Delta is the worst

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

With Delta I do believe the change has to be 60mins different from your original time prior to being able to change with no fee. The OP had a 5 1/2 hr change which is quite significant in my opinion and should have been able to change without a fee if all the "Conditions Apply" were met but it's not a blanket statement of "they changed the flight time so you too can change without a fee". Granted you may be able to get a customer courtesy/consideration if you call but if it is under an hr they don't have to.

This is the message that appeared when we flew to HNL back in September. They minimally changed our flights on us though.

 

[kaytieeldr]

• 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.

Not sure what you mean by "they didn't care". The CSR can't do anything about operational changes, and said changes are made to balance customer needs with business needs.

 

[AngiTN]

With Delta I do believe the change has to be 60mins different from your original time prior to being able to change with no fee. The OP had a 5 1/2 hr change which is quite significant in my opinion and should have been able to change without a fee if all the "Conditions Apply" were met but it's not a blanket statement of "they changed the flight time so you too can change without a fee". Granted you may be able to get a customer courtesy/consideration if you call but if it is under an hr they don't have to.

This is the message that appeared when we flew to HNL back in September. They minimally changed our flights on us though.

View attachment 205298

We've had them change our flights even when the change was less than 60 min. They changed our return flight when DD, DGD and I fly home later this month and the new time was only about 1 hour later but we were already up against the latest we needed to return so I called and they were able to move us to an earlier flight so we now arrive an hour before our original flight vs. an hour later. I hadn't even looked up the requirements for the free changes, I just called and asked. So I guess the point it, don't skip calling even if the change is less than 60 min. The agent I got acted as if it was normal process.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We've had them change our flights even when the change was less than 60 min. They changed our return flight when DD, DGD and I fly home later this month and the new time was only about 1 hour later but we were already up against the latest we needed to return so I called and they were able to move us to an earlier flight so we now arrive an hour before our original flight vs. an hour later. I hadn't even looked up the requirements for the free changes, I just called and asked. So I guess the point it, don't skip calling even if the change is less than 60 min. The agent I got acted as if it was normal process.

Totally agree. That's why I said " you may be able to get a customer courtesy/consideration if you call but if it is under an hr they don't have to." It's because multiple comments earlier on were to the tune of Delta changed your flight time so they have to let you change it for free. However, that is not actually Delta's policy (as I suspect many airlines have their "no change fee if X conditions are met" policy). It never hurts to ask in any situation;the worst they will tell you is no..but there is a big difference in expecting and asking.

ETA: I wanted to exchange a shirt I got from LTD Commodities last month. I rarely buy clothing online because it's too much of a risk. Well I hadn't bought clothing from LTD before nor had I ever had to return or exchange anything in the 5+ years that I've been buying stuff from them. Their policy is you have to pay for shipping charges to return or exchange the item but it wasn't spelled out that way so I called them just to make sure that's what I needed to do. I discussed what I was planning on doing, which was exchange the clothing item for a smaller size and I explained that I used their size chart and everything but the shirt was wayyyy too big.

The girl on the phone said "it's not a problem and since this is your first time, you measured and looked at the size charts and did what you were supposed to do and your item doesn't cost that much (it was on sale and only cost like $8.60) we'll just send you a new one free of charge and you can do whatever you want with the shirt that doesn't fit." She def. didn't have to do it and I never mentioned getting anything for free but she offered it like it was something they obviously do at least from time to time.

Had I not called to clarify their shipping policy related to returns or exchanges I wouldn't have gotten the shirt for free (which btw fit so much better in the smaller size).

 

[Annadesu]

Sorry this happened to you, but honestly, flying in general just sucks right now. Service going down, prices going up, just like the rest of the world. lol

 

[gwynne]

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.

A few observations:
1. The nicer, more patient you are the better service you get, generally. I make sure I know the policies, if it's very close I've called anyway.
2. I go on line and find a flight or two that would work. I've never found it necessary to make the miles/cost equal to my original flight. In fact, sometimes I've booked a cheaper flight at not so great times and (after a flight change) end up with a much better time on a far more expensive flight for free.
3. When I call, I nicely offer to give them some flight numbers that would work. So far they've always said sure, what are the numbers. (At least in my personal experience.)
4. I wait while they assist with giving seat assignments, and thank them when I'm all set.

 

[bumbershoot]

With Delta I do believe the change has to be 60mins different from your original time prior to being able to change with no fee. The OP had a 5 1/2 hr change which is quite significant in my opinion and should have been able to change without a fee if all the "Conditions Apply" were met but it's not a blanket statement of "they changed the flight time so you too can change without a fee". Granted you may be able to get a customer courtesy/consideration if you call but if it is under an hr they don't have to.

This is the message that appeared when we flew to HNL back in September. They minimally changed our flights on us though.

View attachment 205298

No I think it's pretty much policy. Did you read the conditions? You can't switch where you're going. A flight has to exist. You can knit change once based on the flight time change. And this can't be because you just want to change; it has to be because they changed it.

