Airline cuts hit fliers who booked early
As airlines cut back, some who followed the travel industry's advice to book their trips ahead — from honeymooners to family vacationers — are finding themselves with seats on flights that no longer exist.
Carriers say they're doing the best they can to notify customers of disruptions and accommodate changes. But affected travelers say the options presented by the airlines can be inconvenient, requiring them to use more vacation days, pay for longer — or additional — hotel stays or shave time off the start or end of their trips.
Even ostensibly tiny changes, such as later-than-planned departure times, could result in missed connections, tacking hours onto trips and adding to costs. And good luck getting your airline to pay for those expenses.
"If you have an itinerary beyond Labor Day, go online and make sure that flight is still there," even if you haven't been contacted by your carrier, says Terry Trippler, who watches air travel closely as the owner of travel Web site tripplertravel.com.
Since schedule changes are largely set to take effect this fall, the changes are most likely to affect people who have planned ahead. This year, domestic travelers bought their tickets for summer travel an average of eight weeks before their departure date, according to statistics provided by travel Web site Travelocity. But some travelers, such as those planning a wedding or honeymoon, plan much further in advance.
After he was unable to find a solution by talking with customer-service representatives on the phone, Yang sent a complaint letter to Delta. He hopes it prompts the airline to offer a more convenient flight. "Right now, all of our eggs are in the one basket of them helping us out," he says.
Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton says the airline makes every effort to contact customers whose flights have been canceled and accommodate them on other flights.
For his part, Salt Lake City resident Matthew Hanson hopes he can get Delta to reconsider the change it made to his November return trip home from Tampa, Fla. The 36-year-old software engineer had originally booked his family on nonstop flights to visit his parents in Tampa. But now, the flight from Tampa connects through Cincinnati, where he and his wife will have to haul their two children, ages 8 months and 3 1/2, onto a connection.
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