armchairtraveller

This is a real downer, but I need advice. My good friend and I just returned from a lovely 2-week trip to Italy and Paris (I'll post a trip report this week). But it got off to a very rocky start.

Our flight was at 4:30pm. It's a small airport, so we had agreed to get there at 3:15. She insisted that her daughter drive us to the airport, which seemed fine. I was standing in my driveway at 2:50 waiting for them. Time passed, but I was mentally checking off whether I'd forgotten anything---AND I had packed my watch. When they finally pulled up, I looked at her car clock and saw that it was 3:45! Long story short, with traffic and all, by the time we got to the airport it was 10 after 4 and the agent wouldn't let us try to make the flight (I don't blame him). It was horrible. I was furious, but she felt bad enough already and I'm not the type to rub salt in a wound. So I went into "solution mode".

We had to make a very quick decision. The last flight of the day was leaving in just 40 minutes (on Delta). Northwest offered that we could leave on the same flight the next day, but would have to pay the current rate of $2,400---each ($1900 after they agreed to a credit for the original $500 ticket). The Delta station was right next to NW and I asked their agent to pull up info for us...$2600 for a brand new ticket, requiring us to board immediately and complete our ticketing in Atlanta. My friend said she would devote the profits from one of her projects to pay us back, so we bought new tickets on Delta.

We had no time to work with Northwest regarding the missed flight(s) and now-useless tickets. Now that we're back in the U.S., I'm going to call them to see if they will offer a coupon of some sort. Is there someone here who can tell me what I should expect? The ticket says "non refundable". I'll post the proper codes if someone can tell me where to find them on the ticket.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

RufusTFirefly

I would say you should expect nothing if the tickets were non-refundable. But it never hurts to ask.

AAFrequentFlyer

You missed a flight on a non-refundable ticket and now you're looking for what exactly?

Amazing......

That said, if NWA feels generous, they may let you have some credit for a future flight. The magic word is MAY.

Good luck. I still don't understand your post???

armchairtraveller

AAFT,
I'm sorry you took it that way. I never said I expected anything. I didn't blame NW and I didn't imply in any way that they "owe us anything". But, as said before, it doesn't hurt to ask.

I'm simply trying to draw on the expertise of others before I call and humbly beg for any crumb they may offer.

degas

Tragic situation for sure. I bet you wished you had called about 1330 and firmed up the transportation plan. I had to bail on a slowpoke one time and go by taxi to catch a flight.

Marianna

Armchairtraveller, that truly is a rough start to a vacation!

I don't have any advice to you about getting any reimbursement from NW but you can always try and see what happens. However, your story does reinforce the fact that we always need to build in extra time for getting to the airport on time. I think even your original 3:15 pick-up time plan was late since, I think, international flights require check in 2 hours before departure.

Good luck with NW and I hope future trips get off to a better start for you.

armchairtraveller

Yes, tragic, infuriating, and full of if-onlys. If only I hadn't packed my watch. If only I'd had my cell phone at hand while standing in the driveway. I can't believe how oblivious I was to the time passing---as I mentally recalled my checklist: did I turn off the water to the washing machine? etc.

If only I had insisted on having my (very reliable) nephew drive us--as originally planned.

Sigh.

armchairtraveller

Marianna,
We planned to arrive at the airport at 3:15. She was to pick me up by 3pm.

I'm certainly not in a good position to discount the 2-hour lead time. But this airport is very small. At that time of day one can pretty well count on it taking no more than 10 minutes to check in, clear security and walk 50 feet to the gate.

AAFrequentFlyer

Marianna,

2 hours?

no such thing as required. The 2 hour is a suggestion ONLY. In most cases (and there are exceptions), it's 1 hour with checked luggage and 30-45 minutes without.

Flyboy

You can see what you get for asking but the general rule with non-refundable tickets is that in order to capture any value, you need to do it before the flights. In other words, you might well have been capture the value of the return flights if you had contacted the carrier before the flight dates. After the fact (and you'll see this in the terms and conditions), it's going to be nigh on impossible. That's the reason refundable tickets are so expensive.

