Clark Howard advice Re: DELTA AIR LINES

[triplefigs]

Clark Howard is a nationally syndicated Consumer Radio Personality who is based out of Atlanta. He thinks there will be a major sale on Delta, especially International flights, in the next week to 10 days now that the Pilots have reached a tentative agreement in ending the strike. He says so many people cancelled Spring and Summer flights, that Delta needs passengers.

He also says if you have Delta Sky Miles to cash them in NOW. If Delta doesn't make it out of bankruptcy, those miles may be completely useless.

Here is the link to the news clip on Atlanta TV.

 

[owtrbnks]

Everybody's got an opinion on this topic. (I'll wait for the official news on Monday.) Got Delta Tix for 4/22.

 

[zippeedee]

I was just looking at flights from Boston to MCO in late Sept and Delta is cheaper than Jet Blue. I was wondering if they were trying to boost sales. Their prices were outrageous a few weeks ago. Good luck using those miles, everything that didn't have two stops was 50,000 miles.

 

[ducklite]

I faced a similar situation to many Delta passengers when things were looking gloomy for US Air a few years back.

This is what I did. First, I had a lot of FF miles--over 100,000 of them. I used miles to upgrade three tickets to first class seats for tickets I had paid cash for. It didn't use up all of them, but I figured it was better than losing everything.

As things became more ominous, I began booking another carrier for trips that I HAD to take, and used up the rest of the miles on another trip that I WANTED to take. Once US actually entered bankruptcy, I bought deeply discounted tickets for trips I WANTED to take that were coming up in the next 2-4 weeks. At the time I was living in NJ, and I would fly to my Florida home every weekend, because at under or around $100 r/t I simply couldn't turn it down, and at that price, I wasn't going to be out a huge amount of money if they folded.

Bottom line, until they are out of bankruptcy, use some common sense. You don't want to buy those $200 r/t tickets for your family of five from Denver for your Christmas trip, unless you are willing to lose the $1000 if things don't work out. Yes, another carrier would have to transport you for $25 each, but getting seats on another carriers flight at Christmas time might prove to be next to impossible, and it's too far to drive.

On the other hand, if they are offering $80 r/t from Atlanta and you think it's a great opportunity to squeeze in an extra trip in mid September, I agree, it's worth taking that chance, because getting on another carrier's flight wouldn't be terribly difficult that time of the year, and driving is always an option.

Anne

 

[disneytraveler]

Hmm i am wondering what to do with the delta ticket i have bought in Oct last year for this summer in September. I made a back up plan to get Jetblue
ticket now. So now i have 2 tickets for wdw. I was thinking of cancelling one.

 

[CarolA]

Hmm i am wondering what to do with the delta ticket i have bought in Oct last year for this summer in September. I made a back up plan to get Jetblue
ticket now. So now i have 2 tickets for wdw. I was thinking of cancelling one.

This is why I kept advising folks to wait....

I would probably consider using the DL ticket and canceling JetBlue. Not sure how it works on JetBlue but on DL credits from canceled tickets must be used within one year of the PURCHASE date. So if you cancel unless you have plans for a trip between now and Oct on DL you are just out the money!

 

[disneytraveler]

This is why I kept advising folks to wait....

I would probably consider using the DL ticket and canceling JetBlue. Not sure how it works on JetBlue but on DL credits from canceled tickets must be used within one year of the PURCHASE date. So if you cancel unless you have plans for a trip between now and Oct on DL you are just out the money!

Thanks CarolA,
I was getting to worried and then the strike vote came up so i had to make some sort of plan. I will see about cancelling the JetBlue next week.

 

[grinningghost]

Thanks for more opinions on the Delta situation. I'm holding Delta tickets for my July trip and the wondering is driving me nuts.

I guess I'll just hold on to them and hope for the best - and maybe a less crowded flight so I can move out of my crummy restroom-area seats.

 

[isyt]

I booked 5 tickets on delta about 2 months ago for August. I was slightly concerned that I would be screwed because they are ff tkts. I had checked back up fares which were almost $2000 for the 5 of us and I was praying for Delta not to go under. I am hoping nothing ruins our DisneyLand trip!!!

 

[shoes99]

I have 3 seats using FF miles on Delta also, for August 2006. I'll just have to keep an eye on the situation. We are flying EWR to MCO with changes in CVG on the way down and ATL on the way back.