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Comments (6)
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Save/ShareIf your flight is canceled, get into line to re-book yourself on the next flight out. But be sure to also whip out your cell phone and call the airline on its toll-free number while you wait. You may get through to customer service faster on your phone. (See a PDF list of airline phone numbers.)
Reader Connie Kennedy writes:
In February 2008 my husband and I were scheduled to fly from Chicago (O'Hare) to Miami for a one-week vacation. We managed to leave on the day of a big winter storm and return on the day after a big winter storm. Our flight from Moline, Ill., to Chicago was relatively on time, but O'Hare was a zoo!! Snow, high winds, thousands of people milling about trying to reschedule flights—the typical bad weather Chicago chaos. We could tell that our late afternoon flight to Miami stood a very good chance of being cancelled. So while one of us stood in the line to rebook, the other used toll free reservations line for American Airlines (800/433-7300).The help line came through, big time. In less than ten minutes, my husband had us on a flight to Atlanta with a connection to Miami, that actually did leave Chicago on time and made it to Miami with minimal delays. On the way back—same thing, different direction. Chicago was snowed in, so we used the 800 number to rebook an alternate flight to Dallas and back to Moline. The lesson of this story? Use the 800 numbers as much as you can. They work 100 percent better than waiting to talk with an overworked and harried gate agent. Our experience with the phone service was so positive that we've programmed it into our cell phones! The other lesson: be flexible about your itinerary. If the flight ends up where you want to go, good for you!
Good for you Connie!
One caveat: Get a local phone number, too, in case the toll-free one won't work overseas.
A word to the wise: If you decide to rebook your flight, be sure to find out the rules and regulations. Some airlines require that you make new reservations immediately, while others will allow you to rebook within a year.
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I've experienced in this flight cancellation. With the debut in competitions to give better services to their customer, airline company nowadays have a remarkable customer support for they really are something. Cancellation of a flight and rebook them are not too hard to do anymore.
It is just matter of how to properly rebook the cancel flight. Sometimes, you have to add some cancellation fee for the ticket you already bought for.
There are different matter with a promo ticket, they usually cannot be reschedule or rebook. And there are no cancellation can be done with the promo ticket.
At least that is what I know :)
Posted By Henry Tjandra on June 13, 2009, 9:10 AM
We were scheduled to leave Lisbon, Portugal on June 9 at 12:40 (noon) with Continental Airlines. When we got to the airport we learned that the flight number had been changed and that the flight was leaving in 25 minutes (10:25 A.M.). The small Continental Airlines desk was closed so we could not get a boarding pass. Without a boarding pass we could not get into the area where the baggage was checked or to the gate area.
We ended up getting home a day late. C.O. says they sent us two email messages about the changes the day before we left on our trip (May 18), but I know we never received anything and our email has been working just fine.
C.O. says they owe us nothing. I feel we should be compensated as the delay cost me thousands.
Your thoughts?
Posted By S. Tingey on June 15, 2009, 1:20 PM
Hi S. Tingey,
I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you on Continental, and that the delay cost you thousands.
I'm not sure I understand, though. If you were at the airport at 10 as you say, you were more than 90 minutes in advance of your flight. If airline officials move a flight up by more than two hours, as it did, then they need to reschedule on a later flight for free. Is that what happened? Unfortunately, airlines don't offer compensation for the inconvenient side effects of their decisions.
It sounds like you were the victim of poor planning by the airlines? I'm wondering if the airlines emails were accidentally filed in your junk email folder. Was the email address you gave the airline when you filled out your reservation the same one you checked?
All in all, if Continental charged you any fees, etc., for *their* mistake, let us know.
Thanks,
Sean
Posted By Blog editor on June 15, 2009, 1:39 PM
Continental did put us on a two British Air flights that got us to Newark around 10:00 P.M., but we still didn't get home until the following day, i.e., one day late. They had my email correct. I never saw anything in my junk mail or my regular email.
Continental didn't charge us any extra fees; however, their meal vouchers came at 11:00 P.M.--too late to use for lunch and dinner, which we paid for out of our pocket (approximately $30 each for the two of us). Also, they booked us in a distant Holiday Inn overnight in Newark. In order for Continental to save what, $10 dollars, we waited fifty minutes for the once-an-hour shuttle bus that then drove 18 miles past three other Holiday Inns to a less-expensive Holiday Inn. By the time we checked in it was close to 1:00 A.M. and we asked for a 4:30 A.M. wake-up call to make the 5:00 A.M. shuttle to the airport. The shuttle only ran hourly and our flight was at 6:55 A.M.
Frustration supreme!
Posted By Sherman Tingey on June 15, 2009, 3:05 PM
That's incredibly disappointing service from Continental.
Posted By Blog Editor on June 15, 2009, 3:06 PM
Only one think wrong with your hint: It doesn't work for the lone traveler.
Posted By Wanda Seals on June 17, 2009, 7:24 AM