Having said that, it never hurts to give it a whack. Even if you only pick up a discount on a future flight, it will have been worth your time.

ira

Hi A,

As the French say, "quelle fromage".

As noted, it can't hurt to ask.

Put it down as a learning experience.

In a few years, you will be able to laugh about it.

wilees

Possibly a silly question - but does your travel insurance cover anything? I sure mine covers missed flights but I am not sure whether that is just when it is out of my control?

Worth checking perhaps?

surfmom

Are you a frequent flyer member ? (esp. silver or gold?) If so, you would certainly have a better shot of calling Northwest...

kelliebellie

Well, no sense dwelling on what could have been done.

As for the future, as a Detroit resident, we are pretty much held hostage by our NW hub. (Thank you Spirit Air for freeing us a bit).

They are not nice. Just get that into your head. They have old planes, major, major labor troubles and are on the verge of bankruptcy. They try to raise their profits by continutally screwing the passangers over and over. Instead of using the successful business models of the low cost flyers, they continue to raise prices and fees and lower service and hope the governement bails them out.

Ahh...that feels better to get that off my chest.

Now, you talked to an agent at the counter and they knew you were going to miss your flight. So, technically, you did advise NW before the flight left the ground. I think that is their policy. If I were you, I would drive to your local airport and deal with the agents there. I would go during the week, when there aren't 600 people trying to catch a plane to Hong Kong. YOU WILL GET NO WHERE on the phone. YOU WILL GET NO WHERE with a letter. You will probably get no where with the ticket agent, but at least you will have a face-to-face chance.

Good luck! I really hope you get your credit.

111op

I sympathize with you in that I missed a flight on Air France that went from Paris to Berlin, and I had to shell out about $300 to get on the next flight. After that I was incredibly paranoid about missing flights, but I still sometimes cut it quite close. I still think that I could have made the flight if the ground staff showed a little more sympathy.

I don't know what Northwest would do, but I wrote a long letter to Air France after I came back. They responded to it but promised no compensation.

$2400 makes a pretty expensive lesson, but in the grand scheme of things, it's indeed just money.

Good luck.

armchairtraveller

kelliebellie,

That's an excellent suggestion. I will drive out to the airport this week and throw my self on the tender mercies of their agent. It may not help, but I think you're right about not doing it on the phone. I'll check their flight schedules before I go to make sure I'm not bothering him just before takeoff.

rkkwan

I disagree. Airport agents really can't help you much for situations like this, especially at your small airport. They definitely don't have the authority to give you any significant compensation.

Call NW and try very nicely to get to speak to a supervisor. If you don't succeed, hangup and try again.

Or try writing to them. I don't know who you should specifically write to, but you may want to ask about it, or search it, on the Northwest Board on Flyertalk.com . If you do start a thread over there, make sure you state clearly that you understand it's your own fault, and you're just wondering if there's anything NW can salvage for you. Otherwise, you'll get chewed up over there. Basically, you just want to know if someone knows of the correct person to write to at NW that may offer any amount of help.

Marianna

AAFF,

NWA's website answers in this manner when asked the question of when to check in at the airport:

"International flights (including Mexico and the Caribbean)nbsp;2  hours prior to departure."

NWA doesn't use the word "suggest" in their answer. Your times are not suggested either.

I guess everyone has a comfort level for checking in no matter what the airline says. My husband always complains to me that I want to leave too early to get to the airport, only to have to sit around and wait too long for the flight. It only took one near miss (something like armchairtraveller's experience) for him to never complain to me again about going in when the airline says to.

Armchairtraveller, good luck to you in your quest for a credit.

J62

The OP was pretty clear - they weren't checking for the international flight at their small airport, but rather a domestic flight to Atlanta.

Yes, the final destination was international, but the 4:30 flight was not. No need to check in 2hr early for a domestic flight.

rkkwan

At many smaller airports served by small RJs or turboprops (which I assume is the case for the OP), check-in staff won't be around until about an hour before departure. If you go too early, you're just going to waste your time.