Dancing With The Airlines...

[islanddream]

I booked tickets on the United Air website over two months ago for a flight to Belize in July for hubby and I. When I looked at the details of the flight it showed us flying from PHX to Belize (stop in Houston) on first/business class and then going home in economy. Huh? I never book first/bus unless I'm flying overseas. About a week ago I got one of those famous "flight change" notices from United. The departure time going to Belize and returning to PHX were different and so were the flight numbers. I went online to see if there were seats available in economy for the PHX to Belize portion and there were so I called United and talked to a rep. He said I could change my seats for no charge and the cost of the airfare would go down by a little over $300. I asked why I was in first/business to begin with since I never requested it, and he had no answer. I asked if the savings could be credited back to my credit card and he said NO. United would give me a voucher that needed to be used within one year. Well, that would be nice; however, I TRY TO NEVER FLY UNITED! The trips I take in a year usually allow me to fly SW or Delta. Why don't I fly United? Cuz I really don't like them! For some reason I feel like I've been scammed by United!

 

[azscubadude]

Its funny, when I shop for insurance I scrutinize the medical and look at the rest as an after thought. To me something going wrong with the flight or weather limits me to at most what I have paid out of pocket which in Coz is often not that much. A medical emergency on the other hand can truly lead to unlimited losses. I always ensure that I have at least 15-25K of medical and evacuation as well. A bad bought of the tummy bug can leave you in the hole for a couple of thousand dollars.

I totally agree, but I was replying to the OP's original problem with the flights and possibility of delays or being stranded along the way !! He didn't mention insurance.

 

[Reef Tank]

Delta changed our Sunday MSP<->BON to Saturday ATL<->BON without telling me. Glad I'm the nervous type and was checking our reservation often. When I called them they were only able to add the missing legs.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Hearing this stuff makes me never want to fly anywhere again. I can't believe airlines have gotten this bad.
Between airline games and the TSA horror stories it's almost worth just staying home and diving locally.

 

[WOODMAN]

I wouldn't worry too much about the seat assignments. I booked a last minute flight to CUN a few months ago on USAir and the only seats open were the $30 ones. I refused to pay $30 for the exact same seat they would assign me for free when I got to the airport. I checked in for my flight at the airport and sure enough, they assigned me a "premium" seat (front of the plane window seat) without even attempting to charge me.

This is what I am hoping will happen with us. USAir says that there are several seats along with the premium seats that are held back and released by the gate agents on day of travel, and I am going to try to hit the airport in Coz a day early and see if I can score a couple of these. It should all work out, (I hope) although this whole mess puts a damper on the entire trip. I can't help feeling that AA owes me something for doing this to me, but fat chance of getting anything. I can't help comparing this to my trip to Providencia a couple of years ago, when I was flying COPA Air. They really knew how to do things. Free meals for everyone, and when a mechanical issue forced them to substitute another plane for the trip from Panama City to San Andreas, this resulted in a delay which caused us to miss our connection to Providencia. What did COPA do? They didn't even bat an eye as they started handing out vouchers for a night's stay in a local upscale all inclusive hotel, and even arranged the transfers to and from the airport. No arguments whatsoever. And that was the best hotel we stayed in during the whole trip! They arranged for a morning flight to Providencia, and all worked out great. Now, can you see an american carrier doing something like that? Maybe 15 years ago.. Ah well, I will keep you updated. Woody

 

[lionfish-eater]

Woody Next time use sun country. Nonstop to coz, on the beach by noon. Their package prices are sometimes better on their own site than orbitz,etc. last month 400 per person cheaper.

 

[kmurray719]

This is what I am hoping will happen with us. USAir says that there are several seats along with the premium seats that are held back and released by the gate agents on day of travel, and I am going to try to hit the airport in Coz a day early and see if I can score a couple of these. It should all work out, (I hope) although this whole mess puts a damper on the entire trip. I can't help feeling that AA owes me something for doing this to me, but fat chance of getting anything.

Honestly, as much as this is a PITA, I sure wouldn't let it put a damper on a trip. You have flights confirmed, you'll get to go to Coz, and you'll get home. I personally wouldn't concern myself so much with having actual seats booked. Really, how much impact on the trip is which seats you sit in for a few hours on the way home going to have on the quality of your entire trip? It may end up being easy and smooth, or it may end up being an adventure. You don't necessarily get to decide which way it happens, but you do get to decide how you handle it.

