Delta has got me so annoyed!!

[MELSMICE]

I know this will probably get long, so please bear with me -

We booked our flights on Delta 11 months in advance for our April trip. A total of 8 people (2 families). We specifically booked the flights we did because we didn't want to fly on a small plane - we wanted a jet. We are leaving a day earlier than we had planned (okay, so we have to suffer through another day at WDW).

My SIL called to confirm our flights this evening & was told that flight times & one of the planes had changed. The flights times weren't a huge deal - only a few minutes. But..........one of the flights is an hour later & is on a small 70 passenger plane from Atlanta to Buffalo. I could have screamed.

Well, DH called Delta & asked why this happened & you know the scenario "out of our control, computer did it, nothing we can do about it, no other flights available, blah, blah, blah". He was very polite on the phone but got nowhere with the customer service rep.

He went to her supervisor, still got nowhere & then went to her supervisor. (by the way, he is in sales, so he is very polite but stern with people & always proves a point) Anyway, the "customer care rep" he spoke with last (Carol) got very snotty on the phone & just said, "we can refund your money or you can accept it".

I understand the airlines reserve the right to change things - it says so right on the itinerary, but it is just so annoying to think that we booked so far in advance, are paying a little more specifically because we DID NOT want to fly on a small plane. What's even more annoying is that it says if we have to change our flights we will be charged a fee. DH kept saying, "we made a reservation, paid for it, you took our money & now you are changing it. A good business does not do this. You don't purchase merchandise, pay for it & when you pick it up you get something different."

We got the name of the next person in charge but Carol told us that we would get nowhere with her either. UGH!! I'm so aggravated.

Well, thanks for letting me vent. I feel a little better. I guess I should be happy we are getting to go. It's just so frustrating. Oh well, I'll guess I'll just move on to packing & not worry about it anymore.

 

[jaysue]

Don't let people at the airlines get you down. Sigh, it cannot be fun to work at an airline in today's economy aggravated by security concerns plus the Iraq war. Try and grin and bear it and focus on the magic at WDW

Thanks
Jason

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Melsmice,
Could be the war doing this. What type of aircraft is this? Unfortunately, with Delta cutting back I fear many are going to suffer through this. I flew on a small jet, and it was one of the best flights I have ever had. Stable and fast. Hopefully you will be on one of these.

 

[apagano]

Those small regional jets are becoming more and more common, even for fairly long flights. The small jets are more economical and they give airlines much more flexibility in scheduling. The airlines have found that they can sell more tickets by offering more frequent flights on smaller aircraft than just a few flights on bigger jets.

One of the pitfalls of booking so far in advance is that airlines change schedules every few months, so you're bound to be stuck with unwanted changes.

 

[sgtdisney]

The airline industry is changing a lot these days and I think we will all be seeing more smaller 'regional' jets being used on routes that used to have MD80s, 737s and 757s on them. Unfortunately the traffic just isn't there any more. It sounds like you will be flying on a CRJ700 or something along those lines. If you can, don't think of it as a commuter plane, but a smallish DC-9. They look very similar to the DC-9 or MD80 except that they only have 4 across as opposed 5.. The original DC9s and 737s carried less than 100 people so it really isn't all that much smaller..

In terms of what Delta did, they could have probably been more polite, but they offered you what they could, it sounds like. As the previous poster mentioned, airlines change schedules AND equipment quite often over the course of the year and there is no way to guarantee what kind of plane you will be on even if you buy the ticket 1 day in advance. Sometimes equipment is changed at the last minute due to mechanicals, etc. From the airline's perspective, you are booking passage from point A to Point B on a specific day. Times and planes are never guaranteed..

 

[welovedis]

Melsmice-I feel for you in this situation. Before our last trip to WDW I wanted a NS flight out of Buffalo as my Mom was traveling with us and uses a wheelchair most of the trip. I did not want connecting flights. When I booked I realized that the flights could change and, of course, a week before we left I got a call from USAir stating that the schedule has changed drastically and the flight was now a much later flight with not one but 2 connections.

I immediately stated it was not acceptable and they needed to locate some other options for me. I was friendly and courteous the whole time but did not budge as far as my demands. I asked if they could look into things for me and call me back. She called me back within the hour with a couple of scenarios and one of them included a NS flight the day before.

I checked with the CRO and we were able to add another day to the ressie we already had. USAir changed our tixs and got us on NS flights R/T with no additional charges because they changed the schedule so much that it was no longer appropriate to fly at those times.

Perhaps if you worked with someone at Delta who was willing to check into other flights or options for you that might help?

