Free flight change due to un-announced flight departure time change?
Sep 2, 2009, 5:42 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: CLE/PDX
Programs: UA/*A: Silver, AZ/ST: Silver, AB/OW: Silver, HHonors: Diamond, Hyatt: Platinum
Posts: 124
Free flight change due to un-announced flight departure time change?
Hey gang,
I recent booked a reward ticket (prolly the last time I'll fly AS, as the CO/AS alliance will be dead when I fly back from CLE to PDX) from PDX to CLE, via PHX. I already flew to CLE (currently here for college), but as I was trying to access my reservation on AS, it wouldn't pull-up due to "reservation change." I checked the same reservation on CO's end, and the flight from PHX to PDX is still listed as an 8:55pm departure. However, when searching for the same flight on AS's end via flight reservations, the new time is now 9:20pm, a 25 min. difference, and if CLE encounters that snow storm, in addition to PDX encountering a blizzard, I'm screwed!
My question is, since AS and CO failed to notify me of the flight time change, as they should, am I eligible for a free flight change?
I'm also MVP with AS, and now Silver with CO! Not sure if that will make any difference!
Thanks ahead of time.
I recent booked a reward ticket (prolly the last time I'll fly AS, as the CO/AS alliance will be dead when I fly back from CLE to PDX) from PDX to CLE, via PHX. I already flew to CLE (currently here for college), but as I was trying to access my reservation on AS, it wouldn't pull-up due to "reservation change." I checked the same reservation on CO's end, and the flight from PHX to PDX is still listed as an 8:55pm departure. However, when searching for the same flight on AS's end via flight reservations, the new time is now 9:20pm, a 25 min. difference, and if CLE encounters that snow storm, in addition to PDX encountering a blizzard, I'm screwed!
My question is, since AS and CO failed to notify me of the flight time change, as they should, am I eligible for a free flight change?
I'm also MVP with AS, and now Silver with CO! Not sure if that will make any difference!
Thanks ahead of time.
Sep 2, 2009, 9:15 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Portland, Or USA
Posts: 1,800
Maybe I'm missing something here, but you're talking about flying back from CLE-PDX, and the PHX-PDX leg is now departing 25 minutes LATER, giving you 25 minutes MORE connection time than you previously had? If you're concerned about weather delays, wouldn't this actually improve you situation?
Also, which airline did you book the ticket with, CO or AS?
Also, which airline did you book the ticket with, CO or AS?
Sep 2, 2009, 9:50 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: CLE/PDX
Programs: UA/*A: Silver, AZ/ST: Silver, AB/OW: Silver, HHonors: Diamond, Hyatt: Platinum
Posts: 124
From one John to another John :-) I'm also a John P. as well :-) Anyways, My concern is that I'm already arriving late, and since I'm not in Portland propter, it would be a late drive for the one who picks me up since I prolly will not be out of the airport until 12:30am if I'm lucky and my bags come on time. Everytime I've flown home, AS/QX manages to mis-handle my bags :-(
Thus, I'm hoping to get on an earlier flight in X class with CO on the CLE-PHX leg, thus, enabling me to get on an earlier AS flight from PHX to PDX, but from what I can see inventory wise, the only CO flight available for 25k partner miles redemption is from CLE-LAS, then LAS-PDX with AS. Or else, I'd have to deal with crappy DL/NW via MSP.
What do you suggest? Keep it, and if bad weather does occur, take advantage of the weather travel advisory?
Also, my ticket is booked through AS.
Another question to the side:
AS Award tickets allow a free stopover of up to 365 days (if I remember the rule correctly), but with this ticket, they said CO doesn't allow any stopovers. I feel cheated out of a stopover, because in years past, I'd always fly CLE-EWR, have a week-long stopover in the city, then fly EWR to PDX, via SEA, PHX, LAX, SFO, or LAS, and it was perfectly okay. Is there anyway to argue this with ASMP, or does AS have to play by CO's rules in this case?