Those are hardly restrictive for this situation.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

No I think it's pretty much policy. Did you read the conditions? You can't switch where you're going. A flight has to exist. You can knit change once based on the flight time change. And this can't be because you just want to change; it has to be because they changed it.

Those are hardly restrictive for this situation.

I apologize but I'm not understanding what you are getting at?

 

[wench]

A few observations:
1. The nicer, more patient you are the better service you get, generally. I make sure I know the policies, if it's very close I've called anyway.
2. I go on line and find a flight or two that would work. I've never found it necessary to make the miles/cost equal to my original flight. In fact, sometimes I've booked a cheaper flight at not so great times and (after a flight change) end up with a much better time on a far more expensive flight for free.
3. When I call, I nicely offer to give them some flight numbers that would work. So far they've always said sure, what are the numbers. (At least in my personal experience.)
4. I wait while they assist with giving seat assignments, and thank them when I'm all set.

Yes, I did all of that. I was very polite to the Delta rep & they made the change I requested. I posted because I was stressed that after months of planning I had a wrench thrown in my plans that could have cost me several hundred dollars. Actually it did cost me about $350 in DVC pounts. I shared on the boards because everyone here knows how much planning goes into a WDW trip & how awful it can feel to have it go wrong. Sometimes you just need to vent to people that understand where you're coming from It's fine though, I'm over it now & excited to spend a night at Poly.

 

[wench]

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).

We normally take a red eye, from Seattle. Although it's not as good as a full nights sleep, we've always gotten enough to hit the parks running the next morning. We also have to take medication for motion sickness when flying which can make you sleepier.

 

[sam_gordon]

We normally take a red eye, from Seattle. Although it's not as good as a full nights sleep, we've always gotten enough to hit the parks running the next morning. We also have to take medication for motion sickness when flying which can make you sleepier.

So if your plane arrives at 11:30p, get your luggage and find a nearby hotel. You should be in a room by 1am. Head back to the airport around 6am. That should get you ~4 hours of sleep, probably about the equivalent of what you would have the red eye.

 

[wench]

So if your plane arrives at 11:30p, get your luggage and find a nearby hotel. You should be in a room by 1am. Head back to the airport around 6am. That should get you ~4 hours of sleep, probably about the equivalent of what you would have the red eye.

We likely would have had close to 6 hours of sleep as we're out before the plane ever takes off. Regardless, I don't need a room at the airport. As I said in my original post, I've already rearranged things & booked a night at the Poly.

 

[Minnesota!]

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.

Oh, how I love Sun Country!! Once all my SW miles are used up, we are going to be exclusive with SC. I just love them!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

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

It's not airline specific.

MG

And I expect that there was some type of mechanical issue which created the issue the OP has. Airlines don't cancel flights at the last minute without a good reason (and NO, "it's not sold out" is not a good reason. They have passengers waiting on it wherever it was going)

And this "fly overnight" and spend the day at Disney is hysterical anyway LOL! Right.... this will be the family having the meltdown. If a flight change creates this much drama....

 

[sam_gordon]

And I expect that there was some type of mechanical issue which created the issue the OP has. Airlines don't cancel flights at the last minute without a good reason (and NO, "it's not sold out" is not a good reason. They have passengers waiting on it wherever it was going)

It wasn't last minute. It was 6 weeks before departure.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I thought it said 6 hours not 6 weeks. In that case it was just a simple schedule change... which happens on all of them. Used to be SW didn't do that, but.... they have become just like the other carriers in that respect.

 

[MillauFr]

We likely would have had close to 6 hours of sleep as we're out before the plane ever takes off. Regardless, I don't need a room at the airport. As I said in my original post, I've already rearranged things & booked a night at the Poly.

Watch this and you'll never go back to the dark side again...

Fly the hometown airline next time. Not that invader from Atlanta.

 

[wench]

Watch this and you'll never go back to the dark side again...

Fly the hometown airline next time. Not that invader from Atlanta.

OMG, I love Alaska. That's who I normally fly with. But a poor decision years ago regarding where to put my frequent flyer miles got me into this situation. Never again!!!

 

[Yellowjj]

I really don't see the point of your rant. All airlines have a dummy schedule months in advance, including Alaska and Southwest. That is the price you live with for booking months ahead of time. The schedule is normally firmed up 2 months out.

All you had to do was go on delta and search for flights from your origin to your destination, selecting what bests suit you and call Delta. Their CSR's are heads and heels over the rest. You mention a red-eye to MCO which means either a LAX or SLC departing flight. You could have easily routed yourself on a red-eye to Atlanta and connected to Orlando arriving at about 7am. No big deal and no more money out of pocket.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I really don't see the point of your rant. All airlines have a dummy schedule months in advance, including Alaska and Southwest. That is the price you live with for booking months ahead of time. The schedule is normally firmed up 2 months out.

....

I agree that there was no point in the original complaint, but the schedules issued by airlines are NOT dummy schedules! They are real schedules, which are occasionally revised.