Help me with my problem flight home

[DeborahQ]

I booked our Star Princess 9/2/12 cruise in January and started looking for airfare right away. I have been on the Star in the past in Seattle and knew not to get too early a flight. Now Delta has changed me to a 11:30 am flight on Sunday 9/9. Is this too early? I can't make it home that day if I take the other option of 2:10 pm. I feel cheated as I paid top dollar to get a 1:20 pm flight that does not exist now.

DQ

[WhereIBelong]

It's been a couple of years now, but we made an 11:30 flight off the Star Princess in Seattle with no problem. I would strongly recommend taking a taxi and asking for walk-off early disembarkation.

 

My guess is that you won't have a problem.

 

Airlines are frustrating, aren't they?

[spunkie4]

Have you considered another airline for the return flight? Delta should allow you to cancel without a penalty if they made the change.

 

Otherwise, you can probably make it, but it will be close.

 

Shirley

[DeborahQ]

Just looked at my reservation page on delta.com and saw the change. We are trying to look at all our options. I have cruised out of Seattle on five previous times but have always stayed the extra night post cruise. I paid extra so I could get home at 11:30 pm Sunday night I wanted to be able to get to work on Monday. I could take more vacation and stay until Monday but seems like such a waste of money. I think I will worry too much about the early flight no crystal ball here. My DH says no other company could sell you something then give you something else and say we're good.

[Princess Patches]

Delta used to give you a refund if they changed the flight time by more than 90 minutes. I would call the airline and ask about the refund then book another flight.

[Pam in CA]

Delta used to give you a refund if they changed the flight time by more than 90 minutes. I would call the airline and ask about the refund then book another flight.

If you are on a cruise, they almost always will try to work with you. Sometimes, even an hour's change can make the difference between making the flight or not. I'd call Delta, explain that you're disembarking a ship, and that you need a flight at approximately the time you originally booked.

[srpilo]

IMO, if you only have to make domestic flight, you should have no problem with a 11:30 flight.

 

 

 

Opinion's vary, this is mine

Srpilo

[JohnLauben]

My one time cruising into Seattle was on the SAPPHIRE PRINCESS (previous port Juneau). American moved my return flight several times ... from 12:30 PM to (eventually) 11:25 AM. The ship was scheduled to arrive at 7:00 AM, but was delayed by harbor traffic until 9:00 AM. The ship's transfer company made absolutely no attempt to get folks to the airport quickly; then, they deposited us a 15 minute walk from the terminals. (Not sure if they still do this.) I wound up missing that flight ... I was at check-in at 11:20 AM! So, I guess the moral of the story is not to rely on the ship's transfer for a flight before noon. It's only about a 20 minute cab ride to the airport. And, remember, arrival delays can happen.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Cuizer2]

I booked our Star Princess 9/2/12 cruise in January and started looking for airfare right away. I have been on the Star in the past in Seattle and knew not to get too early a flight. Now Delta has changed me to a 11:30 am flight on Sunday 9/9. Is this too early? I can't make it home that day if I take the other option of 2:10 pm. I feel cheated as I paid top dollar to get a 1:20 pm flight that does not exist now.

DQ

 

Delta used to be my favorite airline. However, after pulling this stunt with me several times I now prefer United.

[itzmered]

You should be able to change your flight. If Delta changed it then there will not be any penalty for you changing it back. From what I was told by a delta rep if they change your schedule by even 1 minute then you can change it to something that works better for you with no penalty/change fee. I personally would change it because you never know what can happen and that is cutting it awfully close

[Sweetpea]

Delta has just done the same thing to us and they do this quite frequently! I do hope you have better luck than I did trying to get them to change the flight from lax--they will not do it without a fee ($150) if the change is made within a 90 min. window. Even though Delta has been doing this for quite a while now, I think this will be the future of flying (ANYTHING to tick us off). We are going to do the self-disembark and taxi...again:-(

[truffles68]

I really feel for you. Our Delta flight (purchased since Feb) has been changed 5 times. Our original flight was supposed to be 12:15 pm & now it is 9:30am. Some how the original flight no longer exists. I actually laughed when the Delta agent offered us a route that involved changing flights 4 times going to the east coast.

