Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Return to IrelandYes.com Website -> Ireland Travel Forum -> Ask Michele: Ireland Travel Forum -> Forced change of plans
Post Info TOPIC: Forced change of plans
Dude


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 504
Date:
Forced change of plans
Permalink  

Just got an e-mail from Continental changing our flight out of Shannon on September 28. The convenient 1:15 p.m. flight has been done away with and we will now depart at 9:00 a.m. AAARRGH!

The upside is that we get lunch on the flight (whoopee), we can stay together until Houston instead of splitting up in Newark, we'll get home earlier in the evening, and we won't have to pay for that extra day on the rental car. It also looks like we got a really good deal on the price; currently that trip is about $250 more per person.

Just hope the sisters get the message in time to reserve our seats together. Oh, well, we may not want to sit together after 2 weeks in a smallish car and triple rooms!

Stay tuned.

__________________
Slán go fóill, Judy
The Next Chapter


Veteran Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 90
Date:
Permalink  

Continental just changed our flight time out so instead of leaving at 9am we're leaving at 6am. Considering we have to be there a couple hours ahead of time and it's just one day after my son's wedding, this "little" change is a major hassle.

I don't think we looked into our flight back. I guess I'd better check to see if they changed that one, too.
Grrrrr......

__________________
Jeanne Page
Dude


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 504
Date:
Permalink  

Yow! 6 a.m.? You might as well just stay up all night. We are 45 minutes from the airport so have to factor that in also. Fortunately Corpus Christi is small enough and not enough of a hub that we don't have to be there but about an hour ahead.

The e-mail I received has the changes highlighted in red so maybe you're okay coming back.

Need to alert Mary Browne that we will be sneaking out in the dead of night; hope she will leave us some leftover scones or something.

__________________
Slán go fóill, Judy
susan


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 129
Date:
Permalink  

Dude
We had a 9am flight also.Mary made a nice tray for us with fruit and her great brown bread and another bread with butter and jam.She gave it to us the night before, it smell so good it was hard not to eat it that night.Your room will also have a coffee/tea set up.

Our room did not have an alarmclock in it,but Mary asked if we needed one. 

Susan

__________________
youngka


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 373
Date:
Permalink  

This won't help you for this time, but maybe the next trip.  We took Continental last year, but this year we were lucky to get Eir Lingus from Shannon to Chicago then United to Portland.  Worked out real good time wise.  Our departing flight, last year, was way to far from where we had been staying, so we just drove to the airport and spent the night at the Shannon Airport Hotel.  It was kind of a treat since we had economized the rest of the trip, but was a real saver on our rest!  They serve a wonderful breakfast, right before you walk a VERY short trip to the airport, we turned our rental car in the night before and were all set and rested when we started the security checks, etc.  Eir Lingus had more leg room than other flights we have taken before, also
Youngka

__________________
Living in Oregon, like to travel, love going to Europe, Alaska and maybe one day China.
Itallian Chauffeur


Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2187
Date:
Permalink  

I feel your pain.

We flew Continental LAST April.  Bought our tickets in late Dec / early Jan.  In mid-March, I was spot checking our flight info and discovered that they had changed the last leg of our return flight, calling for an EIGHT HOUR lay-over in Newark!!!!! furious furious furious

It seems that they had 'Moved Up' the departure time of the Nework to Sarasota flight so that it left BEFORE we were scheduled to arrive.  I managed to get a re-route to Ft Meyers (equally convenient to our daughter's house), instead.... aww aww  

At least Continental NOTIFIED you. yawn

If it wasn't for my naturally paranoid cynicism, we wouldn't have found out until we checked in!
 
Besides,

It COULD change again (and again!) -- since you aren't leaving until September! yawn yawn yawn yawn

Bob

__________________

Bob

Help Us to Help You.  The more you tell us about your plans (dates, interests, budget), the better we can tailor our advice to suit!
Dude


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 504
Date:
Permalink  

So far I am the only one of the three sisters who has been notified by Continental (perhaps because I'm a member of the frequent flier club?). We will be checking periodically from now til September, you can bet.

