Keeping an eye on your future flights...

Or, perhaps call this "Adventures in Air Booking"...

 

We've done a lot of Europe trips and cruises...and have usually flown with AA, BA or Lufthansa...But, for our upcoming back-to-back cruises in June/July, we decided to take a "flyer", so to speak, with Air Berlin...Mostly because they were offering fares about half (or even less) of what everyone else was showing...

And, yes, I am aware they are a bit of a risk financially...I've only got another 8 weeks or so to hope they keep afloat (or is it "aloft"?)...but can't picture airlines going out of business just before or during the summer "high" season...

 

Anyway...

 

One thing I have always learned is to keep a very close eye on my flight schedules. Airlines tend to change them frequently...and, sometimes, drastically. You would think they would give everyone booked immediate notice...after all,it's all computerized nowadays...but, alas, that's not always the case. AA, for example, for our flight home from Boston in late July, just sent us an email notice that our times have been changed--by an entire 8 minutes--we now leave Boston at 12:35 rather than the original 12:43...Of course, I already knew that because I checked...

 

But, Air Berlin seems to have been a bit slow on notifications...and some of their time changes have been drastic. Back in August, I checked and found that our flights home from Rome had been changed--enough that our Rome to Dusseldorf leg now arrived in Dusseldorf an hour AFTER our Dusseldorf to LAX leg was to have departed. The only alternate flights they could put me on either had multiple extra stops including an overnight layover in Vienna OR flights out the following day via Berlin. We opted for the latter even though it meant booking another night at Rome Airport--The folks at Hilton would not let us change our nonrefundable booking, so we are now spending two nights at the airport prior to our new flight home.

 

Anyway, I went to the Air Berlin site this morning and found, again, the times had been drastically changed. This time it was actually for the better--for MOST people. Our flight was originally from SFO at 5:20 pm and this was changed to 8:15 pm...The connection in Dusseldorf, rather than a 5 hour stop was now only 2 hours...So, for most, you'd only have to get to the airport later, then get to Rome right on time but a shorter overall trip.

 

But, here is the thing for us: When we booked this, we could only get this cheap fare if we flew out of SFO...So, we had to book an extra flight from LAX to SFO to get us there prior to the Air Berlin flight. Not a big deal as the flight cost only $74 pp--much less than the airline wanted for the LAX-Rome round trip. A little inconvenient as it was one extra stop, but more, that we'd need to check our luggage with Southwest, then collect it in SFO, then re enter the airport, re-check the luggage and go through security again...But, we got a flight that arrived at SFO at 2:00 pm giving us 3:20 to collect luggage, go through the nonsense and wait for the next flight...and you can check in your bags within three hours of your flight, so, perfect.

 

BUT, with the 8:15 departure, we would have six and a quarter hours to kill, stuck not only at SFO, but without being able to check our luggage for over half that time. Sort of sucks...

 

So, I called Air Berlin. After waiting on hold for over an hour (BTW, you grow to hate their hold music--it is the SAME SONG played over and over the entire time. I will now be hearing it in my sleep), I finally got through to an agent and she told me that this was the ONLY option SFO to Rome on that date...So, bravely, I asked, "what if we were to fly out of LAX instead?". She leaves for a few minutes to check it out and comes back and informs me that there is a flight departing LAX at 5:15 pm, stopping in Dusseldorf, then arriving at Rome at 3:45 pm. I asked if that would cost me any more than we were paying...and the answer came back "No Charge!" I said, "Change it then, PLEASE!!!"

 

So now, rather than leaving home at about 10:00 am to catch a 12:40 flight out of LAX, getting to SFO at 2:00, waiting for our luggage, finding the Air Berlin Terminal, re-checking the luggage and going through security all while killing over six hours...in order to arrive in Rome the next day at 8:00 pm local time, we are NOW leaving home in the afternoon for a 5:15 flight, checking our bags straight through to Rome and getting to Rome at 3:45 in the afternoon--over four hours earlier than our original time!

 

I called Southwest and cancelled our LAX-SFO flight and now have a $148 credit for future travel through January 2018.

