Delta flight time change ?

[mizzouchief74]

I was looking at my Delta reservations and they change my flight time. So since they did that I couldn't have the same connecting flight because there wasn't enough time in between flights so I let them change our connecting flight which puts us in Orlando 1hr+ later than we were suppose to arrive. I know I couldn't get a refund before, but since they did this we they give me a refund so I can find a different flight to get me their earlier?

Thanks for the help,

Jeff

 

[emerymt]

No, they won't give you a refund.
One time I booked tickets 6 mo in advance, and the day before I checked my Travelocity account and found the trip was rescheduled three times in the interim! I was just glad I didn't copy the information three times into my Palm pilot.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

that happened to us about a month ago..when are u going to wdw? we booked through orbitz with a direct flight into MCO i believe and it was booked through united but with a usair plane and after 7 hrs on the phone with orbitz who had to talk with united then usair they finally agreed to switch us to an earlier direct flilght that got in almost 5 hrs earlier and then we had to wait about 2 wks until we got seat assignments so 7 hrs on the phone was worth it in the end b/c now we can go to MK our first day. I realize things change but they even admitted that we should have been notified sooner but in the end it worked out for us and hopefully we dont have any problems when we go to check in May 12th.

 

[emerymt]

I think the delay has to be more than a couple of hours for them to do anything about it, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

For instance, if you get bumped off a plane due to overbooking, and still make it to your destination within two hours of your original arrival, I (think) they don't owe you anything. This would be a similar situation.

The more I look into it, the more I realize that air passengers have few rights and little recourse compared to patrons of other industries. For instance, if you paid $300 a night for a hotel, but the power went out in the middle of a blizzard and they couldn't check anyone in for twelve hours, do you think they could make you sleep in the lobby? No, but US Airways can keep you on their plane for 12 hours if they can't take off due to weather. Airlines can even abandon stranded passengers entirely, as happened to some passengers in Cheyenne this year- the airline said it did its job because the passengers got pretty close to their destination- Denver!

Good luck!

 

[bicker]

Yes, it must be more than two hours in order for them to provide a refund on request. However, once you accept a schedule change (even by just logging in to re-secure seat assignments), then no refund is necessarily going to be offered.

 

[BonnieA]

I got my tickets for Delta 6 weeks ago. Since then they have changed my flights/schedules 3 times. The first change they had me sitting in Atlanta for 8 hours between flights (no way). They worked with me and I accepted a return to a different city which was not as convenient but better than an 8 hour layover.
I have 6 more weeks before I leave so I figure the schedule will change 3 more times. It's almost laughable. The time changes haven't bothered me that much because they haven't been excessive. But everytime they do that, my seat says it is unassigned. It is not really unassigned, it is usually the same one I had previously, but I can no longer access it online until I call and they reissue the ticket. What a pain in the patoot.

 

[ToyStory]

We just noticed on our Jet Blue flight our flight to MCO is now 3 1/2 hours later. We are taking off when I was hoping to be getting to the hotel and our flight coming home was 12 hours earlier!

We called Jet Blue and they changed our departure flight around to leave the next day since our original fight was to leave at 8:55 pm and it was now 8:00 am. There was no charge for this.

Delta has also changed our times around and twice our seats too. My DH was mad that we weren't sitting all together. I told him to look at the row numbers again and he still didn't get it. We were in row 2 and 3 and were bumped up to first class. His attitude changed.

Another time we were in the bulk head seats and actually sitting down and settled in and they told us they had to move our seats since another passenger needed them. We got bumped up to Business Class Elite and this was on a 10 hour plan trip from Europe.

 

[emerymt]

We just noticed on our Jet Blue flight our flight to MCO is now 3 1/2 hours later. We are taking off when I was hoping to be getting to the hotel and our flight coming home was 12 hours earlier!

We called Jet Blue and they changed our departure flight around to leave the next day since our original fight was to leave at 8:55 pm and it was now 8:00 am. There was no charge for this.

