Near Disaster ......Flightease

[Ricktan]

Let's hope this is the worst thing that happens on our cruise. Since we leave Fri and I haven't received any updates or links from Flightease (like I was told when I booked months and months ago), I decided to call. The guy that helped me says "hmmmmm, not sure what is going on but the system shows that your flights you booked have all been cancelled, please hold". :eek: Of course, the longer I sit on hold, the more anxious I become. 20 minutes later (okay, 19, sorry for exaggerating) he comes back in and says. "We are not sure why but the system did CANCEL out your flight. We have Flightease on the other line trying to get something booked for you". OMG. Now, I'm really stressed. Finally, after 38 minutes (not exaggerating) he tells me that they have got me on the same flight going but coming back, I will now have a 3 1/2 hour layover and will get to ATL at 9:00pm, instead of 2:15 pm like originally booked. (Airport is a 3 hour drive). Oh, and there are now no seats together ???!!!! Needless to say, I was not happy. I booked those flights the day they opened so that I could get what I wanted. I have paid (and paid)for this cruise and now I can't sit with my husband on a 9-hour flight (our anniversary trip) and my return flight has turned into a day of torture! I might not have been the sweetest person about this time. :o. So, they move me to a "lead" rep and the process starts again. Finally (after an hour) we hung up with her promise to call with an update as she was trying to get a better flight home. 1 1/2 hours later, she called to say that they were still digging but hadn't found anything earlier than 6:15 back into ATL. Funny thing was, in the meantime, I had went online and found a flight through Delta that puts us home at 2:55pm. I gave her the flight numbers. Another hour passed and then she called....they got us booked on the flights I found (lot of help there) and they were waiving the additional fees!! Haha, it was YOUR mistake!! (Flights are literally double what they were when we booked) However, they did upgrade us to business class coming home and got us seats together on all flights. Of course, they will have champagne waiting in the room. (Really?) :D BUT...after hours of worry, it all worked out and I got a better flight home. They said there was a "qlich" in their computer that caused the system to automatically cancel our flights. Sarah (the one helping) said that she has never seen this happen before (let's hope not). Sorry for such a long post but if you bom through Flightease, please double check!!

 

Tanya

[DeeniEncinitas]

Let's hope this is the worst thing that happens on our cruise. Since we leave Fri and I haven't received any updates or links from Flightease (like I was told when I booked months and months ago), I decided to call. The guy that helped me says "hmmmmm, not sure what is going on but the system shows that your flights you booked have all been cancelled, please hold". :eek: Of course, the longer I sit on hold, the more anxious I become. 20 minutes later (okay, 19, sorry for exaggerating) he comes back in and says. "We are not sure why but the system did CANCEL out your flight. We have Flightease on the other line trying to get something booked for you". OMG. Now, I'm really stressed. Finally, after 38 minutes (not exaggerating) he tells me that they have got me on the same flight going but coming back, I will now have a 3 1/2 hour layover and will get to ATL at 9:00pm, instead of 2:15 pm like originally booked. (Airport is a 3 hour drive). Oh, and there are now no seats together ???!!!! Needless to say, I was not happy. I booked those flights the day they opened so that I could get what I wanted. I have paid (and paid)for this cruise and now I can't sit with my husband on a 9-hour flight (our anniversary trip) and my return flight has turned into a day of torture! I might not have been the sweetest person about this time. :o. So, they move me to a "lead" rep and the process starts again. Finally (after an hour) we hung up with her promise to call with an update as she was trying to get a better flight home. 1 1/2 hours later, she called to say that they were still digging but hadn't found anything earlier than 6:15 back into ATL. Funny thing was, in the meantime, I had went online and found a flight through Delta that puts us home at 2:55pm. I gave her the flight numbers. Another hour passed and then she called....they got us booked on the flights I found (lot of help there) and they were waiving the additional fees!! Haha, it was YOUR mistake!! (Flights are literally double what they were when we booked) However, they did upgrade us to business class coming home and got us seats together on all flights. Of course, they will have champagne waiting in the room. (Really?) :D BUT...after hours of worry, it all worked out and I got a better flight home. They said there was a "qlich" in their computer that caused the system to automatically cancel our flights. Sarah (the one helping) said that she has never seen this happen before (let's hope not). Sorry for such a long post but if you bom through Flightease, please double check!!

