Help when flight times are changed

[SANDAS]

Having paid in full for a Regent cruise, and having spent ages before booking deciding on our flight times and carrier, Regent have now advised of changed flight connection times which are ridiculous - a wait of 5 hours at Heathrow for a 45 minute internal connection flight at the end of the cruise. We would never have booked such a schedule but are now told that even if we cancel that last leg and organise our own travel we will not even be refunded the cost of the 'deviation'. The travel Agent absolves itself from the whole matter on the grounds that our contract is with Regent not them. No doubt Regent are legally covered to do this but I think it stinks. We have not used Regent before, we usually go Silverseas but liked the Regent itinerary. Can anyone tell me if this is typical of Regent? Has anyone had any success in getting back at least the flight deviation fee from them to contribute to the different arrangements we shall now have to make. We are too old to sit in Heathrow for 5 hours on the back of a transcontinental night flight.

It has put us right off the cruise.

[RachelG]

Did you have a different flight schedule already booked? If yes, then what has happened is that the airline changed the schedule. And in that case, you have to deal directly with the airline, not Regent, to get a more favorable flight schedule. Get your PNR and call the airline.

[SANDAS]

Thanks Rachel. Yes, we did have a different flight schedule booked but the airline, Virgin, says there are no alternative flights that day so there is nothing they can do and, of course, Regent won't change the airline which I would not expect them to. I would have thought though, that either the airline or Regent would at least waive the charge they made for arranging an internal flight that is now no use. All they say they will do is cancel the connection flight (next November) and put us on one with a different airline at the cost of £185 each. Hardly a happy solution!

[SANDAS]

I have now checked Virgin's flight time tables myself and despite what Regent told me, find that my originally agreed flight is still scheduled and has plenty of seats. They seem to have just taken the decision to bump us on to a later plane. I am asking Regent why......................and why they said the airline had changed its scheduled flight time when the flight is actually completely unchanged. It can't be price as both flights are the same price. Very odd.

[RachelG]

You need to talk to Virgin directly--and if you don't get a satisfactory answer from the first person you talk to, call back. I am presuming you have a copy of the actual reservation that was originally made with the PNR on it. You will have to have that, but if you do, you should be able to get your original flights back.

 

If you do not have those, I suspect that you were just given an itinerary, but that the actual reservation was not made. If that is the case, you are out of luck.

 

Yet again a perfect example of why I do my own air.

[Travelcat2]

Unfortunately, Regent's contracts with the airlines is for a certain number of seats per flight. So, while you see available seats on the flights that you requested, Regent may not have any contracted seats available. While it is easy to blame Regent, your TA should have been on top of it. In all of my years on Cruise Critic I have not heard of a TA "absolving themselves from the matter." Any good TA would be fighting for you. And, a TA that regularly works with Regent would have contacts with Regent management. While it will not solve this problem, I hope you promptly get rid of your TA.

 

In terms of the layover time, while 5 hours is not great, 3-5 hours is fairly average. When you fly through Frankfurt you can have a 10+ hour layover. Try looking into day rooms at Heathrow. If you are flying Business Class, the lounges at Heathrow are great. We have even taken advantage of the showers there to freshen up. You would be surprised at fast 5 hours can be.

 

Unfortunately, your only recourse (with an apparently worthless TA) is to work with the airlines (as Rachel stated). Best of luck to you:)

[SANDAS]

Thanks Rachel and Travel cat. I have an air schedule notification from Regent stating that the flights as detailed (i.e. as originally agreed) have been reserved by RSSC for the cruise booking in our names. Not sure if that constitutes a PNR. I have been on to the TA again and asked them to find out why Regent say the final flight is no longer operating when it is. If no joy there I will contact Virgin direct as you suggest. I certainly will not be using the TA again although they were actually recommended in a surreptitious way on these boards as being the best in England- gold quality. Fools' gold clearly!

[RachelG]

A schedule is not a PNR. A PNR means the reservation is made, but without one, it is not. It is a 6 digit alpha numeric code attached to the reservation which should be very obvious and at the top of the printout.

[SANDAS]

Thanks. Glad to say that my TA eventually decided to be very helpful and all is now sorted. Thanks to everyone who provided advice and information

[RachelG]

Glad to hear it is all sorted.

[StarFlyr]

Some times a layover such as you were put on can be a blessing in disguise. Takes all the sweat out of a short layover with a late flight coming in, weather, equipment problems, etc.

 

I've missed more than one short connection in my life. The last time it happened returning to the US, we missed the last flight out of NY for Seattle and had to spend 9 hours in some airport dump. That delay was caused by 2 people having the same seat (on a full flight). Neither one would leave and it took about an hour and half to get one of them off the flight. I was torqued to say the least.

 

I think almost any airline business lounge offers day tickets.