Flexibility Is Key: Flight Changes

We are now less than three months from our next Disney vacation and our flights have changed. . . twice.

Let me begin with the fact that we have the best travel agent ever!  We love her and all that she does for us—which is a lot!

The first change came a couple of weeks ago.  I got an email or phone call, I don’t remember which, about our return flights.  They were being changed drastically, so we were able to pick new flight times at no expense.  The change went in our favor as the late morning flights would mean NO three or four AM trip on the bus to the airport.  We’ve done it and it isn’t pretty.  Score one in our favor!

The most recent change came yesterday with an email from our travel agent.  This change affected our outgoing flights and had us reaching our destination at midnight.  When I read the email I groaned, audibly.  When we purchased the flights we were arrived close to 10:00 pm which was not ideal, but midnight?  I immediately picked up the phone and Shauna, our travel agent, said she would try and work her magic.  Even if it meant an early morning flight out, that would okay as we would reserve a park-n-fly hotel nearby and make our drive to the airport the night before (the airport is 2 ½ hours away.)

Another email came in with good news.  Our flights had been changed and we now had a late morning flight with an arrival time of early evening.  Yeah!  And, we were flying on a different airline altogether.  Again, the changes were at no charge to us.  Score another one in our favor!

So now the decision is whether or not to reserve a park-n-fly room for the night before or drive the morning of our flights and pay for airport parking.  We are waiting a bit to make the final decision.  Weather and possible additional flight changes are factors in our decision making.

Flexibility is the key.  We purchased our flights 7 months ago and had we been rigid in the flight times these changes may have been difficult.  Also, we planned to fly to our destination the day prior to sailing on our cruise.  Imagine the frustration and anxiety if the flight changes were occurring the day OF the cruise!  We’ve been there, done that, and will try to avoid it if at all possible.

Also amusing in the whole story is that for our return flights on our new carrier, our seat assignments are not together.  Oh, the husband and I have been assigned to sit together, but not the boy.  When we were talking about it at dinner last night, the boy was thrilled to be seated away from us on both legs of our flights—that speaks volumes for his confidence and number of times flying.  The husband then segued into a story about how the boy would be seated next to a comedian and the story would then be used in a stand-up act, etc.  (He also wanted to know if we sitting in first class.  Answer: No.) 

Am I concerned?  No.  Either one of us will sit with the boy or we will check about switching seat assignments at flight check in or will wait until we get on the plane and see if someone will switch.  We have an aisle seat to trade for a window seat so the bargaining is in our favor!

I know that flight changes, seat assignments, late arrivals, and early departures are some of the reasons some folks choose not to fly.  I get it.  Yet, given the distance to our preferred destination and travel windows, we prefer the expediency of flight travel.