Reminder: Check your flights often...

Great advice Priscilla. This has happened to me on my last two international trips. The first one was last May/June. I had six people booked on United, four on miles. I used my status to get everyone in economy plus aisles and the night before the flight, they changed the plane and all my seat were reassigned to middle seats in economy. Luckily I got in early (before the 24 hour check-in) and was able to get everyone reassigned to economy plus and aisle. Flying back, they delayed my flight from Rome for 12 hours and I scrambled to get everyone on another flight.

This December, my husband and I were going to London for the Christmas holidays and they changed planes again and moved us out of economy plus to economy. I got them to get us back in economy plus, but we could not even sit on the same side of the plane. Same story from London to SFO.

It is always wise to check your flights and do so as you get close to departure.

Sandy

There are multiple important lessons in your experience...

1. If an airline's CS agent tells you your only options are options you don't like, thank them, hang up, and call back in hopes of speaking with someone willing to help you.

2. In fact, a schedule change often presents an opportunity for better options than you originally had. I know this runs counter to most people's expectations (because we've all come to accept that airlines treat their customers with contempt, and they often do), but it is true. Once your original flight is canceled or rescheduled, many of the "rules" of what the airline can or can't do for you magically become flexible. You should try and use this to your advantage, remembering that you don't necessarily have to accept what the airline first offers you (the first rebooking is done by a computer algorithm, and often is either terrible or outright impossible). Don't be afraid to ask for something else - even if that's something "better". I have used this magical flexibility that occurs after a schedule change many times to get much better flights than I originally booked, at no extra cost. To get something better, you should do your homework and find something you like better, then call and explain why the computer-generated booking won't work for you, and ask (nicely) for what you want. There are limits to what they can do for you, but you can often get better flights (more direct routing, fewer layovers, better timing, etc.) but you should have the flight info at hand and ready to spoonfeed the agent when you call. Be reasonable (and be nice, after all, you are asking them to do you a favor) but don't be afraid to try for something better.

3. Do check your flights from time to time. Most large airlines do schedule shuffles at least 2 or 3 times every year as part of their normal business practices. Other events (like the grounding of a certain type of plane in their fleet, eg 737 MAX) they will adjust schedules for that, too. Schedule adjustments can happen anytime, so you may be impacted by one even if you're not one of us who schedules our flights 11 months ahead.

4. Every airline handles these things differently. Some have consistently better customer service and consumer-friendly policies (I like hometown Alaska Airlines), others are less reliably helpful. But it's always worth a shot to see if a schedule change can actually improve your flights - and if you just really hate what they're offering, remember, you do not have to accept it!

Glad it worked out for you.

I’m glad everything worked out for you. Your experience proves that you have to be tenacious and not take “no” for an answer.

A while back someone on the forum mentioned that flights are often changed on Saturday. So I check my flights every Saturday. Delta changed the flights twice in a month when I booked last fall but not since. With two weeks to go, I’m hoping they leave every thing as is.

Wow, Priscilla! Great perseverance and lessons for us all!

When one books far in advance (sometimes 331 days with miles) the chances for schedule changes are about 99%. I, too, always sign up for updates but obsessively check about once a month, then weekly as the trip approaches. I checked our April 22 flights Monday but I think I’ll check again today!

Priscilla, have you checked your profile on AA to ensure your email address is entered correctly? I booked a flight on a little used airline for May. Booked in January and didn't think much of it. As my profile was old, I updated it to a different email but didn't realize I had a typo. I happened to be doing an online reservation check and was aghast at a totally new booking. So I reviewed my options and then called back as to changing their new flight and also figuring out the problem of no notification. Found out it was an incorrect email address so we fixed it and I got flights that I wanted.
Now I get notifications when the arrival time changes 7 minutes :-)

We seem to have flight changes in at least half our overseas flights. We mostly fly Delta and I strongly agree with many of the previous posters on asking for changes that you want.

Many of the changes that take place on our Delta flights are relatively minor, like instead of a 2.5 hour layover, we have a 1.9 hour layover. Still, Delta has always allowed changes to our flights.

In a recent change we had an open jaw trip booked from JAX to Atlanta to CDG to Stockholm then returning from Copenhagen to Amsterdam then Atlanta then JAX. The return portion of the trip changed so much that we could not make the flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta, so they allowed me to rebook a direct flight from Copenhagen to Kennedy (NYC) then direct to JAX, eliminating an extra flight.

