GrayAnderson

This hasn't come up, but I'm wondering what the procedure is in the event of a schedule change to a legal single ticket making the ticket unworkable (and/or a misconnect on a ticket that was legal when purchased but became too tight)? My OGG-SFO-DAL-DCA ticket just got tinkered with by a few minutes and while I'm pretty sure the ticket is still good, I did want to know what the procedure is if the ticket...er..."goes to hell" because of further schedule tweaks.

This is really relevant because the overall ticket price was quite reasonable ($1350-ish Maui to Washington in F the whole way) and I'd rather not lose that pricing. If I need to switch flights it isn't the end of the world. Losing the $1350-range fare and being forced into something more expensive would be an issue, though, if I have to spend another $500.

ctbarron

I assume this is all on Virgin metal?

Never had this happen with VX, but I'd imagine the process is similar to how other airlines handle it. I'd guess this risk is having to take radically different flight times or loss of F on a segment as opposed to them sticking you for more money.

Hopefully VX is not like VS on this...

GrayAnderson

Yeah, it's an all-VX itinerary that I booked with them (over the phone, only because the VX website cannot handle two connections on a single reservation).

What's the story with VS?

ctbarron

VS is usually painful in dealing with flight time changes that mess with connections. I only experienced it once, when a 45 minute change left me with a barely legal international connection at IAD. VS' attitude was TS. It worked but was stressful. See the VS forum for examples if you want.

And I like VS BTW.

bayhouse

Which flights changed, and by how much? What are the flight numbers, if you don't mind sharing.

Assuming OGG-SFO is scheduled to land at 6:25am, and the misconnect occurs while trying to get to your SFO-DAL flight, VX will rebook you on the next set of SFO-DAL-DCA flights (or the SFO-DCA direct flight). If the misconnect occurs at DAL, they'll move you to the next DAL-DCA flight. If your itinerary includes any flight that is the last one of the day (i.e., if you're booked on the last DAL-DCA flight and you miss it), you'll be stuck in the city, and you can probably get them to cover a night at a hotel.

They booked the ticket with legal connection times. They have no one to blame but themselves if you misconnect (assuming you dont wander off).

You could also call and tell them that the schedule change creates an uncomfortably tight connection, and they'd probably rebook you on something better for free. It might take two or three calls and speaking with a supervisor, but in my experience they've always made it workable eventually. You could probably switch to VX 1 SFO-DCA w/ a waived difference in fare if you really pushed.

GrayAnderson

Thanks for the advice. To clarify, when I booked my schedule was the following:
d OGG 2320
a SFO 0625
d SFO 0720
a DAL 1250
d DAL 1405
a DCA 1750

It's changed to:
d OGG 2320
a SFO 0625
d SFO 0705
a DAL 1235
d DAL 1400
a DCA 1755

The connection at DAL looks fine. The issue is SFO, which is down to 40 minutes. It's still showing as a legal connection and I don't think it will be an issue; my concern is more aimed at (A) "What happens if the schedule gets bumped another 10 minutes" combined with (B) "Ok, what should I know for future notice" (this is the first time I've actually encountered a schedule change, and though it was a very marginal one it got me to thinking that I ought to get briefed on how to handle it; the fact that the ticket was a mild pain to book didn't help things, though now I am very glad I have it as a single through ticket).

ptownca

My thinking on this is you are over thinking this one.

On an F ticket, you are going to be able to make a 20 minute connection in SFO without too much stress. It is a max 4 minute walk from one side of the terminal to the other. T2 is awesome that way. I think every airport should be designed the same way.

*I am assuming you have no checked luggage.

If OGG SFO is late, then let the flight crew know enroute. They can advise SFO of your tight connection and SFO might even hold the door open to make sure you have a connection. I've seen it done myself.

Once you land, there will be someone in the terminal area able to make whatever changes are needed and I'd be really shocked if there was a single charge for any changes. Really.

VX does not leave F passengers hanging.

bayhouse

Agreed. I've seen, and experienced first hand once, connecting flights held due to delayed inbound.

You'd probably get moved to VX 1 SFO-DCA departing around 8:00am, unless there was no availability in F in which case they'd put you on the next set of connecting flights to DCA via DAL w/ F availability.

Like ptownca said, VX will not leave you hanging, and I too would be shocked if there was a fee for any of this.


I've experienced twice, both at SFO, that VX will help even when you have VX-to-VX connections booked on different itineraries. They might have been helpful (i.e., no fee for rebooking) on later for me because I had Gold or Silver status at the time, though -- it's definitely not something their obligated to do. Regardless, it's stuff like this that solidifies my loyalty with them.

GrayAnderson

The issue is that I'm going to have a checked bag, in all likelihood. I'm going to be on the back end of a few weeks away from home, so I'm likely to use my Cabin HELL NO! suitcase and check it (not to mention that I need some place to put things like toothpaste that the TSA has a grudge against).

bayhouse

Go to the Service Center podium at SFO (next to gate 54A, I think) and advise them that you are misconnectong and you have a checked bag. Since you're in F, it won't take long for you to deplane and walk there.

If they don't do this proactively, ask them to call down to the ramp and pull your bag aside.

The VX team at SFO is surprisingly diligent about making sure people don't fly on different planes than their bags do.

GrayAnderson

Thanks!

And with that, I can relax over this...which is a really good feeling.

(Now, for some additional fun, coming in another thread shortly...)

ptownca

Yes, yes and yes

1. You are in F. Which means Priority Bags. The only time I've not seen these arrive in the carousel first is when gate side checked bags arrive first..

2. SFO baggage handling has been for me, superb. A short story: I arrived close to the baggage drop window closing. As it was a SFO-SEA flight, I knew they had 4 more following flights that day. I said, OK I'll gamble and let's check it. Entering the plane, the baggage handler at check-in tapped on my should and gave me the thumbs up, telling my bag was on the plane.

3. I know for a fact, VX hand counts the bags going on each plane and in one case where the system had me with two checked bags, but only one on the plane, an agent came on board to verify the situation.

bayhouse

Their dedication to getting bag handling right is truly impressive. It's no surprise that they lead the industry with the least number of mishandled bags per 1000 passengers -- and the majority of the mishandled bags occur due to interline transfer failures. I recently checked bags at SFO, had a last minute schedule change and called reservations to move to later flight. When I came back, to recheck in, the agent realized my bags were set to go on the flight before me. She literally ran down to the ramp, grabbed my bags, brought them back to the checkin counter, and retagged them. No other airline would do that! She'll be receiving a very favorable -- and well deserved -- kudos email in the next day or so.

It's stuff like this that really solidifies my loyalty to VX. It's the only airline I can reliably count on checking bags with and being united with them at the final destination despite whatever irops or unexpected changes occur in the interim. They've literally have a 100% success rate for me, and i've probably checked at least 250 (�100) bags in the last 6 years with them.