Had problem with Delta flight operated through Northwest

[sallyjane]

We booked with Delta in Febuary for our most recent trip the beginning of this month. I checked frequently for flight changes there were many. One changed us from having one plane change to having two for our return trip. I called Delta and they switched us to a Northwest airlines flight that had only one stop and plane change for our return flight. I still had to go on the Delta website to check for any changes in the flight status for the Northwest flight. I checked the night before our flight and everything looked great same time and seats all together- very important since I have two young children who both want to sit with mommy. The day of the flight home - I get my boarding passes and the second leg of our flight has everyone in our party sitting all over the plane. I go to the desk and she tells me that the flight is full and I have to wait until I get to the desk at the next airport to have it straightened out. She said it will not be a problem they will just call some people up to the desk and ask if they can switch with you. Ok no problem. We rush to the correct gate at our connecting flight. Woman was very rude - refused to help. Said sorry the flight is full you will have to speak with the flight attendent when you get on the plane. I was in tears and very upset. I tried to talk with her again. Still very rude she says someone else has wanted a window seat so she was able to get one child to sit with me. Other child at this point is still supposed to sit with strangers. I told my husband deal with it. We get in the plane and DH talks with the flight attendent who says, "tell the man in seat -- to switch with this seat with one of you it is better anyway because it is an elite seat. We go to that seat and discover the man she wants me to 'tell' not "ask' to move is visually impared. He had heard us talking and I could tell that he did not want to move and was upset by the idea but would to accomodate. We told him we would work things out. Lucky for us we were able to talk a nice man into giving up his window seat so my kids could sit with Me. I doubt I will fly Northwest again. BTW I loved Delta for the inbound flight- great service- free snacks.

 

[DeterminedOne]

The FA should have done more to assist you. Sounds like they had little compassion for the situation they caused. I'm glad that you were able to work it out w/another passenger. Talk about stressful ...
Send them an email. They need to know about the poor service you received. In my experiences - three of them with three different airlines - they responded appropriately to my experience and concerns.

 

[sallyjane]

Thank you for your reply. It was a very stressful end to our vacation. I think there have been talks for a while that the Northwest flight attendents are about to strike maybe that makes them less likely to want to help?

 

[Took]

It would have been courteous for the attendants to help you, but you are actually never guaranteed seats together. Families can, per the ticket contract, be separated.

We have always handled the 'sitting together' thing ourselves, on the few occasions that it has come up. We just politely ask someone if they'll exchange their (less desirable) seat for one of ours and no one has turned us down yet. fairly simple.

took

 

[sallyjane]

Unfortuantly other than one of the seats being an elite seat all the seats were middle seats. I dont think anyone requests middle seats so it was fortunate that we found a simpathetic man to change seats with us and give up his window. Or it might have been the fact that he didn't want to sit next to a child? Why do we go through the hassle of selecting seats when we book if they are just going to change them on you at the last second? I had checked the seating the night before and the seats were all together then. But by check-in the next morning we were all seperated.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Seat assignments change all the time. As mentioned, they are not guaranteed. Wait until you lose a first class seat and are pushed back to coach, then you will really have something to complain about (yes, this has happened to me several times)!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

We fly standby the majority of the time. This means we usually have to wheel and deal to get seats together unless we are ticketed prior to the flight. Fortunately, the standby seats are usually in first class and folks seated in coach are eager to trade with us so we can be seated together if the first class seats aren't next to eachother. Sometimes, we're just lucky to get seats at all. This is when iPods come in handy