Airline schedule changes are inevitable, and the earlier you book your trip, the more likely you are to encounter one. Schedule changes can be devastating when your perfect non-stop flight is canceled, but schedule changes can also be a tremendous blessing, whether you are using miles or just buying your ticket. What are your rights when an airline involuntarily changes your schedule?
First we will examine the contract of carriage provisions for the big three legacy carriers when you run into a schedule change (bolding mine), but you can jump down to read how you can talk your way out of even the smallest changes.
Your Rights When American Airlines Changes Your Schedule
AA’s contract of carriage contains the following clause:
IN THE EVENT, AFTER TICKET ISSUANCE, SCHEDULE
CHANGES ARE MADE BY AA THAT:
(I) AFFECT A PASSENGER’S DEPARTURE AND/OR
ARRIVAL BY 2 OR MORE HOURS;
(II) RESULT IN THE ADDITION OF AN INTERMEDIATE
STOP ON THE PASSENGER’S ITINERARY;
(III) RESULT IN A SUBSTITUTION OF EQUIPMENT NOT
ACCEPTABLE TO THE PASSENGER; OR
(IV) IF A CANCELLATION OR A CHANGE IN EITHER AIR
OR TOUR ITINERARY IS INITIATED EITHER BY AA
OR IT’S TOUR OPERATORS WHICH IS UNACCEPTABLE
TO THE PASSENGER, THE PASSENGER WILL HAVE THE
OPTION OF CANCELLING WITHOUT PENALTY, OR
REROUTING ON DIFFERENT FLIGHTS TO/FROM THE
SAME OR DIFFERENT DESTINATION. HOWEVER, THE
PASSENGER MUST PAY ANY ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS
RESULTING FROM THE REROUTING.
In many ways, AA is the most generous of the three biggest U.S. legacy carriers. Requiring a two-hour schedule change is a bit much, but allowing a free refund if a schedule change results in an additional stop or change in aircraft equipment is generous. Further, §IV appears to be a catch-all provision that allows a passenger to cancel for any reason at all if a schedule change of any variety occurs, as long as it is “unacceptable”. That’s where your creativity, discussed below, can come in handy.
The not-so-cool thing about AA’s schedule change rules is that if you don’t want to cancel your ticket but instead want to modify the routing, AA reserves the right to charge you the difference in fare and may even charge you the change fee. In my experience, agents have been pretty reasonable about schedule changes and are often willing to help you out with your preferred routing at no cost, but AA does not guarantee this.
Your Rights When Delta Air Lines Changes Your Schedule
Delta’s contract of carriage (.pdf) contains the following clause:
In the event of flight cancellation, diversion, delays of greater than 90 minutes, or delays that will cause a passenger to miss connections, Delta will (at passenger’s request) cancel the remaining ticket and refund the unused portion of the ticket and unused ancillary fees in the original form of payment in accordance with Rule 260 of these conditions of carriage. If the passenger does not request a refund and cancellation of the ticket, Delta will transport the passenger to the destination on Delta’s next flight on which seats are available in the class of service originally purchased. At Delta’s sole discretion and if acceptable to the passenger, Delta may arrange for the passenger to travel on another carrier or via ground transportation. If acceptable to the passenger, Delta will provide transportation in a lower class of service, in which case the passenger may be entitled to a partial refund. If space on the next available flight is available only in a higher class of service than purchased, Delta will transport the passenger on the flight, although Delta reserves the right to upgrade other passengers on the flight according to its upgrade priority policy to make space in the class
Delta’s rules are more straightfoward and promise to refund you the price of your ticket plus any extras (like for Economy Comfort or for baggage fees) if you do not accept the schedule change. Delta may offer to place you on another carrier, but reserves the right to say no.
Delta says that it will rebook you in business class if you booked into economy class and only business is available, but it reserves the right to take back your premium cabin seat and move you back to economy class.
Your Rights When United Airlines Changes Your Schedule
United’s contract of carriage (.pdf) contains the following clause:
When a Passenger’s Ticketed flight is affected because of a Change in Schedule, UA will, at its election, arrange one of the following:
1. Transport the Passenger on its own flights, subject to availability, to the Destination, next Stopover point, or transfer point shown on its portion of the Ticket, without Stopover in the same class of service, at no additional cost to the Passenger;
2. At UA’s discretion, reroute Passengers over the lines of one or more carriers in an equivalent class of service when a Change in Schedule results in the cancellation of all UA service between two cities;
3. Advise the Passenger that the value of his or her Ticket may be applied toward future travel on United within one year from the date of issue without a change or reissue fee; or
4. If the Passenger is not transported as provided in C) 1) or 2) above and does not choose to apply the value of his or her Ticket toward future travel as provided in C) 3) above, the Passenger will be eligible for a refund upon request.
United will transport you on its own metal or, if you can convince UA, on another carrier in the class you originally booked. The language is grey if you are confirmed in business class on an upgrade and your flight is cancelled — but experience tells me you will likely wind up in economy class.
Should you not like the change in schedule, by default United will offer you a voucher for future travel equivalent to your ticket price, but you can opt for a full refund instead.
Those Are the Rules, But Are Those the Practices?
Great, now we know the rules, but do airlines follow them? Who do we complain to if they do not? Unlike tarmac delays and post-purchase price increases, the federal government does not directly regulate schedule changes. That leaves you at the mercy of the airlines, but it does not mean they can act without regard to their contracts of carriage.
Practically, you will have no trouble moving cancelling or changing your ticket without fee if the schedule change results in a misconnect or a change of over 90-120 minutes in departure time. Even an hour change is usually enough to warrant a refund or fee-free change. For more minor schedule changes, you have to be creative.
