First time flying with Delta - flight change no notice..lots of questions

[RainbowsMist]

This will be our fist time flying with any american carrier as we are driving across the border (from Nova Scotia) to catch a flight out of Boston to MCO.

We booked our tickets back in April and I check them on a regular basis. Not long ago I noticed our seats were changed whic wasn't a big deal. Today I log in and our flight is gone..it says "schedule change" however they've put us on another flight, different times but still a direct flight.

They told me when I booked they would notify me of any changes yet they didn't. Now we don't have assigned seats and DH and I are flying with our 3 DD's (12,10,4) who have never flown. Will they keep us together? I've never experienced this before. Whenever we've booked with our Canadian carriers the flights have never changed from time of booking.

Can I cancel our flights because the flights I originally booked are no longer available or are we now stuck with these?

We don't even leave for another 8 months, any other surprises I should expect?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

This is what happens when you book so far in advance; there are bound to be changes. The airline hasn't notified you because in the next 8 months, there will likely be more changes.

There are already many threads here on this same topic which should answer all your questions. Here are just a few:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1161717

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1161864&highlight=delta

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1159178&highlight=delta

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1153031&highlight=delta

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1148376&highlight=delta

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1146724&highlight=delta

 

[dudspizza]

I flew Delta last May and my flight changed 3-4 times and I never got notification. I always assume that they will not notify me, so I check daily. In your case, call them immediately to get your seats reassigned. They will take care of you.

Keep in mind, every time they make a change, you "may" loose your seats, so don't fret too much about it this far in advance, just keep calling back to make sure you get seats assigned again.

Have a great trip.

Duds

 

[CarolA]

Generally they email me changes. However, they aren't real timely about it! LOL! They also notifiy in date order. So folks flying next week get notified before folks flying in 8 months! Most notifications are much closer to the date of travel

As a general rule, airlines change thier schedules on a quareterly basis but DL has been doing a lot of shifting especially in the NE with the Song shutdown.

Just keep watching. If they make a change and you don't like it, call them and see if you can get something better. They are usually pretty good about that.

If the changes are substantial they will sometimes give you a refund.

 

[WeLoveThePoly]

I have tickets on Delta too (for October; purchased in December). There have been numerous changes and I've never been contacted. I just check my itinerary every day and if I see changes I call right away.

Yesterday I checked and noticed more changes and my seat assignments were gone (and I could not change them online). I called Delta and they had to re-validate my tickets since there were flight # changes. Most of my seat assignments were the same but since they changed to different equipment on one of the legs Delta assigned our seats (they did put the 3 of us together). Once my tickets were re-validated I could see my seat assignments online.

Just keep checking! And calling!

Debbie

 

[wee-haggis]

This will be our fist time flying with any american carrier as we are driving across the border (from Nova Scotia) to catch a flight out of Boston to MCO.

We booked our tickets back in April and I check them on a regular basis. Not long ago I noticed our seats were changed whic wasn't a big deal. Today I log in and our flight is gone..it says "schedule change" however they've put us on another flight, different times but still a direct flight.

They told me when I booked they would notify me of any changes yet they didn't. Now we don't have assigned seats and DH and I are flying with our 3 DD's (12,10,4) who have never flown. Will they keep us together? I've never experienced this before. Whenever we've booked with our Canadian carriers the flights have never changed from time of booking.

Can I cancel our flights because the flights I originally booked are no longer available or are we now stuck with these?

We don't even leave for another 8 months, any other surprises I should expect?

On our recent flight to Vegas ,Delta changed our times 4 times with some changes as little as 5 minutes and other changes by several hours.
Each time I just logged back into the Delta website and picked my seats from the seating plan .Very easy and painless (out of the 4 times ,once they never contacted me....I found out myself by checking the flight times online)

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm flying in Oct, out of Boston to MCO. Purchased our tickets back in Feb, have had them change 3 times by mid-March. Then, last weekend, they changed again. I knew they were going to change since they were on the old Song planes and I was pretty sure we wouldn't be lucky enough to fly down on one of those. Anyway...I have had to call Delta each and every time there has been a change. Did I have to? Don't know. One Delta rep told me I didn't need to call them until I got much closer to my actual flights, while others told me I should call every time I saw a change. Since the call doesn't cost me anything, I'll continue calling each time they change me. I figure we have at least 2 more changes to go before we leave...I'm using DME and I think I'll hold off on telling them my new flight info until 5 weeks before we fly!!!!

 

[dvc guy]

We have tickets for Jan 1 on DL that we bought in Feburary and they have change 4 times so far. The last change was the other day 30 minutes and going from a 757 to MD88. I called and got seats back, they put 4 together for me, as of now the plane as only has 2 empty seats. As posted check your resveration often and call when you see a change.

 

[BigTigger]

Anyway...I have had to call Delta each and every time there has been a change. Did I have to? Don't know. One Delta rep told me I didn't need to call them until I got much closer to my actual flights, while others told me I should call every time I saw a change. Since the call doesn't cost me anything, I'll continue calling each time they change me.

My advice - check online weekly and call immediately. When Delta changes your flight they show the old flight and a new flight with "schedule change" next to the old flight and no seats assigned in the lower section. While it is theoretically true that Delta will eventually fix your record and re-assign your seats, I've never seen it happen and I'm a 2 million miler on Delta and have been Platinum Medallion for six years now. If you wait too long you will lose your seats or if the plane type has changed you will need to pick new seats. The longer you wait the more likelihood you won't like your new seats or could be split up. We are flying BDL to MCO and back from August 6th to 18th (we usually fly from BOS, but BDL parking is so much cheaper than parking or shared van to BOS we are using BDL). The flights have changed 11 times since I booked them last September. I have used the changes to our advantage and changed the departure by a day and got on earlier flights that weren't on the schedule when we booked. Through the years of Delta Express/Song/now mainline Delta we have never had a flight to MCO not change if it was booked more than a month ahead. It's a fact of life with Delta and I plan it into my purchase that I'll be checking regularly.

