Please help with nonrefundable tickets!

[2plusPoohBaby]

My DH and I were planning a trip to WDW this December and had booked everything (being planners ) in March. We snagged a great deal on airfare through Delta.

However, we since have found out we are expecting a baby in January! This is totally exciting, but somewhat wreaks havoc with our vacation plans. (I will not be able to fly 8 months pregnant according to the doctor and the airline.) I called Delta once and was told that we can pay $100 a ticket to change our flight to anytime within one year of PURCHASE, which would be March 2002. We just wanted to postpone our trip until Dec 2002, but we also don't want to lose our money!

Please help - does any one have suggestions for dealing with this situation? Thanks so much!

 

[tink2dw]

I would call Delta and talk to a superviser and explain about the Baby and wantingto go Dec 2002,there may be a way to reticket that will let you postpone till then. Do not take the word of the first or even the second person you talk to[not all employees have the proper answers.] Stay patient,explain you still have convidience in them and want to fly with them but need this postponement to make the trip happen.

If you still get nowhere call a travel agent they may have a relationship with the right person to help you!

Good luck to you!!And Congrats to you and hubby on the expected arrival!!

 

[tink2dw]

This is what I was trying to say,only adam66 did it!!
adams66
Welcomed Guest

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: Cochranton, PA USA
Posts: 35
I'm not sure what airlines you are dealing with but I'd call back and ask to talk to a supervisor. In August, my sister purchased tickets to Orlando from Pittsburgh and within a week the price had gone down about 40 dollars per tickt. She called and they didn't give her a refund but they did issue her vouchers for a future flight. This was US Airways.

That said, I also had a similar transaction recently. My husband and I had booked trips to Las Vegas for October. Because of the travails of the airlines, they cancelled and "rescheduled" our return flight for over 12 hours earlier. When I first called to complain, the women on the line told me that there was nothing she could do except fly me through Houston Texas to get back on a later flight. I told her that I did not wish to go through Texas to get back to PA. She then told me again that there was nothing she could do except if I wanted to change, I would have to pay the $100 change fee. By the way I forgot to mention I booked these in May. I asked to speak to her manager. I was very polite and explained to him that this was not an acceptable situation. He agreed to cancel my ressies and let me rebook at a later date without any change fee. He also said that I could use the "credit" of the purchased ticket against a similar fare flight to even a different destination. He then said that if the new fare was lower, I would get a refund of the difference. This was Continental Airlines.

I know this is a long reply but I just want to point out one thing. NEVER TAKE A "NO" ANSWER FROM SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO TELL YOU "YES" TO BEGIN WITH. Call back and ask to talk to a supervisor.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

if necessary go to their consumer affairs department. if they won't let you fly at the 8 mth stage then they should wave the change fee. when you speak to them tell them you want to change the dates of travel and then have them make the new ressies right then and there this way you know you will not be charged any more money. the only way I can see an additonal collection of money is if there is a difference in the fares. which is indeed possible. but its better to pay an extra 25 per tkt than 100 plus per tkt.

 

[2plusPoohBaby]

Thanks so much for all of your help! This is how it actually turned out:

I had my DH call Delta (he is much more patient with this type of thing than I am LOL) and he first talked to someone in Customer Service. They said that they couldn't do anything and that we had to just change our flights and pay our $100 per ticket to change. And the real kicker was that since next December's flights wouldn't be out by when we purchased our tickets in March, we would have to change them TWICE to use any credit towards another flight. Since this was $400 in change fees alone, it was almost as much as we had paid for our tickets in the first place!! We knew this could not be right, so DH was transferred to the "Change" Desk. FYI, you have two years from date of purchase with Delta to change flights with change fee, so we were given incorrect info.

Now for the good news! The person that DH husband spoke to at the Change Desk listened to the situation and told us about the two year option. It was better than nothing, but then he asked for our confirmation number. It turns out that our flights had just been canceled anyway but we had not been notified yet! Sooooooo... they offered to refund our entire tickets!!!! We'll take it!

You were all right when you said to keep trying! We are definitely pleased with the results - good to know that nonrefundable is not always set in stone. Good luck to anyone else that has similar issues!

 

[tlduckie]

I am happy all worked out great

 

[cindala]

Thanks for this information! Glad to know the time frame for changing tickets is 2 years from purchase, even if there is a change fee. We have tickets for July 2002 that we purchased on 8/31. None of us feel comfortable about flying yet, so we really don't know what we will wind up doing. I would hate to loose all the money I spent already. If we decide to reschedule for the following July, now we can with the 2 year time frame. Congratulations and good luck with the baby!!!