 

[peg2001]

I guess I'm not quite sure what you wanted Delta to do. Did you really think they would reinstate the original equipment because you were unhappy with the smaller plane?

I'm sorry that you thought that booking 11 months in advance would guarantee that you got the flights and equipment that you wanted. Reality is quite the opposite, the earlier you make your reservations, the MORE changes are likely before your flight.

Have a great vacation and try not to let this interfere with your enjoyment.

Peggy

 

[MELSMICE]

welovedis - there is a later flight, which was fine (although we would have about a 5-hour layover), but after giving us that option we were then told they couldn't let us have seats on the plane because it was already overbooked & they would have to bump people off the plane. It aggravated me because they had "bumped" us off our plane.

peg2001 - I didn't expect them to reinstate the large aircraft. What I expect is appropriate customer service. I don't think it is good customer service to just move customer's flight times, or change the aircraft without checking if it is convenient for paying customers.

I realize this would be cumbersome for the airlines, however, that's what customer service is.

I know many people will disagree, but I feel that when flights are changed/cancelled or anything else that customers should be phoned by an individual in the order in which the ticket was purchased, told that there has been a change to their flights & given the options so then they can make a decision as to what they would like to do. I hate the excuse "the computer did it".

I own a business. My husband also owns a business. If I told my customers "the computer did that & there is nothing I can do about it" I would be out of business.

I realize there is nothing I can do right now. DH was very pleasant with the people on the phones, up until he spoke with Carol. She was rude.

Anyway, I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it & not let it aggravate me so much.

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by MELSMICE
I don't think it is good customer service to just move customer's flight times, or change the aircraft without checking if it is convenient for paying customers.

I don't mean to be argumentative, but just to shed some more light on this. If you read your airline ticket and the small print.. Who reads small print, I know... What you are buying when you purchase an airline ticket is passage from point A to point B. That is is it. The airline must get you from A to B and nothing more. That is why they are able to switch planes, times, etc. whenever they need to. You aren't guaranteed planes, you aren't even guaranteed the seats you selected. All you are guarenteed is that the airline will get you from Point A to B in a timely fashion... It kind of reeks, but it is the nature of the business. If they had to confirm schedule and equipment changes with every passenger they would have to charge prices along the lines of simply flying a private jet..

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by sgtdisney
If you read your airline ticket and the small print.. Who reads small print, I know... What you are buying when you purchase an airline ticket is passage from point A to point B. That is is it. The airline must get you from A to B and nothing more. That is why they are able to switch planes, times, etc. whenever they need to. You aren't guaranteed planes, you aren't even guaranteed the seats you selected. All you are guarenteed is that the airline will get you from Point A to B in a timely fashion.

Yeah - I know. It is still aggravating though. I guess I shouldn't complain. I should get used to it - it happens every trip no matter what airline we are flying.

Oh well, I guess I just had to vent a little & DH was already aggravated enough!

 

[welovedis]

No problem with venting at all, always makes me feel better. I realized that you pretty much wanted to get this off your chest, so to speak. I posteds my frustration recently and was presented with similar comments and realized I was lucky to be going as I'm sure you are thinking too.

That's too bad about the later flight. Do they have any other options for your group at all? Although when traveling with a larger group I would imagine it would be harder to change plans now with such a short time left. Good Luck with everything & hope it works out ok!

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by MELSMICE
Yeah - I know. It is still aggravating though. I guess I shouldn't complain. I should get used to it - it happens every trip no matter what airline we are flying.

Oh well, I guess I just had to vent a little & DH was already aggravated enough!

No problem with venting.. That's for sure. Everyone does it, and sometimes it makes you feel a little better I know it can be extremely frustrating when something like this happens. Have fun on your trip!!

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by welovedis

That's too bad about the later flight. Do they have any other options for your group at all?

We asked about coming home Sunday with Delta - no go.

I checked SW also & the flights would be about $340 - almost $100 more than we are paying now. We have a FF ticket, but who knows if we could use it. Plus, we would have to leave 2 days earlier & come home a day later. Not that I wouldn't mind 3 more days in Disney, I would love it but........ that means a hotel for 3 more nights (who knows what is available) & I would be away from my business for longer than I had planned & it would be hard to juggle things for that at this late date, although nothing is impossible.

I have asked the people we are travelling with (my brother's family) & I said if they really wanted to do the SW thing so we could get the bigger plane I would go along with it. Actually, I don't think they will, not only because of the extra cost of the airfare, but the additional cost of accommodations also.

Anyway, thanks for listening everyone!! I still can't wait for the trip. I'm getting more & more excited every day.

