Flight cancelled, questions?

mcdomzal · Post by **mcdomzal** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:17 pm

I was afraid that United might cancel one of our flights for this June, but, lucky me, they cancelled both. They changed us to other flights with crappy times, of course. I only found this out as I was checking the United website myself. Still no contact from United.

So here are my questions. Currently, there are other flights that I would rather be on. Should I try to switch, or should I stay where they put us in hopes that these are the flights that are the least likely to be cancelled? It is the currently the cheapest option from Chicago to STT those days, but we are using miles, so I'm not concerned about that.

Secondly, we are flying through D.C. with only 44 minutes between flights. That makes me nervous. I like to have at least an hour. Plus, there are no other flights out of D.C. that day. So if we miss our connection, we are screwed. I just realized that I don't even know which airport in DC we're flying into. It's IAD for those of you familiar with DC. What do you all think?

Of course they messed up our seat assignments,too. There are 3 of us and we all like aisle seats as I'm the shortest at 5'10". My son (6'3") wanted to sit behind me so that he would be sure that no one would smash the seat into his knees. That's how we had the seats booked. But now they have us 3 in a row. So I need to try to fix that no matter what flight we take.

Oh, what fun!

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:35 pm

Generally when his happens don't expect the airline to contact you until later.

I would research the flights you want to be on and contact the airline. Explain what was done adn they should give you the flights you request since THEY were the ones who changed your flights without consultation.

Thru DC you've got IAD (Dulles) and DCA (National)

You are wise to want plenty of time between flights but technically at 45 mins provoded your originating flight isn't delayed you should be OK at either airport.

As for seat assignments you just have to stay on top of it and keep requesting the seats you want if they keep getting wiped out.

It pays to be diligent.

Anyway, contact the airline and they should work with you to get you on the flights you want to be on.

PSUWethr · Post by **PSUWethr** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:57 pm

I would hope the airline would help you, but I have found that customer service has gone downhill in the past few years. I would try to have at least an hour layover, so you and your luggage make it. Plus, it seems that all flights are a little late. As far as the seats, I have been told by Usairways and United that your seats are not confirmed until check in. Twice we booked a flight at least 10 months in advance but got spilt up when we checked in. Of course our problem is we had a lap child and you can't check in online 24 hours ahead so we lost our good window seats. Good luck!

Pia · Post by **Pia** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:07 pm

When AA cancelled and moved my MIL's flights to less desirable ones, I researched the ones I wanted and then called AA (pretending to be her as she is not very good at those kind of things) and they moved her with no problem - just call them with the flights you would like to be on - not sure if it works the same using FF miles but give it a try and be persistant

Pia

Diana2 · Post by **Diana2** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:56 pm

Follow all the above guidelines and you'll be fine. The best advise is to do your research on the flights that you want and know what to ask for when you call the airline. I've always had good luck booking the flights that I asked for. Don't wait. Do it right away. You may have to do it again before your travel dates but stay on top of it and you'll be fine.

Teresa_Rae · Post by **Teresa_Rae** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:41 pm

We’ve flown out of O’Hare to STT the last six years in a row and last year was the first time we went through IAD. We had the same short window between flights that you mentioned, and when our flight out of ORD was delayed we became the idiots running through the airport to catch our flight to STT. We were given priority getting off the plane so we could run to catch our connecting flight and they actually held the plane to STT for us. This was back when I had Premier Executive status with United so I don’t know if that helped or not. They held the plane for maybe 5 minutes, and who knows, they may have been holding it for other people before us too, but we were the last to board and they made sure to let us know they were waiting for us.

mcdomzal · Post by **mcdomzal** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:14 pm

Teresa-Rae, so I guess you won't be trying that flight again, huh?

What is people's experience with USAir? The flights we are on right now are United, but anything I would switch to would be USAir. I've never flown with them.

PSUWethr · Post by **PSUWethr** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:44 pm

Usairways is not bad, I think it more depends on the airport you fly out of. For some reason Philly has issues most of the time. It seems that if there is a cloud within a 100 miles of the airport they have delays.

We have used Usairways for the last 10 years down to the islands and have been pretty satisfied. Even when we have had problems they mostly seem to care and fix things.

Teresa_Rae · Post by **Teresa_Rae** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:08 pm

mcdomzal wrote:Teresa-Rae, so I guess you won't be trying that flight again, huh?

What is people's experience with USAir? The flights we are on right now are United, but anything I would switch to would be USAir. I've never flown with them.

If I had to do it to get to STJ, I'd do it again in a heartbeat

SoulvilleUSA · Post by **SoulvilleUSA** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:40 pm

My wife and I are going to fly into PR instead of STT (arriving a day early, leaving a day late, staying in a small inn in PR each way). I just wanted to extend our vacation a day each way around the set week the timeshare program had set up for us, but I found that I was saving a bunch of money flying into San Juan vs St Thomas. I still have to book the sea-plane from San Juan to St. Thomas... watch for my posts on how it goes. I think it is going to work out fine. We will arrive in San Juan at 10pm at night, wake up to the beach a block away, then walk down to the docks to board the plane. We are FedEx-ing everything but a carry-on to the resort. I figured I could spend a little money on that instead of lugging bags all over the place. (that and I work for FedEx and get a huge discount... still would have been worth it.)

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:54 am

Soulville-- please let us know how that works out for you and what the cost savings is.

I'm betting for most folks this would not necessarily be a cost effective option unless they had the additional discounts avaialble to you (shipping via Fedex etc.)

Sounds like fun though!

Pia · Post by **Pia** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:13 am

I love the seaplane

As for saving alot of $$ I'm not sure it would save much when you add approx $180+ r/t on the seaplane - but flying that plane is sooo worth it

Pia

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:18 am

Welcome to the world that Gromit, Flip-Flop, Bill in VA and the rest of the Northern Virginia gang. That one flight that United has out of IAD is the only non-stop to STT we have from DC. It is also the most frequently canceled flight. We end up on USAir when that happens. No problems for us, besides the tattered interior of the planes, but we do carryon only. It looks like United is going to take you home on US Air regardless.

mcdomzal, which airport are you flying out of?

Whatever happened to the direct flights between Chicago and STT?

Cheers, RickG

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:24 am

Hey Rick-- have you thawed out yet??? I was looking for a Rick G popsicle during all the coverage yesterday!

mcdomzal · Post by **mcdomzal** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:43 pm

Rick,
We're flying out of O'Hare. We've always flow direct on United and our original flight that we booked was direct. But they cancelled that flight

I'm thinking about trying to switch to a flight through Charlotte instead, because they have another flight if we happen to miss our connection. Hubby and son don't want to fly USAir. I don't want to get stranded in DC!

usvi-on-line

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Flight cancelled, questions?

Flight cancelled, questions?