Any Thoughts On Song?

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

We'll be flying Song in a 2 months and I'm just looking for any thoughts/feedback/experiences anyone might have had. I know there's been some mass confusion with Delta Express becoming Song and flight changes, etc. But I'm hoping that's all in the past.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by Annie&Hallie'sMom
We'll be flying Song in a 2 months and I'm just looking for any thoughts/feedback/experiences anyone might have had. I know there's been some mass confusion with Delta Express becoming Song and flight changes, etc. But I'm hoping that's all in the past.

We always flew Delta Express out of Logan. We flew Song for our most recent trip that we just returned from a few weeks ago. They fly out of the same gates that Delta Express did. The seats are leather and you can buy food on the plane. The flight down and the flight back were uneventful and took off on time and landed early. The staff was very nice. We will be flying them again out of Logan in less then 120 days for our upcoming Jan 2004 trip.

 

[adamak]

Sorry but I had a much worse experience last week. Our flight from LGA to MCO was 7am, which meant we were at the gate at 6:00am. These clowns at the gate wouldn't stop yelling, and joking over the speakers. They practically were doing a song and dance session for half hour before boarding.

Then when we're on board, they want us to do a singalong. Mind you, this is 6:30am and everyone is not ready for this, even the Disney bunch. (This on a 4pm flight may just be OK). We all just want to sleep. Kids & babies were screaming because of all the noises. Even after taking off, the cabin was too cold, they ran out of blanket, ran out of food, and ran out of coke.

So, all in all, it's just the hype. SONG thinks friendly service = loud jokes and nothing else. SONG has became my worst seat neighbors whom I just cannot shut up.

I'll never fly them again.

 

[buzz5985]

I am flying on 10/11. Delta has called me 3 times in the last week trying to get me to change flights. I had originally had the 7:20 am flight, that was cancelled and moved to 11:20. I asked them what they would give me to change - why nothing, there isn't a problem. We will see. On the flight home they have my 6 yo sitting by himself. I will post when I return to let people know how we made out.

 

[goofy4tink]

We flew Song out of Logan in August. Yes, they did call me and try to get us to change our return flight. Nope, didn't do it. Of course this filled me with dread. But, I would not hesitate to fly them again. I did find their constant banter and cheeriness a little much. I remember telling my dh that if one attendent didn't shut up I was going to throw her overboard!! But, other than that, we found the trip to be quite good. We left on time each way. Some found the plane to be too cold. In fact, they did make an announcement that they were trying to fix it since the pilot was cold!! But, we always dress in many layers when we fly so it wasn't a problem for us.
THe extra leg-room was good for my 6'4" dh. THe seats were comfy. All in all, we had a good experience. Much better than flying Delta Express.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Thanks for the feedback.

The song & dance still will amuse me, but probably annoy my DH. Oh well, maybe I'll just set up the travel Scrabble and get him to ignore it (we're on an early AM flight).

 

[Jcricket Fan]

I had posted a topic the other day that Song cancelled my flights this week so you can imagine that they are not too popular with me!

But emotions aside from this, my take on what I have experienced as I tried to get someone to talk to to help resolve the situation....

Any customer service reps. you get to talk to are Delta employees so they are not really "Song" employees who are taking care of issues, everything is funneled to Delta. It's as if you open a lemonade stand then and your friend wants to open one too but they use your lemonade, your signs, your cash box....so is it really your friends lemonade stand?

I'm not sure in light of this why Delta Express was done away with. I had been flying Delta Express flights for years to Florida... always the same flights nonstop, early am and late back pm making for a perfect trip. Yes, there was no food service but I expected that, nothing fancy just a fairly inexpensive flight at really good times of day.

It was my hope that Song would continue this pattern and we would get newer planes, no food but keep the great nonstop flight schedules and lower priced flights I would be theirs for life.

I had been watching the prices for my flights out of Hartford for months waiting for the price drop which I knew would eventually come...it did and I booked our flights...nonstop early out, late back lower price (in fact less then I paid 2 years ago on Delta Express for the same time frame)

Now they have cancelled my flights (coming & going) with no notification to me so I had to try to find something suitable that works with the rest of my vacation plans...which are fixed and paid for.

Looking at what Song had left for flights my options were very limited...the next earliest flight after the 7:00am flight(which was mine and cancelled) came a 3:00pm getting you in at 6:00pm a whole day lost (especially when I need to drive to Vero Beach for only 1 night then drive back to Beach Club Villas for the rest of the trip)

The flight back also lost you a day when the 6:00pm flight was cancelled leaving you with either a 8:00am or 11:00am return.

The lack of good options is a real problem for me and I would guess for many others also. If the premise of the airline is to provide low cost flights at times that suit their customers they are missing the mark. The Hartford market is not the only market that has been effected by the cancelling of what would be considered "popular flights".