Talk Your Way Out of Even the Smallest Airline Schedule Change
But what about a small schedule change, like a 10-minute change?
You may still be able to talk your way out of even a minor change if you articulate a story that is credible. Let me tell you what I did for my wife earlier this spring.
She was traveling from Moscow to LA via New York on Delta and there was a schedule change resulting in a departure from Moscow 10 minutes later than originally scheduled. How could I turn this lemon into lemonade and book her out of Germany instead? (We had originally planned to visit Russia, but the Russian consulate in Frankfurt was absolutely unreasonable in adding additional requirements to the visa application process each time we attempted to secure one).
What I did was book her on an Air Baltic flight from Riga to Moscow that arrived 24 hours and 5 minutes prior to her scheduled Delta departure. I then called Delta, cited Russia’s immigration rules only allowing transits of 24 hours or less without visa, then said that with the schedule change, my wife’s transit in Russia would now be 24 hours and 05 minutes rather than 23 hours and 55 minutes. Put another way, the schedule change turned what would have been a visa-free connection into a connection requiring a visa.
I proposed leaving out of Frankfurt instead and after consulting with her supervisor, the agent agreed to waive the change fee, charging me only the difference in fare (about $200 — the change fee alone was $400).
I then cancelled the Air Baltic ticket.
Usually you don’t even have to go that far. A friend booked an award ticket from Europe back to New York a day after he actually wanted to come home because there was no space on his preferred travel date. A small schedule change occurred which led to an arrival about 20 minutes later into NYC. Space also opened the day before, his preferred travel date.
I called up the airline and gave them a sob story about being late to an important event that night and requesting to come home early, suggesting the award space the day before that had just opened. The change was made without hassle (or fee). Heck, because of the weakness of the Euro vs. Dollar, he got back $80 in taxes…
Which Carriers are More Lenient?
Are some carriers more lenient than others? Yes. I find United is absolutely wonderful when it comes to schedule changes, generously offering free changes or cancellations for even small changes. Delta is hit-or-miss, though generally also willing to work with you (like in my anecdote above). American is the stingiest — I have had a lot of bad luck with them. Once a non-stop from LA to Palm Beach was eliminated and a client was rebooked through Dallas, something he did not want. I called AA to propose flying into Miami instead, to preserve the non-stop routing, and was shot down. I called several times and was denied each call, ultimately having to cancel the ticket.
On another occasion, a friend who was a professor in Philadelphia had a 65-minute schedule change which would have resulted in him having to end class early or cancel it. AA refused to help, saying the change had to be at least two hours.
Conclusion: Find a Nice Agent
The truth is you just need to find a nice agent — that is going to be key. Reservation agents at the three legacies are given more discretion than you might assume and being nice, having a new proposed routing, or at least pitching a believable story is key to dealing with airline schedule changes in an advantageous way.
I actually recently had a schedule change situation flying with Delta from PIT to ARN via JFK. My flights to/from JFK were changed such that I would have to leave PIT 6 hours earlier and returning home would not get to PIT until the next morning (12+ hr change).
I found that having an alternate routing via CDG prepared when I called Delta made the phone call painless, and actually allowed me to change from two connections on my return flight to just a single connection. No extra cost, just about 10 minutes on the phone.
This spring I had a scheduled US airways shuttle flight from DCA-BOS. I got an email a week before about the schedule change and it was literally pushing back the departure time 2 minutes. It asked me to confirm that this change was fine or call an agent. Due to changing plans since I bought the ticket I wanted to leave several hours later. I called and amazingly the phone agent didn’t even notice that the change was only for 2 minutes and without any question booked me on a flight four hours later.
What the story with schedule changes that are codeshares? I.e. AA coded & ticketed on BA metal & BA changes it – still protected by AA rules?
Thanks!
Hey, great post, you just saved my bacon!
Had a AA flight to Tokyo scheduled soon that had a equipment swap from direct aisle to 2-3-2.
Called and told them about this and they immediately offered to try and change my flight or offer me a refund. Like a dummy I asked if I could think about it and call back. Of course the next agents had never heard of this and after a HUCA the 2nd agent eventually “gave in” and issued the refund.
Quick question the link is for international travel does this apply to domestic travel too?
Thanks again!
I am booked on a UA award next year and I assume the 777 will be swapped to a 787 now.. Would an equipment change be a valid excuse for a free change?
@TRAVEL GRIZ — probably not, since the business class on the 787 is more spacious than the 777 (would certainly be easier if the swap was the other way around) but be creative and maybe you can figure out something.
Some people like the PMUA 777 business class better than the PMCO business class. You could argue that the 787 means an “inferior” business class and if you get a sympathetic PMUA agent, you could very well get the change fee waived.
@RUSTY — the int’l verbiage for AA is substantially similar to domestic — for purposes of schedule change, identical.
@SAMIR — Correct, goes by plated carrier, so if BA changes and you are on 001 stock, AA should help you. Now it may be easier to contact BA — they do have the ability to modify the reservation, even if they claim they cannot. Some agents are willing, others are not.
@ZEBULON P and @DAN — great data points.
Here’s a crazy one, but relevant right now as airlines swap their summer schedules for fall:
If you’ve been severely downgauged – like, 777 to 737 downgauged – then the airline has probably put two smaller planes in place of the larger one for the first couple of weeks to handle the displaced passengers. The system first tries to book passengers on the new earlier flight, but look for the new one that’s about ten minutes later. Empty.
@CHRIS — good advice.
Are there any no-fee change options if one segment of a first class United partner award is downgraded to business? One of the segments is still in First so I am assuming they wont budge.
