Never thought I'd see the day-Delta cheaper than SW-advice please

[Terry's Angels]

I was on delta's website this morning looking for a one-way return from MDW (I've got issues with O'hare) and found a $59 flight from MCO to MDW (at reasonable times). With tax, the fare is $78.30 pp. The cheapest, so far, SW flight is $92 before taxes. This just sucks because I really, really, really dislike flying delta but may have to make the choice. I could wait for a lower fare from SW but just don't know - any advice would be great

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

I have never flew on Delta before, but I think I might book with them for our Aug. trip, the prices are about $70 dollars less the Southwest for us.

 

[Darcy03231]

I flown Delta many times and not had any issues. Other than the airfare I just booked yesterday on Southwest we've been flying Delta pretty much exclusively as their fares have been better than SW.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

I flown Delta many times and not had any issues. Other than the airfare I just booked yesterday on Southwest we've been flying Delta pretty much exclusively as their fares have been better than SW.

What is Delta's refund policy? Can I get a credit if I need to cancel or change my dates of travel?

 

[snowbunny]

What is Delta's refund policy? Can I get a credit if I need to cancel or change my dates of travel?

It depends on the rules for that specific fare, read them carefully. The super-cheap, buy-in-advance fares are usually nonrefundable with a penalty for changes. That's why it's so cheap so factor it into your planning. And please, not that you would do this but -- if you do buy at a very low rate and then change, don't come back and post that Delta is a terrible airline because they wouldn't let you change without a fee, as per the fare rules.

 

[Terry's Angels]

It depends on the rules for that specific fare, read them carefully. The super-cheap, buy-in-advance fares are usually nonrefundable with a penalty for changes. That's why it's so cheap so factor it into your planning. And please, not that you would do this but -- if you do buy at a very low rate and then change, don't come back and post that Delta is a terrible airline because they wouldn't let you change without a fee, as per the fare rules.

Thanks for stating this about the return/change policy for Delta. One of the main reasons I fly SWA is because of the lenient change policy. I think that it spoils us. My problems with Delta regard the service and unexpected flight cancellations I experienced with them. Specifically, the last time I flew Delta I had a 6:00AM flight that was cancelled because the flight crew didn't have a long enough layover. Now I'm glad that the airline values crew (and passenger) safety, but what ticked me off was that when I arrived in at the airport 2 hrs before the flight, they said they called and told me that the flight was cancelled and they had not. It was poor planning and poor customer service all around.

 

[Jynohn]

After flying Delta for many years, I've vowed never to use them again for trips to Disney. I've dealt with too many schedule changes from them (major changes that caused us to lose an entire day of vacation, or miss an additional day of school/work) and as someone else mentioned, I've become too spoiled with Southwest's refund policy.

My husband's in the military, which makes it very hard for us to plan vacations far ahead of time because his schedule can change at the last minute. With Southwest I can book airfare ahead of time and still know that I can make changes if necessary. As it turns out, the schedules and fares from Providence are usually a lot better too, but I think I would even pay a little extra for Southwest just to have the peace of mind that my flights aren't going to be changed and I can reschedule without penalty if needed.

 

[mary174]

I faced your dilemma in 2005 with Southwest and American Airlines. I decided to go with the at the time cheaper AA. I still regret that decision. AA changed times on us multiple times without warning us. When I found out by keeping an eye on their website I had to call them up and rebook to a time that worked for us. In the end we got our trip with no problems, but I really missed the better service at SW, and the straight through flight. The fact that SW later published better rates for our travel time then we were getting from AA just made it worse. I kept wanting to lie when dealing with AA reps over their latest schedule change to get them to let me out of the deal. I never would, but the whole experience just made me so upset. I had to fight to keep them from charging me for dealing with them on the phone, when they changed my online ressies without thinking that maybe a half hour transfer time with 2 young boys and a carseat in an unfamiliar airport wasn't going to work. I have to admit that the times I started with and ended up with for using AA were better for us as far as DW park time was concerned, but it wasn't in my opinion worth the hastle.