Really Really Bummed Out!!

[Sandisw]

How disappointing. But, to my knowledge the only airlines that don't have change fees are SW and JB. However, if the change in flight increases the price of the ticket you still have to pay the increased money.

I think the airlines are pretty up front with their fee structure.

Can your DH come back a day early and the rest of you stay so you do not incur extra charges for most?

JetBlue charges a change fee..$100 plus difference in fare...while those change fees are killers, most airlines publish them so people should know going in. Though, if JetBlue changes flight times, they will let you adjust without fees. The two times it happened to me, it was huge change--more than 6 hours and it was on both departure and return days--and I adjusted the flights by a day each time without issue.

However, once we decided to change and wanted to just go earlier, same day, and had to pay the $100 per person to do it...

 

[Chellymouse]

Now the saga continues...starting to feel like we're now in the SW movies....we had SW with all of the excitement and now we're dealing with the Empire Strikes Back....really hoping we'll get a Return of the Jedi moment.
To those who have mentioned about change fees and things of that sort, you are all absolutely correct. What really kicks the can is that I spoke to 3 different people and received 3 different answers. DH and I had a long talk last night and this am. We emailed AT this am with all of the things we were told (with names and times we called) because one agent told us it would only $75 total for each of us ($150 total) but would not assist us in re-booking with our credits, another agent told us it would be $300 plus changes in fares (the fares were actually $20 less than when we booked) and when I asked if that applied and we would be credited I was told no and another agent went as far as telling me that DH should wait and check with his job and she wasn't going to give me anymore information until we knew for sure we had to change our ressies. We were polite but firm in our email and we asked to be credited $150 of the $300 we were charged (according to their policy there is no fee to cancel or change reward travel) and to have our credits back into our account. Now we are waiting to hear from them. We received an initial response with a note that said our complaint is being reviewed. If AT comes back agreeing to the above then we will re-book with MS (thankfully they have awesome) and go from 5/14-5/19. The other really cool thing was when I called about the dining ressies (I went ahead and cancelled in case other people were trying to get them) and the CM I spoke with (got her name too) said that due to the circumstances, as long as we had our confirmation numbers (we do) they would reinstate our ressies as long as it was within 14 days of cancellation. I almost cried!! BOG is one of our ressies! Guess what stinks is that I am so used to Disney service that I have become spoiled and expect good service everywhere. This will definitely learn me! On a good note, we have explained the situation and if we are not able to re-book, we will have our points rented so we won't be out the points and someone will at least get to enjoy a villa! Thanks for all the comments and support! If anyone understands...it's fellow DIS-ers and DVC members!

 

[Brian Noble]

Those....bleeping bleeping bleepity bleep bleeps charged me $300 to either cancel or change our flights.

Of course, those were the terms you agreed to when you bought the tickets. I understand that you'd like to have more flexibility, but that's not how this works.

 

[dis-happy]

FYI: it states on the rewards page that changing a rewards flight results in a change fee. Item number 20:

http://www.aplusrewards.com/a_terms_conditions.aspx

 

[THKlovesDisney]

I have to think just about everyone knows that airlines have these policies in place, but it doesn't make it any easier when a situation arises and there is no simple way to change a flight that doesn't cost $75-150 per person each way. Fact is, life happens, which may result in people needing to change their flights for one reason or another. Happened to us last year and I luckily was able to get our change fee waived. I heard of another friend that had a flight change need just yesterday and was able to get their fee waived. But it takes many hoops for any change or waiving to happen.

I understand that airlines are running a business and I get that since EVERY other airline has a huge change fee in place they all do it. Most people don't book their flight thinking they are going to have to change it, but when it happens a nice person on the other end of the line is always appreciated.

I am so sorry that you are having to deal with all the changes. I hope that you are able to make the trip work. I am jealous of all your upcoming trips.

 

[keishashadow]

The truly strange thing is that AirTran is owned by Southwest. I fly Southwest too and they don't have change fees at all.

HBC

change over is not 100% complete yet although you can transfer rewards

FYI: it states on the rewards page that changing a rewards flight results in a change fee. Item number 20:

http://www.aplusrewards.com/a_terms_conditions.aspx

i could be wrong but seem to recall there used to be no penalty to change your mind on altering reward flights. I only mention this since i had originally had my upcoming reward flights booked for June vs May and was told i had to pay the change fee. I complained that it wasn't that way in the past and they waived it as a one-time accommodation.

we've dealt with airtran longer than SWA and while they've made many mistakes over the years that were viewed as very inconvenient by us at the time, they've always made things more than right. jmho the response you receive often depends on your track-record with AT, the agent you speak to and the way you phrase your request vs demand; as with most things in life.