 

[msr709]

I have a to agree with all the posters that suggest you call and have your seat reassigned, specially since you have children and want to be kept together. Delta might make a lot of changes but its been my experience that they do try to get you what you want or close to it. Its an 800 no. (800) 323-2323 so it won't cost you anything and will give you some peace of mind. Check online regularly and call when you see your seat assignments gone. I'm on my 4th change and I also have used the schedule changes to my advantage, I was connecting in Cinncinnati (which I don't like) but I am now connecting at a better airport (ATL) and coming in 3 hours earlier into Orlando than I previously had booked. Good luck. HTH

 

[seashoreCM]

They may not increase your fare if all the "cheap" (U, T) seats are gone on a flight you like better. And they may not deny you a flight when you were already booked with a Skysaver award just because only Skychoice seats are available.

 

[RainbowsMist]

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up calling Delta because I could not access the seat assignments.

The woman I spoke with was absolutely wonderful! She let us pick our seats and emailed us new tickets. Because it was a Delta scheduling change she even gave us the option of an 8:35 am direct flight rather than the 11:59 am direct flight they put us on. We opted to stay with the one they chose for us but still it was nice to have the option.

Let's hope the rest of our first Delta experience will be as pleasant.

Thanks again.

 

[goofy4tink]

My advice - check online weekly and call immediately. When Delta changes your flight they show the old flight and a new flight with "schedule change" next to the old flight and no seats assigned in the lower section. While it is theoretically true that Delta will eventually fix your record and re-assign your seats, I've never seen it happen and I'm a 2 million miler on Delta and have been Platinum Medallion for six years now. If you wait too long you will lose your seats or if the plane type has changed you will need to pick new seats. The longer you wait the more likelihood you won't like your new seats or could be split up. We are flying BDL to MCO and back from August 6th to 18th (we usually fly from BOS, but BDL parking is so much cheaper than parking or shared van to BOS we are using BDL). The flights have changed 11 times since I booked them last September. I have used the changes to our advantage and changed the departure by a day and got on earlier flights that weren't on the schedule when we booked. Through the years of Delta Express/Song/now mainline Delta we have never had a flight to MCO not change if it was booked more than a month ahead. It's a fact of life with Delta and I plan it into my purchase that I'll be checking regularly.

I'm on the phone with Delta so often I'm surprised they don't have a note in a file about me!!! Yep, I call them every single time they make the slightest change.
But, I have to ask you...you're in Marlborough, I'm in Westborough..how do you find the drive to BDL? I've never really considered flying from there..just Logan or TF Green. Just curious.

 

[seashoreCM]

I'm on the phone with Delta so often I'm surprised they don't have a note in a file about me!!! Yep, I call them every single time they make the slightest change..

\You must call using the telephone in order to remake seat assignments.

 

[goofy4tink]

\You must call using the telephone in order to remake seat assignments.

Yep, I'm an old hand when it comes to changing my assigned seats from unassigned back to assigned! I truly believe it's Delta's convoluted system of letting us know when they make changes.

 

[bornwiththeears]

OK, here is a really stupid question for all of you "seasoned" flyers. This November will be our 20th trip to WDW, but our very first time flying there. I see that most of ya'll have flown on Delta and so here is the question - When you book your flight do you request refundable tickets (quite a big difference in price) or just take your chances? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[wee-haggis]

I found quite straight forward (and fast) when my flights times were changed 4 times, to log into the Delta website,and even if they had pre assigned different seats (from what I had originally chose.....which happened twice)I easily changed the seat assignment to what I wanted. No need for any phone calls.

 

[goofy4tink]

I found quite straight forward (and fast) when my flights times were changed 4 times, to log into the Delta website,and even if they had pre assigned different seats (from what I had originally chose.....which happened twice)I easily changed the seat assignment to what I wanted. No need for any phone calls.

I have yet to be able to do this on-line when they change my flights for any reason...wonder why. I have flown with Delta more times than I can remember and have had mulitiple changes to each flight. However, if I go to my itinerary, I am not able to choose seats again..they just show as unassigned and I have to call them directly. Did they actually reassign your seats so that you could go back in and change them?

As far as refundable vs. nonrefund tickets..I always get the nonrefundable ones. Even if something happens and I have to cancel, I get a travel voucher. I know that I'll be flying within a year, so it's not big deal for me. But, if you don't travel all that much, and you don't know if you'll be able to use that voucher within 12 months, then you may be better off with the much more expensive refundable ones.

 

[msr709]

I have yet to be able to do this on-line when they change my flights for any reason...wonder why. I have flown with Delta more times than I can remember and have had mulitiple changes to each flight. However, if I go to my itinerary, I am not able to choose seats again..they just show as unassigned and I have to call them directly. Did they actually reassign your seats so that you could go back in and change them? . . .

This is what happens to me also, unable to reassign the seats until I call.

 

[bornwiththeears]

Goofy4tink,

Thanks for the info. I booked my five tickets last night with Delta. When you refer to the changes that were made to your original booking, do you mean a change in departure time - how did Delta change them? It makes me nervous when a change in flight can upset your remaining plans.