 

If there is one drawback in the revised plan, it's that the layover between flights in Dusseldorf is a mere 45 minutes. I asked the agent if that was enough time and she said the "minimum" acceptable layover time was.......45 minutes. But, at least our luggage will be sent straight through, so we only have to de-plane and run to wherever the next gate is--which should be close by...I hope.

 

Now I just have to hope nothing else changes--at least not for the worse--between now and the trip. I will keep watching, though.

 

So, the lessons here for all of you:

1) Keep checking those flight schedules. Do NOT count on the airline letting you know.

2) Don't be afraid to call the airline and push them a bit--you could end up with better flights.

You are spot on... check your flights numerous times before you actually fly.

 

I have caught numerous changes over the years with some being major changes. I check my United flights the most, I have caught some very potential problems with them. Example: We booked a Global First Class flight from LHR to LAX, without telling us, United changed planes and downgraded us to business class in addition to changing the time. After calling and talking with them they told me that we had the new business class Polaris with aisle access even describing the new layout for Polaris. Problem is I found out later that the 787 will not have the new hard product for several years. A month later while checking I saw they changed my entire flight to a 777-200 with a completely different flight departure (note they did notify me later). I called again and they told me that because of the a time change we couldn't make our connection in LAX so instead changed us to SFO. Problem is we are getting off a cruise that day, have a 2 hour drive and would not be able to make the flight requirements. In addition, the SFO layover was over 7 hours and we wouldn't be getting home until 1 am. Unacceptable. After trying to work something out and having one agent disconnect me I finally found an agent willing to straighten things out and change our flight to something that would work. Since then, the flight times have changed 2 more times but the flight is still doable. Fingers are crossed

If your first stop in Europe is Dusseldorf, you also need to clear passport check there. I wouldn't be really comfortable with 45 minutes. If you are referring to returning to the US, you will have an extra security and passport check before you get on a plane going direct to the US.

Or, perhaps call this "Adventures in Air Booking"...

 

<snip>

 

But, Air Berlin seems to have been a bit slow on notifications...and some of their time changes have been drastic. Back in August, I checked and found that our flights home from Rome had been changed--enough that our Rome to Dusseldorf leg now arrived in Dusseldorf an hour AFTER our Dusseldorf to LAX leg was to have departed. The only alternate flights they could put me on either had multiple extra stops including an overnight layover in Vienna OR flights out the following day via Berlin. We opted for the latter even though it meant booking another night at Rome Airport--The folks at Hilton would not let us change our nonrefundable booking, so we are now spending two nights at the airport prior to our new flight home.

 

<snip>

 

So, the lessons here for all of you:

1) Keep checking those flight schedules. Do NOT count on the airline letting you know.

2) Don't be afraid to call the airline and push them a bit--you could end up with better flights.

[emphasis added]

 

We recently had some similar reservation "Adventures":

 

Last fall, we booked for next month's trip to Japan in F class, using AAdvantage awards.

We had a mid-day flight on JAL from JFK to Tokyo, and the AA connection that morning was going to be tight at JFK. But AA didn't have Business class availability on the short first flight, and wouldn't let us do it in Economy.

We were also trying to get to JFK the evening before, to minimize the stress about the tight connection, but we encountered the same situation.

(We were prepared to *pay* to cancel the first short flight, and get ourselves to JFK the night before on Jet Blue. We'd need to pay to cancel and change the itinerary to just the NYC-Tokyo flight, or we'd be considered "no shows" on that first little flight, and risk having our JAL reservations cancelled.)

 

A few weeks ago, I was - as usual - checking the flights and sure enough there was a schedule change for that first flight. And... it was going to get us to JFK about two hours *AFTER* the JAL flight was scheduled to leave for Tokyo.

We were given NO notice of any schedule change.

 

The good news (given that we did our homework and didn't find ourselves missing the JAL flight!) was that AA gave us the flight we preferred, and in Business class, and for the evening before.

 

One would think that the software would catch a logically impossible connection like these, but noooooo.... :mad:

 

(Yes, both flights were on the same record locator, etc.)