Note: OP no flames sent your way...good luck, hope it works out for you!

 

[Chellymouse]

change over is not 100% complete yet although you can transfer rewards



i could be wrong but seem to recall there used to be no penalty to change your mind on altering reward flights. I only mention this since i had originally had my upcoming reward flights booked for June vs May and was told i had to pay the change fee. I complained that it wasn't that way in the past and they waived it as a one-time accommodation.

we've dealt with airtran longer than SWA and while they've made many mistakes over the years that were viewed as very inconvenient by us at the time, they've always made things more than right. jmho the response you receive often depends on your track-record with AT, the agent you speak to and the way you phrase your request vs demand; as with most things in life.

Note: OP no flames sent your way...good luck, hope it works out for you!

No flames taken! Just very frustrating! We have actually only complained twice in 14 years to AT. Once was our honeymoon...we had booked air on our own as it was a better deal and used a travel agent scared1 for our Disney-moon. Our TA found out that our flight had been completely cancelled and we had been rebooked onto another flight and this was 6 weeks before the event and AT never even called us. I called them and was able to get a better flight and they did upgrade us roundtrip due to their error. Last time was May 2011 when they changed planes and even though we had paid for emergency exit row seating, they sat us elsewhere and gave our seats that we paid for to some one flying standby. We were credited the amount we spent on the seats and given an upgrade for our next flight. Other than that, we've always used them because we haven't had any major issues.

 

[Chellymouse]

and cue the Return of the Jedi music! So we received a very nice response from AT on Sunday stating that yes, we should have only been charged $75 a piece not per person, per flight and that yes, we should have been assisted in changing the reward flight (for no fee) and that our credits have been issued. I checked and our credits were issued for the flight, but not the cash. Called the customer service line yesterday and spoke with someone whom I'm sure has worked as a CM at some point in her life! I explained everything, gave her the email reference number and pointed out that this is only the third time in 14 years that I've had to call this number. Also couldn't help mentioning that we're "spoiled" because we're so used to Disney at least trying to help, because we were really upset that none of the agents did as they should have according to the nice lady from yesterday! She figured out what the agents had done with booking and took accountability for their mistakes. All I had asked for was that the money we were overcharged be returned and she did one better and returned ALL $300 of it!!! She did not have to do that and I fell over myself with gratitude to her. So, we had to wait 12 hours for DH to go to work (thankfully he called me and didn't make me wait!) and said his time off was approved and we could rebook the air! (rebooked our villa last night) So, we are back at SSR, which is fine and wait listed for BCV (not holding my breath) and we did lose our BOG for dinner, but if the worst of this is that, I'm not complaining! DH also got approved for Dec so we still get to take 3 trips this year! (again...not complaining!) Can always get BOG another time! Thanks for listening to me ramble!!

 

[jekjones1558]

I love happy endings. Thanks for posting the good news.

 

[Chellymouse]

I love happy endings. Thanks for posting the good news.

Thank you!! If I've learned anything from this it's 1) don't surprise DH with any more vacations unless I call his boss and get the time approved first and 2) you really do attract more flies with honey..

 

[PatMcDuck]

If I'm reading this right, you're trying to move your entire trip forward by one day? Why not keep the original reservation (minus the extra day waitlist) and only change your departure day. AT change fee would only be $150 then.

Or just have DH go home one day early. I am confused, that seems pretty obvious to me?

 

[Chellymouse]

Or just have DH go home one day early. I am confused, that seems pretty obvious to me?

Honestly, don't know if I'd been able to get DH to fly by himself...he's gotten better, but he's still not the world's best flyer. There was quite a bit that went into this and we have since been able to rebook the trip. We are leaving on Tues instead of Wed and returning on Sun instead of Mon. In all honesty, I had no idea how horrible it would be for DH to get off in the first place. What I should have done was called the HR manager at his work as I know her well enough to do so and have her check for me, but I didn't and that's where the problem started. I would never have guessed that his company's fiscal year ended in the middle of May and DH really wanted to try to salvage as much of the trip as possible.