@Dave: I am sure I could talk my way out of a schedule change on that one. Are you thinking of changing the whole thing to business now?
I’ve got an 84 min change to a flight to MEX this coming week. I’ve tried calling AA twice & the most I’ve been offered is a free cancellation & an AA voucher instead of a refund to the original form of payment.
@SAIANEL – Are you leaving 84 minutes earlier or arriving 84 later?
AA’s COC does say two hours, but I bet if you get creative you can come up with a compelling reason to get your money back. I would say, simply, I only have enough money for this trip, I don’t plan to take any future trips, and American cannot get be there on the schedule I chose. The chance is unreasonable and materially impacts the purpose of the trip.
I’m looking to cancel my Delta award from SFO-MEX-EZE on Aeromexico (without fee of course). The departure time from SFO has changed by 10 minutes later from 1:25pm to 1:35pm. Any suggestions for me? Or should I keep trying an agent and hopefully find one that doesn’t notice. Thanks!
@Ted: Is arrival time still the same?
Arrival time is still the same.
@Ted: I doubt you’ll be able to talk your way out of this one. You see in my case I was able to book that extra ticket to create a visa issue but not sure you’d be able to do anything similar here. But perhaps someone can chime in with a tip.
UA is now quoting their internal CORES system says schedule changes must be at least 2 hours. They refuse to waive change fee with a smaller schedule change, regardless of what the CoC says.
How many agents did you speak with? I bet I can get it changed! 😉
Now? 6. I quoted the CoC and was told multiple times that it does Y apply, and the change must be two hours or greater. “there will be no refund”
I’m assuming your res is now marked and that is why you are hitting a wall, but did you concoct a story originally or just say you want a refund? Give me more details — you don’t have to put the date, but put the city pairs and the old flight schedule and new flight schedule.
Booked as:
UA415 Q NEW YORK, NY
(JFK) 6:00 AM SAN FRANCISCO, CA
(SFO) 9:20 AM 757-200 Purchase
UA35 Q SAN FRANCISCO, CA
(SFO) 11:40 AM OSAKA, JAPAN
(KIX) 3:40 PM (17SEP) Lunch
NEW:
UA415 6:00 a.m.
New York, NY, US (JFK – Kennedy) 9:19 a.m.
San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) Boeing 757-200
Fare Class:
United Economy (Q)
Meals: Meals for Purchase
No Special Meal Offered. Flight Time:
6 hr 19 mn
San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) 3:00 p.m.
Osaka, JP (KIX – Kansai)
They claim since I arrive earlier, there is no claim. Also changes must be 2 hours or greater. I said I planned to do something on the layover, and they shortened that severely, they said they are only responsible to get me to the end point, not any changes with routing.
Okay, so we are talking about 25 minutes, correct? And assume you already tried the story, “I have a meeting in the city and this 25-min schedule change will make it impossible for me to conduct the meeting.”?
Yep, they claim the stopover is immaterial to the ticket, and a schedule change in the connecting city doesn’t qualify, and even if it did, it would need to be 2 hours or greater. They also claim since I am arriving earlier than scheduled in KIX I don’t qualify for a schedule change refund, as I wont be late. I tried to explain that it doesn’t say late or early…but no dice.
Anything?
I can only say keep trying and hope for a kind HNL agent.
I’m strongly considering just disputing the charge, and sending a copy of the CoC to the CC company. Do you see any reason that wouldn’t work?
What’s your MileagePlus status?
1k
Do you really want to put your 1K status at risk by disputing a charge? If there is one thing I know about UA, is that those Texas boys can be very vindictive.
We purchased two non-stop, non-refundable tickets for a cruise in January back in April.. Unfortunately we are unable to go because our son joined the military & his basic training graduation will most likely be a day while we are cruising. I would prefer to just cancel for future credit. Just this morning received email stating flight change of 11 minutes departure & arrival. Any thoughts how I can make this work in my favor?
Brian, So you now depart 11 minutes earlier and arrive 11 minute later? Can you e-mail itinerary to me info at upgrd.com or post it here?
If you are trying to make a change or get a refund, try to call during US business hours – I found that the US staff often is more empowered to make decisions than call center staff abroad. Despite many bad experiences with United, I have found that their US call center staff is generally friendly, helpful and has a lot of leeway to make decisions. If you are lucky, you’ll get an “old hand” who knows all the ins and outs of their system and rules and will get it done. If you find somebody who doesn’t seem to know their way around or isn’t helpful, stay nice, hang up and call back immediately.
While call centers abroad are often well trained and very friendly, they seem to have less decision power or are not willing to use it. The more complex your problem, the more important is that you get a good, flexible agent!
I tried to cancel an international AA flight with a 1 hour connection change and was told the time change would have to be at least 2 hours. Maybe they are enforcing this policy more than in the past? Anyway, I elected to take the flight
I would keep trying if you want to cancel the flight. Come up with a more clever excuse.
I booked a trip SFO to FLL for my supposedly first cruise next April, only to realize two months later that kids’ spring break week dates got changed! So now I am hoping for a schedule change. My outbound UA flight only changed in flight number and plane, but my return Virgin flight is now leaving 10 min early. Any suggestions how (or if) I can take advange of that 10 min change? My airfare was cheap, just slightly over the $150 change fee on virgin and $200 on United, so I am fully prepared to throw the ticket away..
Sharon, I would say that your cruise ships now docks 80 minutes prior to departure and the cruise line told you that you needed at least 90 min. That should be good for canceling the return.
With United, you’ll have to wait for a greater change.
I have a schedule change on my United flight from Seattle to SFO where my departure time is now 33 min earlier (from 7:50am to 7:17am). What would be the best explanation that would result in the airline switching my flight to an earlier one the day before?
