Peter Greenberg: When Airlines Drastically Change Your Departure Time
By: Peter Greenberg | Source: AARP.org | 2008-09-09
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We recently booked reservations to fly to New York City on Delta. They called and left a message stating that the schedule was changed, and instead of leaving Lewiston, Idaho, at 12:30 pm and arriving in New York at 9 p.m., we are to leave Lewiston at 6:30 a.m. and arrive in New York at 12 p.m. Is there anything we can do? This is bad. Thank you for your help.
- Len, Lewiston, Idaho
Yes, Len, this does seem bad. But when Delta made these changes, they should've given you a chance to change your tickets. Generally speaking, if an airline makes a big change to your schedule—about 60-90 minutes either way—you should get the option to change your tickets or get a refund.
According to Delta spokesperson Juliet Horn: "When Delta has a schedule change, we will first try to reaccommodate customers, at no charge, on new flights as close to their departure and arrival times as possible. However, we will offer a refund if we are unable to provide alternative service that arrives within 90 minutes of the originally scheduled arrival time, or if we change the routing of the scheduled Delta flight to add one or more stops to the original itinerary."
So in this case, Len, you should have the option to get your money back if your schedule has changed that dramatically.
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