FLL Flights keep changing

[ASIWISH]

The flights for my October cruise keep changing. This is the third time in five weeks.

 

Please stay aware of your reservations, as American Airlines changed mine this morning to a 6:30 a.m. flight for my return without calling me.

 

Obviously, I would have missed that flight... and had I not checked, I might have missed the chance to book a more acceptable return flight before it sold out.

[sail7seas]

What other business can treat us the way they do and get away with it? :(

[DaveOKC]

The flights for my October cruise keep changing. This is the third time in five weeks.

 

Please stay aware of your reservations, as American Airlines changed mine this morning to a 6:30 a.m. flight for my return without calling me.

 

Obviously, I would have missed that flight... and had I not checked, I might have missed the chance to book a more acceptable return flight before it sold out.

 

Anytime you book a flight more than 4-5 months out you have a good chance of it being changed. Sometimes it works out for the better, sometimes worse. At 2-3 months out I am surprised that your AA flight is changing now - as usually the schedule is set by then.

 

One thing I like about Southwest is that they almost never change their flights (of course they do not posted their schedules until about 6 months prior).

 

Good advice to keep checking your flights...........

[Wishing on a star]

Yes, ALWAYS watch your flights and your seats!!!!

I keep an eye on ours very often... weekly if not almost daily.

 

You have every right to change to an acceptable flight when they move your flight and that will not be possible.

If they can not accommodate, you can just cancel, free of any charges, and book on another airline, if that is what works best.

The only problem is, on the flight you change too, by the time you see these changes and have to ask them to transfer you to the acceptable flight, all the better seats are taken!

Arrrggghhh!!!!!

 

We have had some slight changes on our Delta Flights... Had to have them change flights once...

So far so good in that we are still all set, and our seats are not too bad.

[OlsSalt]

Had the same thing happen with Alaska Airlines - LAX to FLL. Two departure time changes from good to terrible and then perfectly awful.

 

We grabbed their first flight at 11am which got us into FLL the night before the cruise- and made it a reasonable departure for us since LAX is a two hour drive away. Then they changed it to 8am - which made it a lot less convenient for us.

 

Then they changed it to 7am - which means having to leave home around 3am. Nothing else worked for us on the RT ticket we purchased. Half the fun is getting there? Not any longer.

 

There are plenty of red-eyes for this route which we tried in the past and hated - leave you stuck in FLL around 5am killing time to get to the ship much later. You would think there would be money to be made just taking care of the cruise passenger traffic to FLL. But airline schedules do not reflect this from LAX.

 

So now we have a red-eye flight in reverse - getting little sleep before we depart, instead of getting no sleep on the plane.

[Roz]

One thing I like about Southwest is that they almost never change their flights (of course they do not posted their schedules until about 6 months prior).

 

Good advice to keep checking your flights...........

 

Agree with you 100%, Dave. SW is always my #1 choice for domestic flights. I've made 2 trips to Europe in the past 3 years and have another one booked for this fall. Having to deal with international carriers and their constant changes and rude customer service has been an eye opening experience.

 

Roz

[fatcat04]

 

One thing I like about Southwest is that they almost never change their flights (of course they do not posted their schedules until about 6 months prior).

 

Good advice to keep checking your flights...........

Agreed, I was just thinking this. All these years we have flown SW they might have changed our flight a half dozen times and usually it no more than a 10 min difference. SW is big in Nashville and Nashville airport is great so its our go to if possible. But yes, you have to monitor SW booking windows. They are variable. And also monitor those fares as rebooking for flight credit is easy. You can save big money as sometimes fares plummet about 3 to 4 mos out. But then sometimes they only go up. Always a good idea to keep an eye on your flights. (y)

[ontheweb]

We once had a direct flight from one of the NY airports to Fort Lauderdale change to where there was a stopover in Dallas. And the timing would no longer have allowed us to make it to our cruise before the ship left the port. The airline did allow us to cancel. There was no other acceptable flight with them so we booked with another airline.

