Last leg of our return flight cancelled. Anything I can do?

[CruisinManiac]

Although it's not going to interfere with our overall vacation, it is an inconvenience. :(

 

Booked our flights in August, for a May flight to Rome via USAir. We are due to get back to CLT from Rome at 3:55 and had a last leg out at 7:10. I happened to check the flights. That leg from CLT to TRI is completely cancelled now and USAir re-booked us to a 10:45 flight out without contacting us. :mad: This means that instead of spending 3 hours in the airport, we will now be spending about 6 hours. It's only an hour flight (a 3 hour car ride.) :rolleyes: This is the only flight to our home airport that evening, so nothing can be done to change to an earlier time. What I cannot understand is why they cancelled the flight 3 months out. USAir is the only airline that flies from CLT to TRI, so I know there will be others needing that flight. All of those flights are usually full!

 

Anything I can do? Can they book us to another airport and then home without an additional fee for the inconvenience, or give us compensation, or are we .......:rolleyes:

 

PS - We have flown with USAir many a time and this is the first time we have had anything like this happen outside of a snow storm. :(

[epixx]

Re-routing via another airport is a good idea, since the itinerary change is a substantial time difference (3+ hours). Your best bet is to investigate alternate routes, yourself, before calling USAirways. You can then present them with your preferred route when you make the request for a change.

[YXU AC*SE]

Dates would be helpful, but looking at a random date in May, why can't you get this?

 

 

Rome (FCO) to Charlotte (CLT)

US Airways 721

Dep: 11:05am Arr: 3:50pm

 

Layover in CLT 2h 9m

 

Charlotte (CLT) to Tri-Cities Regional (TRI)

US Airways 4184 Dep: 5:59pm Arr: 6:57pm

 

Scott.

[CruisinManiac]

Re-routing via another airport is a good idea, since the itinerary change is a substantial time difference (3+ hours). Your best bet is to investigate alternate routes, yourself, before calling USAirways. You can then present them with your preferred route when you make the request for a change.

 

Thank you, I am currently looking. ;)

 

Dates would be helpful, but looking at a random date in May, why can't you get this?

 

 

Rome (FCO) to Charlotte (CLT)

US Airways 721

Dep: 11:05am Arr: 3:50pm

 

Layover in CLT 2h 9m

 

Charlotte (CLT) to Tri-Cities Regional (TRI)

US Airways 4184 Dep: 5:59pm Arr: 6:57pm

 

Scott.

 

That's real similar to what we had. Same departure from Rome, but there is not a 5:59 out from CLT to TRI on May 29th.

 

So, is there something that says I can negotiate if the change is more than 3 hours? :cool:

[YXU AC*SE]

You can negotiate, but if there isn't a flight CLT-TRI, there isn't a flight?

 

If you'd prefer to not sit in CLT for 6 hrs, you could opt to fly back through PHL, but sadly all roads to TRI on US run through CLT, so you'd be stuck on the same late flight anyway, and just adding a bunch of connections. If you are collecting FF miles / building segments for status might be of limited advantage.

 

Scott.

[CruisinManiac]

True! I can't seem to find any options to other airports, without it being a pain to arrange. :(

 

Here's a thought, though not ideal...get the airline to put us up overnight at a Charlotte airport hotel, and then take the next morning out. We could have a nice dinner, see some of Charlotte, and get some much needed rest. DH has that Monday, the 30th off. ;) Beats sitting in an airport for 6+ hours.

 

Rome (FCO) to Tri-Cities Regional (TRI) - Sun, May 29

Rome (FCO) to Charlotte (CLT) - Sun, May 29

US Airways 721 Dep: 11:05am Arr: 3:50pm 10h 45m Airbus A330 Coach (M)

 

Layover in CLT 17h 55m

Charlotte (CLT) to Tri-Cities Regional (TRI) - Mon, May 30

US Airways 2351 Dep: 9:45am Arr: 10:39am 0h 54m Canadair Reg. Jet Coach (K)

OPERATED BY US AIRWAYS EXPRESS - PSA AIRLINES

 

Do you think they might go for that?

[YXU AC*SE]

Exceedingly doubtful that US will put put you up in a hotel when they have a flight option to get you home same day. If you were to pay for the hotel yourself, then they'd likely go for it. Scott.

[kenish]

What I cannot understand is why they cancelled the flight 3 months out. USAir is the only airline that flies from CLT to TRI, so I know there will be others needing that flight. All of those flights are usually full!

 

It's an indication that the CLI-TRI route is not profitable, or not as profitable as other routes the aircraft and crew can be reassigned to. Just like any other industry it's profit and margin, not volume. Reminds me of the old saying, "I know we are selling at a loss but we will make it up in volume!" :)

 

I'm sure you will be able to get better flights without the long layover. Be glad you have 3 months notice and not 3 days (been known to happen).

