Stupid airlines

[tahnan]

I've complained before about how much I hate the fact that airlines won't let you change your itinerary. And, OK, fine, Cazique raised good points as to why that's so.

But it still pisses me off that I can give them several hundred dollars, and they can still call me at 8:15 to say "Your 1:00 flight is cancelled." And, let me stress, nothing else; so it becomes my obligation to call them to find out that I've been rescheduled for 8:40 tonight, and then to ask about other flight options (e.g., 4:00pm; why would they think I'd prefer 8:40?).

Comments

[mrswebchik.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree that it's ridiculous. The trick is to get a good travel agent to book the flight, because then THEY keep track of all the stuff and keep you up to date on times and such. I never would have thought that it made a difference until I worked at a travel agency (in IT) and saw how much work the *good* agents put into making sure their customers had smooth travel (to the point where they would make sure they could access all their traveler's info and such from home to check up on things). It really made a big difference during the massive hurricane season (I worked there when Katrina and all the others hit). They were able to get their people on flights better than the travelers could on their own going through the airlines. Anyhow, for short basic flights I'd probably still just book whatever I could get, but for any sort of involved travel (or travel somewhere that would require I stay in a hotel rather than with friends) I'd definitely go with booking through an agency.Yes, it's early, and I'm babbling.