 

Tanya

OMG Tanya what a fiasco!!! I'd be on my second drink by now while waiting on the phone with my heart jumping out of my chest!!!

I relived almost the same thing in my head about your cancelled flight that had a mysterious glitch! We were on British Airways when our flight was gone! We were in business class and almost the same scenario?

Ours ended very well also, like yours but just to have to go through that is awful !

Happ y Anniversary and smooth sailings!

Denise:)

[sail7seas]

Sorry for your stress. Happy you were persistent and got a better flight home.

 

Hope you have a great cruise and Happy Anniversary.

[CruiserBruce]

Sorry for your stress, but hoping you learned the value of taking out the middlemen (the cruise line and the air department) and arranging your flights on your own.

[dakrewser]

The good thing is that it all worked out. But it is a reminder to check, and re-check, all of the arrangements all along the way.

 

And, no, it wasn't a "computer glitch". Computer's don't do that. A person had to "glitch" for this to happen.

 

I guess you now need a cruise more than ever!

[kazu]

Wow!!! I am so glad it worked out for you.

 

That's a lot of time on the phone and I think I would have been on at least my second drink for sure!!!

 

I'm so glad it worked out for you and the "fixed" it.

 

We book all our flights on our own for this very reason.

 

I went down that road a few years ago (ok a decade or two) and after those horrendous connections I prefer to do my own.

 

Thankfully it is o.k. now. Now, you really need a cruise :) I think that echo may rebound a few times in this thread;)

[chefestelle]

Wow. I just checked my flights today and I had a very different problem. I was leaving San Diego at 11:50 AND 3:15. Turns out I'm actually leaving at 5:00. Of course, later is better than earlier. Or not at all...

[retafcruiser]

We book all our flights on our own for this very reason.

 

It can still happen! I have had three instances (all with Delta) where they changed or cancelled flights; changed seating from business to economy, and never called to make other arrangements. The traveler has no guarantees and must stay vigilant with all air travel.

[rajkr74]

WOW....sure glad things worked out for you. We have also had changes on flights with no calls from the airlines????? We have learned to check our reservations CONSTANTLY prior to flying to make sure we are not surprised.

 

Air travel has become unenjoyably, stressful and a hassle over the years. Go back and look at some of the video ads for airline from the 60's and 70's, they used to portray a comfortable flight with smiles all around. Not that way today. Even harder for some one like me who is 6" 9"". :eek:

[cruisequeen4ever]

Wow, that was an ear disaster!! [emoji33] Thank goodness you caught it in time, and good for you for advocating for them to make it all right! They definitely needed to make good on this snafu! Cheers to your anniversary cruise and business class!

[cruiseJMO]

Sorry you had to go through all that.

Thank you for posting on here. I'm a cruiser, not a flyer. Thought about a Mediterranean cruise, but ended up booking a couple of Caribbeans instead after getting anxious looking into flight arrangements.

You've provided info that would be very easy to find by search, and would help prepare me if I get bold enough to fly. (It's not the actual flight that scares me. It's the extra anxiety of planning on top of cruise plans.). Very helpful for knowing how to handle it, just in case.

[Keith1010]

Wishing you a great cruise.

 

Keith

[Tights]

Human error is what caused the problem, no such thing as a computer glitch, sorry you had all the worry,enjoy your cruise ( and your flight)

Sometimes it's hard to get good help and in the end I resort to doing it myself

[Krazy Kruizers]

What a horrible mess you had to endure yesterday.

Glad you got everything straightened out to your satisfaction.

Now I know why I book our own flights.

[puppycanducruise]

Wow.

What an awful situation.

Glad you got it straightened out.

Enjoy your cruise!

[Hflors]

Wow what a mess!!! I had something similar happen to me now twice. The first time thru the cruise line - which I won't use any more. The second time the air line cancelled my connecting flight. and re-routed me thru two more airports. The rep even had the nerve to say. "Oh and by the way the last connection doesn't have 1st class, but its such a short flight you won't miss it". Are you kidding me???? After some discussion and getting a supervisor on the phone because the airline wanted to charge me to cancel these flights I got my money back and booked with another airline for a direct flight at a third the price. If I am not going to be in 1st class for the whole flight I might as well not be in 1st class the rest of the way and save the money!

 

So glad you got it worked out. Keep checking just to make sure there are no more "computer glitches'.....

[RuthC]

What an awful episode. Happy that you got it worked out to your satisfaction.

