Delta is the worst

[wench]

Sorry in advance for my extended rant...

So, for the first time ever I booked a flight on airline miles. I try to avoid flying Delta, but I had a good amount of points with them from booking a WDW package in 2011. In an effort to gather enough points to actually get something, I would use my Delta Skymiles # when flying Alaska (bad me). So, this year finally, airfare for my December trip was expensive enough, & I had enough miles, that it finally made sense to use them. I booked an evening flight that went overnight with one quick stop over. We would arrive at MCO at 5:00 am. Perfect for my son & I to sleep on the flight & hit the ground running in the morning. I booked the flight 3 1/2 months ago.

Then today, 6 weeks before my flight, I get an email from Delta that our flight time was moved up by 5 1/2 hours & we're arriving at 11:23pm the night before. Late enough that we'd need somewhere to sleep. And we would either only get a few hours of sleep, making our 1st park day miserable or have to scrap all our morning plans to sleep in. And of course I couldn't add a night to our AKV value studio res at this late date. Even if I could, I hate the thought of spending cash or points just to get a room for a few hours. Add to that a quick search online showed that the only other flights out there that were even semi-close to our original schedule were really expensive. This is not the first time Delta has done this to me & I felt so stupid for trusting them with something this important to me. There were some tears at this point.

So, what did I do? I made Delta move us to a morning flight that will arrive at 4:30 in the afternoon (for the same amount of miles). And in the morning I get to call MS & add 1 night in a Poly studio. I'll have to spend $60 on OTUP, but that's better than $600+ for airfare. And we should arrive with enough time to enjoy some of the evening at Epcot. I booked a dinner at Via Napoli & will try to get a Kona breakfast in the morning.

The moral of my story....DELTA SUCKS!!! But when life gives you lemons, you make a pineapple Dole Whip on the beach at the Poly. Now I just hope my sons school doesn't flip out that he'll be taking Christmas break 4 days early.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Trust me.... whatever airline hoses you at the moment is the worst.

It's not airline specific.

MG

 

[mjmgsssp]

I'm sorry that your plans have gone awry due to an airline's schedule change. However, they adjust their schedules all the time. The upside is that they moved you to an earlier flight on the same day you were already booked to travel, and they then changed the date based on your travel needs. Keep your chin up...you're going to the most magical place on earth!

 

[jlwhitney]

All the major airlines are crap.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

United did the same thing to us soooooo many times. One time going to Hawaii, it changed 3 times!! No kidding. I called and complained, they didn't care.

 

[chirogrrl]

We always book our flights in advance. With Delta, they have almost always changed our flights prior to actual departure. It's really frustrating when I spend a little extra to book direct flights and then they are changed to connecting flights in the interim. More than once, they have changed our flights and not allowed enough time to make the connection. As in, the first flight actually arrives after the connection is scheduled to leave! I now watch our booked flights like a hawk, so I can fix changes when they come up. So very frustrating!

We book Sun Country to MCO whenever it makes sense. All the flights are direct and we have never had an issue.

 

[bumbershoot]

Add to that a quick search online showed that the only other flights out there that were even semi-close to our original schedule were really expensive.

That shouldn't have mattered. They changed the flight significantly. They should have changed it at NO extra cost (or miles) to you.

 

[Babydreamz]

If Delta changed the schedule, then you're entitled to change your flight free of charge (even to the really expensive one) as long as there are seats. I just had to do that for a flight in May when they changed it from a direct flight to having a connection. Here's hoping they don't change it again. I find that Delta changes flights more often than other airlines though.

 

[DebbieB]

Delta is famous for that and I have used it to my advantage a couple of times. For example, a friend and I were going PIT-MCO and I had a lot of miles saved up from when I traveled a lot for work. No non-stops, the flight I wanted through Atlanta was high miles. So I booked a late morning PIT-JFK-MCO for lower miles. Not what I wanted, wasting time flying east and not arriving until late afternoon. Sure enough, they changed one of the flights so that our first flight landed at the same time as the second departed. Called them up and got the 8:00am through Atlanta for the same miles.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

That shouldn't have mattered. They changed the flight significantly. They should have changed it at NO extra cost (or miles) to you.

Yep. Once they make the change then it's no extra charges for you if they have something better than what the change was.

I've gone thru my airline issues over the years. It varies which one is worse - most have been at the bottom for me at some point.

 

[BillPA]

Where are you flying from? Some remote location, with minimal options?

 

[Simba's Mom]

Sorry in advance for my extended rant...

So, for the first time ever I booked a flight on airline miles. I try to avoid flying Delta, but I had a good amount of points with them from booking a WDW package in 2011. In an effort to gather enough points to actually get something, I would use my Delta Skymiles # when flying Alaska (bad me). So, this year finally, airfare for my December trip was expensive enough, & I had enough miles, that it finally made sense to use them. I booked an evening flight that went overnight with one quick stop over. We would arrive at MCO at 5:00 am. Perfect for my son & I to sleep on the flight & hit the ground running in the morning. I booked the flight 3 1/2 months ago.

