Delta bait and switch: airline puts passenger on a connecting flight after he buys a nonstop
Posted by
George on Thursday, October 25, 2007 to
Airline Industry News
When Lew Davis, an educator based in New York City, saw a $138 RT fare from New York JFK to Denver on a nonstop flight for peak Christmas travel (leaving a few days before Christmas and coming back just after New Year's Day), he naturally jumped on it.
Even better, the flight left JFK at a reasonable hour in the morning, giving him plenty of time to get to the airport.
But he was in for a surprise: a couple of weeks ago, Delta called him and told him he was now on a flight leaving JFK around 6 AM, and he'd have to make a connection both coming and going. Worse, Davis is now flying on regional jets, instead of a big jet.
Naturally, he's not pleased. There are still seats left on the Delta nonstop, but they're selling for over $600 RT for Davis' itinerary. It's pretty clear what happened here: Delta kicked Davis off of the nonstop, and will now sell seats at a much higher fare than he paid to last minute purchasers.
Why we need airline regulation
Can you imagine any other industry getting away with this garbage? Imagine if you bought a TV from Best Buy and then, 2 months later, someone calls you to explain that they're substituting a TV of much lesser value. "We'll be over in a hour to swap it out."
Or you sit down to a restaurant, waiting for your rib eye, and the waiter explains that the restaurant just ran out of steak, and another diner has offered to pay more for your meal. So you're going to get a hamburger instead. For the same price as rib eye (I'm equating connecting flights with hamburger, as you can see). This is BS. There really ought to be a law. And I mean a law, passed by Congress.
I can understand, maybe, if Delta had scrubbed nonstop flights from their JFK DEN schedule. But this is not the case.
Too many airlines are getting away with too much of this sort of thing. Another example is when they do in fact scrub a flight from their schedule, forcing travelers to buy much more expensive fares at the last minute. In these cases, airlines should honor the original fare, even if they have to find seats on another airline.
Has this sort of thing happened to you? Feel free to leave a comment.
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By Jon on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 1:48 PM
Funny, almost the exact same thing happened to us.
We booked round trip, nonstop flights from New York to Salt Lake City on Delta, about 3 months before we were set to depart.
A month before, Delta called to tell us they cancelled that flight, and we were now being routed through Atlanta (keep in mind the return flight was a redeye, and now we had a layover in Atlanta at 5am or something).
Our only choice was the cancel the ticket (not an option, because to get a direct flight on another airline would cost twice as much at that time). So we unhappily kept the layover.
The best part was the return flight (leaving SLC at 12:30am) was delayed. Why? Because the pilot didn't show up. They found another pilot at 3am, we missed our connection in Atlanta, and lost our luggage coming back.
For all my trouble, I got one of those crappy $100 certificates that I can only use in person.
I reluctantly used to get a flight to London this summer. The return flight was delayed 4 hours (not weather related, and they knew about the delay 4 hours in advance).
I will never fly Delta again. I've done it 4 times and something went wrong every single time. With other airlines, stuff happens, but other times there are good experiences. I believe it's just random. With Delta, I am confident they they are just completely incompetent and have no problem with screwing the customer.
By Tricia on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 2:04 PM
Delta has also just screwed me....I booked a family of 4 to Orlando from Columbus in Jan 2008 and just noticed they have changed the flights without notifying me to a much earlier departure (still non-stop at this point). When I called to inquire (and to figure out if I had a seat since all seat assignments disappeared) they said they are changing equipment and we needed to be moved to another flight. Our family of four (2 children) are now scattered around the plane as there are no two seats together.....atleast we still have seats for now..................
By ChrisWG75 on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 2:11 PM
Something similar happened to me in 99. I booked a rt Delta flight to LA from OKC, routing through Dallas for 2 weeks, coming back on July 3. About 2 months before the departure, they called to tell me my flight from LA back to Dallas was rescheduled and instead of leaving at 8PM on the 3rd, the flight would come back at 7AM on the 4th.
I attribute this to selling my seat on the 3rd for a higher price. This absolutely should be stopped; I cant imagine another industry getting away w/ something like this.
As a side note- after this incident, I tried Delta one last time; going from Myrtle Beach to Chicago via Atlanta. The plane was 2 hours late arriving into Myrtle Beach and while I was able to run to catch my connecting flight (the last one to Chicago that day), my bags didnt make it. From my experience and others I've heard of, I'll drive before I fly Delta again.