Change for the sake of change has never made much sense to me. Certainly someone must have done a historical review on what works & what doesn't. Delta Express has been handling the low cost good flight times for years...why try to reinvent the wheel at this point.
This being said I do understand the "bottom Line" is everything to companies but if they don't offer what a customer wants within reason (for me that would be a flight time somewhere in the middle of what is left to choose from not 8hrs. off what I originally had to choose from) I am not going to do business with them.

For this trip I decided to stay with Delta but I end up with connecting flights which are not as good as my cancelled Song flights but are a little better then what Song had remaining for flights...so Delta (Song) still gets my money this trip only because Delta would keep the price I paid as they (Song) cancelled my flights.

I have shared my concerns with Song/Delta verbally and in writing. If this was a brand new start up airline I could understand them trying to find their way and make a place for themselves but as far as I am concerned Song is Delta Express... Delta just prettied them up and gave them a new name. If they don't come up with the flights that made me fly with Delta Express in the first place then changing their name and painting their plane green isn't going to get me to be a customer.

I want them to provide what they claim to provide: low cost fares at times that suit their customers. If that is not what they have to offer me then I will not be their customer. It is that simple. I have received a "standard" email back from Song (thank you for writing we will consider what you have to say blah, blah) re: my comments to them about flight times. I do hope that a real person does get back to me I really would like to share the "regular persons" view of what I am after in an airline.

We shall see. I do hope that others will have positive experiences and that they can make this work because in theory what Song wants to provide is what I am after.

Sorry...Long post, Long post! It is never good to ask if I have thoughts on something! Ask my husband how that goes!
Colleen

 

[alexturner74]

Song may have physically replaced Delta Express, but fundamentally, they are completely different. The whole business model is different.

Delta Express was great 3 or 4 years ago, but just can't compete in the current airline environment. There's no way they could have been profitable. In 2002, the average Delta Express one-way fare was at least $20 less than Jet Blue's, and the market wouldn't sustain an increase for that product.

Song is designed to compete directly with Jet Blue, which means you'll have a similar product with comparable fares. The days of Delta Express super cheap fares (on the whole) are gone.

It looks like the early/late flights to/from BDL will be discontinued for about a month and a half until another aircraft is available. This apparently was done so that they could start the early/late BOS flights again, which is probably a bigger market, more economical, and designed to directly compete with Jet Blue's BOS introduction. Anyway, the point is that these things are heavily researched, modeled, forcasted, and so forth. These decisions just aren't made on the fly.

Unfortunately, you just got caught in the middle. You probably would have been contacted eventually, but airlines don't typcally do that until it's within 60 days because additional changes may occur. Remember, you are one of thousands of people that have to be contacted, and generally, it takes time. You're doing the right thing to keep on top of your flights.

 

[Jcricket Fan]

alexturner74 very well put for your thoughts on Song. I must say in no way do I believe that they were trying to punish me personally by taking away my flight...I'm sure someone somewhere thought it was a good business decision!

I don't believe it makes good business sense make these drastic changes on schedules. If they had not provided me other flights at the cost I had already been charged for my cancelled flights I had no intention of staying with a Delta product. Southwest is too available out of the Hartford market and now having to take a connecting flight I would have rather paid the money to another airline.

The Delta flights I am now scheduled on would have cost me over $500.00 if I had to pay at this point. That would not have been an option for my trip and I would have passed Delta by in search for a lower fare.

I like some consistency with a business. When it was Delta Express I always knew the flight I wanted would be offered and it was. As you know the Boston flyers have had this as an issue with Song....first the early/late flights exist, then they don't, now they do. I think it would be safe to assume that these are popular flights in any market and when they are the ones being played around with you are going to upset the buying public.

As far as Song contacting me I did assume that eventually they would contact me but as time goes on my choice of decent flight options lessens...as of today on all the flights I was rescheduled to the planes have filled another 5 to 10 seats in just one days time.

I must be getting old because I just don't care to have to hunt these things down any longer. I give companies less & less opportunites to disappoint me and if Song doesn't get things in order soon I won't even give them a second look. I know I am just one person but if enough people have their plans disrupted, as you say there may be thousands of people they need to contact, how long before the bottom line is effected.

Again, what Song says they want to provide is what I am after too, they just need to follow through on their end.

Happy flying to all

Colleen

 

[PattnFmly]

We are also flying on 10/11, but we've had the 3:05 flight from the beginning. The earlier one was just a tad bit more expensive and although I'd rather be there earlier, I figure we'll get in, check into our cabin and then go grocery shopping. By the time we do that, we'll all be ready for bed and we can start fresh the next morning! I hope I don't get any calls. My day is set .....

 

[EllenJ]

This thread just made me panic. We are flying Song for the first time from BDL on 10/11. When I read about flights being cancelled I freaked out thinking that my flight was cancelled and noboby notified me. I just check Songs website and my flights are still available. Can someone tell me which fights were actually cancelled?
As for the flight attendant situation, I think I will be in the same boat as Annie&ahalliesmom in that it will amuse me but my DH will not enjoy it.
We have always bounced between Delta Express and Southwest when we fly to FL. We would take whichever fit our schedule and pocketbook better. This time around it was Song. I am looking forward to the newer planes but in the grand scheme of things it really comes down to whoever has the best price and times.
I will let you know how it goes when I come back.