The one time it can get hard is when an award ticket involves a flight segment on another partner airline's planes. While it is generally pretty easy for an airline to move an award ticket from one of its planes and flights to another one of its native planes and flights, there are times when a partner airline will only have X number of award ticket spaces available on a given flight, and once those award seats are claimed on the flight, the marketing airline you booked your flight through cannot necessarily force the operating airline to open up additional award ticket spaces as part of the process of switching your flights.

Thanks for all your comments!

I realize that flight changes are inevitable but it's reassuring to know that most U.S. airlines are willing to offer the best flight options.

Sandy,
When an airline decides to change planes, it can certainly create problems for many of the passengers, but
it's great that you were able to get the economy plus seats for your party of 6!

David, Thanks for summarizing all the lessons learned. You said it much better than I!

This is a very important point:

To get something better, you should do your homework and find something you like better, then call and explain why the computer-generated booking won't work for you, and ask (nicely) for what you want.

Before I called AA, I had researched all the available flights. And... I always ask nicely : )

Horsewoofie, I wish you a wonderful trip!

Laurel, your trip is coming up so soon! Wishing you a fabulous trip!

Tom_MN, Unfortunately I did not get an email notifying me about the flight change which involved a 12 hour difference!

Maria,
Yes, American Airlines (had) has my correct email address.
When I asked why I didn't receive notification about the flight cancellation and change in schedule, the AA agent told me that since Alaska Airlines had made the change that they should have notified me. When I called Alaska Airlines, they informed me that American Airlines should have notified me because I'd booked my flights with AA.

geovagriffith, I usually don't worry about minor changes to my flights, but this was definitely not a minor change.
It sure sounds like you lucked out by flying direct from Copenhagen to Kennedy (NYC), eliminating the flight (and layover) in Amsterdam.

Selkie,

The one time it can get hard is when an award ticket involves a flight segment on another partner airline's planes.

This is interesting because my experience involved changing my flight segment from the partner airline (Alaska Airline) to an American Airline flight.

Thanks again!

Great tips, all! I have one more to add from our experience: check even the morning of your flight! Our Lufthansa flight was cancelled six hours prior to departure due to a strike by ground crews in Frankfurt, our connecting airport. After two frustrating hours of trying to reach to the airlines by phone and unable to make changes online, we went directly to the airport to "talk to a face." That was a great decision. Arriving more than three hours ahead of our scheduled departure, we were graciously accommodated before some of our fellow passengers were even aware of the cancellation. Everything eventually worked out and Lufthansa covered our night's lodging near the airport, meals, and costs of our purchased tour tickets we could not get refunded.

Great advice; I’ve had flights changed a lot on me the past few years (and I’ve also had my seat changed a lot with no notice).

Priscilla, thanks for the reminder for the old forum-hands and for the heads up for the newbies. I'm glad your research and hard work got you a satisfactory outcome!

Poly, thanks for the reminder to check the return flight often after we arrive in Europe. And arrive at the airport early just in case there is a problem.

I had a codeshare flight with American Airlines and WestJet and learned very late that there is no guarantee that you'd get an alert on flight changes on codeshare flights, even on an AA ticket (I was signed up for alerts). The second leg got cancelled and I was rebooked on a flight that would leave before the first leg arrived, or something physically infeasible like that. I soured on AA for many reasons, but that was one of them - it was clear something went wrong but no one could explain it. Dealing with their unhelpful customer service and their constant flight changes finally did me in. I literally had 3-5 significant flight changes on one particular ticket to Mexico, which was just too much compared with other airlines I've dealt with.

Everything depends on the agent you end up talking to. I've had wildly different outcomes, so I just call until I get a cooperative agent if another shuts me down.

I get emails or texts when there are changes to flights. What I hate are the unannounced gate changes after you’re already heading to the gate, especially when there are a couple of them and the gates are in different concourses.

Agnes,

This is definitely true!

Everything depends on the agent you end up talking to. I've had wildly different outcomes, so I just call until I get a cooperative agent if another shuts me down.

Jaime,

What I hate are the unannounced gate changes after you’re already heading to the gate, especially when there are a couple of them and the gates are in different concourses.

I agree, that's very annoying. This is one of the reasons I arrive early to the airport, and always check the departure board before heading to the gate.