Delta cancled our conecting flight home Help me

[mum of two pirates]

O.K. so the lady said They could get us out at 7:30 that morning. Sorry lady our ship isnt in that early. Well you can take the mco to slc and then have a layover for the night at your expense. Helllo what? She said it says in the contract that they can have sch. changes. Ya but what about the 1 1/2 flight change. Well we can get you out on the next morning at 7:30. So I told her I had to check with DH boss. Not true but wanted to think about it. Maybe I could get out on the 5pm flight the next night and spend two more days at disney (if there is a room left for dec 16) or we could leave early that next morning and hope to get bumped? What do you think. Is there anything I can do about it. She said she could not put us on the coachshare partner that night that shows on thier sight. Even thoe they cancled our flight, how does this all work? Thanks getting stressed out

 

[CarolA]

OK... We need some additional details especially when and where!

1. When is this trip? If it's a long way away would you consider asking for refund and rebooking on another airline. Under the circumstances that is possible.

2. What other flights do show on DL"s website. They CAN put you on a codeshare flight. If you want to do that, call back and ask for the flights you want, when they say NO polietly ask for a supervisor. Explain that you had XYZ booked and you need something within the same time and that the website shows ABC and that's what you want. If they think they can just get you to accept the "easiest" for them that's what they will do. I find calling during business hours works well.

3. If you live near a small airport and it's not a hassle GO and visit. THe agents in person are easier to deal with. I live in Atlanta where DL still has ticket offices and I sometimes take my strange things there even though they charge for ticketing. I find that agents who have to look you in the eye on any airline aren't as likely to just reject you out of hand LOL!

 

[mum of two pirates]

I think I will be taking the 5:30 on the 17th. instead of the morning if they will let me. That way I will get two more full days at disney.

 

[seashoreCM]

RE: Your flight was cancelled by the airline.

They do not have to put you on a flight that is sold out but they may not deny you a replacement flight you like because of any fare rule or because of capacity control.

Some airlines' web sites will forcibly book you on sold out flights if you choose Y (full fare coach) class, but if you can make a reservation on line under any more discounted class, that signifies that the flight is not sold out.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[bicker]

They do not have to put you on a flight that is sold out but they may not deny you a replacement flight you like because of any fare rule or because of capacity control.

I'm sorry but this is not true. If you have not yet started your trip, and a flight is cancelled, Delta is only obligated to refund your money. They are not required to put you on an alternative flight, if there are no seats in that flight at the appropriate fare class. They still may offer you that as a courtesy, but they surely can deny you the replacement flight you like because of fare rules.

 

[mum of two pirates]

I called back using my DH number and they said they could put me on the other airbus leaving the same time that night but I took the sunday night one, becouse there were only 5 seats left and none were together on the saterday flight. The sunday night at 5:30 gives us two more days at disney and one more night, sha dont tell DH.

 

[seashoreCM]

is only obligated to refund your money. They are not required to put you on an alternative flight, if there are no seats in that flight at the appropriate fare class. They still may offer you that as a courtesy, but they surely can deny you the replacement flight you like because of fare rules.

I will continue to recommend that passengers trying to rebook should ask to speak to supervisors anyway instead of giving up with the first person they talk to on the phone.

I will still maintain that denying a passenger distressed by irregular operations an available seat because of a fare rule results in the airline's not using its best efforts to transport the passenger.

 

[bicker]

I will continue to recommend that passengers trying to rebook should ask to speak to supervisors anyway instead of giving up with the first person they talk to on the phone.

I agree completely. My point was only that passengers should know that what they're asking for is a courtesy, not something they're owed. Unfounded expectations is a major source of dissatisfaction.

I will still maintain that denying a passenger distressed by irregular operations an available seat because of a fare rule results in the airline's not using its best efforts to transport the passenger.

You're entitled to your opinion, but your perspective on this is not supported by the terms and conditions that passengers agree to abide by.

Delta's "best efforts" clause even goes so far as to specify that their best efforts will be directed towards carrying passengers with reasonable dispatch (not extraordinary dispatch). That same passage (not some unrelated part of the contract -- the same passage) also specifies, explicitly, that times shown in timetables or elsewhere are not guaranteed and form no part of their contract with passengers. It goes on to say that schedules are subject to change without notice and that Delta is not responsible for failing to operate any flight according to schedule, or for changing the schedule or any flight.

