An Airline Hack That Just Worked for Us--Hope it Helps Others

[Sthrngary]

I wrote this post twice and deleted it.  It was to long and detailed.  This is my third attempt.  We are booked on an Oceania Mediterranean 10 day cruise for early November 2023. When we originally booked the cruise in September 2022, we included Pre/Post Hotels and Coach Airfare.  The air supplement was $1,000.00 for this cruise.  Over the next few months, while reading all the many post on using or not using Oceania Air, we decided to cancel the Oceania Air and book directly ourselves and cancel the Pre/Post hotels and book directly with the hotels.

 

The two couples going wanted to leave from Birmingham, AL and not have to drive to the closest hub which is Atlanta, GA.  That would have been over a two hour drive and parking costs. We also did not want to pay an additional supplement to Oceania Air to fly out of Birmingham instead of out of the hub Atlanta.  This lead to our decision to book directly with Delta Airlines.  However like everything in our world, our flights were NOT perfect and all flight legs were not identical for both couples. That was not ideal however, It was a cost decision when booking.  We booked the air directly 330 day prior to the cruise date because that was when the air itineraries opened up. On the return we has a 8.5 hour lay over in Atlanta, GA again due to pricing issues making the earlier flight over budget. 

 

Yesterday I called Delta directly and had both couples flight in question changed for NO additional costs.  The HACK was waiting for Delta to send a message that one or more of our connection legs had a time or equipment change.  Once that happens, all bets are off.  They gave both couples what would have been the much more expense connections with NO problem at all.  

 

I am criticized for spending to much time and effort on my vacation details.  I fully understand I can be obsessive at times.  Yet it is kind of a sport to get exactly what you want, for in this case a pretty good discount over that it would have originally been.  So if you choose to book your own flights, look at it often for the changes by the airline.  This was a very pleasant turn of event for my group. 

 

Side note, I did not share this positive turn of events with my group.  None of them care about the details of this trip until the last possible second.  Than the complaints begin and all eyes are on me.  Don't worry, I can take the HEAT.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

 

 

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

16 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

I wrote this post twice and deleted it.  It was to long and detailed.  This is my third attempt.  We are booked on an Oceania Mediterranean 10 day cruise for early November 2023. When we originally booked the cruise in September 2022, we included Pre/Post Hotels and Coach Airfare.  The air supplement was $1,000.00 for this cruise.  Over the next few months, while reading all the many post on using or not using Oceania Air, we decided to cancel the Oceania Air and book directly ourselves and cancel the Pre/Post hotels and book directly with the hotels.

 

The two couples going wanted to leave from Birmingham, AL and not have to drive to the closest hub which is Atlanta, GA.  That would have been over a two hour drive and parking costs. We also did not want to pay an additional supplement to Oceania Air to fly out of Birmingham instead of out of the hub Atlanta.  This lead to our decision to book directly with Delta Airlines.  However like everything in our world, our flights were NOT perfect and all flight legs were not identical for both couples. That was not ideal however, It was a cost decision when booking.  We booked the air directly 330 day prior to the cruise date because that was when the air itineraries opened up. On the return we has a 8.5 hour lay over in Atlanta, GA again due to pricing issues making the earlier flight over budget. 

 

Yesterday I called Delta directly and had both couples flight in question changed for NO additional costs.  The HACK was waiting for Delta to send a message that one or more of our connection legs had a time or equipment change.  Once that happens, all bets are off.  They gave both couples what would have been the much more expense connections with NO problem at all.  

 

I am criticized for spending to much time and effort on my vacation details.  I fully understand I can be obsessive at times.  Yet it is kind of a sport to get exactly what you want, for in this case a pretty good discount over that it would have originally been.  So if you choose to book your own flights, look at it often for the changes by the airline.  This was a very pleasant turn of event for my group. 

 

Side note, I did not share this positive turn of events with my group.  None of them care about the details of this trip until the last possible second.  Than the complaints begin and all eyes are on me.  Don't worry, I can take the HEAT.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

 

 

 

 

Your “hack” also draws attention to folks who don’t read what they may see as the “fine print.”

When major airlines (e.g., United) change flight times, folks who have selected receiving “notifications” (online and/or via texts or the airline’s app) will get an email with the details. If you then peruse your account, you’ll see the new itinerary along with some symbol that indicates a schedule change. If you “accept” the change (by moving beyond that screen), it’s a done deal. But, if you read the “fine print” that accompanies the change info, you’ll find that you can contact the airline to secure alternative arrangements, most often at no additional charge (and for sometimes better flights).

