Just a vent on my Delta experience this weekend

[athenna]

This is just to vent
Friday we had a 7:15 flight out of MCO. I had never taken connecting flights before and after this I never will. We were supposed to take a connecting flight out of Atlanta at 9:35 and arrive in Boston at 11:52 pm. Due to bad weather in Atlanta, 1st we had a 50 min delay out of MCO, then they changed it to 2 hours, then they changed it to 90 min. Finally got off the ground, but just about everyone on the flight was going to Atlanta to connect somewhere. They made an announcment as we were a few minutes from landing that the airport was aware we had 54 people on board connecting from Atlanta to Boston, but not to worry because all of the flights leaving Atlanta were delayed, too. Well, needless to say our 90 delay was 2 hrs, we land, everyone runs to nearest Delta rep, and guess what?? The last flight Atl-Bos left at 10:17 pm and it was 10:34, they had a 1:50 am flight but they cancelled it. They were not very sympathetic (I know it happens every day) We could've stayed in a hotel, cab at our expense, pay $51 for hotel, but have to be back to go through security by 5:30 am. No one took that option. We all stayed at the airport. They put me on stand by for the 7:30 am flight but couldn't promise me anything until Monday. Stayed all the night at the gate where the 7:30 flight was supposed to leave from, but of course they changed it. Moved gates, eventually Delta rep arrives, and puts us #12 on the priority list, as I had my 65 yr old dad w/some health issues w/me. We were the last 2 people allowed from the stand-by list on board!
Low and behold I arrive in Boston around 10 am, and of course NO LUGGAGE and no clue where it is. Luggage shows up 90 minutes later and I get home at noon. I had been awake from 5:30 Fri afternoon-Sat 12 and just woke up a few minutes ago.
Thanks for letting me vent, I am happy that we didn't travel in bad weather.

 

[wdwstar]

sorry you had a bad flight and sometimes it makes you feel much better to vent, let it all out and then sit down and write a letter to delta, if they delayed your connecting flight 50 mins. what diffference would it have been to delay that flight 10 more mins. for the 54 people that were suppose to have been on that flight, instead of inconveince the 54 people that may never fly delta again in the future. i am sure delta wont do anything for you but it doesnt hurt to send them a letter. i am glad you made it home safe and i hope they find your luggage, what a way to end a great vacation.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

That Sucks!! I've had a similar experience with Delta. Our flight from Detroit to Atlanta was delayed by 2 hours because of 'bad weather' in ATL. The man sitting next to me in the waiting area called his wife in Atlanta and she said it was sunny and 55*. ANYWAYS, our 5:30pm departure turned into 7:45pm. Like a said earlier, I had a 9:15pm flight to catch to Tampa. We landed in Atlanta at 9:35 pm. Expecting our flight to have taken off without us, we took our time walking to our gate, expecting to have to stay overnight. We arrived at our gate at 9:50pm and the aircraft had just pushed back. Engines were going at about to taxi to the runway. The gate agent contacted the captain and he was nice enough to shutdown the engines and taxi back to the gate!!! GO DELTA, YOUR MY HERO

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

I just got back as well, and will never take a connecting flight again, either. We flew Northwest, which was fine for the most part. Our first flight was scheduled to leave MCO at 11:46, leaving us 35 minutes to catch the connecting flight in Detroit. We left about 10 minutes late, so I was a little nervous. However, we made good time and the pilot came on saying we were approaching Detroit with over an hour to spare. Hurray? Not quite - it was snowing lightly in Detroit and for some reason we circled the airport for a very long time, putting us down with less than 20 minutes to get on the next flight. Of course, we got off at Gate A10 and had to get to Gate B19, which meant waiting for the tram, going down one set of escalators, down a hall, around a corner, down another hall, then up another escalator, and down to the end of the next hall - at a dead run - with DD 10 and DS 7 in tow. Throughout this time the PA kept announcing that people not boarding 20 minutes before their flights would risk losing their seats. At one point between the escalators I turned to see where DS was just in time to see his backpack sort of vomit its contents into the air. I yelled to DD to keep going and let the staff at the gate know we were coming, and stuffed DS's things into his bag. I was literally sobbing (for breath as well as crying) by the time we arrived at the gate, and were among the last to board.

I will NEVER go through that again. I saved $450 by taking the connecting flights, but I will seriously consider paying that to fly nonstop in the future. On the plus side, I'd mailed the kids' clothes and had only a couple of carry-ons; no checked luggage to worry about. I'm positive it would not have made it to the second plane.