 

[nuthut]

There are going to be changes made when you book eleven months out. If Delta offered your money back, why complain about nothing? Take the money and go elsewhere.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Originally posted by nuthut
There are going to be changes made when you book eleven months out. If Delta offered your money back, why complain about nothing? Take the money and go elsewhere.

Ah, easier said than done. As was pointed out, taking the money and going elsewhere would cost $100 per ticket more...............................

Unfortunately, this stuff happens all the time. Don't think it is just Delta. We had the same thing happen with Jet Blue. I booked in advance to get a good time and a good fare and they up and cancelled the return flight and put us on one that was 4 hours earlier. When these things happen you have to find a way to make the best of a bad situation. It is VERY frustrating though.

When an airline makes such a change you do have options. They will refund your money - but if you can't find another flight on another airline for the same price that doesn't help much. The airline will put you on another flight, depending upon availability, without a change fee. This is what we did with Jet Blue. We changed to a flight the next day. If niether of these works you just have to grin and bear it unfortunately.

As for Delta's regional jets, they are pretty nice. Yes, they are smaller, but it isn't like being on a turbo prop. I wouldn't worry too much if you can't make other arrangements.

 

[erikthewise]

After two years in a row of buying Delta only four or five months out and having schedules changed completely, I have no stomach for buying tickets even further in advance than that. We were very lucky and each time ended up with better flights than we paid for.

Last year they eliminated Delta Express service in Columbus and replaced it with a dinky airline (whose name I won't bore you with) flying dinky Embraer jets. They had the exquisite sense of timing to do this just as Southwest and America West were having a special fare sale. So we took our money back from Delta and got tickets on America West, saving $50 a ticket.

Now this year America West is gone too. I would gladly have paid them the other $50 a ticket if it would have kept them around.

If in fact you end up on CRJ's (Canadian Regional Jet), they're really pretty nice. They feel like a 737 only smaller. Whereas Embraers feel and sound like an oversized lawnmower.

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by nuthut
There are going to be changes made when you book eleven months out. If Delta offered your money back, why complain about nothing? Take the money and go elsewhere.

I did look into going elsewhere. My best option was SW for $100 more a ticket (X5 = $500). Other airlines started at $700 a ticket & went up. Plus if we did go SW we would have to get accommodations for another 3 nights (about $150/night = $450).

Therefore, for the extra $1000 (that doesn't even include money for meals for 3 extra days) I guess I'll keep the flights I have & just deal with the aggravation.

Such is life...............

 

[niks81]

I agree...no problem venting at all That's what the boards are here for. As a vacation planning freak I can sympathize with your frustration because its different from what you planned.

At the same time I do agree with the poster that stated about the point A to point B thing. That is what you pay for. I do check the planes before booking because I like the big planes as well...but I know that there is no guarantee and especially that far out!! Delta is one of the better airlines in my opinion, and with the industry the way it is at this point, I say do what you have to do to stay in business.

Sorry for your frustration, but the others are right--schedules and plans change frequently on these trips!

 

[frannn]

I know in the end we will have to abide by Delta's rules (as well as all other airlines). I just wanted to add my .02. When I called to confirm DH and my frequent flier seats, I also confirmed that there was no available frequent flier seat for my DD, who will be 1 at the time of travel. She will be a lap child, no problem, but I asked for the umpteenth time if I brought my car seat as a carry on, and there was an empty seat avaliable, if I could use it, the rep said "No, they discontinued that, you will have to check the car seat or buy her a seat. The baby can not use the seat even if there is an empty seat available". My heart skipped a beat even though I knew the rep was most likely wrong. I politely said thank you, called back, and spoke to a different rep, who said it is an airline curtesy to allow babies to use seats if they are available. Thank goodness, but what if I had believed the misinformed rep?

I was also told that Delta has the right to change your flight to the next available flight where seats are available, even if the time span flows over to the next day. I explained that I will have a baby with me and what if I didn't have accomodations available for an extra day if my flight time/date was changed? She said that in cases where the change is in the airline's control (mechanical problems, delayed flight, cancelling a flight due to underbooking), they will reimburse for the added cost. If the reason for the change is not under their control, like weather delays, they will not reimburse. Anybody have any firsthand experience with this?

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Delta is cutting back 12% system wide. All those cuts have NOT been implemented yet. So if the worst thing is you got bumped to a 70 seat CRJ I wouldn't complain too much.

Actually CRJ's are great. The only thing is that the storage bins are so much smaller. Other than that, I can't think of any drawbacks.