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kimmybear
03-16-2006, 10:29 AM
i booked my trip with AAA- the flight was on alaska airlines. alaska pulled my flight out of their schedule and tried to put me on another flight that doesn't work. now i have to move the date of the trip to accomodate the flight times, but i'm getting charged the cost of the tickets now as opposed to what they were before- it's almost a $400 difference! what do i do????? (i'm freaking out...)

Andrew
03-16-2006, 10:33 AM
Are you saying that Alaska cancelled a paid-in-full ticket and is now trying to charge you the difference between that and a new flight at current prices?

I suggest you check with your AAA agent or call Alaska directly. You won't get far with their (Alaska's) first-level phone reps, so simply request a supervisor immediately. If they cancelled your flight after you've paid for it, it's not your responsibility to pay the difference.

MsYumiBr
03-16-2006, 10:33 AM
Did you buy the vacation package insurance with AAA? I'd call my agent.

kimmybear
03-16-2006, 10:37 AM
Are you saying that Alaska cancelled a paid-in-full ticket and is now trying to charge you the difference between that and a new flight at current prices?

I suggest you check with your AAA agent or call Alaska directly. You won't get far with their (Alaska's) first-level phone reps, so simply request a supervisor immediately. If they cancelled your flight after you've paid for it, it's not your responsibility to pay the difference.

everything, the whole package thru AAA had a set price and all i had to do was pay the rest of the payment (i already paid the deposit and insurance). i had to change the dates of travel because the new flight times didn't work. but is that my fault that they canceled my flight, MAKING me change the dates? my travel agent spent 3 hours on hold trying to talk to a supervisor yesterday. so far things are looking bad... but i'll try calling alaska. thanks everyone!!!

hlbtimes2
03-16-2006, 10:42 AM
Were they originally going to put you on a flight the same day, just a different time? Is THAT far off from your original plan?

geoffa
03-16-2006, 10:42 AM
That's airlines for you. I hate how they overbook flights. They claim they get "no shows" and so make more money by selling the seats a second time. Twice the money for a lot of seats on the same flight. We had once booked a flight 6 months in advance but when we turned up at check in they said all seats had been allocated. I insisted they told me what dates people had booked and thus got seats as there were others who had booked much later than me. This practice should be stopped. I can't understand why when you book a seat it isn't allocated there and then like a theater seat (except the exit rows - safety issues forbid allocation until the day of flight).:rolleyes:
As for paying a difference, it was them who cancelled the original flight - whatever happened to customer service?

hbquikcomjamesl
03-16-2006, 10:55 AM
Actually, I think part of the problem is that you're flying Alaska Airlines. I've never once had a flight with them that I didn't regret.

Many years ago, I flew Alaska to San Francisco, for a developers' conference, and as I recall, my seat was rather cramped even for an airline seat.

Last Spring, when I flew home from Anchorage at the conclusion of my 3-week rail/sea trip up the coast, my flight out of Anchorage was delayed about an hour because a piece of obsolete entertainment wiring had broken loose under a seat, and they needed an engineer to certify that the aircraft was still airworthy after they cut the wires leading to it. It kept getting later and later because of weather problems, and by the time it arrived in Seattle, the only reason why I was still able to make my connection into Long Beach was that it was delayed because the flight crew hadn't arrived. Then, on top of that, they lost either one or both of my checked bags, (I'm guessing it/they went to LAX), and couldn't get it to me until almost 24 hours later.

I no longer fly Alaska Airlines. Period. For any reason. Even if it's on somebody else's nickel.

Mommy2NicknMax
03-16-2006, 11:02 AM
I had a flight time change on me and they scheduled me for a later flight. That didn't work so they changed it to an earlier flight. But it was all the same day. Can't they make this work without you changing the date? I think if you push hard enough, they'll accommodate you.

Good luck!

kimmybear
03-16-2006, 11:06 AM
Were they originally going to put you on a flight the same day, just a different time? Is THAT far off from your original plan?

the times were either 3 hours before or three hours later and that just didn't work- couldn't get rides to the airport at the later time, and the early time conflicted with previous plans. i talked to Alaska Airlines (a guy named Jim Johnston in Pheonix who is now like my favorite person) and he said the reason i couldn't keep the same price was because AAA hadn't bought the tickets yet- they just reserved them. so now i get to call AAA and find out what needs to be done...

thanks for the support!!! :D

Malcon10t
03-16-2006, 11:28 AM
That's airlines for you. I hate how they overbook flights. They claim they get "no shows" and so make more money by selling the seats a second time. Twice the money for a lot of seats on the same flight. We had once booked a flight 6 months in advance but when we turned up at check in they said all seats had been allocated. I insisted they told me what dates people had booked and thus got seats as there were others who had booked much later than me. This practice should be stopped. I can't understand why when you book a seat it isn't allocated there and then like a theater seat (except the exit rows - safety issues forbid allocation until the day of flight).:rolleyes:
As for paying a difference, it was them who cancelled the original flight - whatever happened to customer service?Actually, she said the stopped flying that particular flight (not overbooked.) This happens frequently. The FAA may lower the number of flights allowed to land/depart a specific airport, thus causing this kind of change. This has NOTHING to do with overbooking. That said, the airline should work with you.