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

Better check with your specific airline before trying to rely on this.

 

A schedule change needs to be something more than a minor change before you can get a "free" rebooking onto different flights.  And each airline defines what are minor and what are significant changes -- and they are different across the industry.

 

At United, the break point is 30 minutes of change.  At American, it is one hour.  At Delta it's 90 minutes.  And rules for refunds can be different than for changes.  (These numbers are current policies - but can change at any time).

 

TANSTAAFL

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

9 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Better check with your specific airline before trying to rely on this.

 

A schedule change needs to be something more than a minor change before you can get a "free" rebooking onto different flights.  And each airline defines what are minor and what are significant changes -- and they are different across the industry.

 

At United, the break point is 30 minutes of change.  At American, it is one hour.  At Delta it's 90 minutes.  And rules for refunds can be different than for changes.  (These numbers are current policies - but can change at any time).

 

TANSTAAFL

 

 

Thanks for clarifying. I’ve found that United is pretty good about changing. But, I’ve only had to do it a few times and it was for significant time changes of a couple of hours that ate up our connection buffer.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Thanks for clarifying. I’ve found that United is pretty good about changing. But, I’ve only had to do it a few times and it was for significant time changes of a couple of hours that ate up our connection buffer.

 

Yes....UA is one of the more consumer-friendly in this regard.

 

Mostly, I didn't want folks to think that they could book a cheap flight and count on there being some change, thus allowing to switch to a higher priced alternative.  And as a further note....if there are successive changes that add up to exceeding the "significant" criteria, it usually doesn't count.  It has to be one change that is bigger than the threshold. 

 

 

[cruisingisfun]

We did the same thing for flights this year, booked 2 months earlier, as did our travel companions, when we received change notices from the airline.  There have been additional flight time changes since.   Changed our flights, connection cities, length of layovers. Have better times and connections now.  Kept same price.  The seat selection was not as good as the original, but we did well enough.  

[susiesan]

When booking airline tickets far out there are likely to be several changes that will allow you to make changes to your flights and tickets. If you get one of these notices, research what flight you want to change to rather than asking the airline for alternatives. They almost always will make the change you want. be ready to give them this information when you call or use twitter.

 

[AMHuntFerry]

I am pleased that some of the airline policies post-Covid have been quite consumer friendly; the airlines I use have removed change fees and essentially removed cancellation fees (unless booking super discount which I do not). I have encountered the situation Sthrngary described and was surprised that my "more expensive" (by more than double) choice cost me $0 when I chose it instead of the airline's default choice. I have had to adjust my purchasing strategy to match the new processes, but it is much more stress free now due to the added flexibility.

Short version: if you haven't been flying much post-Covid...the rules have changed! (for the better in my opinion)

[Sthrngary]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

Mostly, I didn't want folks to think that they could book a cheap flight and count on there being some change, thus allowing to switch to a higher priced alternative.

@FlyerTalker So I can clarify.  The flight I booked and purchased for my friends joining was a fully refundable fare.  That was by no means a cheap flight.  The key and the reason why I called this a heck was, it is my experience, when you purchase a flight WAY in advance, changes get made by the airlines.  As soon as they are, even if I would have purchased a non-refundable fare, they would have accommodated me.

 

The whole emphasis here is, if you see a change, and want a different flight, call the carrier and see what they can do for you.  The worst thing they can say is, NO/

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[FlyerTalker]

42 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

As soon as they are, even if I would have purchased a non-refundable fare, they would have accommodated me.

 

But ONLY if you had a "significant" schedule change.  That's the determining factor, not the fare type.

 

And each airline has their own definition of what significant is.

 

So your fully refundable ticket would not have been a free change had it been a minor (aka "non-significant") change in the schedule.  On a minor change, you could have gotten your full refund and bought a new ticket at the current spot price.

 

 

[Sthrngary]

17 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

But ONLY if you had a "significant" schedule change.  That's the determining factor, not the fare type.

 

And each airline has their own definition of what significant is.

 

So your fully refundable ticket would not have been a free change had it been a minor (aka "non-significant") change in the schedule.  On a minor change, you could have gotten your full refund and bought a new ticket at the current spot price.

 

 

If the flight schedule change was minor, they would have done nothing for me at any price ticket.  On that we completely agree.  Let's start over.