[CruisinManiac]

I just looked and it seems that May 29th is the ONLY date that they have cancelled this 6:00-7:00 timeline flight. :confused: I don't understand. Is it possible that the flight was chartered? I don't know who would want to charter a flight from CLT to TRI, though. :rolleyes:

 

We could ask to have our flight changed to the next day, with no additional fees, but that would defeat the purpose of DH having that extra day off to rest before going back to work, not to mention the cost of an additional night in Rome. UGH!!! Not only that, our daughter was going to take and pick us up from the airport, but we cannot ask her to pick us up that late on the return. This is so aggravating!

 

I'll ask DH if he wants to pay for a hotel in CLT. Sounds like our only option if we don't want to sit for 6 hours.

 

EDITED to say - There is a United flight that makes the trip during the 6:00-7:00 time frame, but I noticed that it too is not available for the 29th. Odd.

[personnext]

The flight was not chartered. It was cancelled, simple as that. There is not a United flight at that time, it is a codeshare. It is the same exact flight you were on.

 

Honestly, there are a whole lot of worst things that can happen in your life than an extra three hours at the airport. Airports have plenty of places to shop and relax. Enjoy your vacation, relax and don't worry about it.

 

Tri-Cities is a small airport in a small city with very little demand for air travel.

[tompeter]

I am guessing that the flight was cancelled due to low demand, in that it is in the middle of a 3 day weekend (Memorial Day).

[alidor]

There is and never was a true United flight - that was a codeshare flight number on the US Air flight.

[Hlitner]

This kind of thing is all too common with most of the airlines. We had a similar situation with American where they totally cancelled our last leg and we are now stuck in Chicago overnight at our own expense. The fact that USAIR did not notify you is very sad..but you have lots of rights. You can even demand a full refund of your airfare, you can look for other routings, etc. If you find a better alternative it might pay for you to call USAIR and ask them to reroute you (at no additional charge).

 

Hank

[CruisinManiac]

The flight was not chartered. It was cancelled, simple as that. There is not a United flight at that time, it is a codeshare. It is the same exact flight you were on.

 

:o Thanks!

 

Honestly, there are a whole lot of worst things that can happen in your life than an extra three hours at the airport. Airports have plenty of places to shop and relax. Enjoy your vacation, relax and don't worry about it.

 

Yes, as I said in the beginning, it will not ruin our vacation, but the main reason we picked a flight out of our hometown, versus going directly out of CLT or ATL, was because the times were so perfect and the price was the same. It's more of a disappointment than anything else. :(

 

After an intensive 15 day vacation and an almost 10 hour flight, relaxing at the airport is not my idea of relaxing, nor do I want to end my vacation stressed out. We should know because we had to spend 24 hours in CLT two years ago during a snowstorm after a cruise.

 

Tri-Cities is a small airport in a small city with very little demand for air travel.

 

The TRI serves 3 larger cities - Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City (we are 63,000 in population alone) in addition to several smaller cities in TN, Virginia and NC. The TRI gets a good share of business.

 

I am guessing that the flight was cancelled due to low demand, in that it is in the middle of a 3 day weekend (Memorial Day).

 

Good guess, but I recall when I booked back in August that the little puddle jumper was half full already. That's why we went ahead and booked when we did.

 

This kind of thing is all too common with most of the airlines. We had a similar situation with American where they totally cancelled our last leg and we are now stuck in Chicago overnight at our own expense. The fact that USAIR did not notify you is very sad..but you have lots of rights. You can even demand a full refund of your airfare, you can look for other routings, etc. If you find a better alternative it might pay for you to call USAIR and ask them to reroute you (at no additional charge).

 

Hank

 

Yeah, I was signed up for notifications, too. :rolleyes: This is new since last week, so maybe they haven't had a chance. I check pricing every week. I am afraid that I am out of the window of opportunity to find a better flight, but thanks for letting me know that I could ask for a refund.

[kenish]

More speculation.....Memorial Day is Monday May 30. Smaller markets like TRI depend on high-yield business travel as their bread and butter. Normally there would be good demand into TRI on Sunday evening for Monday morning meetings and commuters who fly in for the week. But the holiday moves a lot of the Sunday travel to Monday night or Tuesday morning.

 

Also keep in mind seatmaps on the airlines' websites are a poor info source....you really have to subscribe to an online service for a good picture of how many seats are full.

[NHBob]

OP mentions a 3-hour drive. Why not ask US Airways to give you a rental car? Don't know if it will work these days, but has for me in the past.

 

Bob

[CruisinManiac]

More speculation.....Memorial Day is Monday May 30. Smaller markets like TRI depend on high-yield business travel as their bread and butter. Normally there would be good demand into TRI on Sunday evening for Monday morning meetings and commuters who fly in for the week. But the holiday moves a lot of the Sunday travel to Monday night or Tuesday morning.

 

This must be the reason. :( Maybe they will reinstate the flight.

