Anyone flown Delta lately - or carriers other than SW??

[Avery&Todd]

So we're a SW kinda family - I have a ton of points and DH is my CP which means he's free, so we like the idea of flying for "free" and we don't mind that there are no assigned seats. And no bag fees is a plus!

It's KILLING me that they over the last 6 months they're really moving around their flight schedules. I'm contemplating booking some Delta flights for our trip coming up in November that are out now, but I'm wondering what others have experienced with Delta changing their flights schedules over the last few months.

They have direct flights down there and back that would be PERFECT but it would come at a cost of $663.....

I feel as if I'm starting to panic by looking at SW's flight schedule that is happening now (and over the next few months) and assuming that it will be the same for after November 6th when their next flight schedule comes out - I only have to wait until June 10th for the next set of flights to be released...obviously I'm not very patient...

I'm trying to look at this "glass half full" by thinking that over the next 5 months even more folks will be traveling than are right now so maybe they'll have better flight times available?

So, for those that don't fly SW - what have been your experiences with your flights to MCO being changed??

Thanks!

 

[FCDub]

Every single airline has flight changes. I'm sure if you do a search for Delta on here, you'll see people complaining their Delta flights have been changed.

That said, if I could fly free on SW (and I generally do), I don't bother with other airlines unless the SW flights are VERY unappealing.

 

[rainyvegandisney]

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[FCDub]

Flights get cancelled when there is insufficient demand. Demand is expected to exceed 2019 levels. I would not worry about a flight to a major destination like Orlando being cancelled.

I think OP is more concerned about flights changing, not being canceled.

 

[Avery&Todd]

I think OP is more concerned about flights changing, not being canceled.

Yes - we flew from home to MCO 3 times over the last 6 months and was very frustrated with SW's continued changing of flight times up until a few weeks prior to departure - and I get that travel has been sketchy since COVID.

What I was trying to find out was if other airlines had been doing the same changes to their schedules or if SW was the winner of # of changes for a route since they have a more flexible change policy or if I booked with another airline that I would be more guaranteed for that flight time to not change.

That's all.

and I did use the search button and looked for Delta, but didnt find what I was looking for...

 

[Bjkandma]

We always book Delta. Booked our trip in February for August, 2021. When we book that far out, our flight numbers and planes change. Its been changed for weeks now. Time wise our flight will leave for Florida 10 minutes earlier and depart MCO 10 minutes later. We just needed to notify Magical Express of change in flight numbers.

Our flights have always been non stop and new flights are non stop. Might be a little more expensive, but their customer service can't be beat. (I'm handicap and rely on their services throughout the airports)

 

[sam_gordon]

As already said, most airlines will change their schedules. The further out you book, the more likely you will have a time change (no guarantee though). However, you can use that to your advantage. Book a not so desirable (but cheaper) flight. When (probably) they change the flight "enough" (varies by airline), you can change to the flight you REALLY wanted (but couldn't afford) and not pay any more.

 

[Avery&Todd]

We always book Delta. Booked our trip in February for August, 2021. When we book that far out, our flight numbers and planes change. Its been changed for weeks now. Time wise our flight will leave for Florida 10 minutes earlier and depart MCO 10 minutes later. We just needed to notify Magical Express of change in flight numbers.

Our flights have always been non stop and new flights are non stop. Might be a little more expensive, but their customer service can't be beat. (I'm handicap and rely on their services throughout the airports)

THANK YOU!

and I can cut down the price of our $663 flights to $502 if I just have us sit in regular seats and not upgrade us to exit row - for a 1 hr 45 min flight, my DH can be squished!

 

[spiders]

I generally stick with Delta unless they are significantly more expensive but I also fly out of Atlanta. I also booked flights to Orlando in November. Southwest, Delta, Frontier, Spirit & JetBlue all fly Atlanta-Orlando non-stop. Like many other major destinations, though -- Delta flies just about every hour so any flight change is pretty easy.

 

[Cheburashka]

Our experience has been that JetBlue keeps relatively consistent schedules, in comparison to most other airlines.

 

[EACarlson]

What airport are you flying out of?

I booked Delta out of Minneapolis in January 2019 for a trip in December 2019. Both my inbound and outbound flights were changed enough that I managed to change my flights at no additional cost to the first nonstop of the day. I've flown down twice and my wife has flown once out of each Milwaukee and Chicago on Southwest in the last year. We had some minor changes, but nothing more than an hour. I expect fewer changes now that load levels are picking up than what we've had the last few months.