You have an overnight shift at work at don’t get off in time to make flight.
Does the CoC apply to award tickets? AA changed my flights twice but refuses to give me any choice in the reschedule. They just say no award seats on other flights. This is after a switch from non stop to connection, then a second change that gets me in over 2 hours later. I’m a platinum and have tried the elite line and tried tweeting AA too. They tell me they’ve escalated it to rates desk but nothing changed. I don’t want to cancel, I just don’t want to get in late night like they have me booked. There are numerous connections available, just no award seats (route is PHL-SAT).
Tom, CoC does apply to award tickets. By now your reservation has been notated, but don’t give up — keep trying and hopefully you get a kindhearted agent.
My family has flight on delta that was supposed to leave at 0630. They changed it awhile back to 0615. I would like to change it to a flight two days earlier. The cost in ticket price is a few dollars more for the new flight. Any way to avoid change ticket fee?
Can you come up with a persuasive story about why the 15min won’t work? Perhaps that the bus doesn’t run early on that day or that the early departure time means you cannot get a babysitter for the child who isn’t traveling? Just something persuasive. Tell Delta that would you would like to move two days earlier and you notice the flight is about the same price — offer to pay any difference in fare but that you want the change fee waived due to the schedule change.
I recently received a schedule change email from united. It is a one way flight and the only thing that has changed is the carrier for one leg of my flight from “shuttle america airlines” to “republic airlines”. I now want to cancel my flight and book a different, slightly more expensive flight. Honestly, I don’t feel comfortable with the carrier change. How can I get out of the change fee?
@Sara, you’ll need to make the case to a sympathetic agent why you feel uncomfortable on Republic Airways. I don’t see another way.
The United flight I need to cancel and get a refund now finally has a small schedule change — leaving SFO at 10:35pm (instead 10:30pm) and arriving FLL at 7:08am next morning (instead of 7:05am). I have cancelled my cruise, and gotten Virgin issued refund to travel bank for the return tickets, and have been waiting for United’s flight to change (more than just flight number and plane type). Any suggestion how to take advantage of this 5 minute change?
@Sharon, the minimum connect time (MCT) time in FLL for a domestic to domestic connection is 30 minutes. What you need to do is find a flight departure from Ft. Lauderdale to anywhere in the USA that leaves between 7:35a and 7:37a. I looked for you and at least today, there is a 7:35a departure on JetBlue to Boston and a 7:35a departure on Southwest to Dallas Love.
http://www.broward.org/Airport/Flights/Pages/FlightInformationDepartures.aspx
If you have this “booked”, your legal 30 minute connection now becomes an illegal 27 minute connection.
Matthew, wow that is quite creative, and challenging work to find a flight with a departure time that fits in the two minute slot! I looked up Southwest and Jetblue schedule for the date I need and not a single flight leaves that time, and I searched UA, AA, Delta as well, so far not luck, the closest I found was 7:39am UA departure to Houston. I will keep checking though. Any other suggestions? Also, how likely would UA ask to look at this reservation?? Thanks!
Sharon, in my experience, United will not ask to see the reservation. Remember, though, that if you really want to make it legit you can book it on Orbitz or Expedia and cancel within 24 hours for no fee.
My friends and I booked a SFO to LGA flight back in August for a January 2016 flight. Turns out we have to work the night of our flight (foolishly overlooked when booking airfare), and working in pro sports, we cannot just simply call out of work. I’ve tried calling American Airlines but they refused to help us at all on the situation. I just noticed now that our departure flight was pushed back 10 minutes, and the arrival into NYC is pushed back just a few minutes. Anything you can think of on how he could get a refund with no fees? Thanks!
I have booked a Delta flight from DTW to PLS with an overnight layover in BOS because it was significantly cheaper than flying out the following morning (1/3 the cost). I have had good luck with changing to more desirable routing due to schedule changes with Delta in the past.
Does anyone have any experience or advice on how to work a schedule change into more direct flights (ie without overnight layover). I am running into issues because Delta’s rules are that the arrival and departure dates and cities must remain the same.
Current Routing;
Day 1 DTW – BOS evening flight with overnight (7 hour layover) in BOS
Day 2 BOS – PLS
Ideal would early am Day 2 departure from DTW – (short layover anywhere) – PLS
Hi,
I have AA flight that arrival was changed from 9:59 am to 11:44 am TPA-LAX and I am going to miss my connection as I have it at 12:05 pm to ASIA. I called they said that is the earliest date for AA, they could refund me. I am not looking for a refund because it’s not like I can cancel my other trip to ASIA, if I refund it and change it an earliest TIME its from another airline and its double the priced I paid even if its earliest DATE its on AA but its double the priced I paid. 🙁 what do I do???
Lara, What flight to Asia will you miss? The Tokyo Narita flight? What is your travel date?
Hi Matthew! I just got wind that Delta changed my returning home flight after a cruise by moving the departure time 3 hours earlier. It appears this happened because they took away the leg from the layover stop to my final destination. We only have 3 hubs into the final destination, SLC and MSP for Delta, and DEN for Denver. It is 100% impossible to get home on Delta with the flight change. The latest SLC flight leaves at 11AM, which is earlier than I can even board in Orlando. The ONLY possibly way for us (I have a 4-person party) to get home is to have Delta book me on a flight to Denver, and then catch the last United leg from Denver home. Any tips for getting Delta to book me on another airline after this snafu? I have the flight times and information and airports for the only possible flights to get us home. I really hate to cancel, because to book on another airline is going to cost me roughly $100 more per ticket, which I don’t really have at this point.