 

1. If you purchase a Airline Ticket, please consider doing it well in advance.  If you do, you will get the best price or miles redemption possible.  I do it 330 for Delta because that is when they offer the routes and times. CHECK
2. If you choose an itinerary that is not perfect however it fits your budget best by having long layovers and or extra legs, be happy with your choice. CHECK  HOWEVER.
3. If the Airline Changes any part of your flight, it MIGHT key word might, provide you with a way to gain the better Itinerary. This is regardless of full fare, discounted fair that is non-refundable/changeable.  This of course has to do with the change and how severe it was made by the airline.  Every airline is different and has different rules.  If something changes, call the airline and see what they will or could do for you.  CHECK.
4. Therefore consider checking often, looking for emails from your air carrier and simply be aware. The best approach is call the air carrier.  The worst thing they can say is NO.  CHECK

 

I recently did this on two (2) flights and it worked great for me.  I consider this a POTENCIAL AIRLINE HACK.  Why, because I used to travel for 40 years by air, the longer I had a flight, the more often the Itinerary/times would change.  Nothing in life is a guarantee though. Worth the effort if you have the time.  

 

This thread was created after hearing all the pros/cons of using the cruise brand air fare.  It got me thinking, lets look at ALL the options.  For my situation, which may be different from everyone else, buying my own airfare very early, gave me lots of benefits at about the same investment.  This may be different then your situation but give a potential path to consider.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[FlyerTalker]

Just now, Sthrngary said:

If the flight schedule change was minor, they would have done nothing for me at any price ticket.  On that we completely agree.  Let's start over.

 

1. If you purchase a Airline Ticket, please consider doing it well in advance.  If you do, you will get the best price or miles redemption possible.  I do it 330 for Delta because that is when they offer the routes and times. CHECK

 

UNCHECK

 

Pricing for revenue tickets is often high when schedules are just released because airlines need to hedge against cost increases that may occur between release and flight date.  In general (and that is a broad concept), prices will lower as you move towards flight date and then rise.  However, there is no universal, or even accepted, time when that turn about occurs.  It's only discovered after it happens.  And of course, for holiday travel, all bets are off.

 

As for award tickets - at one time, all FF inventory was dumped into the GDS at the start of schedule.  But over the last decade or more, award inventory has been allocated on a dynamic basis for most carriers.  So there is no longer the magic "330" number to guarantee the best availability.  In fact, one may often find award inventory and pricing getting better as you approach flight date, if revenue sales are lagging behind yield management projections.

 

 

Just now, Sthrngary said:

• If you choose an itinerary that is not perfect however it fits your budget best by having long layovers and or extra legs, be happy with your choice. CHECK

 

Concur.  Bring a good book.  (Amazing how folks that will gladly spend hours just sitting and reading on a cruise ship find that revolting to do at an airport)

 

Just now, Sthrngary said:

• If the Airline Changes any part of your flight, it MIGHT key word might, provide you with a way to gain the better Itinerary. This is regardless of full fare, discounted fair that is non-refundable/changeable.  This of course has to do with the change and how severe it was made by the airline.  Every airline is different and has different rules.  If something changes, call the airline and see what they will or could do for you.  CHECK.

 

Concur.  Might being the VERY operative word.

 

Just now, Sthrngary said:

• Therefore consider checking often, looking for emails from your air carrier and simply be aware. The best approach is call the air carrier.  The worst thing they can say is NO.  CHECK

 

Concur.  One has to "cultivate" their reservations - checking and adapting.

 

 

[Sthrngary]

Thank every one for your excellent feedback, research, and clarification.  The whole purpose for Social Media is the free exchange of ideas, opinions and debate.  If we can learn one thing from this and other thread, it has been a success.  Special thanks to @FlyerTalker for taking the time to provide expert approach, details and feedback.  It was most appreciated.  

 

Now let's all get to our cruises happy and with the least amount of stress possible.  Often times that is by doing a good plan to begin with.  Still remember, Murphy's Law sometimes is something we can not predict.  I hope to see everyone one day on a cruise I am on.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[JoePDX]

Speaking of Delta.  During COVID they dropped their change fees permanently for all tickets except basic economy.  You pay the difference in ticket price (or get a e-credit if less) for any changes.  I had a routing with a long layover in AMS and found a routing with a more agreeable layover, called and change was made, cost $30 per ticket or so for the fare difference.   Previously this change would have been $200-$250 per ticket plus the difference in fare.

