AA changing their flight departure times??

[Josh]

Gday,

I have two booking for AA in mid december. I've logged on today to find that the flight departure times of BOTH bookings have changed.

Firstly, I had a DEN-LAX flight connecting to LAX-MEL, which was changed, and now the connection time is not long enough, and I had to change my flight and as a result I now have to spend 8 hours at LAX. (I will be a new WP by then hopefully, so this is actually not all that bad - bring on the new F lounge )

Second, I had a SC run with 4 segments booked, and the flight departure times for all 4 segments have changed, by as much as an hour each.

I have not really seen things like this happen with any other airline - If I book a flight at a particular time, I expect the flight to be departing around that time; otherwise I would have booked it differently in the first place!

Has anyone else been screwed around like this by AA? Is it common?

Cheers,

Josh

 

[Dave Noble]

seasonal readjustments are not uncommon

Dave

 

[serfty]

There is something going on; reports on the FT AAdvantage forum of this and related issues from around Dec 12.

Such changes can play havoc with multi segment MR type itineraries.

 

[JohnK]

I have not really seen things like this happen with any other airline - If I book a flight at a particular time, I expect the flight to be departing around that time; otherwise I would have booked it differently in the first place!

Has anyone else been screwed around like this by AA? Is it common?

On a status run through the USA in August I had a flight ORD-LGA connecting to an LGA-TPA flight with around 2 hours transit in LGA. Boarding was completed with plenty of time to spare and then for no apparent reason pushed back but waited until well after departure time. When we finally started to taxi we were about 13th in line to take off. Arrived much later into LGA with FA advising of the gate and terminal arrival and the gate and terminal of any connecting flights. By the time we landed we were in a different terminal to the one advised and just enough time to switch terminals and board the flight. My luggage did not make it and finally caught up with me 1 week later.

My guess would be that these type of delays occur regularly with the congestion at many US airports.

 

[Shano]

Given the problem that JohnK experienced, and with variable departure times and connections, it is highly recommended that if doing a status run make sure that you only have carry-on, even if this means storing your other luggage somewhere (locker, etc.).

 

[drron]

This is par for the course with AA.I usually book months in advance and invariably flight times change.On this trip one of the flights disappeared all together.About 10 days ago I ticketed LGA-MIA-CUR-MIA-LGA and 2 days later 2 of the sectors had time changes.Just need to check your bookings regularly.
Also on this trip flying into DFW we were told on board and at arrival gate that our connecting flight was from another terminal.Checked at the gate when we got there and all OK so went to the AC and on arrival were told it was now departing from the terminal we flew into.Another reason it is wise to give plenty of time for connections.

 

[MatthewRob]

Yep, I have flown AA every Christmas for about the past 5 years and every year around October/November time I get a call telling me the flight times have been changed, aircraft types have changed, or flights have been cancelled altogether. AA are usually pretty good about it though and let your change your flights around to different connections/days if you aren't happy.