Well, for the second time in two weeks, CO has seen fit to modify my future flight plans due to schedule changes.

I know that flight schedules are quite fluid and are changed/modified on a regular basis, but is it too much to ask that they send me an e-mail or, heaven forbid, call me to notify me of the changes?

On one of my itineraries there are four segments, not only did the flight times change, but the flight numbers themselves changed and one of the aircraft too...

I've been checking in on one of my itineraries regularly because I am waitisted in FC for one of the segments. So, when I logged into eService to see if it cleared there was a just red text that said my itinerary was modified and I had to call eService Online... I spent 20 mins on the phone w/ them to even find out what the changes were... however, I could log onto the pda website http://pda.continental.com and view the itinerary that could not be shown on CO.com... how messed up is that?

oh, let's not forget the fact that they stripped my seat assignments too

[This message has been edited by EWR-COflyer (edited 05-05-2002).]

Same thing happened to me on 2 of 3 upcoming CO trips. There were changes to flight times of over 1 hour in one of the records, too. I discovered the changes when looking at my itineraries online, which were all messed up. Both the old and new flight numbers & times were present and it indicated that I was booked on both flights. I called the Elite line and the agent said he had to get the records back in synch. Apparently it worked and I was able to print out the corrected itineraries. The promised email confirmation of the new schedule still has not arrived 2 days later! However, upon checking again today, on one of the records the old flight information has reappeared along with the new. In all this mess, however, my seat assignments have remarkably remained the same. CO really needs to rexamine its IT systems and finally enter the 21st Century!

Schedule changes happen so often that if they notified you everytime of a change you would post a "Why does CO keep calling me about flight changes for a flight 3 months away".

Typically they will not notify you until a pre-determined time before hand (i.e. a couple of weeks or so) b/c of the frequency of changes. Airlines are constantly tweaking flight to maximize a/c utilization. The original change could have happened to a flight early in the morning and rippled down to yours.

If you are having your itn. changed for flights that are close to departure and not being notified I would contact CO of the problem. If they change your flight and don't tell you about it, it ends up costing them money to reaccom you and makes you unhappy. Hopefully if you do call you will get an agent that knows what they are doing and is willing to help you.

I flew last weekend from EWR to HNL and got mail a couple of weeks ahead of time from my travel agency with a new itinerary when the flight moved from 2:00 to 1:10. But when I got here, I found that several of my colleagues who had used a different agency (American Express corporate travel) were not notified and found out only on arrival at the airport or when they confirmed the flight that morning from home.

CO could certainly send emails to those people who have registered a FF number in the record and an email address for the FF number...

FWIW, I always get a phone call when my flight schedules change. However, as a leisure-only traveler, I book my trips pretty far in advance so I have plenty of time to receive any necessary notice.

In a word, yes....

OTOH, my TA sends me an e-mail with the new itinerary whenever they are notified of a schedule change. Sometimes those service fees and lack of bonus miles are worth it. For the record, I've had seat assignments get cancelled when the equipment has been changed as well.

Me, too. I just got one yesterday, in fact. Got another one about a month ago.

I just check my co.com itinerary from time to time. If there is red ink anywhere, it is time to call. I have an intinerary where they changed 3 flights slightly in time, but changed equipment and fl. ##s. Needless to say, my seat assignments were screwed up, so I called and got it fixed.

My advice is to check your itinerary often (every few days) and if there is something you can't change on-line, give CO or your TA a call. Beats getting to the airport and getting seat 26E on a transcon :<

[edited for rotten spelling]

[This message has been edited by tvx (edited 05-10-2002).]