[aztorome]

NWA "lost" 4 legs of our 5 leg trip from Phoenix to Rome. I had been periodically checking the seat assignment page for our flights and suddenly 1 day only the first leg of our trip was displayed. I checked the online receipt and it still showed all legs of the flight so I didn't worry about it. But after a week of so this, I decided to call and see why. Imagine my surprise when they told me they had "lost" all but the first leg of our trip. We had spend literally days picking out the combination of times, planes and most importantly, the seats we wanted for this trip of a lifetime.

On the positive side, thank goodness I found the error before we arrived at the airport. We are on the same flights but with poor seating arrangments. One agent told me that they hold back 40% of the seats until the day of the flight so they can rearrange people and to be glad I had seats. Was she just telling me this to get me off the phone. On the negative side, we're sitting across the aisle from each other. More importantly noone will even address how this could have happened or assured me that it won't happen again. Do I need to check my flights everyday now?

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by aztorome

NWA "lost" 4 legs of our 5 leg trip from Phoenix to Rome. I had been periodically checking the seat assignment page for our flights and suddenly 1 day only the first leg of our trip was displayed. I checked the online receipt and it still showed all legs of the flight so I didn't worry about it. But after a week of so this, I decided to call and see why. Imagine my surprise when they told me they had "lost" all but the first leg of our trip. We had spend literally days picking out the combination of times, planes and most importantly, the seats we wanted for this trip of a lifetime.

On the positive side, thank goodness I found the error before we arrived at the airport. We are on the same flights but with poor seating arrangments. One agent told me that they hold back 40% of the seats until the day of the flight so they can rearrange people and to be glad I had seats. Was she just telling me this to get me off the phone. On the negative side, we're sitting across the aisle from each other. More importantly noone will even address how this could have happened or assured me that it won't happen again. Do I need to check my flights everyday now?

It was probably a schedule change which also involved a change of aircraft type. Unfortunately the more in advance you make a reservation (which normally one does to lock in the date/price and get the best selection of seats) the more likely there will be schedule and equipment changes before you travel. I would say that monitoring your reservation daily isn't necessary since airlines generally make changes only every 2-3 months. If you check your reservation every 3-4 weeks you should be okay. Of course if a change which affects seating occurs a couple of days after you check...

There is an online price tracking tool called Yapta (http://www.yapta.com) where you can enter the details of your itinerary and what you paid and it will track the price. Unfortunately Northwest doesn't give price adjustments unless the drop in fare exceeds the cost of re-issuing the ticket ($150-$250) however you can set e-mail alerts. If there is even a minor schedule change the Yapta tool will be unable to price the itinerary any more and you will receive an e-mail alert about it.

[jimworcs]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer

It was probably a schedule change which also involved a change of aircraft type. Unfortunately the more in advance you make a reservation (which normally one does to lock in the date/price and get the best selection of seats) the more likely there will be schedule and equipment changes before you travel. I would say that monitoring your reservation daily isn't necessary since airlines generally make changes only every 2-3 months. If you check your reservation every 3-4 weeks you should be okay. Of course if a change which affects seating occurs a couple of days after you check...

It is ludicrous to ask customers to do this... why should the customer buy a service and then have to do all that leg work just to make sure the service they buy still exists. It is incumbant upon the airline to notify the customer of the changes. If they change equipment, schedules or cancel seat reservations, then they should notify the customer, not the other way round.

It is increasingly difficult to make sure that things go well even when the customer tries to be pro-active. Selecting schedules to avoid busy times, airports, selecting seats so for comfort and enjoyment of the trip, etc... the one sided contract of carriage effectively negates this by stipulating everything is subject to change at the whim of the airline, and to cap it all, we probably won't tell you about it until you are at the airport. Utterly pathetic.

In no other industry would this be tolerated. If you order a TV, Phx, do you expect to have to keep calling the store to check that they have still got your order in? If not, why not?

[Silent Bob]

It is ludicrous to ask customers to do this... why should the customer buy a service and then have to do all that leg work just to make sure the service they buy still exists.

Because if the customers were more "proactive", then maybe.... just maybe there would a little less complaining. The internet is the BEST tool we have right now, especially when it comes to air travel because with a few clicks here, a couple of keystrokes there, we can find out EVERYTHING we need to know about our trip before we set off. Why do you think sites like flightstats.com or flightview.com even exsist? For airline employees? HA! They exsist so that WE as the CUSTOMER can check on matters on our own and see for ourselves exactly what's goin on rather than trust the words of an airline employee (or nazi as you like to call em). How do you know if your flight has a schedule change? Well if you book your flight 6 months to a year in advance, then more than likely there will be a schedule change and you MIGHT wanna, from time to time, call and ask about your flight just to be on the safe side. Does that mean calling once or twice a month for reconfirmation? YES!! WHy would you not do that? Doesn't matter if you paid for the service, which in actuality you pay to be taken from point A to point B; if you rely on the airlines to simply give you the answer, especially a straight one, well as you can see from the boards it almost doesn't happen. So yea track your flight on flightstats.com and see if it's frequently delayed, call and reconfirm that flight if you book it far in advance (take names if you must), and yes even reconfirm it 24 hours in advance, check the weather in your area and the area where you will fly. The point is, you've done your part and you'll be prepared to face that flight rather than rely on someone else to give you the info.

[jimworcs]

In what other industry do these rules apply? If I pre-order a new car, should someone set up a website so customers can track the progress of the order?

