Why don't some Airlines e-mail you about time changes to your flights?

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have been wondering what are the reasons for some Airlines not e-mailing you about time changes to your flights when they happen? I do agree it's best for everyone to keep checking their flight reservations from time to time, however since not everyone does that and shouldn't be required check everyday until they leave, don't the Airlines have some responsibility considering how much some people spend on their flights?

In the past I remember Air Canada use to do that, although there was one time I decided to check a previous flight we had reserved and it turns out they changed our flight time and they did not e-mail us. However each time we have flown WestJet if there was a change in our flight time they always e-mailed us about it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

MOST LIKELY they are (a) notifying the first-affected passengers first and (b) waiting to notify later-affected passengers until they're sure all changes and adjustments have been completed; or (c) the software that sends out the e-mail doesn't have the correct e-maiil contact or (d) the e-mail is going to the spam folder. Has the passenger checked with the airline's IT department?

 

[Red_Rider]

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that jetBlue changed my flights when I checked my reservation online -- today I finally got an e-mail and phone call from them saying that my times were modified.

 

[safetymom]

The sooner you notice the change, the sooner you can talk with the airlines if there is a problem. Flight costs are much more reasonable than they used to be. Because of that the airlines cut corners in customer service.

Everyone should be checking their flights regularly before they travel. No excuses in this day and age. If you don't have internet you can call the airline to verify information.

 

[ZeroToHero]

Because of this thread, I checked my itinerary. Surprise waiting for me there - my 10:40 am flight from Logan had been changed to a 3 pm flight. Uhhh, not going to work, not with my ADR that has been booked for months 10 minutes after we're supposed to land.

When I tried to change it online, like they said I could do, it wanted to charge me 1200$ for two people to change the flights (even though I was only changing the departure, not the return, it was charging for both). I had to call them to fix it... and luckily, I was able to get on the one earlier flight for free, like the website said.

But I have no idea how long this has been like this, because I didn't get an email at all. Arg!

Basically, at the end of all of this - thank you so much for posting this, because you just gave me 8 more hours in Disney!

 

[fla4fun]

Because of this thread, I checked my itinerary. Surprise waiting for me there - my 10:40 am flight from Logan had been changed to a 3 pm flight. Uhhh, not going to work, not with my ADR that has been booked for months 10 minutes after we're supposed to land.

I'm apalled that they can get away with changes like this, and not notify their customers. I can understand if it's moved maybe an hour either way, that they might wait until the last minute to let you know. But when they're changing it 4 hours, that can cause a lot of problems. What if the flight was changed to 4 hours EARLIER instead of later? I've also seen people who have been changed from non-stop to stop over flights and not been notified - just stumbled across it when checking their flights.

The airlines get away with far too much these days - and considering emails don't really cost them anything to produce, I don't buy into the "no money so we're making cuts" excuse either. It's enough to make a person think twice about whether to drive or fly . . . .

 

[ancestry]

I have always been notified *eventually*. The key word being *eventually*. As an obsessive planner I check things fairly regularly (usually daily if within a 90 day range) and sometimes I noticed that an airline has changed things on me but it took them 30-45 days to send me the notification email. Most recently this happened with Jet Blue. They moved our departure flight time and I noticed it right away. I didn't get the notification email and voicemail until weeks later asking me to accept the change. In this one case I didn't mind the change as it actually gives us more time at Disney.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay. I'm relatively certain airlines don't have (can't afford) a department devoted solely to notifying passengers of flight changes. Probably they don't even have one person dedicated to this assignment, but let's say they do (rather than, oh, pulling some people from customer service for x amount of time).

They're likely not just rescheduling one flight on one day. Any change ripples through the entire schedule, plus they're likely making a number of changes - small and large - at the same time, figure quarterly. It's probably based on recent reports, plus projected passenger loads, plus airport changes/fee, FAA requirements... any number of factors.

So, it's the middle of March and we've got Jesse Customercontact responsible for notifying all the April through June passengers affected by schedule, routing, and other flight changes OF those changes. Who's going to get notified first - the family flying to Orlando June 21, right after the kids get out of school? Or the 150 passengers who thought their flight was departing at 6:30 AM on April 1? Jesse will make his absolute BEST effort to contact EVERY passenger, in the order their flights are departing.

Oh. To answer the OP's specific question: It's entirely likely the airlines don't notify the passenger about time changes every time they occur, the instant they occur, in the likely possibility that there will be more time changes before the flight departs. How many times have there been posts complaining about "X airline changed my flight time (or cancelled my flight) and I had to change to Y; then they changed that time, and when I looked to see what was available, my original flight was back so I called and got myself switched back to my original flight!"?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Because of this thread, I checked my itinerary. Surprise waiting for me there - my 10:40 am flight from Logan had been changed to a 3 pm flight. Uhhh, not going to work, not with my ADR that has been booked for months 10 minutes after we're supposed to land.

When I tried to change it online, like they said I could do, it wanted to charge me 1200$ for two people to change the flights (even though I was only changing the departure, not the return, it was charging for both). I had to call them to fix it... and luckily, I was able to get on the one earlier flight for free, like the website said.

But I have no idea how long this has been like this, because I didn't get an email at all. Arg!

Basically, at the end of all of this - thank you so much for posting this, because you just gave me 8 more hours in Disney!

You're welcome.

 

[goofy4tink]

Generally speaking, the airlines notify those with the closest flight times to the changes. They generally don't notify passengers more than a month out. You really need to do that. Why don't they notify us that early? Simply because there could be other changes coming.
It's always a good idea to check your flights often, the closer you get to departure date.

 

[NancyIL]

I've gotten e-mail notices from American and AirTran. However, I usually know about the schedule changes before the airline notifies me.

 

[airhead]

I have learned to be responsible for my own trip. That way,no surprises!