lack of attention to details

[HighSeaslover]

Boy do I feel stupid. I beleive the excitment took over. When I was booking our airfare for our up comming cruise, we decided to do three days in South Beach prior to the cruise. Well I booked our airline for Wednesday, the 22nd. I though I booked the early flight, leaving our airport at 6:20am and arriving in Miami at 11:40am. I planned our hotel, and lunch for that afternoon. WELL>>>>>> I just was looking at our documents, and our e-mailed confirmation from the airline shows us leaving at 6:20pm and arriving in Miami at 11:40pm... therefore we have already lost one whole day or your vacation.

 

Does anyone know if the airline with change our flight to be one earlier in the day???? (of course, I would want that at no extra charge HA!) I am really disappointed..

[hill6]

I know Continental airlines will allow you to change your flight when you check in without charge if seats are available. I am not sure if that applies to trying to change it by 12 hours.

[steveaaaa]

See if seats are available on the early flight and go standby.

Steve

[HighSeaslover]

Should I call the airline (Delta) prior to the date of departure? I really don't care if we can't fly out at 6.20am, but I would like to be in Miami before 6pm, so we could enjoy a nice dinner and drinks on the beach. Another problem is their are three of us.... Wonder if that will make it difficult.

[Cactuscruise]

If you want to change flight times for 3 people I would suggest you call the airline now instead of waiting until the last minute. Airlines are charging beween $25 and $100 to make fight changes. Rarely do they do it for free anymore unless it's their idea and not yours or if you want to fly stand-by. Stand-by is not something I would do when flying in for a cruise even if it is the day before.

[teedee]

The earliest flights of the day (before 7am) are often not as full as later flights, so you might have a shot at it. You can check availability online and if it looks good call Delta and ask about it. Sometimes they will charge you a $25 per person fee to guarantee the seat, but that's not too bad.

 

Terri

[HighSeaslover]

Thanks so much, you all give me hope...... :)

[NinaCO]

Absolutely call the airline. Tell them that you messed up, and ask for help. The rep might be willing to change the flights at no charge under the circumstances. I remember that someone in our group booked the wrong flights (wrong dates!) a couple of months ago, and the airline had pity on them. It's worth a shot.

[PlaneJoy]

Delta offers same day stand-by for $25 pp. I don't know if they will do anything else for you without the $100 pp change fee.

[teedee]

The last time I bumped up on a flight (about 2 months ago) on Delta they told me it would only be a $25 fee if I wanted a guaranteed seat on the earlier flight. If I wanted to go strictly stand by there was no fee. This could have been due to my medallion club status though, I didn't ask. I was happy to pay the fee for the earlier flight!

 

Terri

[atonal1]

Don't forget, in addition to the $25-$100 change fee, you will have to pay the difference in airfare too!:(

[teedee]

Don't forget, in addition to the $25-$100 change fee, you will have to pay the difference in airfare too!:(

 

That's very true, but if they are taking the early morning flight it might actually be cheaper, could go either way.

Terri

[tef43]

I have gotten to the airports after conferences and been able to switch to earlier flights at no cost on AA and NWA, but of course, I wasn't trying to fly 12 hours earlier than scheduled either.

 

Never hurts to try.

[STANCPA44]

A month ago I booked a Mediterrean cruise. I booked with Northwest for the airfare. They have a special sale to Europe, using miles and cash, so I used that option. I wanted to spend two extra days in Rome so I booked what I thought was two days after the cruise end.

 

However, when I got my docs. I found out I made a mistake, my flight left one day after the end of the cruise. Since I wanted to spend two days in Rome, I contacted Northwest, knowing that according to their website, there will be a $50. per person charge. Lo and behold, since it was a fare using miles and cash, the change fee was $250.

 

I thought maybe the agent made a mistake, I contacted the frequent flyer rep and they said the charge to change was $250. per person. Now the next step will be to call their obsbudman, maybe they will be of help.

I am a frequent flyer, travelling over 350,000 miles with Northwest, they should be more friendly.

stan

[cantw82cruise]

Sometimes they can be a little ridiculous. Last April for our cruise I noticed that North West had me listed twice and left my sons name off. I called them in Sept. Seven month before the flight to let them know they had made a mistake. The lady I talked to said it would cost me $50 to correct it. I told her it was their mistake she said I should have called back when I received the conformation (August). I said just leave it, he's a minor and doesn't have to have picture ID. I guess next time I should look this stuff over better instead of just filing it away.

[stokerhj]

If you are flying Delta, I would expect to pay a $100 charge per ticket changed even if it is the same day. I purchased airfare through them for my upcoming cruise, then 3 weeks later found that they were now offering a MUCH lower price on some better flight times.

 

Long story short, even though the flight difference was only an hour for both days, I still had to pay the charge to change. The $200 in fees cancelled out the $200 lower fare.

[bonniemari]

Stan-I feel for you. We live in a "Northwest Hub"-which in NW language means lets see how much more we can get out of the people that live in Memphis. Last spring we were taking a trip to Disneyworld with our kids/grandkids that live in Alabama. We could have driven to Huntsville-flew to to Memphis and then onto Orlando for less than we could have flown from Memphis to Orlando and on the same flight.

 

I will no longer fly Northwest-I will pay more to fly another airline before I ever fly Northwest. Northwest has a huge stronghold in Memphis and hopefully if I choose not to give my money to them the Airport Authority in Memphis will get a clue and start letting some of the other smaller (Southwest, Jet Bllue) into the Memphis Market. I know it won't happen with just me but if more people got fed up with NW and did the same maybe things could be changed.

[HighSeaslover]

Just got off the phone with Delta. To change my tickets today they will charge me $100 pp. If I call them the morning we are to leave and request the change it will only be $25 pp. So it looks like I'm calling on the 22nd and maybe can be in Miami for lunch!!!!

[sea_u_onboard]

Since you are not sure of your ariival time (in case of a change) be sure that your hotel is aware that you want the room no matter what time you arrive. Some hotels will cancel your reservation by a certain time if you don't reserve it with a credit card. If you reserve with a CC they will charge whether you show up or not by the required time. Best to be sure you have a room - especially if you get in at 11:40pm.

[hstrybuf]

Good luck! Hope it all works out for you. :)

[HighSeaslover]

Thank you for the "good luck" It only bothers me so much, cause waiting isn't something I do well. My husband doesn't want to pay ANY MORE for an earlier flight. I can't say I blame him, but I am SO EXCITED, that the though of waiting all day on the 22nd seems unbearable. Oh well, guess GOD is teaching me something...... :)