would mean leaving Epcot before noon to get back to the resort for Magical Express or a towncar.

I called American. They were very nice about. For one trip, I decided to go with a connection through Miami to buy us another 3 hours at Epcot (even though I usually avoid connections). For the other trip, I kept the new return flight on the final day, but American allowed me to change our inbound flight to an earlier flight to gain back the time we lost on the final day. There was no fee and no hassle for these changes. (American would also have allowed us to move our return flight the next morning.)

So, to anyone else who is in the same boat, call American. I don't think any of us can talk them into putting the evening MCO-ORD flight or the early morning ORD-MCO flight back on their schedule, but they'll work with you if you have reasonable requests.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Just one more thing...

Schedule changes are not unique to American.

With exception of Southwest (and possibly other low-cost carriers that don't release flights until a few months before the travel dates), all domestic airlines adjust their schedules. In fact, in the past year, Delta Air Lines and US Airways have made huge changes in an effort to reduce costs -- including eliminating many nonstop city-pairs entirely (even though they had already sold tickets for those flights).

Airlines accept bookings for flights that are eleven months away. But there's always a risk that, by that time, the schedule will change. In fact it's almost a certainty. Perhaps the change will only involve a few minutes, or a flight number change, or an equipment change. But it can even be a case of "you can't get there from here any more."

The good news is that the airlines will try hard to make you happy when this happens.

 

[dejavu]

Thanks everyone for your answers, I haven't had time today to do anything about it -I will let you all know the response I get- AA is really the only game in town at O'Hare- We could fly UAL but you never know when they will strike etc... makes me nervous-could do spirit but I know nothing about them.Southwest is a possibility but I hate Midway,its alot further for us but they do have good times. Grrrr I hate when they change schedules

 

[mitchwebb]

I found this thread and thought I'd just go and check my flight I bought three months ago. Well low and behold my flight is now schduled to leave at 12:45pm in stead of 12:00pm. No a huge deal but am now wondering if they were planning on letting me know. I don't fly until Nov 16 so I guess I will wait and see if it changes again before I call and change my Magical Express info.

Thanks for the information I proably would not have checked until a day or two before the flight.

 

[bicker]

If they change your flight times by more than 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the airline) they have to either refund your $$ without penalty or let you change to any available flights without a change fee....don't let them tell you otherwise.

If you're going to say that, please be sure you've got the numbers correct. The amount of time that each airline considers a significant enough change to warrant a refund without penalty varies from airline to airline, ranging from 1 to 4 hours. American Airlines is among the most generous major airlines, with a standard of 2 hours for (domestic) schedule changes, according to the Contract of Carriage.

This is key, folks: Airlines do NOT announce their official flight schedules until two or three months prior. If you're booking your flights further before that, you're booking against a forecast, a forecast that will change at least four times per year. If you book against a forecast, flight times, seat assignments, aircraft, number of connections, etc., everything is subject to change once the real schedule is released. All the airlines operate this way. Southwest doesn't even allow you to book against their forecasts (one of the reasons I won't fly Southwest).

 

[dejavu]

I called AA last night and was able to switch to the 6;53 am flight on the next day without penalty and we received a $41 voucher each. We can stay 1 night a La Quinta Inns & Suites north for 61.00. This way we get to take full advantage of the 4 night premium pkg we bought at AKL and still be at work Monday. This works for us because my husband is self employed and I have flexible hours and most importantly we are early morning people so going to MCO at 5am doesn't bother us but it would have been nice for them to notify us of the change. I do have to say though that AA offered to let me switch but I had to ask for the fare difference or it would not have been offered. Thanks guys for the responses!

 

[Skroops]

We often have this happen to us, because we book months in advance. I would have been suprised to find that they wouldn't have let you pick a more convenient flight.
Great that you got a desirable result!

 

[Lewisc]

Charter airlines like USA3000 don't have to give you a refund unless the day changes. They can add a stop, change to a flight with an indirect connection or just change the flight from the morning to a late evening and you have no rights. They don't have to offer you a refund. Now if they decide to drop the city pair all they have to do is offer you a refund which may not be enough to book a seat on another airline.

If you're going to say that, please be sure you've got the numbers correct. The amount of time that each airline considers a significant enough change to warrant a refund without penalty varies from airline to airline, ranging from 1 to 4 hours. American Airlines is among the most generous major airlines, with a standard of 2 hours for (domestic) schedule changes, according to the Contract of Carriage.