MsYumiBr
03-16-2006, 11:33 AM
What? How is this possible? AAA reserves hotel, air etc. You pay a deposit, insurance and start paying on the vacation. The air reservations gets cancelled in the middle of it and you have to pay an additional $400 for the vacation? Don't they only get a 72 hour hold on flights? How can they get around that one?

hlbtimes2
03-16-2006, 11:36 AM
What? How is this possible? AAA reserves hotel, air etc. You pay a deposit, insurance and start paying on the vacation. The air reservations gets cancelled in the middle of it and you have to pay an additional $400 for the vacation? Don't they only get a 72 hour hold on flights? How can they get around that one?

They are not charging her because they changed her flight. The offered her two others on the same day. She wants to change days, and that fare isnt available on the new date.

Personally, I would find a way to the airport on the later flight rather then pay $400 more. Or cancel my earlier plans, and have more time at Disneyland!

mi_mous
03-16-2006, 11:42 AM
That's airlines for you. I hate how they overbook flights. They claim they get "no shows" and so make more money by selling the seats a second time. Twice the money for a lot of seats on the same flight. We had once booked a flight 6 months in advance but when we turned up at check in they said all seats had been allocated. I insisted they told me what dates people had booked and thus got seats as there were others who had booked much later than me. This practice should be stopped. I can't understand why when you book a seat it isn't allocated there and then like a theater seat (except the exit rows - safety issues forbid allocation until the day of flight).:rolleyes:
As for paying a difference, it was them who cancelled the original flight - whatever happened to customer service?

Hotels do the same thing, and it baffles me as to how they can do this. Since my husband is in the hotel industry, he tells me all about it. People will make reservations, arrive late, or even on time, all the rooms are filled, and they have to turn them away to a different hotel. Problem is, ususally, when a hotel is booked solid for the night, the rest in the area are too. So, you get REALLY mad customers, and they have to be taken to someplace further away than where they were originally staying. :rolleyes: Glad I don't have to deal with those people... but do you blame them for being mad?

DianeM
03-16-2006, 11:52 AM
I don't think I understand. Why can't you take the 3 hours later flight, then take whatever transportation you were planning for the original flight and wait at the airport? It's a long wait, but I've waited longer for flights. Take a good book. Good luck.


the times were either 3 hours before or three hours later and that just didn't work- couldn't get rides to the airport at the later time, and the early time conflicted with previous plans. i talked to Alaska Airlines (a guy named Jim Johnston in Pheonix who is now like my favorite person) and he said the reason i couldn't keep the same price was because AAA hadn't bought the tickets yet- they just reserved them. so now i get to call AAA and find out what needs to be done...

thanks for the support!!! :D

geoffa
03-16-2006, 12:01 PM
Actually, she said the stopped flying that particular flight (not overbooked.) This happens frequently. The FAA may lower the number of flights allowed to land/depart a specific airport, thus causing this kind of change. This has NOTHING to do with overbooking. That said, the airline should work with you.
With respect, I didn't suggest the flight was cancelled because of overbooking. I merely said I get annoyed about overbooking which is ANOTHER thing that airlines do.:rolleyes: Please, - read what I actually said.
That out of the way I still think if an airline changes your flight they should bear the costs.

Drince88
03-16-2006, 12:15 PM
At least they TOLD you that the flight time was changed significantly.

In the last year I've had 3 issues with flight times changing singificantly or flights being cancelled. The first was 4th of July weekend and my return went from 3 in the afternoon, to 7 in the morning. I called and had them change me to the noonish flight. They said when they rebook people like that, they go for what's better for the airline, and then if people call, they change it to what's more convinent for the customer.

The second was Katrina directly related - we weren't sure the airport would be reopened by the time my trip to DL came about, so they rebooked me through Baton Rouge instead. That one was on Alaska Frequent Flier miles, and they didn't charge me the change fee - and I actually changed airlines (both code-shares with Alaska Air) because of the times and availability of 'free' seats on the plane.

