Delta just changed my flight to a later time/problem for me

[suzannedid]

I just received an e-mail that said my flight time had changed to 6 hours later than I had scheduled.

I called the airline and told them I had made reservations for dinner and had made plans on going to MK that evening. We bought another days park ticket for this day. All of my other plans for the week was based on what we were doing on the day our plane landed.

The airline said that they had nothing earlier.

Not only was the flight later they wanted me to take but it was a connecting flight. I had scheudeld a non-stop because I am traveling with 2 young children. (ages 1 and 5)

The lady on the phone said hold on and I will talk to my supervisor. She came back and said we've changed your flight to 8:00 a.m. and you will connect in Cincinnati. You will receive an email in a couple of minutes. I tried to ask her about my return time and she said you will recieve an email in a couple of minutes and hung up.

A lot of planning went in the times of my flight and the acitivites schedule before and after.

It has been 2 hours and I have not recieved the e-mail yet.

What should I do?


I do not want a connecting flight.
I want to reutrn at approxiamtely the same time as I had scheduled.

Should I ask for a refund and drive. We're driving from KY about a 10-11 hour drive?

 

[zurgswife]

I would call back immediately and speak with someone else. Explain what you were told and they you haven't recieved an email and you want to get more information about your return flight and confirmation that the changes were made.

 

[KingTriton]

This happened to us ealirer this year. If I remember we had to call back two or three times to get them to fix the problem. We never got our original direct flight back but we did get better flight times with connecting flight. Having a connecting flight sure out weighs driving for 10 hours with small children. We have done that many times and it only takes about two hours before I wished we had flown. Good luck.

 

[CarolA]

1. Look on the website and SEE what your options are. You need to know what you want when you call NOT assume they will take care of you.

2. Next time do NOT let them play the game. When you ask for flight X and they won't give it to you ask to speak to the supervisor. When they come back and say "we fixed it" if it's not what you want get thier NAME and CITY (That last part is important) and then ask again to speak to thier supervisor.

3. You can ask for a refund. Do you REALLY want to drive 10-11 hours by yourself with TWO small kids? However, are thier other options? Could you get a SW flight for the same price for example?

4. Do you have a frequent flyer account number or the confirmation number? If so, go on the DL website and look up your ticket.

 

[bicker]

Their only obligation is to refund your money, nothing more. [http://images.delta.com.edgesuite.net/delta/pdfs/contract_of_carriage_dom.pdf]

As others have alluded to, however, you may benefit from calling back several times, until you find an agent willing to do more than they're obligated to.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Call back. Explain patiently that their schedule change has put you in a real pickle and you need to get to your destination at the time you were originally scheduled to arrive. Be pleasant, be firm. They should not charge any change fee for you to rebook a flight that flies the same time your original flight was scheduled. Don't wait for an email, get the specific flight times and numbers over the phone.

Good luck!

 

[MermaidsMom]

Their only obligation is to refund your money, nothing more. [http://images.delta.com.edgesuite.net/delta/pdfs/contract_of_carriage_dom.pdf]

As others have alluded to, however, you may benefit from calling back several times, until you find an agent willing to do more than they're obligated to.

Although they may not be obligated to do more, they do prefer to keep your dollars at Delta rather than refund them. It is frustrating, but be sure to have a list of the alternate flight choices available when you call them and ask about the ones that are best for you. Also, check out alternate airlines prices/schedules and maybe there is an even better choice for you and you won't even want to bother to deal with Delta at all and just get your money back.

 

[adrock1976]

I understand your frustration, but sometimes nothing can be done. You can call back and ask to speak to the reaccomodation desk...they can look at the reservation and have the authority to make changes without penalties that normal reservation agents cannot.

However, even with a large schedule change, there is nothing that you can always do. Very often there are no other flights that can acomodate your schedule, and you have to look at other options. People tend to book their flights so they have no delay or grond time before they start their trips; they do not allow for delays. I know this is because most people have limited time for vacation and want to maximize the time at WDW and not in the airport, but this is where the problems can compound. Just because someone books a dinner two hours have they are "supposed" to land at MCO, does not make this the airlines' fault. You can never expect something to come in on exactly the time it says.

It's like passengers taking a cruise. You are always advised to fly in the day before the cruise to allow for any flight delays or problems. If you fly on your sail date and anything goes wrong, you could be left standing at the dock with no ship, and nothing can be done about it, most times.

 

[scammermom]

Note to self: Never fly Delta.

I can't believe that they get away with this. This is POOR customer service. How can they expect to keep customers if they pull this crap.

Yes, sometimes things happen to delay a flight. You did nothing wrong but put your faith in this airline.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

thisis why i never fly delta
i have been flying jetblue for years now with nothing like this ever happening

 

[bicker]

How can they expect to keep customers if they pull this crap.

Because most of the airlines that have both domestic and international operations operate the same way.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I can't believe that they get away with this. This is POOR customer service. How can they expect to keep customers if they pull this crap.

Just as bicker said, airlines do this all the time, not just Delta. If you fly very frequently, you will have many experiences of flight times changing, seat assignments disappearing or changing, and flights being cancelled. Airlines change schedules and cancel flights for many reasons, equipment malfunctions, crew problems, weather delays, revenue reasons, etc. How can you expect airlines to know when these problems are going to occur?

Yes, I find delays, flight time changes, and cancellations very annoying and inconvenient, however, if you don't anticipate this happening and go with the flow, you are going to waste a lot of time being angry and upset.

