Delta Changed our flight!

[sydneysmom]

UGH. So yesterday I went onto Delta.com just to check prices (seeing if ours went down, etc) Anyway, I noticed that our flight time was no longer listed. We were supposed to be leaving 7:30 am. ( not till Sept).

Then I thought to log in and check....well, a box come up telling me our flight has changed. Okay......give me the bad news Delta. So our new take off time is now 8:50 am. It gets us to Atlanta at 11:16 am. Funny, our connecting flight in Atlanta didn't change...that's still 10:45 am. Well, we're not going to be there to get that flight.

So I call Delta. She works with me to get a better connecting flight to coordinate w/ our new take off flight. We get to MCO an hour later. Not terribly tragic. Here's the real kicker. The new flights are $ 170 cheaper than what we paid, but they won't credit us that amount unless they charge us $ 150 !!! HUH ???? She said that they'd have to charge me the cancellation fee then recharge me for the new tickets so we'd only net $ 20.

I reminded her that IT WAS THEIR CHANGE IN FLIGHT!!!!!!!! Oh brother. After going back and forth I finally said, just change the flight and let's be done already. Honestly, is there NO customer service anymore ?

Thanks for listening to my vent.

 

[francie57]

Unfortunately almost every airline charges a fee, whether its their change or not. I have learned that no matter what airline we are flying I check our itinerary every week for time changes or equipment changes. If they change the type of plane it may throw out any seat assignments you have. Keep checking because it will undoubtedly change again.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, you could have held out for the $20 credit....

If the new flight had been more expensive that what you originally paid, how anxious would you have been to pay Delta the difference?

 

[ancestry]

Frustrating yes but that is how the main carriers work. They don't give credits for drops in prices. It isn't anything having to do with customer service but rather that it simply isn't their policy.

I'm glad you were able to get your flights straightened out. Lets hope they don't change again before your trip.

 

[jt8595]

Our situation occurred six years ago, so things may have changed since that time. Our flight with Southwest was changed which meant we would miss one day of our multi-day Disney ticket that I had already purchased. When I called Southwest, the representative quickly and politely changed our flight to a much better option at no extra charge that I had not chosen when originally booking due to a higher cost. I was floored! Southwest really pulled through for us!

 

[Jestocost]

Our situation occurred six years ago, so things may have changed since that time. Our flight with Southwest was changed which meant we would miss one day of our multi-day Disney ticket that I had already purchased. When I called Southwest, the representative quickly and politely changed our flight to a much better option at no extra charge that I had not chosen when originally booking due to a higher cost. I was floored! Southwest really pulled through for us!

Southwest still does not charge for changes and will credit you for the difference if the price on the new flights is lower or charge you the difference if the fare is higher. Most airlines charge a change fee unless the change is as a result of their schedule changes. However, Southwest also almost never makes schedule changes after their dates are opened for booking so customers being forced to redo itineraries because of their schedule changes does not generally happen.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We have had changes by American and Delta. Often you can book a series of flights and they change saying the time in between is too short. You can look online and they are still selling that flight combination.
Southwest is always our first choice because they do not change times much, they are very efficient, and they do give credits if you find your price has come down.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Well, you could have held out for the $20 credit....

If the new flight had been more expensive that what you originally paid, how anxious would you have been to pay Delta the difference?

Why should they pay the difference when they did not request the change???
If Delta moves them to a cheaper flight, I think she is due a refund of the difference.

 

[cigar95]

Our situation occurred six years ago, so things may have changed since that time. Our flight with Southwest was changed which meant we would miss one day of our multi-day Disney ticket that I had already purchased. When I called Southwest, the representative quickly and politely changed our flight to a much better option at no extra charge that I had not chosen when originally booking due to a higher cost. I was floored! Southwest really pulled through for us!

This is still the case, in general, for the legacy carriers as well - if there is a significant change in your scheduled flight times, or if a flight is canceled and you're automatically re-booked on a different flight, the carrier will typically allow you to choose a flight that may better fit your travel plans without penalty. That's what apparently happened in this thread.

The price difference of $170, though, while interesting, was not really relevant to this transaction, since a new flight was not being purchased. An existing reservation was just being moved to that flight. The only way to take advantage of the lower fare would be to cancel the existing reservation and book a new one. The $150 charge would be assessed for the cancellation.

 

[pixie921]

This thread is interesting.

Delta changed our November flight time by about 15 minutes and we were able to completely change our dates because of it (we changed dates because we received a PIN code for the week following our original dates). I thought for sure we'd have to pay a change fee, but we didn't.

 

[andymattmom]

Keep watching your times. We had a horrible Delta experience last month with flight cancellation, delays and no notification of flight time changes. Rude flight attendants, gate agents, etc. I was impressed however that when I wrote to Delta customer service I did end up with $500 in travel credit which needs to be used within the year. There were 4 of us in traveling, I wrote about the cancellation which was due to weather BUT they knew about the night before and didn't notify us of. I received $50 vouchers for that experience. On the way back there was a delay, time change in layover not notified of and caused us ALMOST to miss with rude flight attendants, etc. I emailed again and got 4 $75 vouchers. I was SHOCKED and surprised by this. I had to pay for a one-way rental due to the cancellation but know Delta didn't HAVE to do anything.

Sorry but to expect an airline to refund money due to price drop is ridiculous. Airlines are strapped for cash and can sell the seats at full price to someone else. There is always a fee for change (except Southwest from what I read??? but I don't fly Southwest due to not liking the boarding) even when price goes down.

