Delta did it again! *rant*

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

Since booking our September trip in April, Delta has now changed our flight times (and some flight numbers) three times now! I have been checking our itinerary every couple of weeks, and last night....new times again! Every time this happens, I have to call them to get our seats re-assigned. I asked last night if this was the norm, and was told "yes, and we do not notify you of changes until it is closer to your date of travel." We now have gone from 1 1/4 hour layover in ATL to 2 1/2 !! We should have driven to Buffalo and booked a direct SWA flight instead.

 

[tkldisney]

I'm right there with you. We are lucky enough to live close to CVG (1 hr.) & DAY (45 min) which both offer non-stop to Orlando.

 

[bicker]

Yup, that's perfectly normal, especially the first half of the 11 months between the time they start letting you book flights and the date of the flight (the time period when some other airlines, like Southwest and JetBlue won't even allow you to book flights).

 

[ttfn3]

We had the same thing happen to us when we purchased our March spring break tickets to Orlando waaaayyyy in advance. Recently, I used some travel vouchers to purchase tickets to Tampa. According to the Delta rep at the airport, Orlando flights are changed frequently. Tampa flights usually do not change out of our airport. I'm beginning to wonder if I should use Tampa in the future when I book flights way in advance.

 

[emlutz23]

This happend to us too. I originally booked a non-stop from Columbus OH to MCO with a departure time of 7:20am which got us in nice and early! Then they changed it to 8:00am! Only 40 minute difference, but we're only staying 4 nights this trip and every minute counts! I just heard back from Orbitz (booked it through them) and it's been changed back to the original departure time of 7:20am. I'm wondering if Delta thought they could sell more seats with an 8:00 am departure time and then changed it back when it was full.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Grr! Mine too, and my seatss how as unassigned. Hate that! Called and we still have our same exit row seats (for now). I wish we had gone with SWA, but the departure time is so much better for us. The price has gone down too, but with their $50 rebooking fee, eats up the savings

 

[loriandave]

I have had to rebook my flight when delta changed departure times in the past and did it without an extra fee. I doubt they would do it for a few minutes difference but, I found firmly, but politely, telling them that they are going to rebook my flight because THEY changed the flight time worked just fine. I managed to refrain from replying "dam* straight" when they mentioned without prompting they were waiving the fee.

 

[tomorrowland]

After reading this thread, it prompted me to check my flight information on the web site. We had booked a non stop flight and were changed to a flight with a connection which makes us arrive 3 hours later. I have been on the phone with Delta 3 times today.

I called customer service and they changed my flight so that we could leave from a different airport that has a non stop flight (for now anyway). The only problem with the new flight is that none of our seats are actually together. This would not be a problem if it were not for traveling with a 4 year old on her first flight. I'm beginning to think we should have driven.

The customer service rep has assured me that normally they block off the two seats on the front row that are together until 2 hours before the flight. I was told that if we arrived two hours before the flight we should be able to get those seats. Please send pixie dust.

 

[Zane_Anthony]

Since booking our September trip in April, Delta has now changed our flight times (and some flight numbers) three times now! I have been checking our itinerary every couple of weeks, and last night....new times again! Every time this happens, I have to call them to get our seats re-assigned. I asked last night if this was the norm, and was told "yes, and we do not notify you of changes until it is closer to your date of travel." We now have gone from 1 1/4 hour layover in ATL to 2 1/2 !! We should have driven to Buffalo and booked a direct SWA flight instead.

If you wasn't in NY I would have sworn we were on the same flight!!! My Sept 28th and Oct 7th flights have been changed 3 times as well. Once I was on the phone 1 1/2 hrs trying to get my seats assigned!

 

[magicaldisney]

Unfortunately, this is the norm. You can feel good though knowing that this is not just Delta. It is a common practice with many airlines.