 

Both of Bruin Steve's rules are definitely important!

Checking our flights just saved us a huge hassle. Our second leg was cancelled and they put us on the next day's flight, giving us a 30-some hour layover! (No notice of this change, either.) Customer service was of great help in rescheduling and now we're much better off. This trip is still months away -- glad I found out about the change this early and was able to get it fixed!

Wow, what a roller coaster! Good luck making the 45 min connection, and enjoy your cruises!

 

 

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Thank you for this thread. All this whining about flight changes made me check logistics for my grand daughter's flights in August. One doesn't exist and the other changed - but only 20 minutes. Grrr. Like the rest of you, I have tight planning. I need time to get them to the airport adding in an additional hour to get me a ticket to take them to the plane. Thank you for the head banging of DUH! check your flights!

I am with you... checking on flights booked... we flying mostly AA and Air France... we usually book well in advance especially if flying internationally... have an AA flight to Barcelona in October... taking the Royal back to Florida... with all the drama on the airlines these days... decided to check my reservations... about 6 months to go before we depart.

 

Glad I did the flight we booked on AA from Florida back to San Francisco has been cancelled... AA never notified us of the change. I checked my AA account found we have been rebooked on another flight... interestingly the seats we were given on new reservations, were not the seat we paid extra for... even though available. I called AA got the seats changed, agent said could be changed again.. now will watch or check regularly.

 

Once we had AA do a similar thing to us, when we checked in for our flight home in Florida we found AA had changed our seats... the agent at Miami told us the seats were changed when we check in for our departure flight in San Francisco when we began our trip... what a bait switch agenda AA has... we paid $XXX for main cabin extra; they reassigned us to preferred seats which are cheaper... then they resell the main cabin extra seats again... Lesson learned over and over again with AA check flights, check seats...

I am with you... checking on flights booked... we flying mostly AA and Air France... we usually book well in advance especially if flying internationally... have an AA flight to Barcelona in October... taking the Royal back to Florida... with all the drama on the airlines these days... decided to check my reservations... about 6 months to go before we depart.

 

Glad I did the flight we booked on AA from Florida back to San Francisco has been cancelled... AA never notified us of the change. I checked my AA account found we have been rebooked on another flight... interestingly the seats we were given on new reservations, were not the seat we paid extra for... even though available. I called AA got the seats changed, agent said could be changed again.. now will watch or check regularly.

 

Once we had AA do a similar thing to us, when we checked in for our flight home in Florida we found AA had changed our seats... the agent at Miami told us the seats were changed when we check in for our departure flight in San Francisco when we began our trip... what a bait switch agenda AA has... we paid $XXX for main cabin extra; they reassigned us to preferred seats which are cheaper... then they resell the main cabin extra seats again... Lesson learned over and over again with AA check flights, check seats...

 

Ah, this, about the seat "choice" reminds me.

 

On our recent trip to Vancouver from the USA, we paid a bit extra for prime seats on the Dreamliner ("Premium Economy" but that name/category is not used on the domestic Toronto-Vancouver trip).

DH happened to look about two weeks later, and we had been... moved... to "regular seats" where the selection cost was less.

 

We called, and got the seats back, but there was no explanation of what happened, or "what about the premium cost we had paid, if we hadn't changed back", etc.

 

There were no other changes to the flight, in terms of date/flight number/time/etc.

 

Oh well... At least two seats we "wanted" were still available.

Ah, this, about the seat "choice" reminds me.

On our recent trip to Vancouver from the USA, we paid a bit extra for prime seats on the Dreamliner ("Premium Economy" but that name/category is not used on the domestic Toronto-Vancouver trip).

DH happened to look about two weeks later, and we had been... moved... to "regular seats" where the selection cost was less.

 

We called, and got the seats back, but there was no explanation of what happened, or "what about the premium cost we had paid, if we hadn't changed back", etc.

 

There were no other changes to the flight, in terms of date/flight number/time/etc.

 

Oh well... At least two seats we "wanted" were still available.

In the past...