@LINDSEY: Difficult situation. I think in order to best help, I need to know travel date. Also let me know date you are flying from Orlando, what time you can leave Orlando, and what your final destination is.
My wife, infant daughter, and I have a vacation to Buenos Aires booked for this November. We were booked on United to fly out of PDX straight to IAH, then IAH to Buenos Aires. I just received notification that our direct from PDX to IAH is now being routed through Denver. We did specifically buy this itinerary to minimize transfers as they are brutal with on the infant. Do we have any recourse to seek an upgrade or extra miles, or will United just laugh at us?
You should be able to refund if there is no way to keep your itinerary to one stop
Is it possible to use itinerary change (ten minutes departure) on UA to rebook from full priced award to saver award (25k vs 12.5k)?
@AY: I would say no chance unless there is no saver 12.5K space open.
I booked a vacation to Japan for 10 weeks with United (leaving Oct 30 2016). I got an email on August 8 2016 saying I will now arrive at my home city 3 hours later.
What’s the best thing to do to get this flight schedule postponed? And how early/late should I reach out to United? I’m having second thoughts and think I would like to visit for 11-12 weeks instead. Maybe say I had a business meeting at my scheduled 1:30pm time as opposed to the now 4:30pm?
I also wouldn’t mind a free upgrade to business class? 😉
Any help would be much appreciated!!
Anthony, you won’t get a business class upgrade, but may be able to cancel without penalty. I recommend calling 800 United 1 and hopefully reaching United’s Manilla call center. Tell them the schedule change is unacceptable, you cannot get home that late, and that you want a refund. If you’re unsure about the trip, just book it later.
Matthew, thanks for getting back to me so quickly!
Do you recommend me calling or emailing them? And how early/late can I do this? It’s been about 1-2 weeks since the flight schedule has changed.
Anthony, I would call — the sooner the better.
Booked a flight on delta SAN to JFK via LAX. Our commuter flight has been changed and now arrives in LAX 40 mins later. Stats on this flight are it averages 28 mins delayed. With this it only gives us 20 mins to disembark and make connection to the next leg departure. My husband has minor walking disabilities and this is going to be a challenge. This is a red eye and we planned to leave on a cruise the next day. Called and asked if we could be put on an earlier commuter flight to make sure we connect. This would require us sitting in LAX for over 4 hours. Also offered to get our own transportation to LAX. Called twice and sent email. Every time I was referred back to the other contact. A change fee was more than the ticket. I was willing to pay for a new commuter flight but that was also denied. In desperation to make sure we arrived in time I booked a new ticket on another airline for the day earlier. Now I have paid for two tickets and will need to pay for a hotel. Deltas stand is according to their schedule I should be able to make connection and if we do miss the flight we will be put on the next available flight. Leaving the next morning From the west coast will never get us to the east coast in time. Now I am wondering if I can dispute this charge on my credit card. Any advice.
@Sandy, this is a difficult situation. I don’t think you have grounds to dispute the charge. Instead, if you fail to make the connection in Los Angeles Delta will route you through Atlanta or Detroit and get you into New York a few hours later. Not ideal with the extra stop, but Delta would not keep you overnight in Los Angeles unless you need a nonstop to New York.
I believe Delta should have accommodated your request for an earlier flight from San Diego to LA and would continue to try to move to one.
Booked daughter on Delta for a 3-mth study in England. I decided to visit her (over Christmas) and come home on her flight Dec. 26th. Watched fare pricing for a month to buy my ticket on the same return flight, and watched it go up $1,400, and then the flight disappeared! Only about 20 of the 200 seats were pre-assigned, so plenty of seats. Many initial calls to customer service said it was “full” and “overbooked” but finally got a supervisor to tell me they had pulled it and “in the process of a schedule change” but didn’t know the details. Filed online complaint which resulted in confirmation that there is a schedule change, but no information and told to wait it out. This was over a week ago and the flight is still not available to purchase and daughter has not rec’d notice of the change (we each requested email notification). Flight confirmation shows “on time” but it is still not available to purchase. After two calls yesterday was finally told by supervisor that after this Saturday the schedule changes should be complete and show up and that this was unusual. Also, similar flights now at their lowest ($1,087) when I could have scheduled my flight and pulled hers, but that would mean a change fee of $300 for daughter because no proof a schedule change exists except for my digging. No other nonstops from LHR that day. She told me not to worry, that after the schedule change on Saturday, I should be able to purchase the ticket, plenty of seats and assuming the schedule change is acceptable to my daughter’s itinerary. I’m not the ticket holder with a schedule change, but my purchase and/or canceling hers all revolves around one and now in limbo. I want Delta to honor similar airfare of today’s pricing if this flight ever opens up. Thoughts?
@PATRICK2000: I would wait till Sunday. No use in pulling the trigger or stressing out now. Schedules changes are very annoying when they take days/weeks to load into system.
HI Matthew,
United has just informed me, three months after ticket purchase, that my formerly RJ-145 flight is now a turbo prop.
I had a very bad experience on a turbo-prop and refuse to fly them ever again. United refuses to refund my ticket because the resulting delay from the slower plane is less than 2 hrs and the prior emergency landing was not a united plane. Apparently their logic is that somehow I should find a propeller aircraft more acceptable based on who owns it, not based on WHO BUILT IT!
I would NEVER have purchased thiese tickets if the original flight was scheduled to be propeller. I consider this to be a material, relevant deviation from the product I purchased which was a flight on a modern jet aircraft. I understand, and have previously been inconvenienced by an equipment switch that completely messes up everybody’s seat assignment. But I don’t consider the propeller/jet switch to be comparable to a boeing 727 vs 757.
