Not allowed to change connecting flight?

[KrazeeK120]

I’m flying from my regional airport to Atlanta to Orlando on Sunday. I want to change my Atlanta to Orlando leg to get in an hour earlier. Delta is telling me I can’t change the connecting flight without also changing the originating flight. I can’t find that stipulation anywhere on the website and the agent won’t tell me where I can find that information either. Is this true? It’s fine if it is, I just wish I would have known beforehand.

 

[sponica]

Does the second leg still allow for the minimum connection time if you move it earlier?

 

[starry_solo]

How long is the layover? They will usually require a minimum amount of time for the layover.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Does the second leg still allow for the minimum connection time if you move it earlier?

How long is the layover? They will usually require a minimum amount of time for the layover.

I was going from a 3 hour layover to a 2 hour layover. I looked at my flights and was like…why did I do that? And figured it would be an easy enough change…

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I was going from a 3 hour layover to a 2 hour layover. I looked at my flights and was like…why did I do that? And figured it would be an easy enough change…

You could keep the original flights, but look up which gate the earlier one is at, go there, and see if they have room to switch you then.

 

[cedricandsophie]

While it seems like two separate flights most airlines treat it as one flight and reservation. And won’t allow changes to the connection unless you start over again. I w had it happen before on United. As someone mentioned you might be able to fly standby on the earlier flight unless you check baggage and that is an issue because you aren’t flying with your luggage.

 

[sam_gordon]

By any chance, does one of the following apply:
1) You booked from a 3rd party (Expedia, Orbitz, etc) instead of directly from Delta?
2) You have a "basic economy" ticket?

I'm just guessing on both of those if they would affect the ability to change. If neither apply, I would call back and try to do the change again. Or try it on the app/website yourself. There should be a "change flight" option. You might need to select your first flight again, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

Failing that, as @jalapeno_pretzel mentioned, when you get to the connecting airport, go to the gate the earlier flight is going out of and ask if you can change your reservation. I've been successful probably ~90% of the times I've tried this. As @cedricandsophie mentioned, that may not work if you have checked luggage.

 

[KrazeeK120]

While it seems like two separate flights most airlines treat it as one flight and reservation. And won’t allow changes to the connection unless you start over again. I w had it happen before on United. As someone mentioned you might be able to fly standby on the earlier flight unless you check baggage and that is an issue because you aren’t flying with your luggage.

We originate out of a small regional airport and have first class seats. It looks like the plane is pretty full at this point, I don’t want to try standby. I’ll just keep the longer layover. I didn’t realize this was a thing…it would have been nice to have some warning. Lesson learned.

By any chance, does one of the following apply:
1) You booked from a 3rd party (Expedia, Orbitz, etc) instead of directly from Delta?
2) You have a "basic economy" ticket?

I'm just guessing on both of those if they would affect the ability to change. If neither apply, I would call back and try to do the change again. Or try it on the app/website yourself. There should be a "change flight" option. You might need to select your first flight again, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

Failing that, as @jalapeno_pretzel mentioned, when you get to the connecting airport, go to the gate the earlier flight is going out of and ask if you can change your reservation. I've been successful probably ~90% of the times I've tried this. As @cedricandsophie mentioned, that may not work if you have checked luggage.

I booked directly through the airline and have first class tickets.

I tried doing it myself and I keep getting an error, which is why I contacted them.

Interestingly, a few days ago, I changed the return flight in order to have a longer layover (I was missing my brain when I booked these initially…). I couldn’t do that online either. I contact them and the person I chatted with easily changed our originating flight and left the connecting flight alone. Seems strange to me that you can change only the initial flight but not only the connecting flight.

We’ll have luggage checked.

In addition to a shorter layover, the connecting flight I wanted to change to is the first flight of the day for that plane whereas the flight I’m booked on has to come from Jacksonville first.

At this point I think I’ll just leave everything as it is and let the chips fall where they may. Looks like there may be bad weather headed for Florida this weekend anyway which could throw everything off no matter what.

