The American Airlines return flights from Lima to Omaha start with a red-eye, which is potentially tiring enough. But most flights from South America to the U.S. leave late at night. And, the fare, a discount business class, was excellent.
When my client got to the airport, he was told the 11:05 p.m. flight was delayed about three hours. So, he would miss his connection in Miami, and then onward via Chicago to Omaha. This meant his connecting flights had to be rebooked and he would arrive about four hours later than expected. The airport agents, who were contractors working for American, told him that was the only option. So he emailed me, saying “I don’t suppose there’s anything that can be done.”
Now, any travel agent is lying if he/she says she likes late-night emails. We don’t. But it’s a service industry, and fixing problems is one way to create very loyal clients.
In any case, looking at the flights, there were indeed no other late options back to the U.S. However, since some red-eyes leave very, very early in the morning, I checked after midnight; lo and behold, there was a 1:05 a.m. flight from Lima to Dallas, which connected on with a single flight to Omaha. Plus, it had some business class seats available.
Upon looking a little closer, it appeared the 1:05 a.m. flight was also delayed, so it would probably misconnect to the Dallas-Omaha flight. But there was a later Dallas-Omaha flight that would still get him in about 10 minutes earlier than the flights he had been rebooked on. Moreover, the Dallas connection would give him one longer flight to start off, and a better chance to sleep.
Unfortunately, he had already checked in, giving control of the ticket to the airline, so while as a travel agent I couldn’t actually reissue it myself, I was able to book him on the Dallas flight, and armed with that information he got an American phone agent to change the ticket.
He then cheerfully reported that the American agent hadn’t even thought of the after- midnight option, and was also surprised to see that it was late. “You know more than they do.”
Well, not exactly, but I know where to look.
And yes, experienced travel agents often can be more creative than an airline agent. After a while, agents get to know when flights leave major cities, and what routings might be possible, although experienced travelers can probably do the same sort of research for themselves. The “after-midnight” thing comes up in some form relatively frequently.
In theory, a reservations system should know when you ask for a flight — say, after 10 p.m. — that very early morning flights should be an option. But, we are not talking modern technology. I routinely take red-eyes myself from San Francisco, and I have to remember that even asking for a flight at 11:30 p.m. will not bring up a 12:30 a.m. flight. Seriously.
The takeaway here is simple: if passengers are looking to fly late at night, always check early the next day, if for no other reason than to be aware of the possibilities — or the lack of possibilities — that may be available. For whatever reason, while many West Coast cities and even Denver have flights leaving between midnight and 1 a.m. to varying destinations, such flights almost never depart from east to west (although sometimes there are early morning flights from the West Coast to Asia).
In some cases, even a 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. flight might be a better option than a very delayed red-eye. You never know. Remember, an airline agent’s job, either on the phone or in person, is not so much to make you happy as to get you taken care of and move on to the next person. It never hurts to ask.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