 

I too am obsessive about our travel plans - so there are no surprises!   And to travel as economically as possible.   That is not to say cheap hotels…

 

For us using Oceania air is never economical.   Portland is not a gateway city for Oceania so once you add the $199 non gateway fee, plus the deviation fee I can always do better on my own, often saving $100s.   And most important I am fully in charge.
 

My planning regimen:

 

1.  As soon as air routes are available, generally 330 days in advance, I start checking fares and routings.   I use Kayak and Google Flights in addition to airline websites. We fly almost exclusively Delta, so I also check Air France and KLM for code shares.   Kayak and Google Flights are good at finding  these.   I have found it is often less to fly on a KLM or Air France code share than on a Delta flight number, or a mix and match.  And I still get my full Delta Skymiles benefits (I am Platinum).  I do this to start understanding where fares are and the fluctuations.

 

2.  I book once the fare gets to a level I like based on my research.  I also book when the seat maps starts filling up the two person seating combos.   Delta flys a lot of 767 and A330 planes which are a 2-X-2 seating configuration.  So nice not to share a row with a stranger on a long flight.
 

3.  Once booked I check reservations at least weekly for any flight changes or for any seating changes.   Often flight changes result in seating changes that are not my optimal choice.   I also check for upgrades.   Have been able to get upgrades to Delta One for $500-$600 per person, although becoming rarer.

 

4.  I do similar steps for Hotel and car rental.   For hotels I will book a refundable reservation as a placeholder at the property I want.   Then watch rates and when I know we are definitely going and the rate is good then I will book the non refundable option, which is usually less and cancel the refundable reservation.  Booking directly with the Hotel may get you included breakfast, which can be expensive in Europe.  But it is not always less on the hotels website, so check Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline, etc. too.

 

5.  Car rental rates can be very volatile.  We currently have a 10 day rental that we picked up in Barcelona yesterday.  When I first booked it last fall I had a compact car reserved for around 1000€.   Over time I moved us up to a small SUV and the final rate at about 460€.   I use Hertz almost exclusively for its ties to Delta Skymiles.  Most rental companies offer a prepaid option for less.   Only do this if you know you are going….as generally it is non refundable or with a stiff penalty and no refund if you return the car early.  I will do this at the last minute if the savings is significant.   The prepaid option generally disappears a week to 10 days before the pick up date.

Joe

 

 

[sunlover12]

4 hours ago, JoePDX said:

 

4.  I do similar steps for Hotel and car rental.   For hotels I will book a refundable reservation as a placeholder at the property I want.   Then watch rates and when I know we are definitely going and the rate is good then I will book the non refundable option, which is usually less and cancel the refundable reservation.  Booking directly with the Hotel may get you included breakfast, which can be expensive in Europe.  But it is not always less on the hotels website, so check Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline, etc. too.

 

I agree about watching rates after you book it because many times they will go down. We always stay at Hilton hotels if possible. They guarantee the price will be lowest if you book directly with them. There is no benefit that I know of for booking with Orbitz, etc.  

 

Staying loyal to Hilton has given us status not only for complimentary breakfasts but also access to their executive lounge for free drinks and appetizers at happy hour. 

[babysteps]

Hello fellow planning-focused people! Loving the detail and advice in this thread.

 

A few things to chime in from our adventures:

 

ITAmatrix is another great tool, same data as google flights but more powerful/customizable search engine. You can't book in Matrix, there is an add-on (or separate app?) that will usually create a bookable link but I haven't used it yet, for many/most itineraries you can just go to the airline and build the itinerary yourself.

 

Whatever search engine you are using there will be some missing info. If I understand this right -@FlyerTalker correct me please! - the ITA and Google data comes from the GDS system. Some airlines don't participate (eg Southwest) and some hold back certain parts of their available seats (just recently American).

 

Seat maps show assigned seats. There may be way more ticketed passengers than the already-assigned seat map shows for airlines that charge a fee for seat selection. Expert Flyer (a paid subscription service) will show remaining tickets to be sold (by fare bucket), and you can also set alerts. Knowing this level of detail may not matter in most cases, but can be super helpful in some situations. So far I haven't subscribed to Expert Flyer.

 

When booking direct with hotels, we join the frequent-stay program (if any) before reserving. They usually comes with more options and/or better pricing choices. We have used AirBnBs - yes it isn't perfect so we check property and host reviews in detail before comitting. I find Trip Advisor helpful to locate hotels and give an idea on pricing, but haven't used them to book hotels. When we get adventurous, we check about AC, elevators, private baths etc.- your flexibility may vary, check with your travel partners before making assumptions lol! We like AC and private bath, elevator is optional in most cases for us.