By roger rittenhouse on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 2:19 PM
Delta rountinely bumps passengers who buy lower price tickets on non-stop flights to connection flights. Delta did this to me last December. I specifically bought a ticket on a non-stop flight to Germany to avoid connections and Delta switched me the day before the departure date to a connecting flight on Comair, its miserable commuter airline. The worst part is they didn't even tell me of the flight change. I noticed it when I tried to check in on line 12 hours before my flight. I called Delta and the service representative said "Read between the lines. In these situations we are instructed to tell you that the flight change just happened and that we haven't had a chance to contact you yet." Obviously, the customer service representative wasn't comfortable with the airlines practice either. She stated she was unable to get me back on the non-stop flight, even though some vacancies still existed. I have not flown Delta since. I intend to use my frequent flyer miles for a ticket on a partner airline and to never fly Delta again. There is a reason this airline was in bankruptcy. Apparently, they haven't learned their lesson.
By Renee on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 2:29 PM
I start looking for flights/fares as early as possible to get exactly what i want at decent fares. I booked for March 2008 for Spring Break, I got the day I wanted at an early morning flight non-stop. Next thing I know we were put on a late night flight and were never even advised of that. This happened once before where we were on an early morning flight, they changed us to night flight and then added a morning flight and didn't put us back on that until I got a little cranky with them.
Then on our trip back they gave away our seats even though they told us we had confirmed seats and showed up 2.5 hours ahead of flight, a big group booked and they said that "they wouldn't split them up", didn't matter how early I booked. However, they were willing to split up my young son and myself if I wanted to put one of us on the flight but they only had one seat available?!?! duh... no.
This was on Air Tran...
By Lisa on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 2:35 PM
Similar thing happened to me on Northwest a few years ago. Booked a RT ticket (in November) from IAH to JAX in April for $107 leaving Friday evening and returning Sunday with a reasonale layover time. A WEEK before our flight, Northworst calls - "we've cancelled your flight, you can take the 6 AM to JAX with a 4 hour layover - that's the only flight we're doing on that day now."
Also - Air Jamaica. We had booked a nonstop from IAH to Montego Bay. A week before, they call saying they're no longer doing Nonstops from IAH - so instead of 3 hours to get there, it's now 7, with a connection.
After that, I've never flown anything but Continental. I'm testing the waters with a to-good-to-pass up $214 RT to STT (connecting in ATL) in January (thanks, AFWD!!)... so we'll see how that goes... not looking good with all these complaints!!
By ohiogirl on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 2:48 PM
I am horrified, hearing of these delta stories.
For years I flew Continental and people laughed. (Their reputation wasn't the most highfalutin...) But their customer service was fab, so I stayed with them. Now, many years later, their customer service is STILL excellent. And people aren't laughing anymore. (BTW, their customer service is still done by continental, in the USA.)
And I had no idea of how far Delta had fallen. Oy.
By Ruth on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 3:07 PM
I had this happen to me several years ago when I had a family group of about 9 going from IAD to Orlando, during spring break, nonstop, United airlines, perfect hours to allow for a half day of activities upon arrival; great airfare deal. About 2 months out, united notifies me of what they called a "schedule change" and my non stop flight was no longer available. They offered me a flight leaving at 6:00 a.m. with a stop or a flight leaving late in the evening arriving in Orlando late at night. Mind you the flight at 6:00 a.m. would have taken us from Washington DC to MICHIGAN to change planes to go to Orlando. I was furious. I too felt what other industry gets away with selling their products and then literally taking them back with no recourse. All I was able to get out of united was $50 vouchers and I cancelled my flights with them and was forces to fly another airline for more money just to get our family there and back at decent times. We had small children flying with us and the flight times were very important! I would be happy to sign some petition to force the airline to compensate passengers for their arrogance and their poor business conduct.
By Stuart on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 3:09 PM
I booked a package deal through travelocity on United in June 2007 for a personal trip to Sydney in March 2008. They notified me several weeks ago for safety reasons that they changed the plane and my return flight from Sydney to IAD (Dulles). Now I am leaving Sydney 3 hrs later, have an additional hr layover in LAX, and will get into IAD (Dulles) at 8:35pm instead of 4:35pm which is what I paid for. So instead of taking the train from the airport to home and getting home from IAD at 6:30-7:00pm I won't get home until midnight. Now I am going to have to take an extra day off from work which of course they won't pay for. I asked how they could change my flight for no reason and that I couldn't change my flight without paying a $100 penalty plus the difference in price. After complaining to their customer service, they emailed me an electronic coupon for $100 off to pay for the change penalty but the fair I booked was through Travelocity and the fair has gone up over $300. So I would have to pay over $300 more to book my Sydney trip through American airlines, a different airlines. United has an early flight into IAD but the flight from Sydney to LAX is on Quantas and they told me they can only do it if its all on United. Guess United and American are the only carriers going from the DC area to Sydney. What other recourse or rights do I have, can I sue for breach of contract?
