Am I safe to book on Delta for our November trip re: bankruptcy

[wildaboutmickey]

Delta has the best rate for our November trip...but am nervous about the finacial situation their in. What happens if I book, and they go bankrupt? Is it possible Delta will pull through?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Delta filed for bankruptcy protection in Sept 2005 and they are still flying. If I saw a good fare on Delta, I would book it.

 

[debster812]

I've flown with Delta 3 times since they filed for bankruptcy protection.

I've booked them again for February 2008.

 

[newholidayx2]

so what did you find for nov airfare? out of where? boston
i need to book for nov - have apr and aug airfare already - thanks

 

[emerymt]

We've also flown Delta during their bankruptcy. If you are really worried, get paper tickets, not e-tickets. They are easier to take to another airline and beg for a credit than an E-ticket, because if Delta goes down, it's not like the computers will be running. But, another airline will only have pity on you if you are already on your trip, and maybe not even then.

I personally wouldn't pay extra to get a paper ticket, but I did get it done once when we laid out really big bucks for a tropical vacation. The ticket agent didn't charge me anything, though they can.

Also, I believe if you charge your ticket, and the airline goes bankrupt within 60 days, you can file a claim with your credit card company. Basically, it falls under their warranty program.

Now, having said all this, I have flown Delta lots of times with them in bankruptcy, and didn't do any of that.

 

[CarolA]

We've also flown Delta during their bankruptcy. If you are really worried, get paper tickets, not e-tickets. They are easier to take to another airline and beg for a credit than an E-ticket, because if Delta goes down, it's not like the computers will be running. But, another airline will only have pity on you if you are already on your trip, and maybe not even then.

I personally wouldn't pay extra to get a paper ticket, but I did get it done once when we laid out really big bucks for a tropical vacation. The ticket agent didn't charge me anything, though they can.

Also, I believe if you charge your ticket, and the airline goes bankrupt within 60 days, you can file a claim with your credit card company. Basically, it falls under their warranty program.

Now, having said all this, I have flown Delta lots of times with them in bankruptcy, and didn't do any of that.

Ah the "paper ticket" myth.

1. Paper tickets will cost you money and if lost will cost you MORE money (DL will charge you at least $10 for the ticket and $10 for the phone booking, paper tickets cannot be booked online. DL's cheapest fares may not be available to the phone agents)
2. You cannot just "walk" the ticket over to another airline and hop on board LOL! In most cases the original airline (DL) has to "write you over" to the other airline so you are STILL going to call/stand in line/etc.
3. Even with a paper ticket I am pretty sure that right now there is no requirement for any other airline to honor tickets on an airline that shuts down. (The legislative requirement expired I think) If an airline flies you on a ticket from a carrier that has shut down it's going to be for the PR effect, not the paper ticket, they have no hope of money either. (See Independence Air LOL!)

Delta has filed a plan to emerge from bankrutpcy. I would not bother to deal with the paper tickets for the SMALL (if any) amout of "protection" they give you.

 

[emerymt]

Carol-
I did not advocate any of the points you debunked regarding the paper ticket "myth", did I? So if there's anyone spreading misinformation, it isn't me. Furthermore, I don't appreciate your implying that I did, by quoting me and then going on about the paper ticket "myth".

I took the e-ticket in to the airport (it's literally 5 min. from my house) and got the exchange done free. For all I know, I might have known the ticket agent. I wanted it so I could throw myself upon the mercy of the airlines at my destination if I needed to, which, gratefully, I didn't.

 

[safetymom]

Delta has filed papers as CarolA mentioned to come out of bankruptcy. I have flown them a lot with no problems.

 

[CarolA]

Carol-
I did not advocate any of the points you debunked regarding the paper ticket "myth", did I? So if there's anyone spreading misinformation, it isn't me. Furthermore, I don't appreciate your implying that I did, by quoting me and then going on about the paper ticket "myth".

I took the e-ticket in to the airport (it's literally 5 min. from my house) and got the exchange done free. For all I know, I might have known the ticket agent. I wanted it so I could throw myself upon the mercy of the airlines at my destination if I needed to, which, gratefully, I didn't.

You implied that the paper ticket would be easier to deal with in the event of a crisis. That's a common misconception, sorry you didn't like my response, but the truth is it's really very little assistance. (You were lucky that the airline did NOT charge you. Almost all of them now charge for ANY paper ticket no matter where they give it to you.) It would not really have helped you much had you had to "throw yourself upon the mercy of the airlines" The truth is that even if they WANTED to most airlines do not have any capacity to deal with "shutdown" of one of thier competetiors. (Look around you next time you fly, where would those passengers go? Notice that it took about four days for some fliers at MCO during the last winter storm to get on the "next avaialble" flight home.... )

 

[emerymt]

Sorry, Carol, I didn't imply anything of the kind. I said "another airline will have pity on you only if you are in the middle of your trip, and maybe not even then." And I went on to say that I wouldn't pay for a paper ticket, and wouldn't hesitate to fly Delta.

What you did was set up a "strawman" argument (weak points wrongly attributed to someone else that can then be easily knocked down) to make yourself look knowledgeable. It's unnecessary to knock another's post to prove a point, especially when the point you're proving is the same one!

 

[safetymom]

You will find that CarolA is very helpful here on the transportation board. She did explain herself and she does travel quite a bit so many of us respect her opinion.

 

[emerymt]

You will find that CarolA is very helpful here on the transportation board. She did explain herself and she does travel quite a bit so many of us respect her opinion.

Yes, well Carol and I have the same opinion on this topic, don't we? I do not like to be accused of spreading "myths" when all I did was mention the existence of the mythical creature- and why I wouldn't put much faith in it

 

[DISNEYDUET]

I've flown with Delta 3 times since they filed for bankruptcy protection.

Same here. We are flying them in May and then in January with no problems.

 

[emerymt]

wildaboutmickey-

Here you go:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,261620,00.html

Get those tickets while the gettin's good!

 

[boomhauer]

Just to give the OP the whole picture, one of the issues alot of people have complained about with Delta is their habit of changing flights on passengers.

For example, a friend of mine is flying from Boston to Florida in May. On the return flight, he had a layover in Virginia (for some odd reason). Anyways, Delta cancelled his original flight and rebooked him on another flight which would put him into Virginia AFTER his connecting flight departs.

I always flew Delta in the past, but when they first changed one of my flights, I stopped. I don't like that they do that. They charge you $100 to change your flight with them, but if they change your flight, it's all fine and dandy. That irks me a bit.

 

[emerymt]

Yes, there is a thread dedicated to that very topic right now.....

 

[debster812]

I always flew Delta in the past, but when they first changed one of my flights, I stopped. I don't like that they do that. They charge you $100 to change your flight with them, but if they change your flight, it's all fine and dandy. That irks me a bit.

Then you probably should not fly any of the legacy carriers either. I've had this happen to me on virtually every airline I've flown, with the rare exception of maybe SWA and JetBlue. (and even then, I've seen some JB changes).

 

[boomhauer]

Then you probably should not fly any of the legacy carriers either. I've had this happen to me on virtually every airline I've flown, with the rare exception of maybe SWA and JetBlue. (and even then, I've seen some JB changes).

That's why I fly SWA and Jet Blue - Never happened to me on either of those 2.

Well, that and the fact that they're less expensive.