American Airline passengers check your flight times

[marinoalulema]

hey there everyone

i booked our vacation for 5 people to WDW flying American Airlines in feb and paid for in full for it all, we originally had 730am flights which they changed a month later to 910am flights, not a big deal

when i found out about the extra charge for luggage, i pulled up my reservation numbers so that i would be prepared when i made my phone call to American Airlines to complain and noticed that our flights were now changed to 130pm

from 730am to 910am to 130PM!!! also our return flights were changed from leaving at 930pm to 5pm, this change in schedule affects all 6 of our dining reservations for those 2 days, now all have to be canceled are rebooked, and I am afraid that the Castle is now booked up

Disney Travel tried to help when I called to complain but they could not do anything about it. They had me on hold while they called American but the airlines has canceled about 1/3 of their flights and are no longer offering early morning flights to Orlando as well as most other destinations

I was told that I can wait, since our trip is in September, and keep checking American's website every other day to see if the flights are added back, if they are then Disney Travel can bump them back to an earlier flight.

I can also change to another airline BUT, Disney Travel will have to cancel my flights with American and have to wait 8 to 10 weeks for American to refund the money, so I will have to wait 8 to 10 weeks until they credit back my credit card. Meanwhile, I would have to pay for the new flights upfront.
That means for 2 - 3 months I will be paying for double flights for 5 people on my credit card.

BE WARNED
IF YOU ARE FLYING AMERICAN AIRLINES, DOUBLE CHECK YOUR RESERVATIONS AND FLIGHT TIMES NOW, DO NOT WAIT, AMERICAN IS NOT NOTIFYING THEIR CUSTOMERS, THEY ARE JUST MAKING THE CHANGES

 

[Elonwy]

Wow...American is definately going to lose customers with the lack of service they have been providing lately. To think not only are prices going up and up and up with higher fuel surcharges and luggage charges for EVERY bag (which is ridiculous) but imagine how many people WON'T check their flight times and show up 5 hours early or worse...late!

Waiting 8 weeks for a refund is like they are holding your money hostage. I'm sure a lot of people don't have the resources to have two sets of flights paid for, for their entire family while waiting for a refund.

Seems like you're stuck with them but I would start composing a letter to someone there now. Let me know how it goes. I'm curious to see if they take your concerns seriously as thus far it seems their customers are the LAST concern they have.

 

[Disneykidder]

How horrible!! I am guessing you booked your flights through Disney? What if you didn't and needed to get to somewhere, like a wedding or family reunion...you may have missed it. That is rediculous to do that to a traveler. You are lucky you were able to get new ADRs but what if you couldn't? Someone needs to be responsible for causing you turmoil. Plus, when were they planning on telling you? If you didn't check, you may have been at the airport an extra 4 or so hours each way...NOT COOL!!

I am like you, like to get the earliest flight out and latest returning flight...not right!!

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

American is not doing itself any favors with the new changes and non notification to travelers

 

[Computer Magic]

I use American Airlines and I receive an email when anything changes. You might want to log on AA.com and signup for notication of flight changes, delays and cancel.

 

[OneLuckyMom]

Unfortunately, this is not just an American Airlines thing. I've had this sort of thing happen on just about every airline (other than Southwest where the booking window is short).

Whenever you book far out - and even when you book just a few months out - always keep an eye on your reservations. Airlines are constantly tweaking their schedules, cancelling and changing the times of flights. I booked FF tickets on American back in January for August. For me, what was a red-eye that got me into Orlando in the morning is now an early morning flight that gets me into Orlando late afternoon. And what was a 5pm departure to come back home is now 3pm. There's no better flight time options on American, so I'm stuck unless I buy tickets on another airline. And I'm cheap, so that ain't gonna happen...

I will say the biggest problem with American is that they are not informing customers of these rebookings. American has not called once to tell me of the changes to my reservations - I've stumbled on them by checking my booking online. When I've had other airlines do this to me, I've at least gotten a courtesy automated phone call informing me there was a change to my reservation.

 

[OneLuckyMom]

I use American Airlines and I receive an email when anything changes. You might want to log on AA.com and signup for notication of flight changes, delays and cancel.

The changes are so significant, that American should be notifying customers of the changes by phone, regardless of whether they sign up for notifications or not.

And there are still plenty of folks that do not have regular access to email - having that be the only notification mechanism is a joke.

 

[Computer Magic]

The changes are so significant, that American should be notifying customers of the changes by phone, regardless of whether they sign up for notifications or not.

And there are still plenty of folks that do not have regular access to email - having that be the only notification mechanism is a joke.

You can be email or phoned. This day of age, we can't trust companies, so we need to take responsibilty. Does this suck, yes, but you want to ensure an arrival, you better stay on top of things.

My trip in Sept 06, my flight was changed to a different day. So I know how it feels. I caught it in time to change to a later time the day I wanted to leave as I had tickets to MNSSHP.

I don't condone with big business is doing and I express my opinion, but in the end I have to watch them so I'm not put into a bad perdictament.

 

[carenyllie]

If you book your flights through Disney Travel, then Disney Travel should have been the ones to notify you of schedule changes. They are notified daily from all of the airlines of schedule changes and they are responsible for passing that information on to clients and travel agents. If you booked directly with American then you should have received an email or phone call from American.

If you did book the flights with Disney Travel, find out from American when your flight was changed and when Disney Travel was notified, then demand an explanation from DT why you weren't notified.