 

[Lyncruiser1]

I've flown Song between NY and Orlando several times. I have found them to be pleasant and reliable. I did not find the flight attendants to be overly "happy" -- just pleasant and friendly. I've flown very early in the a.m. on at least two recent flights and no one sang to me or otherwise disturbed me. The seats are very comfortable and the extra legroom is most welcome. The planes are new. The food was tasty and I, for one, liked having the option to purchase food on board. They have Gameboys available for kids' use free of charge. Overall, I like Song a lot and will be flying with them again next month. I also get Delta frequent flyer miles when flying with Song. Most important of all, I take comfort in the fact that Song is operated by Delta with Delta's very experienced employees overseeing safety, mechanical inspections, repairs and the like.

 

[CapeCodFam]

We are also traveling Song from Boston on 10/11 3:05 pm flight. We were originally booked on Delta. In April, we learned Song replaced Delta. I called Song and they re-issued our tickets. If I hadn't called when I did, I fear we would have been dispersed about the plane. (3 children). Flights down and back are booked solid...

We are nervously hoping our seats assignments won't get changed at check-in. Has anyone done curb-side check-in? It sounds easier than waiting in traditional line...

 

[alexturner74]

Originally posted by EllenJ
Can someone tell me which fights were actually cancelled?

BDL-MCO

Flight 2561, departs 7:00 AM from BDL, has been discontinued beginning 12/12, but will be back on 1/31.

Flight 2564, departs 6:15 PM from MCO, has been discontinued beginning 12/11, but will be back on 1/31.

 

[alexturner74]

Originally posted by Jcricket Fan
alexturner74 very well put for your thoughts on Song.

I don't believe it makes good business sense make these drastic changes on schedules.

Thanks...

I agree with you on the changes, but unfortunately, sometimes they have to make difficult decisions. Song's schedule will become more stable in the long run. In the interim however, it may continue to be bumpy. They've been trying to add aircraft to their fleet as fast as possible, and soon, will be taking aircraft out of rotation one at a time to install the tv's in the seats.

 

[seashoreCM]

I have had Delta Express flights cancelled out from under me, even pretty full flights.

Only by checking back every now and then was I able to catch it quickly and Delta was nice enough to put me on flights reasonably close in time.

 

[goofy4tink]

We booked our flights with Delta, for our just past trip in August, late Sept ('02). Got nice early a.m. flights. From Boston to ORlando. Then, the change to Song came along. Yep, my seats got changed. Now, did anyone call me to tell me this? No. I found out on-line since I check daily when I have flights booked! Long story short.....my flight down changed 3 times. I found the Song people extremely nice to work with. They did everything in their power to get me what I needed. Would I have liked the 7 a.m. flight back? Sure. But I didn't think they would do that for me.
We weren't given the option of using GameBoys in August. The Song web-site does say that they have them but not on our flight. The one thing I do miss tho, are the pillows. I think I'll just have to buy my own travel pillow. But, we liked Song a lot. I'm sure that when everything gets shaken out, so to speak, all will be terrific. Especially when JetBlue moves in. Nothing like a little friendly competition!!
As far as curb-side check-in goes, we used the electronic kiosks inside. They were a breeze. There were some people having a problem but it was mostly folks who may not be used to computer type stuff. Even I could use it!!
I also wouldn't be too concerned about your seat assignments. If you get to the airport early and get checked in then you'll be fine. We always get there waaaay to early but then we can just sit back and relax and watch the frantic families who have left about 30 minutes to spare!!!

 

[Armadillo4]

I'm on the West Coast and will be flying Song from LAX to MCO next Saturday (Oct. 18). I'm looking forward to it! Although I've been double-checking with them to make sure the flight hasn't changed, based on the posts here. So far, so good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. And I'm very curious at how out-going and "friendly" the flight staff will be. Hopefully they'll kick-start our vacation on the right note.

-Carlos

 

[lsyorke]

I recently needed to book a flight for DH for November to MCO.(I realize this is a short notice time frame) We have always flown Delta Express in the past. This time when I did the internet search the flights were horrible times. You had the choice of 7:00am or 2:05pm departure from Newark. If you wanted anything else the price went up to $305.00-$485.00!! The amazing part is this price difference was for the same outgoing and returning flights depending on how you searched for information.
Long story short booked Continental for noon flight going and returning, non stop for $240.00 r/t.
I e-mailed Delta to see if the future flights would have better times on non stop flights and was basically told that other times are available if you pay the higher prices!!
Continental here I come!!

 

[smvdelv]

once in August and just last week, and both trips were great.
We flew out of Boston both trips. The crew was wonderful - friendly, funny, and very eager to please.
I am very happy with this "takeover" and have had my faith restored in Delta!