Thus, I'm hoping to get on an earlier flight in X class with CO on the CLE-PHX leg, thus, enabling me to get on an earlier AS flight from PHX to PDX, but from what I can see inventory wise, the only CO flight available for 25k partner miles redemption is from CLE-LAS, then LAS-PDX with AS. Or else, I'd have to deal with crappy DL/NW via MSP.
What do you suggest? Keep it, and if bad weather does occur, take advantage of the weather travel advisory?
Also, my ticket is booked through AS.
Another question to the side:
AS Award tickets allow a free stopover of up to 365 days (if I remember the rule correctly), but with this ticket, they said CO doesn't allow any stopovers. I feel cheated out of a stopover, because in years past, I'd always fly CLE-EWR, have a week-long stopover in the city, then fly EWR to PDX, via SEA, PHX, LAX, SFO, or LAS, and it was perfectly okay. Is there anyway to argue this with ASMP, or does AS have to play by CO's rules in this case?
Sep 2, 2009, 11:41 am
#4
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Portland, Or USA
Posts: 1,800
Well, I would call AS and tell them the flight you booked was really already later than you wanted to arrive due to the long drive after arrival. The schedule change, while minor, really makes it that much worse. Since there is award space available (and they wouldn't have to ask CO to open additional award space) I think they might do it.
I'll leave the stopover question to one fo the experts here!
I'll leave the stopover question to one fo the experts here!
Sep 2, 2009, 11:50 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: CO OnePass Platinum AS MVP HHonors Diamond SPG Gold
Posts: 2,417
Ok. You're talking about snowstorms so we are to assume that this trip is booked for sometime this winter, probably in December after school ends in CLE, right?
1. Why are you already assuming that there will be weather issues in both CLE and PDX. Are you a meteorology major and have you developed some foolproof forecasting model that we should all know about? I'm not saying it's a bad idea to take a "what if" approach to travel but to already be predicting a worst case scenario is taking things a bit too far IMHO. That being said your late evening PHX-PDX is more likely to be delayed simply because of the snowball effect (pardon the pun) of minor delays that build throughout the day. I wouldn't worry too much about making your connection in Phoenix. You were already arriving fairly late in PDX so why would those picking you up object to a little bit later? If they protest too loudly perhaps you should consider an airport shuttle. As for your baggage, the overwhelming majority of CO passengers flying into Phoenix don't connect anywhere else so even though CO and AS are adjacent in T2 your bags may end up on the carousel in PHX in error. Which leads me to my next point...
2. How did you end up with this routing in the first place? It seems out of the way but I guess if you're flying close to the holidays it may have been all tat was available using miles. When you booked this had AS even announced the SEA-IAH routes? Perhaps that could be an option for you.
3. It is only (very) early September and since I'm assuming this trip is in December there is likely to be another schedule change between now and then. That is probably why you weren't notified yet since the December schedule for both CO and AS isn't finalized yet. You do have an advantage now that it has changed in that you can request that AS search another CO-AS combination that might get you back to PDX sooner and without going so far out of the way. I would try connecting in ORD, IAH, DEN, MSP, LAS, LAX or SFO.
4. When you book an AS award on another airline's metal you are indeed subject to the other airline's rules. On domestic awards CO still requires a Saturday night stay and only permits en-route stopovers on international awards. CO does have a domestic stopover award but it is a redemption level all to itself and partners cannot book these awards.
1. Why are you already assuming that there will be weather issues in both CLE and PDX. Are you a meteorology major and have you developed some foolproof forecasting model that we should all know about? I'm not saying it's a bad idea to take a "what if" approach to travel but to already be predicting a worst case scenario is taking things a bit too far IMHO. That being said your late evening PHX-PDX is more likely to be delayed simply because of the snowball effect (pardon the pun) of minor delays that build throughout the day. I wouldn't worry too much about making your connection in Phoenix. You were already arriving fairly late in PDX so why would those picking you up object to a little bit later? If they protest too loudly perhaps you should consider an airport shuttle. As for your baggage, the overwhelming majority of CO passengers flying into Phoenix don't connect anywhere else so even though CO and AS are adjacent in T2 your bags may end up on the carousel in PHX in error. Which leads me to my next point...
