More silly airline games

[ggunn]

Maybe you're right. I think that American really dropped the ball here as their experts should have seen this rebound coming. Rerouting because of weather or equipment delays is one thing, but travelers need to make plans they can trust.

Hindsight. I think it's more likely that they saw the possibility of the rebound happening but nobody knew for sure that it would or how big it would be if it did. We are all of course happy that the vaccines have done as well as they have, but I think for the airlines the down side of guessing wrong if the rebound didn't happen was worse than not gearing up for it if it did. It's the same for car rental agencies; if they would have restored their fleets in anticipation of a rebound that didn't happen it would have been disastrous for them - much worse than running short of cars for a while as they are now. Whew. That's an exercise in the subjunctive mood, isn't it?

 

[DandyDon]

I understand much of the chaos the airlines have been dealing with for the last 15 months, I don't want them to fail, and retiring as many high salaried pilots as possible was necessary for them, but American certainly did bail on Cozumel at the same time that United was adding flights.

I called this morning and got on the callback list with a promised to call me back in less than an hour, and they did. The agent was very courteous, helpful, and accommodating. The dates and flights that I said that I could live with were at least $200 more than I paid, but she made those happen at no extra charge.

So, I'll go on August 21 arriving early enough in the afternoon that I think I can drag my old, lazy butt onto a boat by 8am the next morning to dive my birthday, post a dinner invitation for whoever wants to come that night, dive several more days, and return on the 29th. She tried to give me a I&C connection of fewer than two hours returning but at my request booked me with a three-hour connection. I'd already booked that hotel stay so now I can cancel the other hotel reservation and change plans with my dive Op. Oh yeah, change plans with my trip insurance!

I do hope that they don't change this again...!!

 

[FishWatcher747]

Keep flexible and alert to any changes Dandy. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[jonhall]

These are the options that seem to be out there. We tend to go with the flow of things but try to stay aware of flights as we near our departure date. Currently booked airfare through AA for Coz by way of Dallas in Nov. and returning in Dec. through Dallas.

stay on top of the changes and not sit on an itinerary that doesn't work for you just because things might change later. Not only are flights changing a lot, a lot more folks are starting to travel and you could get stuck with something that doesn't work for you.

We booked 2 weeks at 2 different resorts through our timeshare in Sept. 2020. We have to sit on, at least, our accommodations itinerary. Could cancel and rebook, but no guarantees same or different resorts would be available with the parameters we have, since more people are starting to travel. Spending 2 weeks where we go at least affords us the inconvenience of arriving a day late if there is a problem with flights.

it's too early to change things on your end. They will likely change it on you anyway. I would wait until the tail end of July and see what is out there.

Agree. We booked our flights in Feb. 21 and pretty much accept that changes are going to be made, and that if the change meets the time frame for a cancellation and refund, we would do that if other flights were available. Don't really want to do that though as we only paid $443 with taxes included for 2 of us. Like Don, I would refuse the offer through Cancun and say we are traveling with people unable to do that, which is true for the couple we travel with.

Also, expect delays on your way back into the US once you hit your US airport. When we flew back on Monday, we waited at least 90 minutes for our bags to hit the carousel at DFW before we could go thru customs and re-drop our bags.

Key word here is to "expect." Our layover time in Dallas on the way home is 90 minutes. Have cut many of our trips pretty close (I blame my wife for the scheduling....lol) Good advice to expect and be prepared to catch a later flight or spend the night. No need to be stressed out after what will surely be a great trip!

@DandyDon I know you will, but be sure to let us know how it all worked out.

 

[Dan G]

SWA used to fly nonstop LBB-HOU. I guess having to change planes in DAL is why they don't quote fares LBB-CZM. I could book back to back tickets LBB-HOU and HOU-CZM, shuffled bags in HOU, and take my chances, but hell no. Not happening.

I just asked a SW agent if you would need to collect your bags in Houston and recheck them yourself from HOU to CZM. They stated that as long as you tell the agents in Lubbock to check you in all the way through to CZM, you will not need to collect your bags. Just an FYI in case you decide to explore other options. Best of luck figuring this out as AA sorts out their issues.

 

[ggunn]

I just asked a SW agent if you would need to collect your bags in Houston and recheck them yourself from HOU to CZM. They stated that as long as you tell the agents in Lubbock to check you in all the way through to CZM, you will not need to collect your bags. Just an FYI in case you decide to explore other options. Best of luck figuring this out as AA sorts out their issues.

That's how it was for us flying from Austin to Cozumel on Southwest last month; our bags were checked in Austin all the way to Cozumel. Coming back it was different, of course. It may be different if there is an overnight stay in Houston on the way down, but I don't think that is part of his plan.

 

[ggunn]

@DandyDon I know you will, but be sure to let us know how it all worked out.

That's one thing I believe we can count on.

 

[DandyDon]

That's one thing I believe we can count on.

I don't post trip reports as mine are usually dull, maybe with amateurish photos - unless things go awry.

 

[scrane]

For us older guys, flying used to be almost pleasant and maybe even a little fun. Nowadays it is more like a chore rewarded with a bag of pretzels.
But, late 2019 and early 2020 I found I was treated fairly in refunds and credits for flights canceled through no fault of the carriers or myself. It could have been worse. This year I was the target of multiple schedule changes, probably due to the airline maximizing occupancy by cancelling flights on lightly traveled routes. I find it difficult to criticize airlines for wanting to maximize income and minimize expenses after coming off 18 months of disasterous business.

 

[Kimela]

I just asked a SW agent if you would need to collect your bags in Houston and recheck them yourself from HOU to CZM. They stated that as long as you tell the agents in Lubbock to check you in all the way through to CZM, you will not need to collect your bags. Just an FYI in case you decide to explore other options. Best of luck figuring this out as AA sorts out their issues.

Regardless of whether we're flying American or Southwest, we've always had to retrieve our bags at the first US airport and recheck them to our final destination. If they've changed that process, that's fantastic!