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Sister Mediterranean Cruise


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My sister, who lives in Texas and myself, who is in Ohio are planning a Mediterranean Cruise next May. Right now we are considering Air2Sea and we would both change flights in Atlanta and be on the same direct flight to Barcelona. Our concern is how likely are these flights to change and therefore putting us on different connections? We don't want to arrive in Barcelona at different times! Any similar experiences?

 

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And no way we can be sure of being on the same flight?

 

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If an airline changes the flight on you and you don't like the new routing they will move you to the routing that you want at no charge subject to space being available. If they initiate the schedule change there are no charges.

 

If you book directly with the airline they will would with you directly. If it is booked through a travel agent, they will work through the travel agent. Traditional old fashion travel agents are generally good about reaching out and making certain you get what you want. Online or internet travel agents are bit less predictable.

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The problem you have (no matter where or who you book through) is that you are coming form two different places and meeting in Atlanta for the final flight across the pond. The day of your flight, your or your sister's flight, could get cancelled or delayed due to mechanical or weather and you would need to get rerouted to BCN. It could be via New York, Detroit, Amsterdam, Paris of wherever while the other one is on their regular flights. Now in reality you will probably be fine, but just be aware things can and do sometimes happen. Where as if you two were both starting and flying together on the same reservation it would be much easier to keep you together if the wheels came off the ride.

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And no way we can be sure of being on the same flight?
One way of improving the chances of this is to book the air travel for both of you to start in Atlanta, and then book yourselves from Ohio/Texas to Atlanta separately. This means that if something changes with the Atlanta-Barcelona flights, you're much more likely both to be moved to the same alternative arrangements as you'll appear to be on the same booking.

 

Otherwise, if a re-route is necessary then someone who's flying from Ohio to Barcelona could well be re-routed through a completely different connection point from that picked for someone who's flying from Texas to Barcelona. It's possible, for example, that in that situation neither of you would get anywhere near Atlanta.

 

However, there are complications and risks involved in flying on separate bookings for the two parts of the journey. If this becomes a serious possibility, ask for more advice about it. You'd then have to weigh up the pros and cons of the alternatives, and in particular think hard about how important it truly is that you absolutely must be on the same long-haul flight.

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It sounds like you are looking at Delta flights. (Atlanta is their main hub for international arrivals and departures.) If that is so then there is every reason to believe that you will remain on the same flight from ATL to BCN.

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It sounds like you are looking at Delta flights. (Atlanta is their main hub for international arrivals and departures.) If that is so then there is every reason to believe that you will remain on the same flight from ATL to BCN.

 

Not so fast. If there is a problem with an initial flight that prevents either one or both of them from making that ATL-BCN flight, Delta has multiple options, including putting them on another Delta flight, or an Air France or KLM flight out of Detroit or JFK, and connecting in AMS (KLM) or CDG (AF). Simply booking a Delta flight in no way guarantees that in the event of irrops, you will remain on a nonstop Delta flight out of ATL just because that's their biggest hub.

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Not so fast. If there is a problem with an initial flight that prevents either one or both of them from making that ATL-BCN flight, Delta has multiple options, including putting them on another Delta flight, or an Air France or KLM flight out of Detroit or JFK, and connecting in AMS (KLM) or CDG (AF). Simply booking a Delta flight in no way guarantees that in the event of irrops, you will remain on a nonstop Delta flight out of ATL just because that's their biggest hub.

Did not even mention anything about guarantees. Everyone knows that nothing is a given.

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Thank you all for your thoughts. I'm also thinking my sister from Texas fly to Ohio the day before we start our journey. Then we can book same flights the whole way to Barcelona and any delays or changes we'll be together.

 

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Thank you all for your thoughts. I'm also thinking my sister from Texas fly to Ohio the day before we start our journey. Then we can book same flights the whole way to Barcelona and any delays or changes we'll be together.

 

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Sounds like a great idea! Enjoy your cruise!

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It sounds like you are looking at Delta flights. (Atlanta is their main hub for international arrivals and departures.) If that is so then there is every reason to believe that you will remain on the same flight from ATL to BCN.
Did not even mention anything about guarantees. Everyone knows that nothing is a given.
I don't think that it's even as high as "every reason to believe". When looking for alternative routings from a random Texan airport (I took Austin), there were plenty via Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York and even Raleigh-Durham - going nowhere near Atlanta. And one of the most important things about an involuntary re-route, particularly if at short notice, is that the airline will often be prepared to send you via just about anywhere in order to get you going.
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It sounds like you are looking at Delta flights. (Atlanta is their main hub for international arrivals and departures.) If that is so then there is every reason to believe that you will remain on the same flight from ATL to BCN.

 

Did not even mention anything about guarantees. Everyone knows that nothing is a given.

 

No, you did not use the word "guarantee" and I didn't say you did, but let's not argue over semantics. You definitely gave the OP a very firm impression about what would probably happen if if they had to be re-accommodated. Telling her she has "every reason to believe" they'd remain on the same flight is inaccurate at best and completely misleading at worst. For starters, it's stretch to say that Atlanta is DL's main hub for international flights. They also have a ton of international flights in and out of JFK and DTW, not to mention LAX and SEA although those last two would be unlikely for European flights. They also have alliance partners AF and KLM flying out of these same cities, and my guess is it would be more likely that she and her sister would NOT end up on the same flight.... far too many options for getting to Europe to assume otherwise.

 

A real life example: friends of mine were flying from Tampa to Istanbul a few years ago, originally flying TPA-JFK-IST. Weather delays caused a misconnect at JFK. Due to limited seat availability on other flights, they couldn't be reacommodated on the same flight unless they wanted to wait til the next day, which they didn't. After voluntarily agreeing to split up so as not to lose a day of vacation, the wife was rerouted on AF, JFK-CDG-IST. The husband was rerouted on KLM, JFK-AMS-IST. He made his flight, but by the time the wife rushed to the gate where the AF flight was departing, she missed hers, had to spend the night in NY, and lost a day of vacation.

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It sounds like you are looking at Delta flights. (Atlanta is their main hub for international arrivals and departures.) If that is so then there is every reason to believe that you will remain on the same flight from ATL to BCN.

 

Deta has hubs JFK, DTW and MSP. Plus KLM via AMS or AF via CDG:rolleyes:

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Thank you all for your thoughts. I'm also thinking my sister from Texas fly to Ohio the day before we start our journey. Then we can book same flights the whole way to Barcelona and any delays or changes we'll be together.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

 

Just make sure you and your sister's flights form Ohio are on the same reservation. That way on the chance something goes wrong, your chances of staying together are greatly increased.

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