Reality check please. If you told the average flier to choose between two flights of the same route and cost, and one was a slower propeller plane and one was a jet. Which would they choose? Similarly if you informed the average flyer their next vacation flight was not on a propeller powered plane would they consider that to be an unimportant difference? Am I being unreasonable? Am I the only one that sees this as bait and switch? I will accept the opinion of the masses. If you agree that this is a material change to my booking do you have any advice on how to make United see reason?
Thanks!
Hi Jean,
There is no discernible difference in flight time, so I don’t think line of argument will hold any sway with United. What might work is to give UA a sob story about how you had a traumatic experience on a prop plane in the past and specifically bought your flight because it was being operated with jet equipment.
I booked a nonstop flight on AA last month for travel in November to Punta Cana. I also opted and paid additional for a 9:45 AM since I have a 90 minute drive to the airport. Our plan was to not stay at an airport hotel the night before and leave home at 5 AM ensuring plenty of time to park and get through security.
I received an update from AA today saying the depart time has changed to 6AM. This means either leaving home at 2 AM or having the extra expense of getting a hotel room. The other annoying thing is that I had all 4 of my families seats chosen so we were all together. The new seats are 3 together and the other is 2 rows and opposite of the plane away. What if anything can I do?
I have a flight on Delta out of ROA connecting through ATL then EWR to SNN. Delta notified me that they changed their schedule and no longer fly to SNN on the day that I booked. Instead they got me to EWR and then put me on the late flight the next day so I would arrive in SNN one full day later. I also paid for first class. They are telling that I can either use what they rebooked me on or I can get a refund and book with another airline. At this point it will cost me an additional $2000 per person to fly first class on another airline. Shouldn’t they have to put me on another carrier?
@Craig: Are there any later flights on AA or is this now the only one? You should have no trouble being re-accomodated on later flights so you don’t have to buy a hotel room.
@Bill: Yes — they should put you on another carrier. Ask them to get you to London or Dublin on Delta and then put you on an AerLingus or BA flight to Shannon.
I booked a UA flight through priceline from IND to Taiwan through SFO, and the return was from Taiwan-SFO-ORD-IND. I just recieved a email indicating that there’s a 10 min. change in the return flight from SFO-ORD and ORD-IND. I originally plan to meet a friend at ORD between the transfer flight but the 10 min change made it almost impossible. I called the UA rep and they said that 10 min. is minor and they are unable to make a refund since it no longer makes no sense for me transfer through ORD anymore. The UA rep insisted that there has to be a change more than 2 hr. I wonder if it’s possible for me to request a refund by quoting the CoC?
@Kai: you can try contacting customer service, but it will be very hard to succeed on this.
My advice — deliberately miss your flight to IND and UA will put you on standby on the next one for free.
Hello, I received an email with a schedule change. Assumed it was just going to be a small change but it wasn’t. They discontinued our only connection flight from Philadelphia to Venice. So it shows that I’m only flying from Grand Rapids to Philadelphia. I thought there was a misprint because I didn’t see the rest of my trip. I called and they said it was discontinued. Now the only option is a flight with 2 layovers instead of 1. We’re traveling with my child so it’s easier with one layover. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Hi Maybelle,
That is a tough one — there is really no other way to get from Grand Rapids to Venice with one stop since Delta doesn’t fly from GRR non-stop to JFK. You are entitled to a refund, but in this case there is a not a more direct way to get there anymore since the flight has been cancelled.
Hello, we booked a flight DTW-FRA and the schedule changed by 20 minutes (new flight is earlier). Due to various reasons (mainly “new” infant in arms), I would like to cancel the existing ticket and book a new one in a different class (coach instead of business).
In fact, I would even be willing to add a business class ticket for the kiddo but I cannot use the car seat due to the seat belts in the 767 Delta One cabin. So I am forced to either “infant in arms” for 8 hours or to change to coach at additional charge (!). Therefore I would rather cancel and book from the scratch with miles as a one way to FRA.
Hi,
My Delta flight was arrived at Calgary 1:00 PM, now it was changed to 11;00 PM
Am I entitle to move to Alaska airline with similar schedule?
Thanks in advance
@Martin: I would just explain to Delta what happened (new infant) and see if they will take mercy and waive the change fee
@K – you may be able to move to Alaska if it is a codeshare flight. Have the flight number ready when you call and see what Delta can do.
I just had awesome experience with American on this subject using Twitter Private Message. My flight on 1/1 from ONT-PHX-CMH changed from 4 PM to 6 AM. That’s pretty early for the morning after New Years.
I had some flexibility so they allowed me to shift the flight to January 2nd (connecting in DFW instead) at 8 AM for no extra charge…all done over Twitter without having to call in.
I’m from the Schedule Change Department from expedia. Refer to this website for AA’s policy about schedule changes. http://www.aasaleslink.com click agency reference then schedule change after that you can see everything what travel agents need to follow for every SC.
This is great…do you have similar for United?
Booked 7 first class tickets in April on AA for my family to fly to PVR through DFW in February 2017. I had to book under 4 different reservations because some were made at different times and 2 were made with miles. I got an email form AA this morning saying that my two grandkids (ages 3 and 5) were put on a flight going through PHX with a 5 hour layover. The plane going through DFW had s time change of 15 minutes earlier and a new flight#. The plane type remained a 737-800.
I called and spoke to a rep and she said that the kid’s parents would be moved to the PHX flight. I argued that the plane type was the same and seat map showed 5 open seats. Enough to put them all back. She said that there were actually 3 open seats and the other two were a full fare class and could not be taken by us. I tried to explain that it was AA that took them off and they should be returned. I ended up speaking with a supervisor who gave me the same line. So I got 3 of them back on our plane in first class and my son in law will be riding in Main Cabin Extra seat. Is there anyway to try and get him back up with us?