The third they'll try to blame Katrina, but it was indirect. I HAD been booked on Southwest to Orlando right after Thanksgiving -but SW flat out cancelled all of their bookings until they figured out when they'd be flying again. So I booked on Delta 2 or 3 weeks AFTER Katrina (but before Rita) and then LATER they cancelled the flight I was on and rebooked me on the one non-stop/day that they had scheduled. I don't mind them not telling me about the 15 minute change in the outbound departure time. But changing from a 5pm to an 8 am departure on the return really does need some notice! I only noticed because it said my seats weren't assigned, and I HAD assigned seats! I was able to get it changed to the next day (no charge, but I'd alread paid for the tickets), and added a room at the neighboring resort so that I didn't miss out on a full day of my vacation. I wonder if they'd have BOTHERED to tell me when I checked in for the outbound flight :rolleyes:

HTanner
03-16-2006, 12:29 PM
I got tickets on delta through priceline once. The flight out got me in about midnight - which was bad. But the flight back was in the afternoon and gave me time to do stuff in the morning at WDW.

So, two days before my trip, Delta calls me and says they have to change my return flight - - to 6 a.m. departure!!! I said, wait a minute. I can't change my ticket times through priceline, but you can change them?? That doesn't seem fair! I said I'm leaving for my vacation in two days and I have already purchased park tickets for that day.

So, Delta switched my flight to a better departure time.

Since AAA didn't but the tickets you contracted with them to buy at a certain price, I would ask AAA to either pay the difference or to assist you with transportation to and from the airport. If you can't do either, I would just take the earlier flight and pay the $12 for a shuttle at LAX.

jakoky
03-16-2006, 12:44 PM
wow, just 3 days ago i got an email from air canada saying my itinery had changed....they had moved my flight time ahead by almost 2 hours, which i wasnt happy with as it put us into LA at 7 at night, so not arriving at our motel until it was almost to late to do anything...the next day i phoned air canada and told them i wasnt happy with the new flight time, and was told our flight was actually cancelled and did i want to fly out 3 hours earlier than our original flight(instead of 2 hours later)...wow, was i happy, and i then asked if i had to pay the difference(which was well over 100 dollars per person as i had gotten a great deal 2 months ago...he told me absolutely not, and made me my new reservation which is far better than the original....good luck, and hope u get as lucky as i did
sharon

kimmybear
03-16-2006, 12:54 PM
sorry to get some people worked up about this whole controversy.

i called alaska and they told me there would be no additional charge for rebooking the flight- they canceled on me so i basically have my pick of when i want to leave. the problem was with AAA and their contacts with the Walt Disney Travel Company. i'm going to chalk it up to miscommunication or just plain confusion and i don't blame them. i've made so many changes on this package (to add a person, to change a flight) that it's generated 18 pages of notes that they have to go through. my main concern was that i was changing the flight (free of charge) and canceling two hotel rooms at the Paradise Pier, but only saving $43 total. at first they said the reason for the small refund was because the air went up, but that conflicts with what alaska said. So at this moment the WDTC is looking through the papers and i'm hoping i'll get my $400 refund (for the two hotel rooms). the AAA and Disney people are working with me to settle this. don't lose faith in them. =)

but what bothers me most, is the cancelation of my original flight happened about a month ago and the only reason why i found out is that i called to confirm some details and the travel agent was talking about different times. were they even going to call me? or just let me find out at the airport? so if you take away anything from my strange and stressful problem, just remember to call ahead and make sure you have the right flights. *sigh*

thanks all for helping me out!!! hopefully the fun times at Disneyland will make this all a bad dream.... :D

Koala Gurl
03-16-2006, 01:22 PM
kimmybear - I hope it all gets worked out! I have dealt with Alaska so many times, and have had great service on their end each and every time.

I guess the more people who get involved, the more chance for error / miscommunication. Good for you for staying on top of it! Sounds like it may all work out!

Regardless...I hope you end up having a great trip!

Opus1guy
03-16-2006, 01:39 PM
IMHO...these days there are very few Travel Agents, Travel Providers, or Package Operators that do a good job of staying on top of changes to arrangements and notifying customers/passengers in a timely manner, if at all. :(

I've found that you pretty much have to check up on each individual element of your travel arrangements directly with each airline, hotel, car rental, etc, to reconfirm your arrangements or in some cases even make sure they've received a reservation from the agent or package operator to begin with!! A confirmation from a package operator or travel agent is just a confirmation from them! It's not the same as having a confirmation number from the end-provider's own system.

While you're on the phone with Alaska Airlines, you may want to make sure you all have advance seat assignments to your liking. This is something that agents often overlook or ignore. Find out what kind of aircraft type you are flying on and then go to www.seatguru.com to look at the plane map and pick the seats that you want. Then call the airline directly to get them plugged in (or other acceptable ones if your first pick is not available).

Nothing's worse than arriving at the airport to find that because you didn't have any advance seat assignments plugged in by your agent, the only remaining seats are unattractive or split-up all over the plane.