2. How did you end up with this routing in the first place? It seems out of the way but I guess if you're flying close to the holidays it may have been all tat was available using miles. When you booked this had AS even announced the SEA-IAH routes? Perhaps that could be an option for you.
3. It is only (very) early September and since I'm assuming this trip is in December there is likely to be another schedule change between now and then. That is probably why you weren't notified yet since the December schedule for both CO and AS isn't finalized yet. You do have an advantage now that it has changed in that you can request that AS search another CO-AS combination that might get you back to PDX sooner and without going so far out of the way. I would try connecting in ORD, IAH, DEN, MSP, LAS, LAX or SFO.
4. When you book an AS award on another airline's metal you are indeed subject to the other airline's rules. On domestic awards CO still requires a Saturday night stay and only permits en-route stopovers on international awards. CO does have a domestic stopover award but it is a redemption level all to itself and partners cannot book these awards.
Last edited by COpltASgldPHX; Sep 2, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Sep 2, 2009, 2:18 pm
#6
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: (PHL) Cape May, NJ
Programs: MVP Gold 75K, Board Room, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 2,439
A completely inconsequential schedule change which, if the pessimistic OP is correct in his double snow storm theory, would only be in his favor...as a late arrival into PHX due to snow would cause OP to miss his PDX bound flight. 25 minutes is practically padding on the PDX arrival, and with ideal winds and traffic, you will likely arrive at the previous scheduled time.
Even if two storms were scheduled as a 100% possibility, im hard pressed to think of what 25 minutes would offer, without hindsight.
Even if two storms were scheduled as a 100% possibility, im hard pressed to think of what 25 minutes would offer, without hindsight.
Sep 2, 2009, 3:58 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: CLE/PDX
Programs: UA/*A: Silver, AZ/ST: Silver, AB/OW: Silver, HHonors: Diamond, Hyatt: Platinum
Posts: 124
Thanks again for the advice. Here's what I know about my ticket and how it's came to be, and why I seem to be "pessimistic."
1. Correct, I shall be flying right after I take my last final in Dec.. In all the three years that I've been here, fate has it that it blizzards either the day before, or the day of my scheduled departure. Why am I so pessimistic? Simply because every year, I've been stuck somewhere :-) I remember this one year where AA/AS would call my phone every 10 min. as I was on the metro getting to CLE telling me that the flight time has been pushed back to a later time. By the time I reached the airport, the flight was cancelled. Somehow, the flight got re-instated, but I missed my two connections via ORD and PHX to PDX. Last year, due to the snow storms hitting both coasts, it took me 5 days to get home for xmas as even though I could fly from here to any AS gateway, all the flights to PDX were cancelled and already over-booked.
2. CO, generally is safe, even when it is snowing here in CLE, as it is a hub. During storms, I notice all the "express" style flight such as AA via LGA, ORD, and NW via DTW, MSP, and DL via ATL, get cancelled, while CO flights are still running solid. The issue is by the time a flight is cancelled, CO flights towards the West have already taken off, thus I've experienced 2x now.
3. Since I assume you fly quite often, COpltASgldPHX, I can assume you've had good reward flights and bad ones. AS is a pain sometimes whe redeeming flights. I've never been able to just go to AS's website, and type in CLE <-> PDX, and have it list search results for me. If it does, it's usually only for 1st class, which 1. Requires me to call, and 2. It's not just a $10 ticket, it ends up being $50. Add in the baggage fees, and that ticket is now close to $100. AS's website doesn't list CO flights, thus, I end up looking at CO's inventory, then calling AS and asking them to manually piece together the flight. I've encountered some agents that are lazy and say they can't find anything, when in turn, there's a 12.5k flight readily available to me. Whick leads to. . .
