More Airline Problems

[RJP]

I am used to getting small flight time changes, sometimes they are annoying and put a strain on plans or connection times but they are usually no big deal, but these changes are ridiculous. We will be getting home for a long trip at least 3 hours later (if all goes well!) than originally booked and confirmed!

2hrs, 40min?

That's a small flight change. Have an extra drink or two in the GC airport. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff.

 

[KathyV]

I just don't book more than a couple of months ahead anymore because the airlines will pull this crap, including very long layovers and lousy seats. They are just not fair, but they have good lawyers writing the contracts we call tickets - with too much leeway for them.

I hope you can get a full refund and better rebooking. If not, make the best of your trip, keep insisting on accommodations for what you have endured, and have fun.

Thanks, I also travel for business, mostly domestic flights during the mid-week that are reserved without a lot of advance planning - and I never have to deal with this type of nonsense. I think that they would hesitate to pull tricks like "3 hour changes in travel times" or "you used to have seats but now you don't!" with business travelers because that is the bulk of their business; but apparently they are very willing to inconvenience vacation travelers!

But I would hate to risk not having air reservations for our big, once-a-year, 2 week, dive trip. Especially because we like to use all-inclusive resorts and other accommodations where we will know the costs in advance - but that means we have to make reservations, make deposits, and pay the balance in advance.

And I know that the Cayman Air interisland flights book up fast - but they play games with tourists, too. CA holds some seats on their interisland flights for locals that they will release near the departure date if they are not taken.

---------- Post added July 17th, 2015 at 06:09 AM ----------

2hrs, 40min?

That's a small flight change. Have an extra drink or two in the GC airport. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff.

We now have a 5hr 45 min wait time in the uncomfortable GCM airport (and the check-in counters usually don't open up until 2 hours before departure) and our departure time from Miami to Chicago is actually 3 hrs 1 min later than originally booked, and we are going to get home at least 3 hours later than planned - that's if all goes well - which is far from certain with airline travel.

Cayman is only a short flight from Miami, so 13 hours travel time is ridiculous to get from Cayman to Chicago IMO! We are going to end our trip with a long, hard, and unnecessarily exhausting travel day. I tried to avoid that as much as possible when I originally made the reservations. I even passed on some cheaper options for better flight times, but now I am not getting what I booked and paid in full, and we don't even have confirmed seats on one of the flights and we are squashed up against the lavatory on another flight!

I am glad that you can be so sanguine about my inconvenienced vacation plans but I'm a little ticked off right now!

 

[jlevine]

Everyone's different. Like DandyDon, I don't book far in advance anymore. In fact, unless it's Christmastime, I sometimes often book much closer to my departure date. For my last trip, I checked airfares to Belize several months out and they were coming in at $775-$800. I booked two weeks before and paid $850. Yes, that's more money but I liked having the freedom of choice. That strategy may not work for more isolated places but so far I have been fine with it. I also may give up on airline loyalty. That works fine for a single adult but with a family it may not work as well.

In terms of your delays, I view the layovers differently. I am more concerned about dealing with unexpected delays that I plan for longer layovers so that my chances of getting home increase. In one case, I had a three hour layover coming back into Dallas. I made it through baggage claim and security fairly quickly and had two hours to spare. An earlier connection had been delayed so I was able to jump on that and get home even sooner than I had hoped. Go figure.

 

[Damselfish]

sometimes not having a reserved seat can work in your favor, and you'll get the exit row seats that they don't assign in advance. Best to get there a little early to increase your odds of landing those before someone else.