 

[emilyclaire]

Same here, as I discovered today. Not only did they change my flight number and times, but when I clicked on the flight number, they didn't even have my cities right! It said I was flying from Madison to Cincinnati to Savannah. And I'm flying Nashville to Orlando!! I called and explained this to one rep, and she told me not to worry about what it said when I clicked on the flight number, just go by the itinerary. Well, I took her word for it, but went back to the regular flight schedule page for that date, and saw that the Nashville to Orlando flight at those times was a COMPLETELY different flight number than the one on my itinerary. So I called again, explained again, and was told that yes, they had made a mistake and I was perfectly right in being concerned.

Moral of the story: Click on the flight numbers they give you in your itinerary, and it will tell you the departure city and arrival city. If they don't match up to the ones on your itinerary, check the whole flight schedule for that date. See if the flight numbers match up. If not, give them a call!! If they tell you you're crazy, be persistent.

This is my 3rd bad experience with Delta and I truly despise them. They were just the only ones this time that could get me to Orlando before noon.

 

[disney4me4ever]

These are trying times, aren't they? This happened to us with Delta the last couple of flights we took, so for our last trip, I booked Midwest Express. Everything was great til about a month before our trip. You guessed it! Cancelled our flight, made the "new" arrangements, lost our seat assignment so that we couldn't even sit by each other. I'm calling for ressies today for our spring trip. This should be interesting.....

 

[disneyfreakmike]

Unfortunately, that certainly seems to be the consensous with everyone. I've yet to hear a hooray for Delta!
We used them for the first (and last) time in June. Just a word of warning...check your departure before you leave home. Our flight was cancelled and no one bothered to even call us. I just happened to check online before we left for the airport!

Good luck, i'll pray for ya!

 

[maxiesmom]

United has changed my flights 3 times, and I don't leave for Florida until October. I haven't even bothered to give my Dreams agent my flight info yet. I'm sure it will change again before I go. The last flight change had my plane leaving Chicago before the flight into Chicago is scheduled to land!

It is a little frustrating to have to keep checking on your flights, but to me it is not such a big deal. You can't really do anything about it, so why stress? I am just doing my best to stay on top of it and take care of any problems as they pop up.

 

[mandy200587]

I went through about 4 changes, we booked in November and left in June. I would of given anything for a longer layover in ALT cause we got a late start and had to rush to get to our connecting flight.

 

[rsschneck]

I love Delta and all their schedule changes. It has worked to our advantage more than once. Tonight I checked our October flights (I just made 2 weeks ago). We had used FF miles and were flying into Orlando but had to drive to Tampa because that was all that was available. Well, the flight changes were so drastic that I was able to talk the re-issue desk reservations agent into changing our return flight to allow us to leave from Orlando instead of Tampa. So, we just saved ourselves the cost of a one-way car rental, gas and time.

Now if we have another schedule change maybe we can get an even later flight out of Orlando!

Delta is notorious for schedule changes! The key is to be nice, patient and know what you are wanting before you talk to the agent.

 

[Charleyann]

I love Delta and all their schedule changes. It has worked to our advantage more than once. Tonight I checked our October flights (I just made 2 weeks ago). We had used FF miles and were flying into Orlando but had to drive to Tampa because that was all that was available. Well, the flight changes were so drastic that I was able to talk the re-issue desk reservations agent into changing our return flight to allow us to leave from Orlando instead of Tampa. So, we just saved ourselves the cost of a one-way car rental, gas and time.

Now if we have another schedule change maybe we can get an even later flight out of Orlando!

Delta is notorious for schedule changes! The key is to be nice, patient and know what you are wanting before you talk to the agent.

I want to stay an extra day. Need to wait for flight change to make that happen for no dollars. I booked in February for Christmas trip in Dec and it hasn't changed once!

Charleyann

 

[tkldisney]

I did my morning check yesterday and yep they changed our Nov. trip..again.
We were suppose to arrive MCO at 9:30 (they took flt off schedule.) now we don't leave CVG until 9:00. It's non-stop, but with food & wine festival, and most of the special events like vertical tastings, cheese & wine parings, were on Sat. afternoons in '06. We want to try one of these. I know it's not til Nov. so I expect another flt change. Once the F&W schedule comes out that will help.