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
03-16-2006, 02:11 PM
With respect, I didn't suggest the flight was cancelled because of overbooking. I merely said I get annoyed about overbooking which is ANOTHER thing that airlines do.:rolleyes: Please, - read what I actually said.
That out of the way I still think if an airline changes your flight they should bear the costs.

Flights do overbook. There is a HUGE no show factor on certain markets. Large cities are notorious for people booking, not paying for, or paying for but then changing the travel plans, and not showing up. If they don't over book these markets, they lose money. Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas are known for flights being full on the schedule, and going out with empty seats. If they only booked to capacity they would have to charge more for the tickets.
I find this to be a standby passengers dream. LOL My DH is a commercial pilot, so we fly for free, and I have gotten on several flights that reservations say are full, simply because of the no show factor. In fact, my last trip to Disneyland, 2 of our 4 flights, I was told were oversold the night before we were to fly out. But we got on.

With regards to the OPs post, there are guidelines the airlines have to follow. If they had another flight operating that day and you chose not to take it, then that is your responsibility. They have made arrangements to accomodate you. Flights cancel for lots of reasons. Aircraft maintenance, FAA changes in time slots, weather, weather in other cities causing a reroute in the aircraft that was to be used for your flight. IF it was cancelled ahead of time, then it is probably aircraft maintenance, or FAA changes in the schedule.
It sounds like the mistake was on AAA, making the reservation but not "paying" for the ticket. I doubt the airline will lower their fare, for you deciding to change your date, but AAA may have to accomodate you since the final mistake was theirs. Best of luck.

Malcon10t
03-16-2006, 02:16 PM
With respect, I didn't suggest the flight was cancelled because of overbooking. I merely said I get annoyed about overbooking which is ANOTHER thing that airlines do.::rolleyes:: Please, - read what I actually said.
That out of the way I still think if an airline changes your flight they should bear the costs.I'm sorry, when I read your reply I was thinking about the OP, and didn't realize you weren;t discussing the topic of the thread. Overbooking does occur, but I have found here in the US, it occurs most often on flights going to Vegas, or flights with SouthWest. I've never had an issue with overbooking on United, America West, American Airlines, or Jet Blue. I've even seen United bring in a bigger aircraft to cover a flight. We were flying back after Thanksgiving in Disneyland, and United had 1.) overbooked and 2.) had to cancel flights due to weather. Instead of the 737, they brought in I think it was a 767. Instead of the normal 12 seats in FC, there was I believe 30. It was a great trip, although relatively short (LAX - SFO.) I was surprised at how much they went out of their way. (They called us, talked our hotel into allowing us a very late checkout, sent a taxi for us later in the day, etc...)

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
03-16-2006, 02:20 PM
I'm sorry, when I read your reply I was thinking about the OP, and didn't realize you weren;t discussing the topic of the thread. Overbooking does occur, but I have found here in the US, it occurs most often on flights going to Vegas, or flights with SouthWest. I've never had an issue with overbooking on United, America West, American Airlines, or Jet Blue. I've even seen United bring in a bigger aircraft to cover a flight. We were flying back after Thanksgiving in Disneyland, and United had 1.) overbooked and 2.) had to cancel flights due to weather. Instead of the 737, they brought in I think it was a 767. Instead of the normal 12 seats in FC, there was I believe 30. It was a great trip, although relatively short (LAX - SFO.) I was surprised at how much they went out of their way. (They called us, talked our hotel into allowing us a very late checkout, sent a taxi for us later in the day, etc...)

You just have been lucky on AWA. My DH is a pilot for them, I was a flight attendant for them, they overbook by 20-30 seats per flight depending on the markets. And yes you are right, this occurs a lot in Vegas.

DianeM
03-16-2006, 02:30 PM
I've gotten into the habit of always checking my flight departure times (out and back) before we fly. Once they changed our flight home from Hawaii, making the flight an hour earlier. We arrived with an hour and a half to spare - we thought - and almost missed the flight. We did have to sit separately, and I'm a nervous flyer, so it was rough. Year before last they pushed our flight from John Wayne back 2 hours. I didn't realize it at the time, but the date we were scheduled to return was September 11. The airport was empty, except for about a dozen people on the earlier flight (also to Sacramento). They offered to change our flight to the earlier flight, for about $100 each. We chose to sit around with the half dozen people waiting for our flight. I still don't know why they moved us to a later flight - the earlier flight was virtually emtpy.



but what bothers me most, is the cancelation of my original flight happened about a month ago and the only reason why i found out is that i called to confirm some details and the travel agent was talking about different times. were they even going to call me? or just let me find out at the airport? so if you take away anything from my strange and stressful problem, just remember to call ahead and make sure you have the right flights. *sigh*

thanks all for helping me out!!! hopefully the fun times at Disneyland will make this all a bad dream.... :D