What "If" Flight Times Change?

[mathgal]

Just a "what if" question here...I just discovered that our flight times for June cruise have changed. The airline didn't notify me, I just found out accidently. In my case it is probably to my advantage. Our original flight was to leave Miami at 12:40 p.m. and I was a bit worried in case we were late getting off the ship. Now the flight is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. so that gives us an extra hour.

 

I was wondering though...what if the flight time had been moved earlier instead of later so that we couldn't have made it? Would the airlines let us change our reservation without paying any penalty?

 

 till we are in Paradise again!

 

 

Paradise 6/2004

Paradise 6/2002

[mj]

I had this happen, but not on a cruise. Delta changed my 9pm flight to the next day early morning. Delta tried finding me another flight but when we couldn't find one, they refunded the money and I flew on US AIR. Depending on the situation and the customer service representative, you should be able to change without a penalty since the airlines are the ones that changed it, not you.

 

Counting down my Next Cruise on the Paradise

 

 

Sovereign of the Seas 12-9-00

Explorer of the Seas 10-20-01

Carnival Victory 12-9-01

Fantasy 5-9-02

Voyager of the Seas 10-20-02

Carnival Triumph 11-9-02

Inspiration 4-27-03

Navigator of the Seas 10-25-03

Paradise 5-9-04

Mariner of the Seas 10-24-04

[jleq]

I'm surprised you weren't notified. They usually e-mail you with that fact if the change is 15+ minutes. That being said, most airlines will be very reasonable if the flight change would cause you problems.

 

Whenever it's happened to me (twice, so far), I just call the res. people. Explained the problem to them. I had no problems getting the change made for no cost.

 

10/31 Conquest--add to thread in Roll Call forum. This free countdown clock courtesy of: Escati

[mathgal]

I was a little surprised that I wasn't notified of the change either. We are flying Northwest and I've signed up for their phone & email notification service.

 

 till we are in Paradise again!

 

 

Paradise 6/2004

Paradise 6/2002

[Arlene F]

Mathgal,

Just curious, who did you book your flight through? I've heard of this happening with Expedia and at times through the cruise line.

 

Arlene

[mj]

When my flight got changed, Delta sure didn't give me a call or any notification. I just happened to check my flight and the price on a regular basis and noticed that it had been changed.

 

Counting down my Next Cruise on the Paradise

 

 

Sovereign of the Seas 12-9-00

Explorer of the Seas 10-20-01

Carnival Victory 12-9-01

Fantasy 5-9-02

Voyager of the Seas 10-20-02

Carnival Triumph 11-9-02

Inspiration 4-27-03

Navigator of the Seas 10-25-03

Paradise 5-9-04

Mariner of the Seas 10-24-04

[CruiseFever]

Thats wierd, they should have notified you. They did the same thing to me but sent me a recorded telephone message.

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Carnival Victory 12/19/04

Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

 

[mathgal]

Our flight was booked directly with Northwest (not through Carnival.) We wanted to make sure we got non-stop flights and convenient times so we booked in early February for our June cruise. I will continue to monitor flight status online since obviously I can't rely on them to let me know if there are changes. I'm just thankful that the new times are OK and possibly even a little better than the original times.

 

 till we are in Paradise again!

 

 

Paradise 6/2004

Paradise 6/2002

[VolleyballMom]

Mathgal,

I had a very similar experience. Airtran changed my return flight from 1:50 PM to 11:58 AM, and I received no notification.

I was really nervous about the early flight out, so I turned to my trusty friends at cruisecritic, who reassured us that it would be no problem, since it is out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

We didn't discuss it explicitly, but the agent seem to imply that if it was a problem I could have changed my flight without penaly. However, the next available flight was at 5:30 PM.

 

BTW, I really like your screen name!!!

[mathgal]

Just so you all know...I just received an email from Northwest informing me of my flight changes. I first noticed the change on Saturday (day before Easter) so maybe I just should have been a bit more patient. At least I know I will be notified if any future changes take place.

 

 till we are in Paradise again!

 

 

Paradise 6/2004

Paradise 6/2002

[marvholly]

AA doesn't notify you either. On my 3/28 cruise return flight we left FLL as scheduled. However, our connection in DFW was changed to 45 min later and NO notification at all. We could not get on an earlier flight bac to MDW and ran up about $5 in phone charges re-arranging our pick up time/person.

 

DO NOT depend on airline notification (cruise line wither). Check your outbounds 1-3 days before and have the check-in agent check your returns.

 

Holly

 

M/S Boheme 11/69

Rhapsody 2/77?

Azure Sea 3/89

Panama Canal 11/90

Mexican Riviera 3/98

Carnival Triumph 12/99

Carnival Spirit 12/01

NCL Dream 11/17/02

Celebrity Mercury 6/1/03

carnival Victory 3/28/04

 

[alaskamt]

My Alaska Airlines flight leg from Miami to Seattle (two days post cruise) changed from 6 PM to 8 AM. I just happened to notice the change the other day online at their web site and called the airline. They had me rebooked on the new flight and a new connecting flight. But they didn't call me or the person I am traveling with, and we had booked directly with the airline. A 10 hour change was not minor, either.

[RWolver672]

That's one reason that we always fly in a day early and stay a day after. The airlines change their flights so much anymore that it just makes life more enjoyable knowing that you don't have to rush to catch a plane.

 

Dick

"To Sea or Not To Sea"

~~^~~Sea Ya!~~^~~

Destiny 02-28-99

Victory 02-24-01

Conquest 02-09-03