United changed my flight from 6 am to 4 pm. There is one stop and I have reservations with the car rental agency which will be closed by the time I get there if I leave at 4. I’ll be arriving close to midnight in a strange city and have no transportation. They told me the only option is a refund. It is a Christmas visit and I’m not cancelling it! I don’t travel much and I’m really upset. I think they should upgrade my ticket.
Hi!
Very useful article, thank you! I do have one question though and hopefully you’ll be able to help. I’m flying an international route with Delta (ORD-ATL-CDG-…) that I specifically chose because it gave me the most miles. Unfortunately the schedules changed and now I only have 42 minutes in ATL (so cutting it super close). I would be down to change the flights but any other combo gives me less miles (need certain amount of MQMs to keep my status). Therefore, my question here is whether the miles (specifically the status MQMs) are awarded based on the route purchased or actually flown? In other words, if I changed it to ORD-CDG, would I get my miles for the original ORD-ATL-CDG or based on the new route?
It already happened to me once that a flight was delayed and I would’ve missed my connection so Delta put me on SwissAir but still gave me miles as if I have flown my original flight. I think that those two situations are a bit different as it’s a schedule change vs a delay. What do you think?
Thank you,
Chris
@KEVB: I would keep calling AA: the “only full fare available” excuse is not valid. Just find another agent, though it will be harder now that the initial change has been made.
@AMH: I am curious, what is your routing and travel date? I will see if I can find an alternate route for you.
@Chris: If you made a voluntary change to a routing with a greater connection, your mileage would be awarded based upon routing that you actually fly. I would recommend keep the reservation as is and it is possible to put you on Swiss if there is a delay or if Delta re-routes you involuntarily earlier in the day, you can request original routing credit.
I booked an award round trip ticket (SFO-AKL) via UA on NZ . I just logged into UA and was told of a schedule change. As a result there is nothing available on my dates. There is a similar outbound flight available two days later but no award seats on the way back within 21 days of desired dte. . I have spoken to 6 UA agents and 1 supervisor and all of them gave me the same options, 1) A full refund or 2) wait to see if NZ releases some award seats. Any tips and./or suggestions?
Did you lose the NZ seat or you were affected by United cutting its SFO-AKL flight during the summer low-season?
In either case, get United to route you SFO-SYD and then to AKL. I know it stinks, but until NZ opens space it is better than nothing, especially if your dates are firm.
It seems like it was because of United cutting its SFO-AKL flight. I will try your suggestion. Thank you!
Reality check – They don’t give a Damn about you. Maybe with the 3 carriers you mentioned things are better, but the world of travel is dominated by conglomerates and you talk to computers, get the run around, being on hold forever, being transferred forever, and then talk to some bozo in the Philippines who tells you in the most nicest way to get lost, as she was trained to do. Yep, try to get a refund from Iberia for a ticket purchased via Priceline, and they made changes to your ticket and schedule, and deny you a refund. Now what you going to do?? Ah? Read them from the FAA rules and the fine prints designed specifically to cover their behind in all possible scenarios? Priceline and Iberia just throw you to dogs. Now what you are going to do….
Hello Matthew,
Thank you for providing this useful info
Lufthansa informed us that our return international flight (scheduled for April 2017) has changed and arrival time will be delayed for one hour. I requested to change the date since I can make it earlier, like late February. They refused my request and told me I should pay penalty fees. My question is regarding passenger rights when airline change ticket. Do I have a right to request date change?. If the airline refuse to change the date, am I eligible to request a refund for a short delay?
Thank you
Hi Ali,
Typically the contract of carriage bars you from insisting upon a refund or change for a schedule change less than a certain amount of time.For Lufthansa, §9.1.2 of the Contract of Carriage states, there must be “significant change to the scheduled flight time, which is not acceptable to you” for you to be eligible for a refund. Lufthansa is not required to change your flight to a new date but if you insist that the schedule change is both significant and not acceptable you may be able to convince an agent to authorize a refund in accordance with the Contract of Carriage.
http://www.lufthansa.com/mediapool/pdf/34/media_866734.pdf
Mathew, great post. I used this information to get a complete refund on two tickets on AA from PVR to BOS a few minutes ago. The agent was very nice and since there was a schedule change of an hour and a half, she processed the refund right away. So good to know.
I purchased tickets with AA from ROW to HKG with a stop in DFW both directions. They have since changed the flight schedule by 4 hours which is going to result in a 40 min layover in DFW on the return leg. There is no way I will be able to process through customs in that time. The next available flight from DFW to ROW isn’t until the following morning.
I’m wondering if I will be able to get them to cover the hotel and mas meals due to this. And if so when is the best time to bring it up for best chance to have it happen.
Yes make the most of it they just bait and switch ya so take legal action and make as much as you can.
Oh my gosh, I am so happy I read this article. In June, I booked a trip for myself to Paris for a long weekend in December. I was trying to take advantage of a super cheap fare on American ($507) and in my hurry, only booked it for a Thursday (arriving Friday) through Monday, leaving me 2-1/2 days there! I didn’t realize it until it was too late to change without a fee. Googling (and this article) told me that a change of more than ninety minutes or two hours might enable me to change my flight at no charge, so I checked my flight about once a week to see if they changed the flight times. Today I discovered that AA changed my return flight (from CDG – ORD – ATL) from ORD to ATL by an hour and 45 minutes. I called customer service, and after a few hangups (courtesy of their automated system) I got a nice lady who without hesitation changed my return flight to Tuesday, instead of Monday, giving me 3-1/2 days, and it didn’t cost me anything extra. Now my connection is through DFW, and will get me back to ATL two hours earlier than my Monday flight would have.