[Hlitner]

Welcome to the world of AA and Delta where flight schedules are considered advisory....and often have no relation to the final schedule that is often not released until a few weeks before the flights. This is just more reason why many of us prefer Southwest and JetBlue where they seldom have major schedule changes.

 

Hank

[sail7seas]

For years, we always flew AA to FLL. When they changed to Miami from Boston, w e started flying Delta to Flll. We happilly switched to Jet Blue and like them better. Delta was unpleasant IMO.

[dockman]

Airlines: Don't expect much and you'll never be disappointed.

[Wishing on a star]

Delta is huge here, and we will be flying on MILES... So, we will have to deal!!!!

So far so good this time... knocking on wood!!!

[bEwAbG]

Most changes I've seen are within just a few minutes of the original; only once that I recall having one change by several hours. More annoying to me is when they change the equipment that is going to be used, especially on international flights. You really have to watch for that or you may end up in a seating configuration you hate.

[sammiedawg]

Welcome to the world of AA and Delta where flight schedules are considered advisory....and often have no relation to the final schedule that is often not released until a few weeks before the flights. This is just more reason why many of us prefer Southwest and JetBlue where they seldom have major schedule changes.

 

Hank

 

This is so true, flight schedules are constantly changing. We are booking flights closer to departure dates.

Airlines have been fair to us on schedule changes and allowed us to choose a favorable option. This could change. Nothing surprises me.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have always kept track of our flights for years.

I am so used to the air lines changing flights.

[SilvertoGold]

How many weeks prior to the flight date is it considered safe to book so that its schedule will not be changed further?

[boze9999]

Best advice is to book early to get your preferred flights/days/times/routes and monitor the changes diligently. Keep your paper trails of original bookings and any subsequent changes by you, your TA or the airline. Contact the airlines or your TA

to rebook due to any significant changes (not at your cost). I feel so sad for the inexperienced traveler who books and just shows up at the airport on departure day....disaster day!

[sail7seas]

How many weeks prior to the flight date is it considered safe to book so that its schedule will not be changed further?

 

 

There is no firm answer as it is so variable on same airline let alone from airline to airline, time of year, board ing airport and destination..........

[missmishka]

Had the same thing happen with Alaska Airlines - LAX to FLL. Two departure time changes from good to terrible and then perfectly awful.

 

We grabbed their first flight at 11am which got us into FLL the night before the cruise- and made it a reasonable departure for us since LAX is a two hour drive away. Then they changed it to 8am - which made it a lot less convenient for us.

 

Then they changed it to 7am - which means having to leave home around 3am. Nothing else worked for us on the RT ticket we purchased. Half the fun is getting there? Not any longer.

 

There are plenty of red-eyes for this route which we tried in the past and hated - leave you stuck in FLL around 5am killing time to get to the ship much later. You would think there would be money to be made just taking care of the cruise passenger traffic to FLL. But airline schedules do not reflect this from LAX.

 

So now we have a red-eye flight in reverse - getting little sleep before we depart, instead of getting no sleep on the plane.

What about staying at a hotel at LAX the night before. We do that often at PHX (We live south if Tucson). We stay at a Hilton that has a Park and Fly package. The extra cost is worth the peace of mind of knowing you're right at the airport.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

[OlsSalt]

What about staying at a hotel at LAX the night before. We do that often at PHX (We live south if Tucson). We stay at a Hilton that has a Park and Fly package. The extra cost is worth the peace of mind of knowing you're right at the airport.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, that is always an option, which we have also done in the past, but we are also staying a night in FLL so wanted to avoid an additional extra overnight cost. Just to get to the cruise ship. It was six of one, half dozen of the other when this flight change got thrown at us at this travel planning stage. This is why we were so happy to grab that first 11am flight that was first offered - to avoid those overnight hotels in LA to get to early morning LAX flights. Groan. Onwards.