I have no problem with websites which give the consumer more information to help with the planning of a trip. I might use a stats site for example when deciding which routing I might book, so that I can see how reliable a particular hub is or even a specific flight. But once I have booked a ticket, it is then the airlines responsibility to let me know if THEY make changes. How far has their training of you gone when you defend a practise whereby you buy a service from someone, and it then becomes your responsibility to check if the service you have bought and PAID FOR is still available when it comes time for the service to be provided.

If this catches on, we are going to be in for a nightmare. Book someone to clean you carpet, creates an obligation to call the carpet cleaner every day to make sure he is not sick and is still coming.

There are some people who will just defend anything!

[Jetliner]

Airline schedules are set one calendar month ahead of time. This has always been the case. Even back in the 60's, when everyone says were the great days of flying, that is how it was done. That's why you were always told to call 24 hours ahead and re-confirm you reservation.

[The_Judge]

It kills me to do so but I agree with Jim. When you purchase a ticket, you give either a phone number and/or an email address. This is given in case a change does occur. What I disagree with him on is his stance that the airline never emails or calls. At the airline I worked for when a change took place, an automated system did the notifying. After that was completed, a message in the reservation showed what form was used (email or phone call) the date and time called and if it was a phone, if the passenger answered or not.

Again, the customer has done his part by paying for a ticket and leaving correct contact info. After that, it's up to the airline.

[Silent Bob]

In what other industry do these rules apply? If I pre-order a new car, should someone set up a website so customers can track the progress of the order?

YES!!! And Fedex and UPS are types of industries that has setup a website so that you can track an order you have made (not specifically a car), so should there be a change you can call to find out what's going on. So why not the same thing for a car? You pay a lot of money for it, and you wanna be able to get it (if you can't walk off the lot with it), so why not? When pertaining to a flight I can check my flight status online as well as by phone to check for any changes. It really isn't that difficult. If you book a flight far in advance, you don't have to call every day or even every week, but at some point between the time you book the trip towards the day of departure you should call and reconfirm in case there's any changes. It's just common sense and its one of the first lessons you learn (or I've learned) when dealing with air travel. Why sit and wait to be told when you can check it for yourself?

If this catches on, we are going to be in for a nightmare. Book someone to clean you carpet, creates an obligation to call the carpet cleaner every day to make sure he is not sick and is still coming.

You should call the carpet cleaner on the day they are supposed to come just to be sure they are coming. At least that's what I do.

[US_Travel_Agent]

Unfortunately, if it was booked by a travel agency, the passenger's phone number isn't usually in the reservation. In this case the agency is advised, and is supposed to inform the passenger.

[jimworcs]

I do not say that airlines don't do this. If they do, good. What I am saying is that this is how it should be.

My point is only that in this case, the OP was not informed and it should not be the burden of the passenger to keep checking back. The obligation should be on the service provider.

Silent Bob... I am glad you have the time to check every day that everyone is going to carry out their contractual obligations, but I don't. When I pay someone, in advance, to provide a service... I think it is reasonable to expect that they will do so, and if they are unable to fulfil their contract, that they would inform me.

It might be helpful if you could let me know who you work for, so that I can be sure to avoid doing any business with your company. I would find it most annoying to keep having to check back that you are doing what I pay you to do.

[Silent Bob]

I do not say that airlines don't do this. If they do, good. What I am saying is that this is how it should be.

You didn't say they don't this however you did not, NOT say they don't do this either. Your original statement started as

It is ludicrous to ask customers to do this

If it's ludicrous why even have the option to speak with an agent, or check a flight? Why is it such a bad thing to wanna check something, because you simply wanna know and not get caught with some issue that MIGHT have been avoided had you simply called and asked "hey can I confirm my flight for such and such a day?" No one in this particular post has said you need to call everyday, that's your statement that you seem caught up on. Why? Dunno.

My point is only that in this case, the OP was not informed and it should not be the burden of the passenger to keep checking back. The obligation should be on the service. provider.

Actually you haven't made any points. you've made very poor analogies about cars and carpet cleaners, both of which i've refuted. The point is the op in his/her own words has stated that they've checked "periodically" because of seats. Can't disagree with that. They called a week in advance of their flight only to have found out there were changes. Again, being proactive, can't disagree with that either. This is the perfect example of not trusting trip alerts or emails from the airlines, because sometimes you simply don't get them. Had the op not called and simply went to the airport on the day of travel only to be told there were changes to their schedule they'd be yelling "But no one told me!" As much as I believe the airlines SHOULD tell you these things, it isn't always the case. So why is it a burden when such methods worked for the OP in this case and has worked for many others like myself. maybe you might like waiting to be told, but I choose to find out for myself.

I'd tell you who I work for jim, but in all honesty I don't think you can afford us. Doesn't matter who you work for or how much money you have... you simply can't afford what we offer. And let's just leave it at that.

[The_Judge]

Ok, Jim....I'll grant you, I may have read a bit more into this statement you made......."probably won't tell you about it until you are at the airport. Utterly pathetic."

I do want it known, at least where I worked, there was a system to contact customers when a sked change happened. Whether they had the email go to junk or they just disregarded due to thinking it's frivilous advertising, I don't know. But there is a system in place to prevent the customer being "surprised" at the airport.

[jimworcs]

As much as I believe the airlines SHOULD tell you these things

Bob... are we making progress? As for the rest of your somewhat confused post... was it late at night after a few whiskies?

[Silent Bob]

I had to re-read what I wrote because I was on my third cocktail that night. (Were you in my house Jim? what the hell? lol) But hmmmm my post seems pretty clear, I wonder if I can rant like that after 5 cocktails.

*do not disturb, Silent Bob is having a cocktail*

[jimworcs]

lol... be very afraid Bob, us airline haters get everywhere!