HELP! Freaking out about Delta!

[Chicago526]

You should ALWAYS recheck your flights about 72 hours before your trip starts. Especially if its been booked months in advance. EVERY airline has schedule changes about 1 time a month...sometimes more. Depending on who you booked your trip with depends on WHO is responsible for notifying you. If you booked specifically through the airline (not through expedia, travelocity or an agent) then its the airline who needs to notify you. But...be sure you dont have your email send those messages directly to your trash.

Good luck to those of you whose trips are up in the air.

Also, if the airline changes your return flight AFTER you're already at your destination, they can't contact you unless you've given them a number to reach you at while you're on your trip. Be sure to give them your cell phone or the number of the hotel you're staying at. If you book through a travel site (Expedia, etc.) or a travel agent, make sure you give your contact info for your destination to them, too.

Even so, still call or go online to check your flights, sometimes the airlines have hundreds of people to contact and if you're last on the list, you may have already left for the airport by the time they get to you!

 

[bicker]

If a airline goes on strike, other airlines will accept the stricking airlines tickets and put you on their flights if seats are available. If an airline goes under (ceases operations), same thing, other airlines will honor the tickets.

I'm sorry, but this is not necessarily true. Saying that is exactly like saying that there won't be a massive earthquake in California. It is likely, for many years, that that will be the case, but then, when the big one hits, you'd be wrong. And industry experts have made it clear that they're expecting the big one, in the airline industry, very soon. While recent judicial silliness has seemingly backed the government into a corner, whereby the government would seem to be forced to take over the debts, both secured and unsecured, of any major airline that goes under, eventually the silliness may stop, and travelers probably don't want to be the one holding the bag when that happens.

This is a very clear and accurate picture of what is most likely:

http://www.hasbrouck.org/articles/bankruptcy.html

The problem with this is that the other airlines will ONLY do this if they have empty seats. If they are all sold out that day, you're still stuck.

Yes, but understand that, if the big one hits (i.e., a major airline ceases operations) it won't be the same as with previous bankruptcies of smaller airlines. It could be many days before an open space is found for you.

I think in both cases the airlines that honor the strikeing/bankrupt airline's tickets can only charge a maximum of a $25 fee per ticket, or something like that.

According to those airlines, it is $100 per ticket, and they have publicly stated that they're willing to charge that and go to court to defend that. Furthermore, that only applies if the other airline flies the exact same routing. If you live in a city served by only the one airline going under, you're totally out-of-luck. No other airline is under any obligation to help you, and so they'll only do so if they have much greater incentive.

One other aspect of this: This arrangement is for flying stand-by. That means that the airline can continue to try to sell those empty seats up until flight time, even at just $101 (though they'll likely sell them at a higher fare than that). And you know some folks will pay the extra amount (whatever it is) to get accommodated, when the alternative is being stranded. And this is in accordance with the law -- so there cannot be any charges of price gouging.

I don't mean to sound so gloomy, but I think folks are better off knowing rather than being surprised by this stuff, if the worst happens.