Susan, thanks for the report on Bunratty Lodge. That will give us something to look forward to. I always take my little travel alarm because I MUST know what time it is when I wake in the night. Don't know what childhood trauma that came from. Of course, unbeknownst to us the battery died in Drogheda on the '97 trip and we got a really good sleep, and our hostess was most understanding and gave us breakfast anyway. Those goofy American tourists!

__________________
Slán go fóill, Judy
The Next Chapter


Veteran Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 90
Date:
Permalink  

We can join you in the paranoia pool, Bob. We weren't notified either but discovered it ourselves. I encourage everyone to keep an eye on their flight schedules.

__________________
Jeanne Page
carriem837


Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 14
Date:
Permalink  

I'm flying Continental and so is a friend of mine (two separate trips).  We both signed up for the frequent flyer club when we bought our tickets, and we were both emailed when our flight times were changed.  I just checked the website for the frequent flyer club, and two advantages that are listed are TripAlert e-mails that alert you to the status of your flights and TripNotes e-mails that confirm your itinerary 72 hours before your flight.


Since it appears Continental changes flight times quite often, it might be a good idea for anyone that books with them in the future to sign up.  Or maybe if you already have a ticket, you can still sign up and get flight updates for your current reservations?



-- Edited by carriem837 at 22:16, 2007-04-25

__________________
Carrie
Itallian Chauffeur


Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2187
Date:
Permalink  

I actually joined their Frequent Flier Club a few year's back, so I guess I would need to reset my preferences to activate the email alert.  We're flying Delta, this trip, though...

I actually have a "Check List" timetable that I use to check and re-check key reservations periodically, leading up to my departure. hmm
It used to just cover the airline, but NOW also includes the rental car, after a mild catastrophe in June of '05 ... biggrin

Bob

__________________

Bob

Help Us to Help You.  The more you tell us about your plans (dates, interests, budget), the better we can tailor our advice to suit!
Roy


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 860
Date:
Permalink  

Bob,

Good advice. The fewer surprises the better!

Roy

__________________
Roy
Michele Erdvig


Host

Status: Offline
Posts: 10695
Date:
Permalink  

Dude,

I'm glad you started this topic. It is always important to check and re-check everthing associated with your trip, inculuding airline schedules. Good advice here from everyone. Thanks!

Michele

__________________

"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

Click links for Michele's Book or Custom Ireland Itinerary

Visit Michele's Irish Shop for unique Irish gifts and beautiful photos of Ireland.
Dude


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 504
Date:
Permalink  

Thanks to Bob's contagious paranoia, I just checked again, and sure enough, Continental has changed us again. Just a few minutes here and there, and different flight numbers, but it would have been nice had they notified us. I was flying an Embraer into and out of Corpus Christi and sitting in my favorite seat but they apparently are now flying Bombadiers and I have to share a row with someone. Oh, well, it's just a hour to and from Houston.

__________________
Slán go fóill, Judy
Itallian Chauffeur


Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2187
Date:
Permalink  

Remember --

JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE PARANOID,

IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY AREN'T  OUT TO GET YOU!

                                  hmm cry hmm
Bob

__________________

Bob

Help Us to Help You.  The more you tell us about your plans (dates, interests, budget), the better we can tailor our advice to suit!
Dude


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 504
Date:
Permalink  

Continental Airlines certainly seems to be!

__________________
Slán go fóill, Judy
WCOMALLEY


Veteran Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 73
Date:
Permalink  

Hello all ! I just finished a two day stint on the telephone trying to re-arrange our trip after Aer Lingus cancelled our very convenient (and long planned) flight. They insist they "adequately accommodated" us,(in a pig's eye) but I now have us back on the straight path and gained an extra day in the process! I am a bit lighter in the wallet but hopefull that the next intervention by the travel gods is more merciful. O'Malley

__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
Return to IrelandYes.com Website -> Ireland Travel Forum -> Ask Michele: Ireland Travel Forum -> Forced change of plans
Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard