Air travelers who booked tickets in advance for this fall may want to check again before they check in.
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 are 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 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 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 farther in advance.
Milton Yang, 27, a software engineer in Reston, Va., saw plans for his October honeymoon in South America thrown into disarray when Delta Air Lines moved his scheduled flight from Atlanta to Quito, Ecuador, one day later. The new flight would not arrive in time for the couple to board the cruise they have booked to the Galapagos Islands. Delta offered to rebook the couple on a flight leaving Oct. 20, but the pair prefer a later departure so they can spend time with family members traveling to attend their wedding in Phoenix on Oct. 18. "I just want to get on my honeymoon," Yang says. "That's all it is."
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.