Wow! Did they email you when they did this? Holy cow, they better not charge you for fixing a change like that. Amazing.

 

[dudspizza]

Wow! Did they email you when they did this? Holy cow, they better not charge you for fixing a change like that. Amazing.

If the airline changes the flight time, the best thing to do is call nicely and ask what can be done to make it better. I have never had a problem or fee to change my itinerary after the airline had a schedule change. CS reps have always been very helpful... the key is to be nice and stay calm. Schedule changes are inevitable, it is what you make with them, no matter how frustrating they are.

Best of luck.

Duds

 

[emerymt]

What annoys me the most, however, is the fact that they do not contact passengers when they do things like this. That is why I asked about the email. For e-tickets, this ought to be a relatively simple thing to do.

 

[tbrenk]

What annoys me the most, however, is the fact that they do not contact passengers when they do things like this. That is why I asked about the email. For e-tickets, this ought to be a relatively simple thing to do.

I found that Delta does not contact you at all. In the past, Contiental has sent an email and a phone call. Much better service, IMO.

 

[bicker]

Wow! Did they email you when they did this? Holy cow, they better not charge you for fixing a change like that. Amazing.

I don't believe any commercial carrier charges for changes in response to a more-than-four hour time change. For some airlines, the threshold is as little as two hours.

 

[bicker]

What annoys me the most, however, is the fact that they do not contact passengers when they do things like this.

Delta does notify passengers, at least three weeks prior to flight-time, when their flight arrangements have been changed, using whatever means the passenger left for making contact.

 

[tbrenk]

Delta does notify passengers, at least three weeks prior to flight-time, when their flight arrangements have been changed, using whatever means the passenger left for making contact.

This is not true. I have had over 6 changes from Delta and have never heard from them. I have always found the change and called them.

 

[kristenrice]

I've been looking at NWA out of Grand Rapids and they have 1 non-stop flight to MCO and several with one stop. The departure times for the non-stop flight have varied between 10:30am and 4:30pm. I planned our stay so that we arrive the day "before" our vacation starts and depart the day "after" our vacation ends so that the flight TIMES are irrelevant. I want to make sure that we are on the NON-STOP flight, however. I called NWA and asked them about what would happen if I book the nonstop flight at 10:30am and it changes to 4:30pm by the time we leave. He told me that they would move us to a morning flight I don't want a MORNING flight, I want a NONSTOP flight! Should I be worried about being bumped off of a nonstop flight by NWA trying to keep my departure times in line if the flight time changes? (does that make sense ?) Like I said, I planned the trip so that the flight times themselves are irrelevant (to a point...I'm not departing at 6am!) but I must have nonstop. We do not fly much so I don't know what the procedure is when an airline changes your flight times after you've bought the ticket. Do you have to specifically contact them and request a flight change if the new times are not acceptable? Do they automatically reassign you to a different flight if your original flight changes?

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

What i think is funny is that with ours orbitz admitted that it was a glitch in their system that we were not contacted (YA RIGHT!). The only way we found out is because we had trouble getting seat assignments (there should have been our first red flag!) and my dad saw that the flight was eliminated and we were placed on another flight(with seat assignments funny enough). And then the reps from orbitz, united, and usair all said there was nothing you can do and my dad being a business man kindly said to them, oh you can do something about it, you just choose not too, but thank god he is a negotiator because it worked out in the end for us but we will be more watchful of our fights from now on!!

 

[bicker]

This is not true. I have had over 6 changes from Delta and have never heard from them. I have always found the change and called them.

Well, they do notify folks of changes. I know because I've received phone calls from them. Perhaps you called and confirmed prior to the three weeks prior point when they make contact, or perhaps they couldn't reach you at your contact number. Also, keep in mind that if you purchase your tickets through a travel agent, or some of the online travel agencies (like Travelocity), Delta notifies your travel agent, and your travel agent is responsible for notifying you.