 

OP mentions a 3-hour drive. Why not ask US Airways to give you a rental car? Don't know if it will work these days, but has for me in the past.

 

Bob, when we flew into Atlanta and had to drive just two hours to my parents home, I thought we would die. We were all so tired! Four of the six passengers fell asleep, and I struggled to make it my mission to keep the driver, my brother, awake. He was close to nodding off. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open and my mouth moving. :eek:

 

If the flight is not reinstated, I think we should either make the best of the layover and suck it up, stay overnight in Charlotte, or stay another night in Rome,,,or maybe even fly to France for that day and night and fly out of Paris. haha :D

 

Now I have another concern. :confused: I was looking at the seat assignments that I made when making the flight reservations. My seats for the 2nd leg from CLT to Rome are missing from the reservation. No new assignments, they are just missing. The other assignments are on the reservation (although the seats are different on the last leg because of the flight change.) Why would that be? Doesn't seem to be an equipment change.

[greatam]

Now I have another concern. :confused: I was looking at the seat assignments that I made when making the flight reservations. My seats for the 2nd leg from CLT to Rome are missing from the reservation. No new assignments, they are just missing. The other assignments are on the reservation (although the seats are different on the last leg because of the flight change.) Why would that be? Doesn't seem to be an equipment change.

 

Could be a computer glitch, could have something to do with the last leg time change, could be a equipment CONFIGURATION change (like 2 versions of the A330-200, as well as the A330-300), could be most anything.

 

Just go back into the website and re-pick your seats.

[CruisinManiac]

There doesn't seem to be a place to let me change the seats. :confused:

[Coolcruise02]

IMHO a 3 hour layover is cutting it close coming in on an international flight. The last 2 trips back from Rome 3hrs was NOT enough time to go thru customs, recheck bags, etc. with flight delays. Our first flight we had a 6hr layover and just made it and the last time we had 3 hour layover and missed our connection. Just my experience!

[greatam]

There doesn't seem to be a place to let me change the seats. :confused:

 

Go back into your reservation and use the seat map to change the seats. Shouldn't be complicated unless I am missing something. If nothing else works, call US

[CruisinManiac]

IMHO a 3 hour layover is cutting it close coming in on an international flight. The last 2 trips back from Rome 3hrs was NOT enough time to go thru customs, recheck bags, etc. with flight delays. Our first flight we had a 6hr layover and just made it and the last time we had 3 hour layover and missed our connection. Just my experience!

 

Really? It's been our experience that the Rome to US flights leave pretty much on time, every time. In Atlanta, it took us about 45 - 60 minutes to claim bags, go through customs, re-check the bags, retrieve the bags and head out of the airport. Took almost an hour for my brother to go get the car! lol

 

The CLT airport is so much smaller than the ATL airport that I thought 3 hours was plenty! However, there is always the one time that things go wrong... :eek:

 

Go back into your reservation and use the seat map to change the seats. Shouldn't be complicated unless I am missing something. If nothing else works, call US

We are both missing something. LOL That's why I can't change the seats, there is no map showing. I am going to call USAir today.

[cindep]

Charlotte is my "home" airport. There are several places to eat in the airport as well as shops. Even though it is not nearly as huge as Atlanta, it is a nice and clean airport. Maybe you can coax lounge access out of USAir? That would at least make the layover bearable. Regardless, good luck with it ... believe me, it could have been MUCH worse!

[CruisinManiac]

Go back into your reservation and use the seat map to change the seats. Shouldn't be complicated unless I am missing something. If nothing else works, call US

 

Charlotte is my "home" airport. There are several places to eat in the airport as well as shops. Even though it is not nearly as huge as Atlanta, it is a nice and clean airport. Maybe you can coax lounge access out of USAir? That would at least make the layover bearable. Regardless, good luck with it ... believe me, it could have been MUCH worse!

 

:) Oh, I know it's a nice airport. Fly through there frequently. And, believe me, we've HAVE had MUCH worse at CLT.

 

Per post #14, "We should know because we had to spend 24 hours in CLT two years ago during a snowstorm, after a cruise."

What restaurants and shops they had were closed due to lack of food and help. Very boring night, and no place to lay our heads. What's worse is that after a certain hour, the heat is cut off for the night to save in energy cost. We were cold, hungry and tired. :(

 

Maybe you can coax lounge access out of USAir?

That's a thought. ;)

[6rugrats]

OP - IMO, you are not going to receive any kind of compensation, or free lounge access or get US to pay for a hotel room. Airlines cancel and change flights everyday. You can cancel your reservation and receive a refund in full, or ask to be placed on another flight.

 

On US's webpage, there is a flight 30 May, FCO-CLT-TRI.

 

FCO-CLT Flight #721 Leave FCO 11:05 a.m. arrive CLT 3:50 p.m.

CLT-TRI Flight #4184 Depart CLT 5:59 p.m. arrive TRI 6:57 p.m.

 

Am I missing something? Why can't they put you on this flight?