 

Book indirect with caution. If anything goes wrong it seems to be much worse to resolve. There are exceptions, just make informed decisions! And indirect may not be what you think - we booked a rental car in Malta last year direct with the brand and got all the insurances. Picking up the car they wanted to charge us for required insurance! It was an independently owned location, not a franchise (who knew). We had enough paperwork showing the reservation that they were able to resolve it, but it took some firm requests and an extra 20+ minutes to fix.

 

Stay flexible! Things are starting to settle, but change is inevitable. One itinerary in 2020 to reach a cruise we had a great nonstop using miles to Milan on AA, then the airline shortened their seasonal Milan service so we got canceled. We pivoted to paid-to-Trieste on LH (because the cruise start had also changed from Venice to Trieste) -- and then days later a major schedule change made that unattractive, got a full refund. Final answer was AA miles via LHR on a connecting BA flight to Venice. We made it fine and that was a lot of pivoting and planning!!

 

My motto for travel planning is that a good plan B makes plan A behave much better!

Happy planning 😊

[Sthrngary]

7 hours ago, JoePDX said:

Speaking of Delta.  During COVID they dropped their change fees permanently for all tickets except basic economy.  You pay the difference in ticket price (or get a e-credit if less) for any changes.  I had a routing with a long layover in AMS and found a routing with a more agreeable layover, called and change was made, cost $30 per ticket or so for the fare difference.   Previously this change would have been $200-$250 per ticket plus the difference in fare.

 

I too am obsessive about our travel plans - so there are no surprises!   And to travel as economically as possible.   That is not to say cheap hotels…

 

For us using Oceania air is never economical.   Portland is not a gateway city for Oceania so once you add the $199 non gateway fee, plus the deviation fee I can always do better on my own, often saving $100s.   And most important I am fully in charge.
 

My planning regimen:

 

1.  As soon as air routes are available, generally 330 days in advance, I start checking fares and routings.   I use Kayak and Google Flights in addition to airline websites. We fly almost exclusively Delta, so I also check Air France and KLM for code shares.   Kayak and Google Flights are good at finding  these.   I have found it is often less to fly on a KLM or Air France code share than on a Delta flight number, or a mix and match.  And I still get my full Delta Skymiles benefits (I am Platinum).  I do this to start understanding where fares are and the fluctuations.

 

2.  I book once the fare gets to a level I like based on my research.  I also book when the seat maps starts filling up the two person seating combos.   Delta flys a lot of 767 and A330 planes which are a 2-X-2 seating configuration.  So nice not to share a row with a stranger on a long flight.
 

3.  Once booked I check reservations at least weekly for any flight changes or for any seating changes.   Often flight changes result in seating changes that are not my optimal choice.   I also check for upgrades.   Have been able to get upgrades to Delta One for $500-$600 per person, although becoming rarer.

 

4.  I do similar steps for Hotel and car rental.   For hotels I will book a refundable reservation as a placeholder at the property I want.   Then watch rates and when I know we are definitely going and the rate is good then I will book the non refundable option, which is usually less and cancel the refundable reservation.  Booking directly with the Hotel may get you included breakfast, which can be expensive in Europe.  But it is not always less on the hotels website, so check Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline, etc. too.

 

5.  Car rental rates can be very volatile.  We currently have a 10 day rental that we picked up in Barcelona yesterday.  When I first booked it last fall I had a compact car reserved for around 1000€.   Over time I moved us up to a small SUV and the final rate at about 460€.   I use Hertz almost exclusively for its ties to Delta Skymiles.  Most rental companies offer a prepaid option for less.   Only do this if you know you are going….as generally it is non refundable or with a stiff penalty and no refund if you return the car early.  I will do this at the last minute if the savings is significant.   The prepaid option generally disappears a week to 10 days before the pick up date.

Joe

 

 

@JoePDX Thank you for posting with such clarity and detail. This stream was created for everyone to help each other with a focus on travel when cruising.  Your contribution is excellent.  Delta has come through as much more client friendly in the past years.  

 

Again, thank you for your information.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[FlyerTalker]

8 hours ago, JoePDX said:

I have found it is often less to fly on a KLM or Air France code share than on a Delta flight number, or a mix and match.

 

Yes, there are often arbitrage opportunities with codeshares.  Much depends on whether the codeshares are part of a revenue sharing arrangement or just a block purchase agreement.

