Need help with pre and post trip!

[KathyK13]

Last year United changed our return flight from Budapest, giving us only 45 minutes at Dulles to make our connecting flight home. We knew that wouldn't give us time to clear customs and make it to our next flight, even if the flight was on time, and couldn't believe they thought it was an acceptable change! We did have them change the flight but had to go through Chicago with a long wait for the final flight, making our trip home an extra three hours longer. We were pretty annoyed.

[caviargal]

So the deal seems to be - book early, get a good fare and hope that the flight remains as booked, or wait until the schedule is likely set, pay more, and hope...

 

They did not let us know about these changes until 2-3 months prior to travel so IMO, no such thing as schedule being more set. When they cancelled flight to Prague, we paid hundreds more per person to fly with Lufthansa and lost economy comfort seating as Lufthansa does not offer from our airport. Seats were the worst ever, though we loved the plane and service onboard.

 

When they cancelled Vienna, we had to leave the cruise a day early to get to Munich as they only offered us seats on one flight and there were 4 of us.

 

And I am a 1.5 Million Miler with Delta and Lifetime Medallion. :(

Edited September 5, 2014 by caviargal

[Hydrokitty]

Add me to list of those who would rather stay home than fly Delta! And I have the good fortune of being able to fly from JFK on just about any airline. I try to book Lufthansa if I can, they never disappoint.

[purduemom1]

Add me to list of those who would rather stay home than fly Delta! And I have the good fortune of being able to fly from JFK on just about any airline. I try to book Lufthansa if I can, they never disappoint.

 

Not so sure about Lufthansa. Read my post above about the total rearrangement of all our flights. To add additional stress, Lufthansa seems to be involved in somewhat frequent strikes including one today, Sept. 5, not their first this year. Air France has a strike scheduled for later this month. So is seems like a crap shoot.....just find the schedule and price that works for you, cross your fingers AND have a back up plan. Yes, I know what you are thinking..."flying shouldn't be this difficult" and I certainly agree!

[Host Jazzbeau]

My parents retired to LA (Lower Alabama), and everyone there says that when you die and go to heaven -- you have to change in Atlanta [on Delta] :eek::eek::eek: Makes me wonder if the other place isn't so bad after all! ;););)

[CPT Trips]

Did the cruise line make those "horror story" rescheduled bookings, or was it DYI?

 

Jazzbeau, we travel through LA when visiting BIL in Maine . . . that's Lewiston/Auburn.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Did the cruise line make those "horror story" rescheduled bookings, or was it DYI?

 

Jazzbeau, we travel through LA when visiting BIL in Maine . . . that's Lewiston/Auburn.

 

For us it was DIY. One time Delta ended their relationship with Swiss. The other time it was just Delta dropping all non-stop service JFK-IST. But I don't think there has ever been a flight when Delta didn't change the flight number, aircraft, or at least tweak the times. [We book as soon as flights open up 330 days out, so this does open us up to maximum potential changes -- but Delta is worse than any other airline we have Delt[a] with [had to get a pun in somewhere :roll eyes:].

[CPT Trips]

I'm not about defending Delta . . . just thinking that Δ (from a math perspective) is really appropriate for their scheduling practices.

 

How about the rest of those scheduling problems?

[purduemom1]

I'm not about defending Delta . . . just thinking that Δ (from a math perspective) is really appropriate for their scheduling practices.

 

How about the rest of those scheduling problems?

 

Ours on Lufthansa are DIY. Not sure it would have made any difference if we had booked thru' the cruise line. Airlines change their schedules to accommodate their bottom line not the passengers and strikes happen. All part of the adventure:(

[caviargal]

Ours were all DIY. This gives me more control as at least I had the option to cancel and get all of my money back and start again with another airline when this happened in 2012 for our Budapest trip.

 

Not sure the cruise lines would have allowed that option.

[4774Papa]

We lived in Germany for four years and love Switzerland.

 

I suggest going to Lucerne and/or Interlaken. From Interlaken you can go up the Youngfrau.

 

At the end of the cruise, Amsterdam is great for a few days and if you have more time, Brussels and Brugges, Belgium are great.

[Talisker92]

We lived in Germany for four years and love Switzerland.

 

I suggest going to Lucerne and/or Interlaken. From Interlaken you can go up the Youngfrau.

 

At the end of the cruise, Amsterdam is great for a few days and if you have more time, Brussels and Brugges, Belgium are great.

I second the motion. We spent a week in Wengen and toured all over on a rail pass.

The route I suggest is Interlaken-Lauterbrunnen-Wengen-Kleine Scheide- Jungfrauhoch=Kleine Scheide-Grindelwald-Interlaken

We did that all easily in one day!

The story and pictures are on our website.

[CPT Trips]

Flight arrangements are always a concern and usually tricky. So far all our river/small ship cruises have been last minute, as little as 5 days, so I have used the cruise company for air. At least the schedule is firmed up by then and the price is right (or we don't go).

[sharden]

LiseD;

 

Just opened up a thread on the roll calls for our cruise. Just go to roll calls then all river cruises and find it. This will be a good way to exchange info and perhaps have others join in.

 

I have been checking tours in and around Zurich to see the ease of making daytrips from the Movenpick. We plan on two or three days pre cruise and maybe one or two in Amsterdam.

 

We will post info on the roll call.

[tipsygirl]

I have already tried booking my hotel for Amsterdam for next Sept but reservations are not open until late October at hotels I have checked with.

 

This convention starts Sept 11, 2015 and attracts over 70,000 attendees.

So don't delay getting your bookings.

 

We arrive Sept 9 next year and expect this to be an issue ;)

 

Our Avalon sailing is on the 11th!

 

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Might try the United Airlines website for hotel booking. Found Amsterdam hotels available earlier and at a reasonable price for our upcoming trip. (sailing on AMA)

[nana541]

Might try the United Airlines website for hotel booking. Found Amsterdam hotels available earlier and at a reasonable price for our upcoming trip. (sailing on AMA)

 

 

Tipsygirl, Thanks for that tip! I'll check it out.... Leaving Saturday on a last minute Alaska cruise :)

 

 

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