Then today, 6 weeks before my flight, I get an email from Delta that our flight time was moved up by 5 1/2 hours & we're arriving at 11:23pm the night before. Late enough that we'd need somewhere to sleep. And we would either only get a few hours of sleep, making our 1st park day miserable or have to scrap all our morning plans to sleep in. And of course I couldn't add a night to our AKV value studio res at this late date. Even if I could, I hate the thought of spending cash or points just to get a room for a few hours. Add to that a quick search online showed that the only other flights out there that were even semi-close to our original schedule were really expensive. This is not the first time Delta has done this to me & I felt so stupid for trusting them with something this important to me. There were some tears at this point.

So, what did I do? I made Delta move us to a morning flight that will arrive at 4:30 in the afternoon (for the same amount of miles). And in the morning I get to call MS & add 1 night in a Poly studio. I'll have to spend $60 on OTUP, but that's better than $600+ for airfare. And we should arrive with enough time to enjoy some of the evening at Epcot. I booked a dinner at Via Napoli & will try to get a Kona breakfast in the morning.

The moral of my story....DELTA SUCKS!!! But when life gives you lemons, you make a pineapple Dole Whip on the beach at the Poly. Now I just hope my sons school doesn't flip out that he'll be taking Christmas break 4 days early.

I'm so sorry for you. And I empathize-that's happened to us several times, but with United. We only have two major airlines where we live-United is one-so we're kind of limited. The closest good sized airport is 260 miles away, up in San Antonio. That's a big reason we drive now, but I admit that when you're working, you don't have unlimited vacation time to drive.

 

[Lakegirl]

Just think you now have more time at the most amazing place on earth!!!!! You will love the Poly!!!! Glad you are looking at the bright side and the other posters gave great advice for the future as I didn't know if they change your flight its there responsibility to give you something that works for you even if it's more money / points.

 

[rookie2]

I'm on the other side of this w/ Delta.... I'm hoping our flight does get changed so that we can get on an earlier flight out or/and a later flight for departure. I reserved the flights because of the price ... then prices changed on all of the earlier flights making them the same price. The last two changes have been minimal.. I believe it has to be an hour change in order to request a different flight.

 

[WDWNY]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Delta. A few years ago delta cancelled our flight (weeks in advance) so they moved us to a flight later that day. They were more than happy to move us to a much more expensive flight a day earlier when we called.

 

[sam_gordon]

What time was the original flight (arriving at 5am) leaving? How much sleep would you have been able to get on the flight? I think you were being very optimistic thinking you'd be well rested for a day at the parks by sleeping on a plane that arrives at 5am (unless you're travelling business class with a "lay flat" seat).

 

[loves to dive]

I've had good and bad with Delta but since we fly out of Atlanta, which should be named Delta airport, we mostly fly with them. I've never had a flight time changed that drastically, on any airline, maybe had it moved a half hour either way and have never had a direct flight changed to a non-direct one. Does this only happen if you are booking on points or is it something new in the past 2 years? We haven't flown in 2 years, my son did fly out on Delta to Costa Rica this summer and had no problems.

 

[bumbershoot]

What time was the original flight (arriving at 5am) leaving? How much sleep would you have been able to get on the flight? I think you were being very optimistic thinking you'd be well rested for a day at the parks by sleeping on a plane that arrives at 5am (unless you're travelling business class with a "lay flat" seat).

Having taken that flight more than once, I agree with you. Even a nonstop you're barely getting sleep, especially if you're with a kid. We have ONE MORE overnight flight that we're doing as a family, and I'm resigned to it being utterly miserable. Not sure why I booked it (and I booked it in June, which is really really early for ME to book a flight...6 months out, unheard of for me) but it's going to be rotten.

And that Seattle to Orlando Delta flight sure doesn't have layflat seats!

We even wasted an upgrade to "first" on either the Alaska or Delta overnight, and that was WORSE because the seats had the big bulky arm rest in between, so my son couldn't cuddle up with me (he's old and taller than me but he's still a cuddly dude) which made the trying-to-sleep situation even worse. If we'd gone economy at least we could have squished together and slept a little more.

have never had a direct flight changed to a non-direct one. Does this only happen if you are booking on points or is it something new in the past 2 years?

All airlines can and do change flights. Doesn't mean they change all flights; so you've been lucky! Obviously if they change a whole flight number to a different time they aren't going based on how people booked. It's just based on what their needs are.


I'm really bummed that the OP didn't know she could change the flight to any flight, and that they wouldn't have been charged more miles.

 

[Tattylou]

Jetblue changed our flight for Dec 4 and turned it into leave at 7am with a 3 hour layover! I called and complained and they moved us free of charge to a direct flight leaving close to noon.

 

[seashoreCM]

Don't rant. Don't complain. Insteead, hand pick alternate flight(s) that would work better for you (including nonstops where your original flight had a connection and including connections through different airports) and quiety ask for a re-change to it (them) but don't agree to pay more.

If the person you talk to first has difficulty filling your request (except for a sold out flight) then quietly ask for (or call a different number for) a higher up person.

If the person say s/he'll do it for you just this once then just say, "thank you" now but feel free to try it again anyway at any future date should the need arise.

If you notice the changed flight and decide to keep it, then inspect your seat selectios and reselect immediately (including to middle seats) if needed. At least on Delta, reselecting lost seats has resulted in an acceptance of the flight in the sense that if you got changed to a better flight and did nothing and later got changed to a worse flight, the airline could say you never got that better flight.

And print screen everything you do on line. (Requires more than just pressing the PrtScn button; your digital camera might give good results.)