HELP! Delta moved our flight! BDL to MCO

[Fantasmic303]

HELP!

Has this happened to anyone else?

We booked our October flight on June 19th. We're going down for Halloween weekend and had minimal flights to choose from because one of our travelers is a teacher but we still wanted to make the most of our time and money. We chose a Delta flight out of Hartford, direct to Orlando, that left at about 6:30, give or take. Thinking that would be our departure time, we made arrangements for time-off from work and transportation to the airport.

With our air plans in check, we booked a rental car and made our plans to spend a night at POFQ before moving over to our DVC resort.

Well, guess what - DELTA CHANGED OUR FLIGHT!

It now does not leave until 8:54 pm, which, obviously disrupts plans greatly. Not only do I have to revise the rental car terms, but we won't be arriving at our hotel until the middle of the night.

Has this happened to anyone else? Do you have any advice on what we can do about it? Will Delta offer any compensation if we complain?

What would you do? The trip is only three months away...I'm shocked that they made such a significant change with so little notice. And, even more frustrating, they didn't even notify us! My sister happened to be checking on seat configurations and noted the new time, but if she hadn't been on the site, we may not have known until checking the status the day before we left.

Just as advice to the DIS - MAKE SURE YOU KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR FLIGHTS!

 

[DebbieB]

This happens pretty often will all airlines. All you can do is call them and see if there is an earlier flight, possibly a connection. You would probably be entitled to a refund due to the time change if you wish to cancel. They do not offer compensation in this situation. Air Tran changed my flight in May from 11:00am to 1:00pm about a month before, so 3 months ahead is not unusual. It takes awhile for them to notify everyone, sometimes they wait until 30 days before since there can be more changes.

 

[cruise-o-matic]

We live in Greensboro, but booked Delta out of RDU b/c the tickets were $60+ cheaper per ticket. Delta wound up dropping our return flight and booked us on an earlier flight out of MCO. (They did not notify me of this, I found out by checking the Delta site, which I do at least 2-3 times a week.)

I called Delta and told them that the earlier flight did not work for us. So I was able to get them to switch our flights out of GSO. And not only that, we were able to get better flight times, leaving 2 hours earlier and returning 2 hours later, w/o any additional charges.

So, yes, Delta will work with you. Before you call, check the Delta site for other more desirable flights and have that info when you call. The reservations people will not be able to help you w/o charging a re-booking fee, but they can transfer you to Customer Service, who can make the changes w/o the fee.

Good luck.

 

[seashoreCM]

Go up the chain of command as needed, do not just take the word of the reservation agent over the phone.

Hint: Browse the airline's web site and choose new flights of your liking before calling to make changes. If the person on the phone suggests you need to pay a higher fare for a given flight, ask for someone higher up and insist that since the airline made the change it should rebook you on flights of your choice without extra charge. Having seats but no cheap seats is not inability to accommodate you and the airline does not have its choice of refunding your fare instead (but you still have that choice).

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Jcricket Fan]

Two years ago my Song flight from BDL was discontinued ( I found this out by my constant checking online to see if everything was still ok with our flights noone from Song contacted me about it)

I called Delta to see what could be done because the fare was a good one and there was nothing that would be close to it price wise. After speaking with several customer service people I was able to choose another flight on Delta (unfortunatly not a direct flight!) but kept the great price I started with because the change came from Delta/Song not something I chose to do. They would have given me all my money back but the trip was all planned and just a month out so starting over with another airline was not something I could do that late in the planning.

The last women I spoke with was great and I was on my computer with her and on the phone looking at the flights and seat assignments and was able to pick something that got us to Florida at an early enough time because we were heading to Vero Beach first so we needed drive time to get there. (The new seats were selling for over $400.00 ea. and I paid $69. ea. way for my tickets...ouch for all the people on the plane who sat next to me for that much money)

It can be done so don't give up. They should offer that you can either get all your money back or you can pick another flight for the same dollar amount you paid for the original flight.

Hope all goes well!

Colleen

 

[SB in KY]

Generally Delta is pretty good about getting the changes you want made when they change flight times.

Anytime you book air more than 90 to 120 days out you can almost expect flight times to change at least a little. If they change your flight time by more than 60 minutes they will either refund your purchase price without penalty or allow you to change to any available flight at the fare paid...so just figure out what you want and let them know.....make sure you ask for customer service as the phone reservation agents usually cannot make the change so don't waste your time going through the whole long story twice. If another airline has a good fare at better times for you just ask for a refund,

If there is nothing that works better for you don't let a 2 hour change get you down....you could easily have had a 2 hour selay getting there with your original flight....and 2 hours one way or another won't make or break the trip.

 

[RichieGraciemom]

I was changed with usa the morning of our trip four years ago and they accomidated me on the next available flight, instead of the late evening one they wanted to put me on. we hopped in the car and we were off to disney.

 

[carbur]

When my family and I flew on Delta our flights where always being changed. We are leaving in 9 days and at first we booked our flight on Delta but they went off and changed our plane size to about a 50 seater. That got us very mad and we cancled Delta and now we are taking Continental. We have been happy with Continental in the past, so we hope to be happy with them again.

 

[somcgregor]

I booked my tickets back in at the middle of june, they then changed my flight about 3 weeks later they changed it again, and then they just changed it again yesterday now I am stuck sitting in SLC for 3 hours because they would not book me on the flight that left Boise later. However they said if the 8:00 flight comes back I can change with out cost, however I bet I have to pay.

Don't worry about it I bet it changes again

 

[OKW Lover]

As others have mentioned, Delta will work with you on this. Just give them a call and explain that the later flight isn't going to work for you and ask for an earlier flight. They will do their best to accomodate you and won't charge you a change fee.

 

[dmask]

Song changed my departure time by 2 hours, i was able to cancel w/o any fees. Full refund, I then was able to rebook at a different and lower fare. I hope something good comes out of this for you too.