And there is no point in boycotting any one airline, they all have these problems.

i have been flying jetblue for years now with nothing like this ever happening

I have flown JetBlue for three trips this past year and on EVERY flight, the departure time was delayed for an hour or more and also experienced an aborted takeoff, as well as the Direct TV system being down on 2 of these flights. I would still fly them again.

 

[scammermom]

There is a big difference for a equipment, crew, or weather delay. I can understand something at the last moment.

I fly SW for the last few years. I can book months ahead and the flight doesn't change. I've had a flight delayed because of weather. I've been stuck in Detroit in January for hours. One flight had to delay landing because of a security issue. Sudden changes out of their control. These I can understand.

To change schedules months ahead of time at their whim is irresponsible. They're provide a service. If they have financial problems, that's their own fault.

Businesses do whatever they want as long as people put up with it. Money still talks. That's my opinion.

 

[bicker]

Indeed, and generally passengers don't make their purchasing decision based on the airline's operations, but rather on the airline's (low) fares. Often, passengers will bounce from airline to airline, thinking that they're making headway against poor service, when they're just really bouncing from same-to-same. When an airline makes the investment to provide something better, the airline isn't rewarded by passengers paying higher fares, or filling their flights more reliably, so it would be irresponsible for them to waste money that way.

 

[scammermom]

An airline is rewarded by filling the plane with paying customers who trust them and will use them time and time again.

I have learned something about Delta because I continue to see people on these types of boards. Their reputation doesn't make me want to grab a ticket.

What comes around, goes around.

 

[bicker]

An airline is rewarded by filling the plane with paying customers who trust them and will use them time and time again.

An airline that is rewarded no more for providing the extra level of service people are asking for in this thread than they're rewarded for doing what they're doing now would be irresponsible to invest the extra money to provide that extra level of service. If it costs nothing for them, then fine, but if they're not going to make extra profit from the extra expenses then they shouldn't incur the extra expenses. Unfortunately, passengers do not behave as you project here: They don't show loyalty, as defined by the airlines needs, based on service provided. They should, but they don't, and so the airlines have learned precisely what is the best level of service to provide, given how passengers will or won't act, and in the context of the limitations of available capital.

I have learned something about Delta because I continue to see people on these types of boards.

If you read enough of these boards, you'll learn the same about Northwest, Southwest, United, Continental, US Airways, etc. Just about the only airline that doesn't disappoint as much as the rest do is American (but I bet a few folks will chime into this forum with their horror stories on American, if you wait around long enough).

What comes around, goes around.

Definitely, and so we passengers are now paying for our maniacal fixation on low fares.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Not sure where in KY you are but from Knoxville, TN the drive is about 11 hours, flying even with a connection would probably be less stressfull(I just got back last night driving from Disney)

 

[adrock1976]

Indeed, and generally passengers don't make their purchasing decision based on the airline's operations, but rather on the airline's (low) fares. Often, passengers will bounce from airline to airline, thinking that they're making headway against poor service, when they're just really bouncing from same-to-same. When an airline makes the investment to provide something better, the airline isn't rewarded by passengers paying higher fares, or filling their flights more reliably, so it would be irresponsible for them to waste money that way.

Exactly. This is why frequent flyers try and stick with the same airline...that is where the rewards come from. Leisure travelers are just shopping for the best fare, while Business travellers have stricter deadlines, and pay more for their tickets...this is who the airlines look to reward and keep. Almost like high rollers in a casino.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just about the only airline that doesn't disappoint as much as the rest do is American (but I bet a few folks will chime into this forum with their horror stories on American, if you wait around long enough).

Happy to oblige. AA's bete noir appears to be baggage losses. They don't perhaps lose as many on a regular basis as USAir, but when they do lose bags, it is fairly likely to be forever. I've personally dealt with very draconian corporate bag-check policies that were created as a direct response to this issue.

I have lots of horror stories I could tell about AA, since my city is ostensibly one of their hubs. They have different issues than Delta, but since they own Sabre, it stands to reason that seat-assignment snafus don't happen to them nearly as often. They have been known to be less-than-creative about routing solutions for delayed passengers, however; you have to be proactive if you want to change routes to get around a weather delay.

There once was a time when I flew AA often; now I go out of my way not to in most situations. (FWIW, my AA FF days mostly predated my move to one of their "hubs" -- in those days my other choice was normally Delta.) These days, I mostly fly SWA domestically. My preferred intl. choice among US carriers is Continental, which takes a fair amount of effort but has so far universally been a good experience.

I don't completely swear off any airline; sometimes you just don't have much choice. However, I can and do shift my business as much as possible away from airlines that consistently respond to problems with a "you'll just have to live with it" attitude.

 

[bicker]

Exactly. This is why frequent flyers try and stick with the same airline...that is where the rewards come from. Leisure travelers are just shopping for the best fare, while Business travellers have stricter deadlines, and pay more for their tickets...this is who the airlines look to reward and keep. Almost like high rollers in a casino.

Great point, and generally the airlines will go the extra mile more so for their elite flyers than they will for the casual leisure traveler, since the casual leisure traveler has much shorter memory, exhibits far less loyalty to start with, and generally is more maniacally focused on the lowest fare to the exclusion of other considerations. Indeed, one of the reasons why airlines tend to hold deeply-discounted travelers to the seats available in their own fare class is so that there are enough seats available in each flight to reaccommodate these elite travelers, should the need arise.