Q. When I booked my ticket in winter, my return flight had me changing planes in Denver and arriving home in Phoenix at 6:30 pm. Since then, the airline has changed my itinerary twice, and I don't get home until 10:30 pm. I really don't want to return that late. And if I want to change my flight time, I have to pay a stupid fee. How can they make such drastic changes and not have to compensate me in some form? Do I have any recourse?
A. Unfortunately, there are no real penalties for airlines when they change your itinerary. You can ask for a refund and try to rebook your trip (but at this point, that may end up being more expensive.) You can also find out if your original flight is still scheduled and insist (ever so politely, of course!) that they put you back on it.