From experience, the 2 biggest issues in numbers are 1) airlines have ever fewer interline/alliance agreements and 2) they claim most delays/cancels are weather – regardless of if they are, leaving them off the hook.
1) With consolidation to the Big 3 – and 2 of the 3 having no agreement any longer, i.e. AA & DL, that means if you’re in trouble on AA, you can’t be put on DL & v.v. [as well as never being able to thru-check a connection between them to start with]. Others like JetBlue have none either, as well as notoriously Southwest. If they were mandated to have interline agreements, at least for emergency/disruptions that would alleviate a lot of horror stories.
2) When they are allowed to shirk any responsibility under the guise of weather – you’d be amazed how many delays/cancels get racked up in that column when it seems pretty clear that’s not the issue [other planes are coming/going to said airport at the same time etc] – and you have no ability to challenge it.
There’s no consumer protection agency really for tickets/service – and they know it. They pay more attention to their elites – but usually only if the elites are proactive, leaving the vast majority of travelers stranded and waiting on hold for often incompetent agents who either don’t know/care to use every resource to help travelers.
No number of unusual 1-off examples of schedule changes is going to address where most problems occur, or how to solve them. And clearly even knowing the airlines own policies about that doesn’t result in the best outcomes.
Hi Matthew. I booked my flight from JFK to Bangkok on China Airlines through Priceline. We specifically paid more so that we can get to Bangkok in a reasonable time and get picked up from there. The original flight was on a Wednesday late night and they changed it to the following day in the afternoon. On this flight, we would be losiug a day in Bangkok as we are arriving 2 days later after midnight which we are not comfortable with. Also, on the returning flight, we leave one day earlier. Would it be possible to get a refund through priceline or should we contact China Airlines? Also, we purchased travel insurance through priceline. Should we go through our insurance? Or the CC company for a full refund? Thanks!
Hi Mathew,
I have an business award on hold with AA:
FLL-LAX Alaska 18:59-21:44
LAX-HKG AA 01:15-07:25
-Long layover of about 14 hours to explore Hong Kong
HKG-BKK Cathay Pacific 21:35-23:40
This is for November and I am concerned about a schedule change that might reduce or eliminate the layover. What do you think are the chances that a schedule change with either airline might?
If AS made a change I would hope fur a connecting AA flight to LAX.
If AA made a change I would you think the would change like connecting in DFW, do you think the the CX flight would be changed or left alone?
If CX change only times and not flight number I would expect them to keep me on that flight however if they had to switch me to another flight do you think they would reduce the layover of put me on the nearest flight?
Thanks!
Mike (US Citizen)
Hi Mike, I don’t think you’ll run into problems, but if you do, come back here with the specifics and I’ll be happy to advise on how I would personally proceed.
Hey!
I am flying Montreal to Manila in May. I’d like to return a day or 2 earlier than I currently have booked. This may seem like a big stretch but…they made a minor change (14 mins) to my *departure* flight. It might affect a connection in Washington (I previously had 1hr 9 mins there, now I will have 55 mins to make my connection). Is there any way to somehow turn this into a date change to my return flight?? Or should I just keep checking back for any modifications to my return flight? :/
Thanks!
Unlikely that you will be able to get a date change now, though I would call the Manilla call center and try. Let me know how it goes.
So it looks like there was a change to my arrival time now. My Vancouver to Montreal leg was supposed to drive at 12:12am, but now it arrives at 12:37am. It’s only a 25 minute change…but….um..maybe I had a very important late night event I had to attend, and now everything is screwed up?? Now I could possibly maybe argue for coming back a day earlier instead?!
(I hadn’t called yet, but now I feel there is some hope…??)
^ Oh and I booked through United; on the way there I’m on United and on the way back I’m on All Nippon Airways and Air Canada. There is a stop in Tokyo on both directions.
A while back I booked a trip on United SFO-DEN-BOS roundtrip departing at 6pm instead of a non-stop flight because it was around $50 cheaper. There was a schedule change that eliminated the 6pm SFO-DEN flight and I was rebooked SFO-LAX-BOS departing at 6:05pm. I called and asked if I could be changed to the SFO-BOS nonstop because of the schedule change. I was initially refused because according to the agent the change was only 5 minutes and the schedule change needed to be greater than 2 hours. I was ultimately successful in getting the change made because my arrival time change was greater than the 2 hours even though my departure time was only changed 5 minutes.
This has been so interesting to read through! I have a trip with four other people in December and January to Colombia. Unfortunately a relationship ended and I wanted to try transferring one of the tickets to someone else, but Delta said they don’t transfer tickets. I asked about getting a refund, they said they don’t refund tickets. Then, I asked if I could purchase insurance on the one ticket and she said she couldn’t help me with that. Anyone know a way I could somehow get money back? What is a claim I can make through insurance or how could I get the flight refunded? There has to be a way, right? The trip is still seven months out and I thought I would get better customer service from Delta. But according to them I don’t have any options!
Hi
We are flying around us in dec/jan and booked 5 tickets Toronto Pearson to San Jose with stop over in denver( total flight time 7.31) United Airlines
Received schedule change today still departing 12.40 but flying to Houston Texas , then to Denver then to San Jose ,,, ( 10.5 flight time) surely they can’t expect us to do this …. arrive 3.5 hours later
Problem is we have to go on this day and cost is much higher than when we booked 3 months ago and there are the same flight paths but departing earlier – but once again a lot more than what we paid!! What should I ask for?? I need to arrive by original 530pm arrival but do not want to fly around the whol3 country to get there!!!
What day is your Toronto to San Jose flight? I can see what other options are available.