Yes, it's frustrating that AA changed the flights that you had carefully picked out and booked, and that you had to push them to get you home the same day on a different airline, but it's fixed, and you're going on vacation. Someone in some book I read said something like "It does not matter what should or should not be, there is only what is. Time spent wishing things were different or being angry that they are not the way they "should" be is wasted time that you'll never get back." Don't let this suck even one tiny bit of fun out of your vacation.

 

[azscubadude]

Honestly, as much as this is a PITA, I sure wouldn't let it put a damper on a trip. You have flights confirmed, you'll get to go to Coz, and you'll get home.

I wouldn't be so confident.. if ANY airline can screw things up US Airways is the one to do it. They have the worst percentages in just about any category of performance you look at.. and these two totally worthless airlines are trying to merge. USScareways is based in Phoenix and I know them well, that is why I refuse to ever fly them again.. ever.. even if the flight would be totally free.

To give a simple example, go online and try to find a phone number for US Airways Customer Service. Go ahead, I dare you to try to find one. Even call the corporate headquarters in Phoenix and ask for Customer Service. What, no 800 number, no problem I will pay for the call, what.. no toll number either !! None. The only way to contact them is to send a letter to them via U.S. Mail (they actually state this on their web site) or email, which, I can attest, they will never answer.

Oh, a couple more things. Be sure to take your credit card if you do fly US Airways cause they will charge you for absolutely everything.. and I mean everything. Nothing is free or complimentary, they might even be charging for the air you breath by now..

and.. I hope you aren't tall or big cause nobody squeezes more seats into an airplane than US Airways, even their "extra legroom" seats are a total joke. I have never had so little room on an airline and I purchased one of their so-called extra legroom seats the last time I flew them, HA !! such a sad joke.

Trip Insurance !!

 

[missyjane]

Woody Next time use sun country. Nonstop to coz, on the beach by noon. Their package prices are sometimes better on their own site than orbitz,etc. last month 400 per person cheaper.

I'll never book another trip through one of those travel companies like Orbitz or Expedia. Nothing but problems for my husband and me trying to leave for our honeymoon. We ended up canceling our trip and booking directly through the resort. It was $400 cheaper (even last minute), but we still ended up paying $600 in fees to cancel (no fault of our own...our passports got lost in the mail).

 

[Mossman]

To give a simple example, go online and try to find a phone number for US Airways Customer Service. Go ahead, I dare you to try to find one. Even call the corporate headquarters in Phoenix and ask for Customer Service. What, no 800 number, no problem I will pay for the call, what.. no toll number either !! None. The only way to contact them is to send a letter to them via U.S. Mail (they actually state this on their web site) or email, which, I can attest, they will never answer.

I took your dare, went to usairways.com and clicked on Contact Us to reveal a host of 800 numbers. It took all of 5 seconds to prove you wrong. You can try it too:

US Airways | Phone/email

(Not that I'm a fan of US Air by any means. They have no entertainment on 5-hour transcon flights and their flight attendants can be so surly one of them threatened to have me arrested on one flight. But they do have a phone number.)

Airlines reschedule flights all the time, sometimes to the inconvenience of their passengers. This is nothing new. But to the OP: I would definitely write a letter to demand the miles you would have received on your original flight. The customer service rep has no control over that, but they're pretty liberal about giving you miles if you write them. After all, it doesn't really cost them anything. I had a foul up on a trip to Bali on CO that was supposed to be via HNL and GUM, but the flight was delayed 4 hours leaving LAX which meant missing the connection to GUM and then our twice-weekly flight to Bali. They offered to fly us on Cathay Pacific, but only in coach (we had used miles to upgrade to biz class on the CO flights) so I ended up paying for two one-way biz class tickets out of pocket ($2400 each) but figured CO at least owed me the miles that I would have earned if I had flown them (the coach tix I had originally paid for before using miles to upgrade) and also owed me the luggage fees I had to pay extra on CP since they only allowed 2 bags instead of the 3 we were each bringing on CO. I did get my miles and my luggage reimbursement which was a small consolation given that I was out $4800 on air fare!