Just out of curiousity, I checked to see what time my Sept/Oct. flights to and from France were. Guess what? Now I leave 10min. earlier and return almost 2 hrs later!
Is this typical? I received no notice. Do airlines just expect you to constantly check the flight times?

It is very common (though 2 hours is a big change), and as to whether you get notified... depends on the airline, how you bought your ticket, etc.

It is always a good idea to check your flight schedule about once a week to make sure there are not unacceptable changes that might require you to call and have them change your reservation.

I just posted about this yesterday, as American did the same thing to me. We are flying to Croatia in November via London. We originally had 4 hours to change airports (Heathrow to Gatwick). I just happened to check out our itinerary online and found that they changed our flight times, which resulted in us not having enough time to change airports. I called American and we now have to fly into London the day before we are to leave for Dubrovnik.

This is why I always recommend checking your reservations often!

Tracy

Here's my post from yesterday:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...t=0&screen

Tracy

You must also double check your departure terminal. One year, we had booked far in advance and didn't know the terminal had changed until we arrived at the airport, whereupon we had to bus ourselves and our bags to a different terminal at CDG.

I usually book well in advance (Sometimes more thna 6 months) and I usually book through Delta (which in turn may book through a Skymember, such as Air France). Nearly always there is a change. Nearly always Delta contacts me.

The flight times for my upcoming travel (united airlines) have changed 3 times since I made the reservations. We are now leaving about 3 hours earlier than originally planned on both the outbound and return trip. United notified me each time with a recorded phone message on my answering machine. For one of the schedule changes, I noticed it before they called to let me know. The call came about a week or so later.

Did you inform the airline of your contact telephone number or email so they can contact you if there is a schedule change? You should also provide a local contact at your destination eg a hotel.

Our flight times were changed on our recent flights to and from Manchester. Delta did call, but they simply left a recording on the phone and it did not make clear exactly WHAT had changed. I think the time also changed more than once. By the time I figured it out, they had completely eliminated the time we needed to make a connection in JFK. Fortunately I was able to get a helpful person on the phone, and we ended up with an itinerary that was a slight improvement over the original, but if I had not checked the schedule ahead of time and compared each leg of the trip with what was posted, we could have had a bad surprise. Always check! I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Straight from Delta (who has changed our flights 2x in 3 months)....they said they only call those whose flights are imminent (meaning in the next week or under) because in all actuality if your flight is Sept/Oct chances are it will change again. So don't count on a call until it's a week before travel.

Tara

That's why I book through orbitz.com when possible; they get in touch very quickly when there are any flight schedule changes, even very minor ones.

After reading your post , I decided to check my Delta/AF flights for Oct/Nov. MIne were also changed. I couldn't use the Skymiles website so I called .The agent said to call again closer to flight date as the times most likely would be changed again.

I finally switched browsers and now I can get into the Delta Skymiles site, there is a place there where you can sign up for notifications of changes, but even those will only be 3 days before your departure.

AA does the same thing , you have to sign up for notifications. Other than that it seems the onus is on you to check and confirm times.

I often book the 330 days out if I am using FF points. That is what I used for my trip for this Sept. I use Delta.

Yes, Delta does have the notification if you sign up for it online. I check the website from time to time for changes. There are always many of them. They are usually anywhere from 2 minutes to 10 minutes. I have just had a change in my departure from home for a little over an hour. It works out well as I had plenty of time in Cinn. for my international flight.
This is common and you should either check regularly or sign up for automatic notification on the website. I don't know if all airlines offer it.

Hi HK,

>Do airlines just expect you to constantly check the flight times?<

Yes.

Not all airlines wait till the last minute. Four months ago I scheduled a NWA trip and have received two email notices of flight changes. Oh, oh. I've jinxed myself: I'll probably never hear about the next change. So, I better check frequently as suggested above.

I do think it's safer to check regularly...if not, you just may be the one that was missed!!

We just returned from a trip on Delta. I booked on their website using a FF number. We were notified by e-mail several weeks before our flight of a minor 10 minute time change.

Thanks! I signed up for the notification feature; I just wish they would have encouraged me to do so when I booked the flights. Just makes me wonder what other aspects of air travel I am unaware of!

Underhill, my son bought a ticket on Orbitz for last Christmas. One of his return flights was cancelled and he received no notice. (He had to scramble around the day before departure to set up a new routing.) So I wouldn't depend on Orbitz notifying you.

I always check for changes on flight times myself, but received a letter AND a phone call a month in advance from JetBlue for a 10 minute change in departure time for our flight to NYC last month.