 

[OKW Lover]

Sorry to hear of your problems with changing in Atlanta. When weather hits a hub it really makes a mess of things. But about your luggage, you shouldn't have had to stay and wait for it. The (few) times my luggage has missed the flight, they have always delivered it to my house when it did show up.

 

[debden]

That is really terrible.I have never experienced what you went thru but I have nightmares that my turn is eventually coming. I go on 3 or 4 trips a year and so far just minimal delays...(thank goodness)
I am also on a Delta flight connecting into Atlanta and my flight out of Atlanta is the last one of the evening.....Coming and going....
Now reading everyone else's problems with connections in Atlanta really makes me nervous. I'll be flying alone and don't want to be stuck in Atlanta all night!!!!
It sounds like this is a more common occurance than most of us know.
Debbie

 

[athenna]

sorry you had a bad flight and sometimes it makes you feel much better to vent, let it all out and then sit down and write a letter to delta, if they delayed your connecting flight 50 mins. what diffference would it have been to delay that flight 10 more mins. for the 54 people that were suppose to have been on that flight, instead of inconveince the 54 people that may never fly delta again in the future. i am sure delta wont do anything for you but it doesnt hurt to send them a letter. i am glad you made it home safe and i hope they find your luggage, what a way to end a great vacation.

I got my luggage thankfully! They did tell me that they would send it to my home as soon as they found it, but they said I could wait for a little bit if I wanted to, because they thought it may be with the folks that took at 8:30 ATL-BOS flight, and that was exaclty what happened. I was going to go home and wait for it if it didn't show up with theirs, but luckily it did.

 

[jetfxr69]

try Southwest Airlines next time! Lots of non-stops to MCO from just about everywhere.

 

[athenna]

try Southwest Airlines next time! Lots of non-stops to MCO from just about everywhere.

Yeah, except they don't have flight's departing from Boston's Logan airport. It would probably be a P.I.T.A to get to another airport.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

I have flown Delta many times over the years...but never by choice! I have never had a good experience with this carrier. This past fall, dh and I arrived at the airport with time to spare before we were supposed to be there. While dh parked the car, I stood in line forever to check our bags at the curb. When I finally got to the counter, the unfriendly skycap said his cart was full but would be back in just a few minutes. 20 minutes later, dh and I (and all the people behind us) were still in line waiting while the other line continued checking-in. When the other sky cap finally acknowledged how long we'd been waiting and that it didn't look as if the skycap would be returning any time soon, she said she would helps us in "a moment." well, the moment ended up being another 15 minutes. Then, we were unable to get my dh's bags checked for some unknown reason. After waiting forever for the so-called convenience of curb-side check-in, we had to haul dh's bags inside and stand in yet another line. We let several Delta employees know along the way that we were nearing the 30 minute window when we would have to be through security. No one cared! The time expired while we stood in an unmoving line! The person in charge of the counter was very, very rude to us even after the female sky cap from outside explained how long we had been kept waiting due to her counter partner. The counter attendent truly expressed no interest in helping us and even said he would have to put us on a list and charge us full-price for tickets out more than 36 hours later. (We were only going to WDW for a quick 4-day anniversary trip!) I have never gotten loud and ugly EVER before and I had been friendly and accomodating up until this point, but I finally lost my control. I think my dh was shocked. The rude manager then backed down at this point, put dh's luggage through the special scanner, and sent us running towards our gate. More than a few people in line at security said they witnessed the rudeness of the Delta employees towards us and were appalled by it. Surprisingly, Delta held the plane for us.

The trip before this, my in-laws and young children were flying with dh and I to Newport News, VA. First, our flight was cancelled outgoing. We called ahead and were told that the flight was on-time, so we arrived at the airport as the sun was rising. We were rerouted with a long, long layover in Pittsburgh. Coming back, we were bumped from our flight - it was way, way overbooked. This time, we made a lenghty visit to Atlanta on our way home. Normally, our beach drive takes us around 15 hours to drive. Needless to say, it took us WAY more than this to fly! While I had packed some extra diapers and clothes for my little one, I was in no way prepared for this amount of time!

Personally, I prefer to fly Southwest. I've never ever had a problem with this carrier. Most everyone in my region must feel the same way, because it's often difficult to get tickets where/when we want them -- even purchased months ahead.

