You might be enjoying a long weekend but I wanted to call this to your attention.
Today is Saturday and, at least in Delta Air Lines World, that means schedule changes. This is colloquially known as “Schedule Change Saturday.”
What Can Happen During a Schedule Change?
Here is what might change during Schedule Change Saturdays:
- Flight departure days
- Though, this is fairly uncommon
- Flight departure and arrival times
- Aircraft
- Seat assignments
- That great seat you picked might not be there anymore
I know people who diligently check their flight reservations each week to ensure they’re on top of any changes made and then amend whatever needs fixing. (More on that in a minute.)
I also know people who book flights and don’t look at them until a couple of days before their trip — only to discover surprises that throw everything into chaos and panic.
To their credit, Delta has improved when it comes to alerting passengers about schedule changes. I received an email from Delta early last Saturday morning. They told me one of my trips was affected several hours by a schedule change.
But it’s still important to keep an eye on your itineraries.
How I Used the Schedule Change to My Advantage Last Weekend
I’m heading to the Midwest several times during the next few months. One of those trips is for work and the return trip’s departure and arrival times were actually moved up by two hours. (Hey, good for me: I get home sooner than normally expected!)
However, you can use opportunities like this to change departing and arriving airports when you’re in markets with multiple airports. For example, my return flight home was scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on a busy weekend night. I used this opportunity to switch that to the significantly less hell-ish and (closer to my house) Hollywood-Burbank Airport (BUR). I went into the Fly Delta app, select “Change My Flight” (or whatever it is), and found a trip home to Burbank. I changed to that for no additional fee.
But if you live in, say, New York, you could change from JFK to LaGuardia and vice versa. Chicagoans: switch from O’Hare to Midway (if that’s more convenient).
You get the point.
You might be able to change your departure and arrival dates to your advantage.
Final Approach
Airline schedules are always subject to change. Saturday is generally when Delta’s schedule changes come down. Make sure to keep an eye on your itineraries — and use the schedule changes to your advantage when possible!
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Yesterday I had a flight from LaGuardia that was canceled when I checked first thing in the morning (5 AM). Flight from origin to LaGuardia was fine which my girlfriend and I were supposed to be on at 7 AM.
As this was a companion ticket flight, I ended up calling Delta and they got us an alternate flight to a different airport (and going through Atlanta, which I prefer over LaGuardia). Otherwise we would have been flying today and only would have had a day to visit family instead of 2.
Glad I’m diligent about checking flights otherwise we would have been screwed out of money and time.
Congratulations on making that work to your benefit.