Airline ?

I just checked to see if there were any changes to my flight on the 19 of

Feb. Will the time has changed about 30 mins. When I checked about a

month ago I had seats. Now the seats we had are not listed, they are on the

return flight.So I checked to see if I checked on a flight out on the 19 to

lax my flight number was there so I checked the seat map there were only

a few seats listed and the seat we had was not listed.So does that mean we

still have the same seats :confused: Iam flying Northwest and with all of news

reports Im hoping everything will be ok.:eek:

Why don't you just call the airline and confirm your reservation?

Northwest is in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. That being said I wouldn't worry to much since most airlines are either in bankruptcy , just came out of it or getting ready to file Chapter 11 . If you read the fine print on a lot of trip insurance policies they will not cover loss from a company that is in bankruptcy , the two big ones being Delta and Northwest. It is highly unlikely Delta or NW will file chapter 7(liquidation) like Independence Air did last month .

Airlines have schedule changes every couple of months, so your original flight seems to have been changed . Not to alarm you , but I would call NW and try my best to get a confirmed seat. If they tell you they can't do it right now it most likely means one thing, the flight is already oversold(more passengers than seats). This can cause a lot of anxiety at the boarding gate when the gate agent makes an announcement that the flight is oversold and they are asking for volunteers to take another flight.

Problem is usually there are a lot of cruise passengers on these flights and free roundtrip tickets and $200 is not much incentive to give up your seat and miss the ship . If you are told that your seat assignment will be given at the airport on departure day , make sure you get to the airport very early so your name is at the top of the standby list ......... I know you are saying "but I have a paid ticket" , look at the fine print .

My advice . If at all possible fly out the day before the cruise, get up refreshed the day of the cruise departure, tranfer to the pier, be an early boarder and enjoy the day . Numerous people miss the ship on departure day because of airline problems , some are the airlines fault and many are not . Bad weather delays , air traffic control delays , aircraft mechanical problem delays and oversold flights can sure cause a great vacation to get off on a very bad start .

Both Delta and Northwest are facing the possibility of strikes by pilots, with Delta being the most likely if the courts throw out their contracts as happened at United. Here's a couple articles to reference.

Delta Pilots to Strike if Contract Nixed

Northwest Pilots Strike Unlikely

Something else to consider. Cruiseline companies buy huge blocks of airline seats at deep discounts. If you booked your cruise with air you are somewhat near the bottom of the totem pole , along with the people that purchased tickets on hotwire , priceline ,ect. You could be at the top of the standby list by checking in early but a NW WorldClubs member shows up after you or a person with a higher cost ticket than yours ...... guess what .

They will be given a higher priority in seating over you . Is this fair ? No! But thats the way it works , and the gate agents will try to make sure you don't see the real standby list for this reason . Until you are given a seat assignment you don't have a seat on NW .

We almost missed the ship about 10 years ago due to bad weather on the east coast but since so many flights were late RCCL changed the ship departure until 10pm , it was suppose to have sailed at 5pm . We heard almost 300 cruisers were on delayed flights for that cruise and thats why they held the ship . After all the anxiety of that day thinking we had missed the ship I told my DW from now on we will fly into the port city the day before . The cruiselines offer this for a reasonable fee and imho it is well worth it .