Hi everyone-

Id never had the experience of missing a flight until about two weeks ago, so Im hoping maybe you all can enlighten me about the flight tire rule, and why it didnt apply to me....

My alarm didnt go off, so in the cab on the way to the airport, I called the elite line & the agent said she could put me on the next available/only available CO operated flight, which sounded good to me. My orig flt was booked in econ & upgraded to R. Agent told me that the only seat left on the flight was in F & that she would have to reticket (& of course charge me the difference.. about 1K) the entire thing. I was already checked in for the orig flight if that matters.

Im not sure what additional info I should give to figure it out, but Im happy to give it. I would like to know: why didnt 'flat tire' apply here (or maybe just more about the flat tire rule in general) ? Did I do something wrong in the process that made it impossible for her to apply the flat tire rule/ Was this all done correctly (on the agent's part? on my part?)

Other than double checking my alarm is there anything I should do differently next time Im in this situation?

Thanks!

I think flat tire only applies when you are at the airport, and you merely paid for the next confirmed flight and they waived the change fee? I also think flat tire only works within 3 hours, but it sounds like you were. Maybe ask for flat tire next time?

I was defintely within 3 hrs: orig flight was 7:15, and the flight they put me on was 9:55.

So my calling in instead of waiting to get to the airport cost $1000 ? jeeez..... and I thought I was trying to be proactive/efficient by calling instead of waiting. This was an expensive lesson....

What different response were you expecting?

You had a economy ticket (once the flight was missed the upgrade was gone), there was no economy space, you chose to purchased a F ticket and was charged the fare difference (and appears no change fee).

Believe the UA "flat-tire" rule has essential been replaced with the new standby / same day change rules. But with no economy seat available there was no SDC option.

I'm sure you could have standby for a flight without a confirmed seat for no fee but that's not what you chose.

For others -- did CO have a "flat-tire" rule -- free standby for anyone who missed a flight but got to the airport within 2 hours of the orginal flight?

Not formally. It was always YMMV.

Im just trying to learn here, so it wasnt really about my expecting a different response at that time. Neither the agent (nor I) discussed the possibility of Standby, so that was a mistake of mine.

Also when you're looking at such a high fare differential, it may be worth looking at other carriers.

If you're paying a $1,000 upfare, and some other carrier had space for $500, it might make sense to either cancel the ticket (and use any residual credit later), or just trash the ticket.

$1000 can buy a ton of alarm clocks

And at least one of those will work

If this was outbound, missing the segment and buying another ticket on your own would probably have resulted in the remainder of your ticket being cancelled.

As a former exclusive CO flier, i've had a few flat tires but in each case, I always went to the airport where they rebooked me on standby flights (always cleared the next flight tho).

Its been a while since I last flew CO but I think calling ahead of time to change your plans to make use of the "rule" makes it less "convincing".

The one time I called in to say I was having car trouble and was going to be late for my flight, I was told that there was nothing that could be done for me to be put on standby for the next outbound flight. The two other times I arrived at the airport maybe 10 to 30 mins late after my plane departed, I was offered standby on the next available flight without prompting at the airport. (Ahem, let me account for my lack of timeliness in those instances by saying that certain things were beyond my scope of control at those times but its not my goal to miss my intended flights.)

In addition, it helps your case if you find a sympathetic agent and look a bit frazzled/distressed.

I have missed more flights than I can count for all sorts of reasons. Always go to the airport. CO always put me on the next flight out and I never had to pay extra.

and what would have happen if no economy seats were available -- which was OP's situation?

I'm sure there has to be a flight at sometime with economy seats. They have move me fare classes too as in up and I got the extra points to go with it. I have gotten on many flights that were "sold out." One can always stand by. I've been flying CO 13 years and they always got me to where I need to be. I have even messed up booking before and didn't realize it ( has to do with time zones)until I'm about to do my flights and CO fixed it for me no charge. That they can say sorry your out of luck cause you screwed up, but they fixed it and no charge.