But you ought to know that the same type of thing can happen when you book your own flight, too.

 

Last spring it was nearing the time for my long haul, business class flight, that I had booked myself and paid for with real money; there were no frequent flier miles involved. When I went to check on something (can't remember why I was in the booking) I learned it had been canceled! The flight was still on, but I was no longer booked to be on it!

 

After a few minutes of panic, then a lengthy contact with the airline, I was reinstated on the flight. To this day, I have no idea what happened. I just know that vigilance is necessary when it comes to air reservations, no matter who made them.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Last summer, when we were flying out to Seattle, United changed our flights. The return was a small time change, about 10 minutes later. But the flight to Seattle had a change in flight number and left 45 minutes earlier. Fortunately, I double- and triple-check all the arrangements (I made the booking), so I caught it. But we never got a notification from United.

 

A few days before the flight we did get a very pissy generic email about enforcement of carry-on bag sizes, so I knew we were in "the system." But for some reason they couldn't be bothered to notify us about something that really mattered. (Got the same carry-on email before the return trip, but nothing about the time change)

[summer slope]

So happy for you that things worked out. I will NEVER fly Delta again for a similar situation. Bumped me out of 1st. and didn't want to make restitution. Said it was because I used miles so too bad. I said ah no and after many phone calls and email got my miles back and a gift card. Did it make up for the problem, no, but was something. Good for you standing your ground! There is no such thing as customer service anymore.

[Vict0riann]

Terrible situation! You have to wonder how many people were affected as well as you, and didn't check, just went out to the airport expecting to fly as they had originally arranged. :eek:

 

Glad you got it all sorted out to your satisfaction.

[pmcubed]

 

Last Winter - I got several e-mails from flight ease on changes in our flights - even if it was just 2-3 minutes different.

 

But on flights I booked myself I have always stayed VIGILANT as to changes.

 

So happy it all worked out - you need this cruise! Happy Anniversary and Happy Cruising!

 

Pat

[DaveOKC]

I always book my own flights directly. When I book far out (common for us cruisers), very often the flights change along the way. Sometimes the airline notifies us, sometimes they do not. So, I have learned to check on my reservations every month or so to be certain all is well. It only takes a few minutes do do this and can REALLY save alot of heartache.

[LindaM]

Wow!!! I am so glad it worked out for you.

 

That's a lot of time on the phone and I think I would have been on at least my second drink for sure!!!

 

I'm so glad it worked out for you and the "fixed" it.

 

We book all our flights on our own for this very reason.

 

I went down that road a few years ago (ok a decade or two) and after those horrendous connections I prefer to do my own.

 

Thankfully it is o.k. now. Now, you really need a cruise :) I think that echo may rebound a few times in this thread;)

 

Jackie,

 

We had a 45 min. "legal" connection from HAL, Frankfurt to Istanbul. That's when we learned not to trust HAL. We TELL HAL what flights we want, then go to Delta to get our seats. So far, we have been informed of changed flights. Our 11:30 from FLL to DTW was cancelled and we were put on a 1:30...but we were informed by Delta AND Hal.

[Ky Colonel]

Tanya (& Rick),

 

Sorry to hear of your Flightease travails, but very pleased that everything worked out well in the end - sort of like the AI schedule issue, eh? I don't have any "you-think-that-was-bad" stories to 1-up you, nor do I have any after-the-fact "coulda-told-you-so" advice, so I'll conclude by wishing y'all Bon Voyage and Happy Anniversary.

 

God speed and smooth sailing!!!

[Ricktan]

Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes!!! After a "few" glasses of wine and a couple hours of sleep, I headed to the office to finish up my last full day! Woo-Hoo! I still can not log into Flightease but our confirmation numbers bring all our info up on Delta so I feel much better! As many have said on here, thank Heavens, I did not just show up at the airport Fri. Truthfully, as a natural control freak, that just isn't in my nature. I have checked my itinerary regularly and even up to 4 days ago it showed our air travel booked. But, something just told me to make sure. I told my DH, let's hope this is our "bump in the road" and that the rest of our trip is smooth sailing (pun intended). He said "bump h*#%, this was a crater". To which I quickly responded, "well, jump in the tank and strap in because we are driving right over it!!!" Seriously, as stressed as I was last night, it was all worked out and I am so excited to start this trip! Hopefully I will be able to report that all is going well in the NA this Sunday!!