wotan2525

Recently flew a trip that was ORD-PVG-BKK and had 2 equally strange experiences. Wondering how flyertalk would handle them. I do understand that at this point it is water under the bridge.

1) On my outbound flight we were in the PVG lounge (terminal 1) and I received a text alert aprox. 45 minutes before departure that our connecting flight was delayed 30 minutes. I verified this on the FIDS. Arrived at gate 10m before originally scheduled departure and jet-way door was closed. We watched flight leave on time. Gate agent was unwilling (and/or unable) to assist us. It was the last flight of the evening and we were basically kicked out of terminal and instructed to return in the AM to reschedule. Had to pay for hotel and transportation as well as cost to change BKK-USM flight that was on another PNR.

2) On return leg we checked in at BKK for our flights and were informed that our connecting flight (PVG-ORD) had been rescheduled for the next day (4 hour layover being changed to 28 hour layover.) Checking my phone I was able to find out that the flight had in fact been changed 10 days before but Priceline had not notified me. After considerable stress and yelling and foot stomping and being run from one end of the terminal to the other they changed us from a MU flight to a UA flight but we received middle seats and again missed a connection on a different PNR.

Since neither of these experiences were technically due to a "delayed/canceled flight" I suspect I'll have any flight-delay-insurance claim denied, but I'm wondering (given 20/20 hindsight) what FlyerTalkers would do in these situations so that I can be better prepared in the future.

Doc Savage

1) Always assume that any delay may well revert to the original time. You're lucky they re-scheduled you, as the could just as well have cancelled you as a no-show.

2) Always recheck your flights on the airline website periodically to make sure there aren't schedule changes, etc. Booking through a third party like Priceline makes this even more important as it is common they don't notify you of changes, and the third party involvement makes it even more difficult to deal with changes.

If you have trip insurance, that's the easiest and most likely route to get remuneration.

May your future trips involve fewer hassles.

airmotive

Was your text alert from Priceline or the airline?

From your description of events, involving Priceline and nested flights, it appears to be an attempt at a lowest-possible-cost trip. While this can often save some money, it can also cost quite a bit if things go pear-shaped.

eigenvector

I wouldn't call either of these experiences strange. They are fairly common occurrences, and by booking a trip with many moving pieces (eg it seems you had at least 3 back to back PNRs) you are essentially betting they won't happen. You may come out ahead most of the time but occasionally things go belly up. I can appreciate your frustration although you have little choice but to accept it as the cost of traveling.

There are some who say "always book on one PNR" but this isn't realistic when traveling to out of the way places on one or both ends of a trip necessitating connections with carriers that don't interline. Protect yourself by allowing generous connection time, researching alternate flights in advance and carrying insurance that can defray some of the cost of hiccups.

​​​​​​In the case of schedule changes, check all flights with the operating carrier religiously. I do a quick check of all my bookings every month and a week out from departure.
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pinniped

Long-haul international with some nested PNRs is probably the *last* place I'd want to play Priceline games. In my (admittedly limited) experience researching Priceline for flights, the magnitude of the savings never justified even attempting to use it to begin with. If the $1000 flight to Bangkok was $300 on Priceline, maybe I'd gamble. But I personally never saw anything like that. (Contrast to hotels where the value prop for Priceline is much more straightforward.)

You're right: travel insurance isn't going to pay. In part, because it's travel insurance and its mission is to not pay and part because you don't really have a solid claim to begin with.

Booking directly on airline websites doesn't in and of itself mitigate all of the risks associated with multiple PNRs (especially if they're across alliances or involve LCCs), but at least the communications about changes and such, as well as the ability to change things in the event of IROPS, are usually easier than with third-party bookings. I know my "regular" airline apps pretty well and would double-check my flights, seats, etc. periodically in the days leading up to a big trip such as this one.

MSPeconomist

PVG is also not a place where I'd want to have issues with plane tickets, either due to purchase through an OLTA or due to having different tickets/PNRs.

QuesoDeCan

This reminds me of my flight from JFK to BCN via GVA -- I have a flight that arrives in GVA at ~0900h and the flight to BCN leaves around 2100h, later the same day. Both legs are on Swiss Air and I purchased the ticket on the Swiss Air website directly.

I plan to go and exit the airport at GVA to explore for 5 or 6 or maybe 7 hrs. What are the chances of the flight being pushed up....say from 2100h to 1900h? If that's the case, I can probably make it back to GVA w/o any problems, and can always check with my phone for any changes to departure time.

I hope it doesn't happen, but I'm sure there is chance of the flight being delayed/cancelled.


Haaalllpppp (well I hope not....)

wotan2525

The booking was on China Eastern and Priceline was offering the cheapest listed fare. It was not a name-your-own price type of booking. Yes, this was a low-cost itinerary and I was very aware that if anything went wrong, I would be on the hook for it.

The nested PNRs were due to price, scheduling and flight availability. Booking a single PNR for our dates from MSP-USM would have been $2800. We were able to book this same iten (with shorter "theoretical" travel time) for <$700. I left us generous layovers of 2+ hours for any airline/iten change.

In the end, our delays and screw-ups cost us less than $300. I've learned some lessons but I know I'll never escape the fact that sometimes things just don't go as planned.

The one thing I would probably change in the future would be to book nested connecting PNRs as one-ways. There was more flexibility (and $ saving) if we would have no-showed for one of our outbound flights but I knew that doing so would result in a cancellation of the return segment.

MSPeconomist

Sorry, but two hours isn't much of a buffer for separate tickets/PNRs, especially if an international airport like PVG or LCCs are involved.

pinniped

The wouldn't push the flight up as a planned schedule change on the day of the flight. The only risk with spending the day in town (as opposed to in a lounge 10 seconds away from an airline agent) is if your 9PM flight cancels and your alternative would be to jump on an earlier flight.

I'd still spend the day in town. Check your phone periodically, allow plenty of time to get back...all the usual advice. But that's a whole day, and I'd definitely do something besides sitting in the airport. I'd just live with the fairly small risk that the flight cancels.

travelmad478

Anything under 3-4 hours is not what I'd call generous at all, even for an all-US itinerary. Frankly, for this sort of nested itinerary on international carriers, I tend to book flights on consecutive days, not a few hours apart.

pinniped

This. I can't imagine doing a multi-airline / multi-alliance nested-PNR trip with only 2 hours *unless* I was perfectly happy with the worst-case scenario. That typically means (a) it's a connecting city that I like, can easily navigate and enjoy for a day if I have to, and (b) the onward travel is easy to completely reschedule...short-haul, perhaps an overland option, etc.

As much as I like Shanghai, I would worry about that ease-of-onward-rescheduling part. I've also never transited int'l-to-int'l in China, only visited as the end destination with a visa specific to that purpose. Does a connecting passenger at PVG have a transit visa that allows them to wander into Shanghai for a day or two?

eigenvector

It's very unlikely that a flight would be moved up on the day of departure, except in the scenario the OP describes where it's first delayed then "un-delayed". Schedule changes weeks or months ahead of time do happen and you should confirm your itinerary with Swiss before the trip.

fassy

Yes, you(*) can get a 72 hour TWOV which is valid for the Shanghai city area. For every int'l-to-int'l connection in PVG (usually CPH-PVG-ICN/BKK) I was forced to go through immigration, get the TWOV and go landside anyway. Not sure if that has changed now...

Same in PEK.

(*) probably there are some countries' passports where this doesn't work...

eigenvector

I habitually book everything as one-way whenever it is the same price as a round-trip. 2 minutes of extra effort that often saves a lot of trouble.