Why did Airtran change my flight?

[Blondie]

We booked our flight to Orlando back in May, direct flights from Richmond to Orlando.

I just took a look at our itinerary and they've changed not only the times, but we now have to change planes in Atlanta going down and coming back!

How can they just do that?

 

[airline2]

they changed the nonstop to only on saturday.

 

[Blondie]

I just got off the phone with them, the issued me a full refund!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

All the airlines will change or modify their schedules of flights months out as the flight time nears, when they can better judge the actual demand and more efficiently meet it. That's one of the hazards of scheduling a flight several months in advance.

 

[dudspizza]

I just got off the phone with them, the issued me a full refund!

Yeah, but are you able to get decent flight prices now?

Flight times can and will change.... I have yet to have a flight I booked well in advance stay exactly where it was when I originally booked it...

now... off to check my itinerary for Airtran.. I fly them next month...

Duds

 

[01Sweetpea]

Our flights were changed as well. For our arrival flight we were moved back ny 10 minutes, not bad. HOWEVER, our return home flight has been moved UP 1.5 hours! That's 1.5 hours less of Disney time!

It's not so bad though. We still get a few hours of Disney time on our departure day, and it is still a non stop flight.

 

[Kaybee]

It is not only AirTran that are changing times. I am flying Delta in Oct and my flight has changed 3 times in the past couple weeks :furious

 

[monymony3471]

Northwest changed our flight times too. Not that much diffence, but it adds another phone call to Magical Express.

 

[keishashadow]

AT is infamous for changing flight times (think our personal best was 5 or 6 times - almost 8 hours difference)...they do like to tinker.

BTW, even with vouchered flights, they will permit you to rebook your times & even dates (within reason - think a few days before/after) when they make changes. Of course, there has to be room on the plane.

AT is similar to WDW in that, if you don't like the 1st answer you get, call back a few times

 

[Blondie]

Yeah, but are you able to get decent flight prices now?

Flight times can and will change.... I have yet to have a flight I booked well in advance stay exactly where it was when I originally booked it...

now... off to check my itinerary for Airtran.. I fly them next month...

Duds

My gripe wasn't so much with a change in departure time, but the fact that it went from direct to having to change planes with a layover in Atlanta.

With Delta it'll only be about $28 more each ticket. I'm willing to pay that for non stop flights.

 

[nurseypoo5]

dont stress to much. Did you book with Disney? They were really great helping me when air tran changed our flights (all airlines do this btw...its a given)

I was on direct non stop flights to and from DFW to MCO and both were changed to layover in atlanta at one time or another. The airtran agent told me not to stress that most of the time they add back the nonstop flight. Since i had already had a nonstop flight but got changed i kept watching and low and behold one day there was a morn. flight leaving dfw on my day nonstop and a nonstop leaving MCO in the evening on our day back..they switched me no problemo and they worked with Disney.

It was all very easy. Do watch all the time tho, because they WILL change again before your done and if you dont catch it you might not get switched if the flight fills.

Good luck

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My gripe wasn't so much with a change in departure time, but the fact that it went from direct to having to change planes with a layover in Atlanta.

I think that you are confusing direct with non-stop.

All airlines change their schedules. As you have discovered, if the change is big enough you will be rebooked at a different time at no cost to you. I would probably have done this rather than gotten a refund if ticket prices have increased.

 

[simzac]

Just another reason we only fly SW.

 

[NancyIL]

One week after I bought a ticket on Airtran for the only non-stop flight each way between Bloomington, IL and Orlando in October, Airtran dropped the non-stop flights, except on Sundays!

I had a frequent-flyer ticket on Delta from my hometown airport to Orlando via Atlanta on Thanksgiving morning. Delta is dropping service out of my airport at the end of this month! I am now flying Delta out of Bloomington, IL (an hour away), and got them to put me on a plane the day before Thanksgiving.

I bought a ticket on American out of my home airport for next April. I have great flight times now, but I'm sure there will be schedule changes between now and then.

 

[NancyIL]

I think that you are confusing direct with non-stop.

People use "direct flight" all the time, when what they mean is "non-stop flight." A direct flight is one that makes a stop, with no change of planes.

 

[izzy]

My gripe wasn't so much with a change in departure time, but the fact that it went from direct to having to change planes with a layover in Atlanta.

With Delta it'll only be about $28 more each ticket. I'm willing to pay that for non stop flights.

Don't count on Delta keeping the non-stop flights either. In July I booked my non-stop flights from Richmond to Orlando. Since then, they've changed the flights 5, count 'em 5, times, and I no longer have a direct flight going down and now have to connect through Atlanta. I am leaving this Friday. This past week I started checking the on-time status of the flights going down as Delta has screwed me before with connections. In the past seven days, the flight left Richmond so late that we would have missed our connections 5 out of 7 times. I called them up and changed to an earlier flight, in hopes that if I miss the connection, at least there are 3 flights after that going from Atlanta to Orlando that I could hopefully get on.

And they wonder why we're all so disgusted with their service.

 

[Blondie]

I've been confusing non stop vs. direct, thanks for the clarification. It seems to be a common mistake.

Regarding Richmond and Delta, I've flown with Delta 5 times out of Richmond and the flights never changed. I'll be rebooking and hoping for no changes in the mean time! I just can't stomach the 1 1/2 hours drive up to BWI anymore for Southwest. I can't handle the pre-flight stress in just getting to the airport! That's why I prefer Richmond, it's closer and so much easier to navigate. I'm willing to pay extra for the convenience of flying out of Richmond, within reason ofcourse.

 

[DebbieB]

People use "direct flight" all the time, when what they mean is "non-stop flight." A direct flight is one that makes a stop, with no change of planes.

Be aware that sometimes on direct flights they announce an "equipment change" and you end up changing planes anyway.

 

[NancyIL]

Be aware that sometimes on direct flights they announce an "equipment change" and you end up changing planes anyway.

I don't doubt that happens on occasion. My point was that people incorrectly say "direct flight" to indicate a "non-stop" flight.

 

[Dan Murphy]

People use "direct flight" all the time, when what they mean is "non-stop flight." A direct flight is one that makes a stop, with no change of planes.

Marie and I learned that about 30 some years ago, as our flight to Jamaica was preparing to land in Memphis, LOL. We had a direct, thinking that was in fact a non-stop. We know now.

And that happened to me a couple years ago, Blondie, AA changing a flight quite significantly. I canceled, full refund, flew my usual Midwest Airlines.