Months in advance, we paid for "Premium " seats on an Air Berlin transatlantic flight to Dusseldorf, at a very good(low) price.

When we checked in at the airport, we were told there was "reconfiguration" and they(the computer was blamed for the pick) re-placed us into regular seats. (I think they re-sold someone our seats at a higher price)

The flight was full. Other than offering us a refund, I won't bore you with the rest of the story.

BTW, The refund form was, of course, in German.

Edited May 7, 2017 by $hip$hape

In the past...

Months in advance, we paid for "Premium " seats on an Air Berlin transatlantic flight to Dusseldorf, at a very good(low) price.

When we checked in at the airport, we were told there was "reconfiguration" and they(the computer was blamed for the pick) re-placed us into regular seats. (I think they re-sold someone our seats at a higher price)

The flight was full. Other than offering us a refund, I won't bore you with the rest of the story.

BTW, The refund form was, of course, in German.

 

Two important points:

 

First, did you check on this situation between the time you booked and the time you showed up at the airport? Or did you just assume that all was well?

 

Second, was there an equipment change that would result in a differently configured aircraft flying your particular flight? Unless you KNOW that there was no kind of equipment change, don't be so quick to assume that they sold them to someone else for more. Even though you might want to ascribe the evilest of motives to Air Berlin, they just don't do that kind of stuff.

 

This is like the guy on UA flying from HNL to LAX. He bought a first class ticket. But....there was an equipment change and the new plane had fewer seats in F. It's not malicious....there are only so many seats, and if you go from an aircraft with (picking random numbers) 24 first class seats to 20 first class seats -- SOMEBODY has to either move to the back or take another flight. They won't let 24 people fly in 20 seats. Also, those doubling up probably wouldn't be happy.

 

So...without a LOT more detail, I'd say this might be an unremarkable, though uncomfortable, situation were you got the short end of the stick.

Months in advance, we paid for "Premium " seats on an Air Berlin transatlantic flight to Dusseldorf, at a very good(low) price.

When we checked in at the airport, we were told there was "reconfiguration" and they(the computer was blamed for the pick) re-placed us into regular seats. (I think they re-sold someone our seats at a higher price)

The flight was full. Other than offering us a refund, I won't bore you with the rest of the story.

Was this for what Air Berlin calls XL? AIUI, they're only extra legroom seats in the same cabin as normal economy - so it's not premium economy let alone business class. If this is what happened, then getting bumped out of those seats because the aircraft on the day has a different configuration is just one of those things. It's not quite the same as getting downgraded from one cabin to another.

Two important points:

 

First, did you check on this situation between the time you booked and the time you showed up at the airport? Or did you just assume that all was well?

 

Second, was there an equipment change that would result in a differently configured aircraft flying your particular flight? Unless you KNOW that there was no kind of equipment change, don't be so quick to assume that they sold them to someone else for more. Even though you might want to ascribe the evilest of motives to Air Berlin, they just don't do that kind of stuff.

 

This is like the guy on UA flying from HNL to LAX. He bought a first class ticket. But....there was an equipment change and the new plane had fewer seats in F. It's not malicious....there are only so many seats, and if you go from an aircraft with (picking random numbers) 24 first class seats to 20 first class seats -- SOMEBODY has to either move to the back or take another flight. They won't let 24 people fly in 20 seats. Also, those doubling up probably wouldn't be happy.

 

So...without a LOT more detail, I'd say this might be an unremarkable, though uncomfortable, situation were you got the short end of the stick.

 

In our two cases (above), thank goodness we *did* check repeatedly and thus found the problem before it was "too late" (in one way or another).

 

However, the bigger problem that seems to be showing here is that the airlines - at least in our case, Air Canada and American, respectively - did NOT notify us of the change in seats, or MUCH worse, the fact that the flight time had changed... and all the worse because the new timing meant our rescheduled flight would arrive *after* the connecting flight to Asia had already departed.

 

Because we had electronic tickets, the airlines clearly had our e-address.

There isn't much "cost" to having a programmer add a few lines to any changes so that notifications are sent to e-addresses *already* on file and affiliated with the specific tickets.