Just noticed that my BOS-CLE flight in early July got moved from a 5pm departure to 3:30pm. That's fine with me, but the only way I found out was by randomly checking usairways.com. Would they have normally notified me via e-mail or phone closer to the departure date? This is the first time I've ever had a schedule change and wanted to know the normal procedure.

Thanks!

So far, I always recieve e-mails.

You may see it change one or two more times before you depart. As the departure time gets closer, they'll send you an email...provided they have the correct info.

I've always gotten a cell phone voicemail message to call in.

Depending on how far away it is. I had a schedule change e-mailed to me over a month in advance. For something that was a day away, I had a phone call.

US was always very good about notifying me of itinerary changes. With UA OTOH, I seem to miss 1 in 3 change e-mails or so.

-Chris

I've actually found U to be very good at alerting me about changes. Typically, after I've booked to be on all two class metal I'll get an email changing my times slightly and switching one or both legs to regionals. A quick call to the CP desk usually allows me to rebook back to two class giving me a good shot at the upgrade (I hope they reverse the trend of going regional though). If the switch is to an E145 or E170 I will generally keep things the way they are. Sure hope they go with the two class E190's.

Make sure your profile is up to date.

However, for a delayed or x-led flight, they will NOT contact you if you have already done on-line check-in. Learned that way a couple of months ago when I got to the airport. Had I not been CP, I would have been stuck in IND on a Friday night b/c they xled my 3:30pm flight to CLT and had nothing open the rest of the day.

(CP angels got me booked on DL, and supervisor resisted signing over my ticket until the US flight through PIT that he told me I could catch instead left without me.)

I've noticed flight time changes in the past when noodling around in reservations, and the email has come a little later on. It probably waits until the time changes are more firm to send the email so as not to send people one message today, another in a couple weeks, etc.

I remember reading in Your Turn several times complaints about schedule changes without notification, and the usual reason was bad or no contact info, and I believed Deborah. I've never had them not notify me one way or another. (Back before online ticketing and email confirmations, they would call in the timeframe that they now email. I remember at least one instance of a call from US clear out of the blue about a month before a flight to notify me of a schedule change.)

US has assiduously notified me of flight time changes, always by e-mail and with plenty of notice.

Actually, those occassional changes have made me aware of the need to provide current contact information when one travels. If I book a flight on-line, I always make it a point to call in and give them the name and phone number of our hotel. We've yet to be out at our destination and encounter a schedule change, but I think it's a good practice to let the airline know how to find you just in case.

Barry

Jerseyfinn is absolutely correct, good advice. Providing as many contact details when making a reservation is the key. US Agents should always request as many contact phone numbers as possible, plus an e-mail address. However, we are often unable to contact passengers that book via travel agents, who do not always pass on personal contact details to the airline. Every flight which has a schedule change is passed to a res agent who becomes responsible for contacting that flight's passengers. It normally works very well. However, if you book through a travel agent I would recommend calling US... to check on seat assignments etc (which are sometimes not correctly done by travel agents, or are simply 'requested' rather than confirmed), but more importantly to make sure we have your contact details in case of any schedule changes.

Hope this helps! Cheers.