 

[Computer Magic]

If you book your flights through Disney Travel, then Disney Travel should have been the ones to notify you of schedule changes. They are notified daily from all of the airlines of schedule changes and they are responsible for passing that information on to clients and travel agents. If you booked directly with American then you should have received an email or phone call from American.

If you did book the flights with Disney Travel, find out from American when your flight was changed and when Disney Travel was notified, then demand an explanation from DT why you weren't notified.

that is true..

 

[WIX]

Being in the travel business we HAVE to say it will take 6-8 weeks to refund back to your credit card. Equivalent of two billing cycles.

However, I have seen on many an occasion the funds go back as early as three days.

If you can handle the extra amount on your card, then I would cancel the AA flights and re-book with another carrier. You may get your refund sooner than they say . . . it may take the full time.

Good luck!!!

 

[OneLuckyMom]

If you book your flights through Disney Travel, then Disney Travel should have been the ones to notify you of schedule changes. They are notified daily from all of the airlines of schedule changes and they are responsible for passing that information on to clients and travel agents. If you booked directly with American then you should have received an email or phone call from American.

Well, I booked directly through American, and have never been notified of any of the changes on my reservations. And my ticket is a FF ticket off of a platinum advantage account. Would think they would at least try with those - but nope!!

So since American is doing such a bad job notifying those of us that booked directly through them, I wouldn't be surprised if they are having similiar issues with not notifying travel agents....

 

[marinoalulema]

american airlines

i booked directly thru disney travel
disney travel did not notify me and neither did american airlines

i am signed up for emails notices but nothing

when the flights changed from 710 to 930 am , i also go no notification from anyone, i did receive a change of reservation sheet from disney travel with the new flight numbers and times, no email or phone call

when i called disney travel, i spoke to and operator at travel and then they switched me to disney airline help and i spoke with two different operators, an operator and then a supervisor, neither of them could believe the time changing from 930 to 130pm

they were not notified by american airlines either, i actually have to log on to american airlines myself every other day and go thru the process of booking a flight for the morning of 9/11 to see what comes up, if there is an earlier flight i have to call disney travel to let them know so that they can then change it for me
they are not set up to do this for customers, they can automatically change the times but cannot change them back again and when i told disney travel that it was a little weird that i have to do all this myself, the guy said, listen, we have hundreds if not thousands of customers calling every day, we cannot provide that type of service

 

[Elonwy]

i booked directly thru disney travel
disney travel did not notify me and neither did american airlines

i am signed up for emails notices but nothing

when the flights changed from 710 to 930 am , i also go no notification from anyone, i did receive a change of reservation sheet from disney travel with the new flight numbers and times, no email or phone call

when i called disney travel, i spoke to and operator at travel and then they switched me to disney airline help and i spoke with two different operators, an operator and then a supervisor, neither of them could believe the time changing from 930 to 130pm

they were not notified by american airlines either, i actually have to log on to american airlines myself every other day and go thru the process of booking a flight for the morning of 9/11 to see what comes up, if there is an earlier flight i have to call disney travel to let them know so that they can then change it for me
they are not set up to do this for customers, they can automatically change the times but cannot change them back again and when i told disney travel that it was a little weird that i have to do all this myself, the guy said, listen, we have hundreds if not thousands of customers calling every day, we cannot provide that type of service

What they can't notify you that you might miss your flight and entire vacation because they get lots of calls...completely unacceptable.

Whatever happened to companies providing good customer service...seems like $$$ is more important

 

[carenyllie]

i booked directly thru disney travel
disney travel did not notify me and neither did american airlines

i am signed up for emails notices but nothing

when the flights changed from 710 to 930 am , i also go no notification from anyone, i did receive a change of reservation sheet from disney travel with the new flight numbers and times, no email or phone call

when i called disney travel, i spoke to and operator at travel and then they switched me to disney airline help and i spoke with two different operators, an operator and then a supervisor, neither of them could believe the time changing from 930 to 130pm

they were not notified by american airlines either, i actually have to log on to american airlines myself every other day and go thru the process of booking a flight for the morning of 9/11 to see what comes up, if there is an earlier flight i have to call disney travel to let them know so that they can then change it for me
they are not set up to do this for customers, they can automatically change the times but cannot change them back again and when i told disney travel that it was a little weird that i have to do all this myself, the guy said, listen, we have hundreds if not thousands of customers calling every day, we cannot provide that type of service

WOW! There is a major screw up here....and unfortunately, it looks mostly like AA is to blame. If there is any way to fix this though, Disney Travel should be doing it for you....but I think you said they were helping now, right? But if you want to complain, and I would, I would write a letter to American and complain. The way airlines are these days, I can't tell if they would try hard to keep your business, but they MAY offer you something.

I wish you well with this! I hope you can get to Disney early in the day as you wish! Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Rob562]

My friend is going through something similar with AirTran. After booking, they eliminated ALL non-stop flights between Washington-National and Orlando. So what once was a 9AM flight that got in just after 11AM, he now has to catch a 6:30AM flight with a layover that gets him to Orlando at 10:30AM. So 2 1/2 hours earlier, plus the hassle of changing planes and the possibility of lost luggage during that, and only gets in 30 minutes earlier...
And if he doesn't take that 6:30AM flight, he wouldn't get into Orlando until 4:30PM which would all but kill our dinner plans.

Of course, he found out about this from *me* when I went to the AirTran website to check his flight times and numbers to give them to DME. He never got a call or e-mail from either AirTran or Expedia.

-Rob