I booked my trip (flight and hotel) through Alpharooms back in September for travel in December 2014 Everything went smoothly until it was time to fly home. Originally, through Alpharooms' website, I booked a return flight from Cancun to Cleveland on Dec 24, 2014 The flight was US Airways Flight 805 and would leave Cancun 1:55pm and arrive in Philadelphia 6:30pm Then I'd catch Flight 5912 to Cleveland at 9:25pm As soon as I had booked, I got an email from Alpharooms/Vacenza to confirm this information. Everything matched, so far so good. I also downloaded the ViewTrip app that Vacenza recommended that would track my itinerary. Here's a screenshot of my return flight details. Everything from Alpharooms, Vacenza and ViewTrip said I'd be on US Airways Flight 805 leaving Cancun at around 1:55pm On December 23, the day before my return flight, I checked with US Airways to make sure everything was in place. Imagine my surprise to discover that the flight details were different! The flight was #815 (not #805) and it was departing Cancun 11:50am (not 1:55pm) It might only seem like a couple of hours, what's the big deal? But I had already booked my US Transfers taxi to pick us up based on the original departure time. I had also hoped to grab lunch for that one last all-inclusive meal. I don't know why my booking information was changed nor why Alpharooms couldn't at least notify me. It was only though luck and diligence on my part that I did not miss my return flight. I didn't get any communication from Alpharooms and I am sorely disappointed. (I have already emailed alphie@alpharooms.com)
Hi Cheers2US, Thanks for your feedback. I can confirm that your email to alfie@alpharooms.com has been received and our Customer Service team are now looking into your booking. They will be in touch shortly. Please accept my sincerest apologies for the situation and for any inconvenience it caused you. Best wishes, Jessica alpharooms
Not making excuses for Alpharooms, but as a traveler that flies a lot, airlines do swap out flights and make changes to existing reservations all the time. It's possible that as the primary booker Alpharooms got the notification that the change had been made, maybe not, but that you not as the primary booker did not. As a matter of self protection, I always check my future reservations if not every week, every two weeks for possible changes. Just for that very reason. Airlines will sometimes screw up internally and make adjustments to one leg of a flight that make it impossible to make the second leg. Or sometimes the opposite, elongating the time to where one or two other flights in between would have worked. I remember on our first trip to Australia we planned for a 2 hour layover when arriving in Sydney from the US and Qantas move the connecting flight we were booked on back three hours and flew two other flights to the same destination in between. We spend 5 hours in the airport that day. Bottom line is when booking future travel plans, always check them constantly for changes in departure times and seat assignments. Catching a change weeks before a flight can make the difference if things can be adjusted rather than waiting till you are at the counter. Sucks I know but forewarned is forearmed. Jamie
Jamie, Thanks for your input. I see what you're saying, but I am still disappointed. When I was in Cancun, I maxed out my wifi early (like by my second day) and even calling toll-free numbers from the Temptation phone incurred a fee. That's why I didn't check earlier. And besides, when you're partying at Temptation, who wants to think about return flights anyway? ;-) That's why I waited until the day before to check everything. I checked US Airways website only, I didn't call because I was having difficulty dialing out (When I called from my cell phone, I got a recorded message "the toll-free call you are attempting to make will not be toll-free from your calling area. Press '1' to continue" I'd press 1 then the phone went dead. This happened three times) But still, I feel if I pay Alpharooms, Expedia, Orbitz, et al. money for a booking, they have an obligation to notify me of any changes to that booking. Sure, I could check the airlines too, but they have an equal responsibility to notify me. Luckily I did check, and that's how I got home. In any event, Alpharooms replied and claimed it was US Airways' fault for not notifying them. The buck is passed so I'll see what the airline says. *sigh*
So how was the trip? Did you meet some great people and have a good time? I remember one trip the missus and I went on to Grand Cayman were we spent the night in the Miami hotel due to a last minute flight change and a delay due to a tornado at another airport, was a great story to tell later and the trip was fantastic all the same.