They are very explicit about what they are not responsible for. These terms and conditions are actually among the first outlined in their offering, and are so explicit that I cannot grant any obligation on Delta's part as you suggest.

 

[DaveO]

Bicker,

I agree with you but .....

I wonder if this has even been challenged in court? Typically you can not sell a service and basically say we can do whatever we want and the customer has no recourse. It is kind of like the parking ticket that says we are not responsible for ANY damage or theft. And that is not true even though it is in the 'contract'. I would live to see a class action lawsiut on this (and I hate lawsuits). I guess I will have to try and Google this ...

Dave O.

 

[seashoreCM]

I wonder if this has even been challenged in court? I would live to see a class action lawsiut on this (and I hate lawsuits)..

Small claims court should be adequate.

Denying a passenger an available seat simply because of a fare rule is a violation of reasonable dispatch.

Even if the trip has not been started, the airline, absent severe irregular ops, may not in effect cancel a trip and offer only to rebook it at a higher fare or on vastly different dates.

 

[KittyKitty]

I may not totally understand the disagreement, but as an ex travel agent, the airline who changes a flight time when the ticket has been bought does have the obligation to get the passenger on another flight the same day. I have never had any airline not put you on another one of their flights that had seats available.

But they do not have to put you on a flight that is a code share partner, another airline.

I am going thru this right now with Delta also. I had bought my ticket last Feb , very cheap, so refund in not the answer. I know from experience that flights bought so far out, have a good chance of changing, so Delta is putting me on any flight they have . It may cost me extra money for car rental and hotel, which Delta will not reimburse me, but I think I'll just stay longer in Disney!! My flight is a redeye Dec 1st.

Have a great time!

 

[mum of two pirates]

The thing with the code share partner is, they had us booked on one to start with from salt lake to spokane and vise vera. The first lady I talked to said she could not put me on a code share partner. Hello you had me on one to start with. All is well thoe, we get one more night in disney. The sleigh ride and if Luck holds out that one night will be AKL. Why couldnt they have canceled our flight down and then we could have had two more nights down there. Oh well. Mum

 

[CarolA]

Small claims court should be adequate.

Denying a passenger an available seat simply because of a fare rule is a violation of reasonable dispatch.

Even if the trip has not been started, the airline, absent severe irregular ops, may not in effect cancel a trip and offer only to rebook it at a higher fare or on vastly different dates.

I wouldn't bother... Read the terms of carriage posted on the website. You have VERY little to stand on. Folks tried suing Comair over the computer crash a few years ago.... got nowhere.

 

[seashoreCM]

What happened when Comair's computer crashed and how bad were people's experiences?

 

[bicker]

I agree with you but ..... I wonder if this has even been challenged in court? Typically you can not sell a service and basically say we can do whatever we want and the customer has no recourse.

That's correct. Passengers do have recourse: A full refund. The law cannot ask a seller for anything more for a service not rendered.

It is kind of like the parking ticket that says we are not responsible for ANY damage or theft.

No, not at all. That is an exculpatory clause, and indeed it is not enforceable. There is nothing exculpatory about the terms and conditions for airline tickets.

I would live to see a class action lawsiut on this (and I hate lawsuits).

As you can well imagine, with something like airline Contracts of Carriage, if it could have been successful, it would have been tried. It is what it is.

Small claims court should be adequate.

I don't have the contract handy here, but typically you can only sue a service provider in the venue specified by the contract. (For Delta, that's probably Georgia.) However, I think these contracts are actually still tariffed, so it might require a federal lawsuit to go up against them.

Denying a passenger an available seat simply because of a fare rule is a violation of reasonable dispatch.

Say it as many times as you want, and I'll disagree with you every single time. You're just simply off-target with regard to this. Reasonable dispatch is well-established in the industry, and it isn't anything close to what you assert it is.

 

[bicker]

I may not totally understand the disagreement, but as an ex travel agent, the airline who changes a flight time when the ticket has been bought does have the obligation to get the passenger on another flight the same day.

Yes, that's exactly correct -- the airline must put you on another flight the same day -- any flight the same day, their choice. Again, most airlines will be more generous than that, and try to put the passenger on the flight of the passenger's choice, but those are indeed cases of generosity.