In my emails I politely stated the issues and thanked them for their time. I was nice and didn't demand anything. Just stated our experiences and didn't expect anything. In the end I was surprised and impressed. I will give Delta another try with these vouchers but at this point they aren't the airline of my choice.

 

[cigar95]

Why should they pay the difference when they did not request the change???
If Delta moves them to a cheaper flight, I think she is due a refund of the difference.

But the flight isn't cheaper. The price for purchasing a new reservation on that flight is what's cheaper.

The basic notion for airline tickets is that the price that one pays to purchase a ticket, determined by the carrier and based on perceived demand and a lot of other complicated calculations, is the cost that one pays to fly. While prices may be higher or lower at other times, what matters is the price agreed upon when the ticket is purchased.

This differs from purchasing an "object", where you pay your money and immediately receive the object. This is a case in which one pays now for a service that will be rendered at some point in the future. In the interim, the prices offered for the same service may vary, but the price for an agreement made today will remain in effect, as it is a price both parties have agreed to. If the terms of the agreement are changed *substantially*, then there is cause for reconsidering the price. In the case of airline flights, this usually means a time change of at least several hours which cannot be otherwise accommodated.

If Delta had actually *canceled* the original reservation, then a traveler would naturally be entitled to a refund of the original purchase, and would be required to purchase a new ticket, and the price applicable at the time of the new purchase would apply - whether higher or lower. But that's not what happened in this case - the original reservation is still in place, it's just being accommodated on a different flight at a different time. So the original terms of agreement are still in place.

 

[cigar95]

This thread is interesting.

Delta changed our November flight time by about 15 minutes and we were able to completely change our dates because of it (we changed dates because we received a PIN code for the week following our original dates). I thought for sure we'd have to pay a change fee, but we didn't.

Interesting indeed! I'm very surprised they gave that much flexibility, since what Delta did was, in effect if not in fact, a complete cancel and rebook. Do you perhaps have a LOT of SkyMiles or other "loyalty capital" with Delta? As a 20-year SkyMiles member with a lot of flight history, I'm able to occasionally get some consideration that I otherwise wouldn't - but your story tops anything I've ever received.

It may be that agents with some degree of seniority are given a degree of latitude to do what Disney would refer to as "make magic happen." What happened to you, while certainly a pleasant surprise, was very much outside the norm.

 

[DebbieB]

Our situation occurred six years ago, so things may have changed since that time. Our flight with Southwest was changed which meant we would miss one day of our multi-day Disney ticket that I had already purchased. When I called Southwest, the representative quickly and politely changed our flight to a much better option at no extra charge that I had not chosen when originally booking due to a higher cost. I was floored! Southwest really pulled through for us!

Delta did that for me last year. I had frequent flyer tickets and the earliest flights we could get into Orlando for 25,000 miles RT was around 4:00pm, flying PIT-JFK-MCO. They changed the time on the PIT-JFK so that we arrived at JFK at the same time as the connection left. I called and got put on PIT-ATL-MCO flights that landed at 12:30pm, even though that flight was not available for 25,000 miles total.

 

[maxiesmom]

Why should they pay the difference when they did not request the change???
If Delta moves them to a cheaper flight, I think she is due a refund of the difference.

She is not having to pay anything. Most airlines do not give out price adjustments when flight costs drop. It is that simple. Delta isn't doing anything that most other airlines wouldn't do. I'm not sure why it is so shocking.

 

[pixie921]

Interesting indeed! I'm very surprised they gave that much flexibility, since what Delta did was, in effect if not in fact, a complete cancel and rebook. Do you perhaps have a LOT of SkyMiles or other "loyalty capital" with Delta? As a 20-year SkyMiles member with a lot of flight history, I'm able to occasionally get some consideration that I otherwise wouldn't - but your story tops anything I've ever received.

It may be that agents with some degree of seniority are given a degree of latitude to do what Disney would refer to as "make magic happen." What happened to you, while certainly a pleasant surprise, was very much outside the norm.

Nope, we're just regular customers -- this will actually be our first "official" flight with Delta, though I guess we flew them last year after they took over Northwest. We didn't speak to an agent either; I was able to simply make the changes online.

The only thing that I can think of that might've made a difference is that we have first class tickets ... As I said, this is our first real fully Delta flight (our crew's uniforms and plane last year were still NWA-branded, even though they were being called Delta) and I'm not really familiar with all of their policies and procedures.

 

[OKW Lover]

I guess I would have had them cancel the flight and then I'd go ahead and book the new flights. Since there was an unacceptable change in the flight times Delta should refund you the full price of the original flights.

 

[cigar95]

The only thing that I can think of that might've made a difference is that we have first class tickets ...

Bing. Go.

That does explain a lot.

 

[pixie921]

Bing. Go.

That does explain a lot.

Gotcha.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

She is not having to pay anything. Most airlines do not give out price adjustments when flight costs drop. It is that simple. Delta isn't doing anything that most other airlines wouldn't do. I'm not sure why it is so shocking.

I did not read that the price dropped. She was checking for one on her original flight when she saw she had been moved. I thought she was moved to a cheaper flight/time slot. There are times that we do not book the cheapest flight because we want to maximize our time, due to work schedules, etc. If I book paying $50 or $80 each more for our family of 5 and the airline moves me to the flight I could have booked for less money but chose not to, I would not be happy having paid more for a time that worked better for us. This happened with us on American and I held firm--our original flight was still available but nearly full--and they finally changed us back. We had booked 4 months prior when it was nowhere full and did not appreciate the involuntary bump.
I know not to expect a refund when fares drop, but if she is moved to a cheaper flight, she should get some money since she had not originally chosen it.