4. AS loves to put inventory control on their XC routes such as SEA/PDX to MSP, EWR, ORD, BOS, etc. I remember seeing that there were 25k redemption level seats available only up to the 15th of December. After that, the redemption goes up to 32,500 miles. I even tried to check for 25k flights when AS launched their N/S from PDX to ORD, and it was the same scenario. Would you believe it if I told you it took 2 hours for me to even book this ticket? Since there are no stopovers allowed this time on CO, I could only fly to an AS gateway, then switch to AS metal, and somehow, PHX had availability at the time. I also forget to mention that since I'm elite with CO, and pre-elite, a Chase/Continental card user, I am able to get free bags checked, so thus why I prefer CO over DL/AA.
I guess I shall wait until November to see if there are more changes to the flights. I'll keep them as is, to be safe.
Thanks again for your help! I know I prolly sound depressed and such, but it's the nature of the beast! X-mas season + weather + free ticket = BAD. :-P Maybe I should fly via SEA or SFO to fly on QX to get my free glass of booze to welcome me back home, eh? Meet me at the BR, maokh?
1. Correct, I shall be flying right after I take my last final in Dec.. In all the three years that I've been here, fate has it that it blizzards either the day before, or the day of my scheduled departure. Why am I so pessimistic? Simply because every year, I've been stuck somewhere :-) I remember this one year where AA/AS would call my phone every 10 min. as I was on the metro getting to CLE telling me that the flight time has been pushed back to a later time. By the time I reached the airport, the flight was cancelled. Somehow, the flight got re-instated, but I missed my two connections via ORD and PHX to PDX. Last year, due to the snow storms hitting both coasts, it took me 5 days to get home for xmas as even though I could fly from here to any AS gateway, all the flights to PDX were cancelled and already over-booked.
2. CO, generally is safe, even when it is snowing here in CLE, as it is a hub. During storms, I notice all the "express" style flight such as AA via LGA, ORD, and NW via DTW, MSP, and DL via ATL, get cancelled, while CO flights are still running solid. The issue is by the time a flight is cancelled, CO flights towards the West have already taken off, thus I've experienced 2x now.
3. Since I assume you fly quite often, COpltASgldPHX, I can assume you've had good reward flights and bad ones. AS is a pain sometimes whe redeeming flights. I've never been able to just go to AS's website, and type in CLE <-> PDX, and have it list search results for me. If it does, it's usually only for 1st class, which 1. Requires me to call, and 2. It's not just a $10 ticket, it ends up being $50. Add in the baggage fees, and that ticket is now close to $100. AS's website doesn't list CO flights, thus, I end up looking at CO's inventory, then calling AS and asking them to manually piece together the flight. I've encountered some agents that are lazy and say they can't find anything, when in turn, there's a 12.5k flight readily available to me. Whick leads to. . .
4. AS loves to put inventory control on their XC routes such as SEA/PDX to MSP, EWR, ORD, BOS, etc. I remember seeing that there were 25k redemption level seats available only up to the 15th of December. After that, the redemption goes up to 32,500 miles. I even tried to check for 25k flights when AS launched their N/S from PDX to ORD, and it was the same scenario. Would you believe it if I told you it took 2 hours for me to even book this ticket? Since there are no stopovers allowed this time on CO, I could only fly to an AS gateway, then switch to AS metal, and somehow, PHX had availability at the time. I also forget to mention that since I'm elite with CO, and pre-elite, a Chase/Continental card user, I am able to get free bags checked, so thus why I prefer CO over DL/AA.
I guess I shall wait until November to see if there are more changes to the flights. I'll keep them as is, to be safe.
Thanks again for your help! I know I prolly sound depressed and such, but it's the nature of the beast! X-mas season + weather + free ticket = BAD. :-P Maybe I should fly via SEA or SFO to fly on QX to get my free glass of booze to welcome me back home, eh? Meet me at the BR, maokh?