 

[inkkognito]

I am not a Delta fan either. The one and only experience I had with them was a messing up of our seat assignments. Not just a change...they didn't have any record of the original assignments at all. We were on connectors, and the outbound agent was able to staighten out both outbound flights. He suggested that I speak to a rep. at MCO to take care of the others. The rep. was a Middle Eastern man, and he seethed with contempt because I was doing all the talking while my husband stood by silently. If he can't set aside a cultural (or maybe it was just personal) belief that women should be seen and not heard, Delta should not have him in a customer service position. When I explained the situation, he called me a liar and said he refused to speak to me any further. I started writing down his name, intending to go find a supervisor. He demanded to know what I was doing, so I told him. He got really belligerant and said he had never refused to speak to me, even though my husband (and everyone in line behind us) had witnessed it. I asked if that meant he WOULD speak to me, and he said no! Then he said that it wasn't really his name on the tag. At that point, I just ignored him and got a supervisor. The problem was eventually fixed, and the supervisor admitted that it was Delta's fault...he even explained what had probably happened (I guess it's a common glitch in the computer system). But it should never have escalated that far. I'd don feathers and fly myself before I'd try Delta again.
Barb

 

[Alexander]

try Southwest Airlines next time! Lots of non-stops to MCO from just about everywhere.

We would have a 3 hour drive to get to the closest airport that flies SW. Not worth it!

I'm not trying to make you feel any better or worse I guess? There was bad weather affecting all airports Friday and Saturday. We were delayed over three hours in Chicago yesterday. There were very high winds and of course the storm that was over the southeast made more delays. It happens. Many people don't have the option of direct flights (yes, that would be us) so we are kind of used to having to run through the airport only to find we've been delayed 3 hours. And let me tell ya! Chicago is one big airport to run through!

 

[georgina]

They did it to us last summer too. Stayed all day at LAX from 8:30 AM till after midnight. Of course, when we finally got out on the redeye, it left 2 hours late too, so we missed our 7:30 AM connection out of Atlanta (actually we arrived at the gate on time, but they had already given away our seats even though they knew we were on an arriving flight!) Then we waited on standby in Atlanta until 3:30 we could get on a flight. I e-mailed to complain about the lack of help from Delta, and they sent me $50 vouchers for a future flight. Well those will go unused because I will never fly Delta again. They tend to schedule their connection too close together, and are delayed so often we had missed connections numerous times, the LA experience was just the last straw.

 

[athenna]

I did just send them an e-mail describing my bad experience. I don't expect anything, but I think they need to know about it. I'll let you know how things turn out.

 

[maps]

Wow, I haven't flown Delta in awhile since SWA has been non stop from Manchester. But, I have to say, I always had good experiences with them. Of course, American Airlines on the other hand couldn't pay me to fly them again!

 

[waltsdouble]

I fly out of Logan also. Always take a non-stop. Jetblue, is better than American or Delta or Northwest. Cheaper fares, better long range reservations, and in May they move into Delta's old slot in Terminal C.

 

[athenna]

I fly out of Logan also. Always take a non-stop. Jetblue, is better than American or Delta or Northwest. Cheaper fares, better long range reservations, and in May they move into Delta's old slot in Terminal C.

Good to know! I have never flown jetblue, but will have to look into it for the future.

 

[cranbiz]

athenna,

Southwest has non stops out of both Manchester NH and Providence RI.

Both are extermely easy airports to get to and navigate, lower parking and just a whole lot less stressful time than Logan. However if Logan works for you, try JetBlue. They have direct flights to MCO, competetive fares and TV's in the seats. Also, don't forget Song. Yes, is's Delta, but direct to Logan and cheap fares, also with TV's.

 

[athenna]

athenna,

Southwest has non stops out of both Manchester NH and Providence RI.

Both are extermely easy airports to get to and navigate, lower parking and just a whole lot less stressful time than Logan. However if Logan works for you, try JetBlue. They have direct flights to MCO, competetive fares and TV's in the seats. Also, don't forget Song. Yes, is's Delta, but direct to Logan and cheap fares, also with TV's.

Thanks for the heads up! I do normally try to get Song, but wasn't able to for this trip. I already have Song booked for my next trip later this year. I think for next year's trips I will give Jetblue a try.

 

[CarolA]

I fly Delta and other airlines just about every week. What you are posting about Delta could just as easily be posted about NW, AA (my airline of last resort), CO etc....

We all want $200 tickets, but $1,000 service. I hate to say this, but Americans have made a choice, cheap over service. Those airlines who tried to charge more and give great service have not survived. Even AA who was doing the "more room throughout coach" program gave up, they are putting in more seats and taking away the extra room and why? we won't pay for more room.

SW does a good job, but if you get a weather delay on them expect the exact same treatment (trust me, I have seen lots of folks sleeping in the Nashville airport LOL!)