If you are planning on flying around Thanksgiving I would look very carefully at the operational issues Delta has had the last few holidays, Christmas, New Years, Easter.

 

[Avery&Todd]

What airport are you flying out of?

I booked Delta out of Minneapolis in January 2019 for a trip in December 2019. Both my inbound and outbound flights were changed enough that I managed to change my flights at no additional cost to the first nonstop of the day. I've flown down twice and my wife has flown once out of each Milwaukee and Chicago on Southwest in the last year. We had some minor changes, but nothing more than an hour. I expect fewer changes now that load levels are picking up than what we've had the last few months.

If you are planning on flying around Thanksgiving I would look very carefully at the operational issues Delta has had the last few holidays, Christmas, New Years, Easter.

thanks! we're flying RDU - MCO and going Nov 10-14th....

it is a holiday but not a major one..

 

[Dis703]

I mainly only fly Frontier as of the past few years. For the most part, any changes have been minimal. Such as leaving 15 minutes earlier or later. I've only had one cancellation and that was recent and it was because the entire Orlando airport shut down for thunderstorms the evening of our arrival.

During the earlier days of COVID changes and cancellations were happening a lot more frequently usually for mid week flights that weren't as popular. But outside of that it's not been an issue for me and between myself and my boyfriend we fly them in and out of Orlando at least 10 times a year.

 

[KPeterso]

Delta has quickly become my airline of choice. I even got the Delta AMEX to use for my flights to get more reward points for flights and the free bag. Right now I am stalking the airfare for my Sept/Oct trip. I usually do not buy until about 2 months out as prices usually drop around then. Buying closer to the trip date cuts down on the schedule changes a bit. My most recent flights on Delta were in March (5 & 12) and I bought the airfare 1/28 when it dropped in a price. The outbound flight changed to about 30 minutes earlier (I expected it as I had noticed it was changing for the week or 2 before mine changed) about a week after I booked. I don't recall the return flight changing but if it did, it was again only a small change.

 

[LadybugsMum]

thanks! we're flying RDU - MCO and going Nov 10-14th....

it is a holiday but not a major one..

RDU is my home airport as well. We flew down in April using Delta and they didn't cancel any flights, but our flight home changed by 20 minutes. I originally had flights on SW, but decided to cancel since SW wasn't keeping the middle seats open any more and Delta was at that time. Before I canceled our SW flights, they had already reduced the schedule from 3 direct flights down to 1 each direction.

I'm carefully watching Delta and waiting for SW to update their schedule for early Dec as we have another trip planned then. We will only go if my kids can be vaccinated by that time (they're under age 12).

I will not fly Spirit or Frontier as I don't want to be nickel and dimed to death. With Delta, I did have to pay for one checked bag but otherwise we carried everything else on with us.

 

[kda]

I, too, have experienced that all airlines can change flight times. SWA has been the most stable, over the years. Recently, Jet Blue has dropped flights and changed times by several hours (this turned out to be a good thing, with much more favorable flight times for us). Delta has also changed flight times by a few hours or minutes for our June flight. It varies.

 

[Avery&Todd]

RDU is my home airport as well. We flew down in April using Delta and they didn't cancel any flights, but our flight home changed by 20 minutes. I originally had flights on SW, but decided to cancel since SW wasn't keeping the middle seats open any more and Delta was at that time. Before I canceled our SW flights, they had already reduced the schedule from 3 direct flights down to 1 each direction.

I'm carefully watching Delta and waiting for SW to update their schedule for early Dec as we have another trip planned then. We will only go if my kids can be vaccinated by that time (they're under age 12).

I will not fly Spirit or Frontier as I don't want to be nickel and dimed to death. With Delta, I did have to pay for one checked bag but otherwise we carried everything else on with us.

Yeah, the SW flights out of RDU have been OK but since our Nov trip is such a quick one (at least to us) with only 4 nights and arrival day is considered as a "park day" I just hate the idea of not even landing until 12:30...which means we may not be in Epcot until 3pm....

but on the flip side, is it worth it to me to pay $500 for flights just so I can land 4 hrs earlier?

I mean, I know this is my "first world problem" question and I feel bad asking it but....

I think I'm just going to stalk Delta and SW and see what SW's schedule is when it comes out...

do we know if I can cancel the Delta flights if I like the SW times better or they're just no as bad??

thanks for your feedback!