Flight Booking Tip

This tip was known to me since 2002. It is probably the most useful tip that my travel agent gave me. It came in very handy today. I thought of sharing it with you on my blog.

When an airline change your flight (ie. when they bump you to a different flight) or there is a schedule change (ie. change in time of the flight), you are eligible to ask to be rescheduled. I've done with successfully with Northwest Airlines and also confirmed it with United Airlines. UA told me that if the flight schedule change is greater than 90 mins, then we can request to change flight within the same class.

Couple weeks ago, we booked tickets for my parents to come visit next month. We purposely booked direct flight from Montreal to San Francisco. There is only one per day. We just found out today that they rescheduled them to transfer in Denver one the way going and Chicago on the way back. This would cause major confusions to my parents and a longer travel time. We checked the timetable, Air Canada canceled direct flights on both days. We called them and were able to reschedule them on different days with direct flights.

Ever since I knew about this trick, I like to book early for big holidays (3-5 months in advance) as soon as I find a decent deal, usually for July (hight season) or Christmas. Then as the days come closer (about 3 weeks - 1 month), airlines would readjust their schedule according to demand. I would monitor and if they change my itinerary, then I request to change to a more ideal time or even airport! For instance, for Christmas 2002, I booked to depart on the Sunday before Christmas because Saturday was a blackout date, after they changed my itinerary, I was able to negotiate to depart the day before!