 

[emerymt]

I've been looking at NWA out of Grand Rapids and they have 1 non-stop flight to MCO and several with one stop. The departure times for the non-stop flight have varied between 10:30am and 4:30pm. I planned our stay so that we arrive the day "before" our vacation starts and depart the day "after" our vacation ends so that the flight TIMES are irrelevant. I want to make sure that we are on the NON-STOP flight, however. I called NWA and asked them about what would happen if I book the nonstop flight at 10:30am and it changes to 4:30pm by the time we leave. He told me that they would move us to a morning flight I don't want a MORNING flight, I want a NONSTOP flight! Should I be worried about being bumped off of a nonstop flight by NWA trying to keep my departure times in line if the flight time changes? (does that make sense ?) Like I said, I planned the trip so that the flight times themselves are irrelevant (to a point...I'm not departing at 6am!) but I must have nonstop. We do not fly much so I don't know what the procedure is when an airline changes your flight times after you've bought the ticket. Do you have to specifically contact them and request a flight change if the new times are not acceptable? Do they automatically reassign you to a different flight if your original flight changes?

That's a good question, expecially if you paid more to get a non-stop, which I just did. I don't think they can re-route you without your permission. Every time my schedule has been changed (which is almost always) they have never taken away a non-stop or rerouted me. I can only fly direct to a handful of cities (sadly, not MCO ), so I am also insistent on non-stops when I can get one, otherwise I'm looking at so many connections it makes my head spin! One time I took four flights to get to Kauai-six people-that's 48 boarding passes each way

Does anyone else know about this?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Delta does notify passengers, at least three weeks prior to flight-time, when their flight arrangements have been changed, using whatever means the passenger left for making contact.

This is not true. I have had over 6 changes from Delta and have never heard from them. I have always found the change and called them.

If, like most of us DISers, you’re checking your flights several times a week and contacting the airline whenever there’s a change – it’s likely they’re aware of this and don’t see the need to notify you of changes. Especially if your flight information changes six times, it’s likely – as bicker states – that the airline wouldn’t notify ANY of those passengers until close to flight time, e.g. three or so weeks before departure.

 

[Chicago526]

I'm a travel agent, and I have to say that Delta is the abosolute worst when it comes to schedule changes. I just dealt with a client today that's had their schedule changed 6 times since they booked it last September, they are to travel in 10 days!

Anyway, with most airlines, usually any change greater than 90 minutes and you can get a full refund if that's what you want (but I recomend you make sure you can find flights on an alternate airline first!). For a big schedule change you can also often have them change the date of travel by one day earlier or later, also with no charge.

If you book your airline ticket with a traditional travel agency, the airline will notify your agency, your agent will then process the schedule change. They'll contact you, make sure the new times are acceptable, if so they reconfirm your seats and send you the updated info. If they are not acceptable they then can rebook you for a better time, or get your refund and rebook you on another airline. I know a lot of people don't like to use TA's for airline tickets because of the service fees, but in cases like this, it really does save you a lot of work, the agent is the one that has to sit on hold with the airline to get a messy schedule change fixed, not you! (Okay, shameless plug over).

When you use an online travel agency like Orbitz, they are supposed to do the same thing, notify you of the change and help you rebook if needed. From what I've heard, that seems to be hit-and-miss with them, sometimes it works out fine, other times it's a big-ol mess.

The best thing I can recomend is to always call and check on your reservations once or twice between the time you book them and the time you travel (especially if you book Delta). Don't count on the airline to notify you, even the airlines that are really good about contacting passengers sometimes have one that falls through the cracks. And if you find that there is a schedule change, double check your seats, they sometimes get switched around along with the schedule.

Oh, and another tip. When you book airline tickets with anyone (airline, online travel agency, or traditional travel agent) ALWAYS give a phone number where it's easy to reach you!!! I can't count the number of times I've had to play phone-tag with a client because they give me a number they are never at! In fact, give multiple numbers (home, work, cell) if you can. Also give the number of where you'll be at during your trip, sometimes the airline or your agent needs to contact you while you're on your trip.