 

Best of luck to you !

[Cuizer2]

I really feel for you. Our Delta flight (purchased since Feb) has been changed 5 times. Our original flight was supposed to be 12:15 pm & now it is 9:30am. Some how the original flight no longer exists. I actually laughed when the Delta agent offered us a route that involved changing flights 4 times going to the east coast.

 

Best of luck to you !

 

I had a flight that was originally scheduled to go from San Juan to Orlando and then Los Angeles. The flight from San Juan to Orlando was cancelled and in its place was a flight from San Juan to Atlanta. Then Delta, using logic I don't understand figured that if my original flight went to Orlando, by God I want to stop in Orlando. So they booked me on an 8:30am flight out of San Juan so I would have time to make the flight from Atlanta to Orlando so I could then fly to Los Angeles.

 

I had to call and explain 1) I'm on a cruise and can't make an 8:30am flight and 2) I want to go to Los Angeles, not Orlando. So they rebooked me on a later flight from San Juan to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Los Angeles.

 

The problem with Delta is not so much that they change the flights (other airlines do that also), but that they do it so many times. Buy the tickets early enough and Delta will change the flight six time before you board.

 

United has changed two of my flights - once each.

[caribill]

The problem with Delta is not so much that they change the flights (other airlines do that also), but that they do it so many times. Buy the tickets early enough and Delta will change the flight six time before you board.

 

 

And maybe one of those changes will be to a better time for the OP.

[Pam in CA]

The problem with Delta is not so much that they change the flights (other airlines do that also), but that they do it so many times. Buy the tickets early enough and Delta will change the flight six time before you board.

A few years ago, I was on a HAL cruise ending in Athens. I'd booked my own flights on Delta and when I booked, the flight (from Athens to JFK, then I was flying on to LAX) was scheduled for 12:30pm, quite doable with the ship getting in at 7am and I'd arranged for a private taxi. Delta changed the flight to 10am just before I left home; it was the only direct flight to JFK that day. NOT doable. I was on a B2B and discovered that HAL had booked the same flight for their cruise air because people were moaning and groaning about how could HAL have been so stupid. I notified the Passenger Services Desk on my first segment (many passengers were doing both segments) and halfway through the 2nd segment, HAL arranged for the ship to arrive at 6am in Athens and had buses waiting to speed people to the airport. I was at the airport by 8am. While we were lucky in that the ship was only sailing from Ephesus the day before, they made it clear that they would not wait for anyone as they had to make it back to Athens on time.

[caribill]

I was on a B2B and discovered that HAL had booked the same flight for their cruise air because people were moaning and groaning about how could HAL have been so stupid. I notified the Passenger Services Desk on my first segment (many passengers were doing both segments) and halfway through the 2nd segment, HAL arranged for the ship to arrive at 6am in Athens and had buses waiting to speed people to the airport. I was at the airport by 8am. While we were lucky in that the ship was only sailing from Ephesus the day before, they made it clear that they would not wait for anyone as they had to make it back to Athens on time.

 

Now that is fantastic customer service.

 

I think under the same circumstances, Princess would rebook passengers who booked air with Princess on connecting flights that departed later instead of altering the ship's arrival time.

[DeborahQ]

Thanks for the responses I changed to the first flight out in the morning next day bad part was knowing that this flight was $140 less per person than the price I paid to leave right after the cruise but I was told to keep checking back and if my flight came back into being I could call and get back on it again. I talked with a very nice rep so I couldn't be upset with her. I am sure my flights will change again before my cruise.

[Cuizer2]

And maybe one of those changes will be to a better time for the OP.

 

I believe Delta has someone assigned to making sure that does not happen.

[Pam in CA]

Now that is fantastic customer service.

 

I think under the same circumstances, Princess would rebook passengers who booked air with Princess on connecting flights that departed later instead of altering the ship's arrival time.

Maybe, maybe not. There were well over 100 people affected (three full buses) so rebooking that many people to another flight might have been a greater challenge than rescheduling the ship's arrival time by an hour. It was the Prinsendam which had only about 650 passengers on that leg so this represented a significant percentage of passengers. Still, you're right. It was terrific customer service and they made a lot of people happy.