malmostoso

Hello A3 forum,

I have (had) a booking AMS-ATH-RHO on A3 625 and A3 7214, leaving AMS at 12.00 and arriving in RHO at 20.05. A3 625 has been cancelled and I have been rebooked on A3 627 and A3 7218, leaving AMS at 16.35 and arriving RHO at 23.25. Flights are at the end of May, so no EC261.

Since we have a 2yo in tow, arriving at our hotel around 2AM is not exactly desirable (besides wasting a night), so I wanted to call A3 and ask for an alternative arrangement. For what it's worth my wife is A3*G and I'm TK*G, and my wife needs these 4 A3 flights for her requalification.

I have found a couple of options via FRA (LH), MUC (LH) or ZRH (LX) (therefore with one additional stop): do you think A3 will rebook us on that? AMS-MUC-ATH-RHO has two segments on A3 metal which should help I think.

If we get rebooked via FRA or ZRH we would have only one segment on A3 metal. Would A3 honour the original routing credit?

Thank you for your insight!

LTN Phobia

What is the reason for cancellation?

If it's something outside A3's control, I doubt such rerouting would be offered. If the cancellation is within A3's control, then you might, although I feel it is more likely that they won't.

I recently had my flight cancelled ex-IST (this was due to IST airport move) and despite code-sharing with TK, they declined to move me to the TK flight, saying that they could only move me to A3 flight because it wasn't their fault that the flight was cancelled.

Knobbgb

Because the cancellation is far ahead I think it MUST be within A3's control - i.e. just a simple schedule change, but I can't see why they'd absorb the cost of re-routing you on another carrier when there are no rules saying they must. On the one occasion I had a re-booking (due to ATC strike) they were quite flexible - they allowed me to change the date and/or routing - just as long as it was on their own flights.

In my case I had actually considered changing my plans anyway. They offered me an earlier flight on the same day but I rejected that and actually chose to fly two days later instead. Maybe a date change is an option for you as I see flight 625 still operates on certain days of the week. In that case I asked for original routing credit (I had booked LHR-ATH-SKG-CHQ for the extra segment I needed) but they refused this and I flew LHR-ATH-CHQ and only got the two segments credited. I think if they WERE to re-route you with another carrier this far in advance, it would be seen as voluntary and you'd have no chance of getting the segments credited

Are you very close to AMS or would another airport be within reach? I see they have daily noon flights from both BRU and DUS that connect with the 20:05 arrival in RHO. Would re-routing your outbound be an option? I've flown into BRU when visiting Rotterdam and DUS when travelling to Nijmegen and it worked out quite well.

I know arriving so late with young kids is NOT ideal (I've done it, luckily many years ago), A3 probably consider a 3hr25min delay, notified this far out as quite reasonable and, tbh, it could be worse!

Xandrios

Have you been rebooked from 625 to 627 on the same day?

Currently Aegean has one daily flight from AMS, but a few months ago they announced that they will add a second flight 3 days per week (Fri, tue and one more day I believe).

However, even though those extra flights were bookable for a while, they have been removed from the schedules about a month later. It seems that Aegean did not find a way to actually operate the additional flights (Slots issue at AMS likely).

I suspect that you were booked on one of these flights that they planned to operate, but then canceled for the whole summer season.

So, coming back to your question there are three thing you can do.

1. Ask them to re-route on another flight/airline that is better suitable. Aegean has codeshares on LH for AMS-MUC-ATH and AMS-FRA-ATH so you do have some chances that they will accept. Not great chances though as it would cost them. Make sure to use the Gold line to request the change (for better chances).

2. Ask for a refund and book the LH flights (Or another operator, like Transavia straight into RHO?) yourself.

3. Ask Aegean to depart one day earlier or later. Their schedule from AMS is such that one day departure is at 5PM, the other day at noon. So by moving one day you will likely see that there is a 12:00 departure from AMS available.

LTN Phobia

I'd actually look at overnighting at ATH. It'd be at your cost but it's probably better than arriving in the middle of the night at RHO.

malmostoso

Thank you all. I called the normal reservation number and they only offered rebooking on A3 metal, so either late flights on the day or the same flights as booked but one day earlier or later. Even flights with an A3 number that are bookable on the A3 website but operated by LH were a no go.

I will try again with the gold line, and if they don't budge I'll just take the flights the day before and see if my travel insurance will cover the extra hotel night. I'm more concerned with avoiding a late arrival than paying for an extra hotel night.

KLouis

Hey, you could spend the night in Athens (a 3-4* hotel will not cost more than ~50€ this time of year) and show Athens (e.g. Akropolis, Lycavitos, etc.) to your kids; or are they too young for this?

malmostoso

I have a two year old, I think the acropolis won't be more interesting than an extra day in the pool of a resort

Thank you for your suggestion though!

Often1

What would new tickets cost if booked as you requested of A3?

If anything in the range of (or perhaps less than) what you paid, have A3 cancel for a refund and book the new tickets yourself.

Remember that while there is no EC 261/2004 compensation at 14+ days, the Regulation does apply and among your rights here is a refund.

malmostoso

Thank you, I looked but it's way more expensive (400€+ per person instead of ~250).

At any rate I called the gold line and after a bit of supervisor consultation the agent rebooked us on AMS-MUC-ATH-RHO, which gets us in RHO even earlier than planned (with an earlier start of course, but that's no big deal).

A3's customer service delivers again!

Knobbgb

Excellent result! Now you just have to worry about the original-routing credit for your wife. Good luck! On a plus - The new LH tickets might be in an advantageous booking class which at least earn you some miles.

malmostoso

The ticket has been rebooked in the same booking class as the original (S), it remains to see what A3(S) maps to on LH. MUC-ATH-RHO is all on A3/OA so no problem for the segments.

The only adjustment I had to do has been to buy one piece of luggage. Since our first segment is on LH I don't want to have a discussion with a contract agent at check-in, and honestly the agent might very well be right in demanding payment.

On the topic: A3's manage my booking page says that the free bag on A3 metal is for "star alliance gold members" and not only A3*G. Is this correct?

Chr04

Deleted

Knobbgb

That's correct on A3 operated flights (such as your MUC-ATH) but NOT on ATH-RHO. Despite being A3 metal it's an Olympic flight. Your wife will be OK for a free bag, but not you as a TK*G so it's probably a good job that you purchased a bag - LH-A3-OA on one ticket might be 'confusing' as you assumed.

EDIT: (having said that, I read somewhere that there is a special agreement between some airlines that their *G DO get a free bag on OA and I believe TK was one of them).

malmostoso

You're right, I keep forgetting the A3/OA situation.

At any rate thank you all for your help in this thread, tickets have been issued and I look forward to my holiday