Air Travelers Got Great Deals on Flights. Then They Got Bumped.
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Here's your Money Briefing for Thursday, July 29th. I'm Charlie Turner for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for J.R.
What is causing summer air travelers to be rebooked from nonstop to connecting flights?
Whalen. Americans anticipating the reopening of air travel bought tickets at cheap prices, only to find that airlines rebooked them on much less convenient flights, leading to a sky-high level of customer dissatisfaction.
The times are messed up. They bought a nonstop and now they have to make a connection. And the whole reason why they bought that flight in the first place might be because it was a nonstop. So people really feel like there's a lot of baiting and switching going on.
Our reporter Scott McCartney will talk about these flight changes and the headaches they've caused travelers after the break.
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It's been a frustrating time for air travelers looking to take their first post-pandemic summer vacation. Among the headaches, flight delays, cancellations, and higher prices. But even travelers who bet on the reopening and scored cheap tickets have their own problems. Many say they've been getting bumped from those flights, and the problems don't stop there. Our Middle Seed columnist Scott McCartney has been looking into the complaints. Scott, thanks for joining us. Good to be with you, Charlie. Describe the scope of the problem here. What do some of the passengers you've talked to say happens when their flight gets changed?
Yeah, I think the scope of the problem is enormous. I think airlines are making scheduled changes at an unprecedented pace. And this is having sort of the unintended, I think, consequence of really messing up people's travel plans. It's one of the reasons why phone lines are jammed and all, because people are having so much trouble with this. So basically you buy one thing and the airline switches you to something else. And for some people, that's going to be okay. And for other people, the times are messed up or they bought a nonstop and now they have to make a connection. And the whole reason why they bought that flight in the first place might be because it was a nonstop.
How widespread are airlines’ schedule changes and who is most affected?
So people really feel like there's a lot of baiting and switching going on.
Well, haven't passengers charged that they get bumped for a higher paying passenger?
Yes, many people are suspicious of that. And and frankly, for good reason. You know, that is what it looks like. A good example, a woman who took a chance in April that Italy would be reopened in July. So she got a round trip business class ticket from New York to Rome for two thousand dollars. That's an unbelievable bargain. Italy has opened up. Everybody wants to go to Italy. All of a sudden, those business class seats are selling for $9,000 round trip. So Delta didn't cancel her nonstop return flight from Rome to JFK, but they moved her to a connection in Boston with a four-hour layover. And she was convinced, and Delta couldn't give her a good reason, gave her three different reasons of why this happened.
She was convinced they simply wanted to move her out of a flight that they surely could sell her seat for a whole lot more money.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:43
2
What is causing summer air travelers to be rebooked from nonstop to connecting flights?
0:43–3:15
3
How widespread are airlines’ schedule changes and who is most affected?
3:15–5:23
4
Why do passengers suspect they’re being bumped for higher-paying travelers?
5:23–9:21
5
What specific passenger stories illustrate rebooking and repeated changes?
9:21–12:36
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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