 

8 hours ago, JoePDX said:

Have been able to get upgrades to Delta One for $500-$600 per person, although becoming rarer.

 

And will get even rarer.  DL is working to move upsells towards 90% of retail cost for the upgraded cabin.  So those good deals to move up are behind us.

 

8 hours ago, JoePDX said:

Car rental rates can be very volatile.

 

One excellent resource for you:  Autoslash.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, babysteps said:

ITAmatrix is another great tool, same data as google flights but more powerful/customizable search engine. You can't book in Matrix, there is an add-on (or separate app?) that will usually create a bookable link but I haven't used it yet, for many/most itineraries you can just go to the airline and build the itinerary yourself.

 

Whatever search engine you are using there will be some missing info. If I understand this right -@FlyerTalker correct me please! - the ITA and Google data comes from the GDS system. Some airlines don't participate (eg Southwest) and some hold back certain parts of their available seats (just recently American).

 

Yes....it's GDS based, as are most all other OTAs.  Southwest famously keeps all of its sales through its own systems, and yes, AA has been fighting with the GDSs for years.  (Maybe some residual DNA fighting since SABRE was once a part of AA).  But the amount of info being held back by AA is still minimal, as they can't cut off their nose at this point.

 

1 hour ago, babysteps said:

Expert Flyer (a paid subscription service) will show remaining tickets to be sold (by fare bucket), and you can also set alerts. Knowing this level of detail may not matter in most cases, but can be super helpful in some situations. So far I haven't subscribed to Expert Flyer.

 

EF will show you the sales inventory for each of the offered fare buckets.  One caveat to remember - there is a max number that gets shown. For most airlines, that is 9, some are 7.  If you see the number 9, that doesn't mean there are nine seats for sale in that bucket.  It means there are at least 9.  Once you get below that number, say you see 5, that's the actual inventory in that fare bucket.  And 0 means exactly that - no inventory in that bucket.

 

1 hour ago, babysteps said:

Book indirect with caution.

 

There are a lot of booking scams out there, especially for hotels.  If a price looks WAY out of line, it probably is a scam.  One thing to do is check with the hotel directly and see if they have a sales relationship with that company. 

 

Another scam is the cheap business class ticket.  Often, these are from companies that buy FF miles from people (against program rules) and use them to sell a ticket to Mr Unsuspecting.  Who then finds out his ticket is worthless because the airline's fraud department has found the sale of the miles.

 

1 hour ago, babysteps said:

My motto for travel planning is that a good plan B makes plan A behave much better!

 

Contingency planning is vastly underappreciated in travel.  Have those backup plans ready.

 

 

[TravelLoverbySea]

Very informative thread. Thank you all.

[ORV]

One factor I’ve experienced over the years when there has been a change and you call in is the cs rep you get. Some will do the bare minimum and get off the phone with you ASAP, others will do everything possible to accommodate you, within the guidelines. I, like others have turned a crap routing into exactly what I want. 

[Redtravel]

It works on all airlines.  It’s great when you book using miles.  Direct flights cost more miles.   Once there is a flight change, you can ask for the direct flight.   

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Redtravel said:

It works on all airlines.  It’s great when you book using miles.  Direct flights cost more miles.   Once there is a flight change, you can ask for the direct flight.   

What about non stop flight  I guess they are a lot more  mikes??

[fasterflier]

On 4/10/2023 at 12:38 PM, Sthrngary said:

@FlyerTalker So I can clarify.  The flight I booked and purchased for my friends joining was a fully refundable fare.  That was by no means a cheap flight.  The key and the reason why I called this a heck was, it is my experience, when you purchase a flight WAY in advance, changes get made by the airlines.  As soon as they are, even if I would have purchased a non-refundable fare, they would have accommodated me.

 

The whole emphasis here is, if you see a change, and want a different flight, call the carrier and see what they can do for you.  The worst thing they can say is, NO/

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

I find that there is a big advantage to having the cruise line do your air.  They then take responsibility for deviations that might cause you to delay or miss the ship or a myriad of other malaise.  

[Sthrngary]

6 minutes ago, fasterflier said:

I find that there is a big advantage to having the cruise line do your air.  They then take responsibility for deviations that might cause you to delay or miss the ship or a myriad of other malaise.  

@fasterflier All very true. Pros/Cons to doing it either way. My point in all this is, know what works best for you. Do your due diligence.  Every one has different needs and approach. Evaluate and decide. 
 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.