 

[Jimsig]

I would call back, the first agent may have been mistaken and a different agent might be able to help.

If that fails when you get to the airport in the morning ask about changing to the other flight when checking in.

 

[lanejudy]

It’s likely due to the pricing of the flight from the small regional airport. Chances are that price is lower than one originating at the metropolitan airport.

 

[KrazeeK120]

It’s likely due to the pricing of the flight from the small regional airport. Chances are that price is lower than one originating at the metropolitan airport.

I’m taking the exact same flight path though.

Regional airport to Atlanta to Orlando. Just looking to change the Atlanta to Orlando leg to a flight one hour earlier.

I would think the cost would be similar if not the same.

The agent told me specifically that I cannot change the connection without changing the originating flight. Since I wanted to keep the originating flight the same, I couldn’t do anything.

 

[lanejudy]

Yep. That’s what they do. They pair the less-desirable connection with a lower fare from the regional airport.

 

[Brian Noble]

I'd call back as well. That does not match my experience with Delta (and I fly them a lot).

 

[KrazeeK120]

Yep. That’s what they do. They pair the less-desirable connection with a lower fare from the regional airport.

The agent didn’t tell me it had anything to do with cost. She said I couldn’t change the connection AT ALL. If cost were the factor, they could just charge me the difference in fare. On their website, it says if you make a change resulting in a fare increase, you have to pay it and I’m fine with that.

I don’t think this has anything to do with a price difference.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I'd call back as well. That does not match my experience with Delta (and I fly them a lot).

I just checked and unfortunately there are no longer 2 seats available together in 1st class and I’m unwilling to have my 7 year old sit away from a parent. So, it is what it is at this point. I really just wanted to see if this was actually a thing because it totally caught me off guard.

 

[Brian Noble]

It's often the case that I can't change a flight online for reasons that I've never understood, but a call seems to sort it out. I admit I don't often call, though--sometimes I don't care that much.

 

[jimmymc]

When I change flights on Delta, I usually have to change the entire flight, not just one leg, but the combination of your original first leg and earlier second leg should be an option when click "Change Flight" and search.

 

[KrazeeK120]

When I change flights on Delta, I usually have to change the entire flight, not just one leg, but the combination of your original first leg and earlier second leg should be an option when click "Change Flight" and search.

It was but when I tried to make the change, I got an error.

 

[john7994]

It's often the case that I can't change a flight online for reasons that I've never understood, but a call seems to sort it out. I admit I don't often call, though--sometimes I don't care that much.

This has been my experience as well ... there are a myriad reasons of why tickets are not changeable online - often related to how they were booked, companion tickets used, fare code mis-matches, the use of mixed miles and cash, upgrades purchased post ticket purchase, cabin mis-matches based on availability, fare types purchased through workplace partnerships (AMEX "meeting" Services), and the like. Without knowing the specifics - it can be any number of things.

Although in the end, not sure I understand what needed to be "warned" in advance and still unclear as to whether this could have been resolved with a phone call. While Delta seems to have resolved this more recently, as an example, I could never upgrade my tickets post purchase or change my flights online when purchased through my work travel agency and I always had to call-in for the manual ticket recalculation for the upgrade of flight change.

 

[sam_gordon]

The agent told me specifically that I cannot change the connection without changing the originating flight. Since I wanted to keep the originating flight the same, I couldn’t do anything.

I have a flight with Delta on Sunday. I went to the website and acted like I wanted to change the flight. I did not get the option to change JUST the 2nd leg. However, when it searched for flights, my 1st leg was available, so I didn't need to "change" it.

Is it possible your first leg is sold out? Therefore it won't come up in a search as "available". Just guessing.

I still recommend when you check in your luggage to ask the ticket agent if you can be put on the earlier flight (if that's what you want). It's also possible that flight won't have FC tickets though if that's important to you.