One benefit of booking flights several months early is that there may be a schedule change. When an airline changes the schedule you may have options which includes cancelling the flight altogether or choosing a schedule that is more favorable.
Different airlines have different rules and The Points Guy has an excellent article which I encourage you to reference anytime you find yourself with an undesirable schedule change.
My Original Flight
In June 2018 I booked a one-way revenue flight on American Airlines from San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) to Boise, Idaho (BOI) for my brother and I. We are taking a Southern Caribbean cruise and this will be our flight home in early February 2019.
3 Connections
The one-way economy flight cost $202 each and had 3 connections: Miami, Chicago, and Phoenix.
The SJU departure was 9:20am and the BOI arrival was 11:18pm.
Although I did not like this itinerary, I did like the price. I chose an mid-morning departure so that we could enjoy breakfast at the hotel and visit the Avianca Lounge.
American Airline’s Schedule Change
I received an email from American Airlines notifying me that the schedule had changed affecting the first flight (only). Instead of departing at 9:20am, the new scheduled departed was moved up to 7:40am. With this schedule we wouldn’t have time for breakfast at the hotel nor time to visit the Avianca Lounge although .
The departure change was 1 hour and 40 minutes. So I called American Airlines and presented the schedule that I would like.
My Preferred Schedule Change
I searched aa.com for one-way flights from SJU > BOI on the same day and sorted by departure time. I wanted to find A) a flight that departed around the same time (or later), and B) still arrived in Boise the same day.
My Preferred Schedule
This is schedule has only one connection and although it is over 3 hours, there is a Priority Pass lounge, The Club at DFW, which we’ll be able to visit. This also provided and nice buffer in case the SJU > DFW flight is delayed. Even better, we arrive in Boise early evening (6:54pm) rather than very late (11:18pm).
I called AA, reached a representative, gave her the flight numbers, and she made the schedule change while I was on the phone. It was that simple. If I were to make this reservation today it would cost $755 each (the original reservation was $202), but because of their schedule change I was able to change to a more desirable (and expensive) schedule for no charge.
My new schedule
Bottom Line
When I originally booked this flight I was hoping there would be a schedule change, and there was. Changing the schedule took a phone call and there was no change fees. It is worth paying attention to emails from the airlines and also logging in and checking the trip periodically so that you can catch the changes early.