By Kim P. on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 3:14 PM
Delta did the same thing to my boss for our trip to our big annual trade show. He was on a non-stop from Burlington VT to Atlanta (one of only a few non stop flights we have to choose from out of Burlington) and several weeks later they changed his flight from a non-stop to a connection in Boston. Only after much heated discussion with one of their supervisors was I able to get him back on his original flight. Another reason I asked for a supervisor was I could not understand the broken english on the other end of the line when I called the Delta number since they outsource their calls to another country (that is another comment for another time). I love your site! I have hooked up a couple dozen of my friends and co-workers with your website. Keep up the good work!
By Anne Barber on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 3:20 PM
GEEZ!! We made reservations on Delta from Jax to Munich about 9 months ago. Last week we received an email stating that our itinerary had changed. On our return trip instead of arriving in Jax @ around 8 PM, our new flight is due to arrive @ 10:50 PM with a 5 hour layover in Atlanta. We are traveling with a 3 yr. old and one person that has to go to work the next morning. We live about 1 1/2 hours from Jax. Guess we should be grateful that we HAVE a flight after reading the other comments!!
By Palal on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 3:48 PM
I love DL schedule changes. If your schedule gets changed, you can choose which flights to take. I've done this many many times. Do your homework and find the flights you want. Just call them and tell them that the change doesn't work for you and tell them which flights you want to be put on. You can even try to change the date +/- 1 or +/- 2 days. If the agent is not cooperative, call back again.
By Bonnie on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 3:56 PM
Yes, Delta got my family too!!! We took a family trip to Virgiania Beach in June. I had booked our tickets five months in advance and had all the seat assignments for all flights except for one leg of the trip. Two weeks before our trip, I received a revised flight schedules. The only thing I noticed was our flight to Virginia Beach departed later and our return flight departed earlier. Our trip to Virginia Beach went as planned. Our flight back to Columbus almost didn't go as planned. We had a connection at JFK. Four out of five tickets said "seat assignment." Which meant, only one of us had a seat on that flight (we were traveling with three children). The rest of us could board only if ticket holders didn't show up for that flight. Luckily, four people didn't show up. Not so lucky for the couple that arrived after us that had the same tickets we had "seat assignment," they didn't get on the plane. Once we were able to board the plane, our seats were scattered throughout the plane. If we didn't get on that flight, it would have been a terrible ending to a great summer vacation. We were lucky!
By Anonymous on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 5:32 PM
This article is somewhat incomplete and doesn't relate all of the pertinent details
Did the person mentioned get hit with a schedule change?
Did he try to call Delta and get rebooked on the nonstop?
Did he try several times if he didn't hear the right answer the first time?
By JE on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 5:44 PM
We had the same type of thing happen with US Airways. Booked a NS Thanksgiving flight to PIT and had them change the NS flight to 5:15 instead of 10am. Cancel the Thanksgiving dinner folks, we'll be getting in at midnight. Same thing with the return-instead of a noon flight, NS was changed to 6 am!
We complained & we're able to change flights with no penalty to ones closer to our initial flight times BUT they are 1 stop flights, so for the same $ we have to travel for 5-6 hours & make plane changes in Philly & Charlotte instead of a 2 1/2 hour non stop.
I have to agree to their "contract" to book, so how come they can change the rules at will?
By Lisa on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 6:27 PM
This is completely untrue. I have worked in the travel industry for some time now, and dealing with bookings for flights, cruises, etc. I am very familiar with rules of airlines.
What happens, is when people book far in advance, there are often throughout the months schedule changes, and you usually are emailed/phoned about them about one month before your flights because that is about the time they won't be changing anymore. Sometimes they have a nonstop flight and later have to do a schedule change to be a connection. Then it is possible that later in the year, they reevaluate and can put the nonstop back on the flight. Changing a passenger to another flight affected by a schedule change is at NO COST to the passenger, so the fare may have gone up because more seats are sold on the flight, yes. but they are not charged a thing because schedule changes are involuntary. The airlines also allow the passenger to refund any tickets if the schedule change doesn't work for them.
Just as you sometimes make a hair appointment, or doctor appointment and they call and have to reschedule on occasion, such can be the same in big business. Airlines don't cancel flights just because "not enough people bought seats on them". I myself have been on a flight from Phoenix to Salt Lake City that was a 737 with 150+ seats and had maybe a whole 30 people on the flight. Airports only have so many gates and airlines have only so many aircrafts of various sizes. Imagine having to be the office that has to make an educated guess of what passenger loads will be like at any given time of the year in any given city going to any given city. Projections change throughout the years. Airlines discover there is a larger market in another city where in turn a larger aircraft is needed, and vice versa. And sometimes later have more aircraft available due to those adjustments, so can go back, for instance, to offering a nonstop flight. So one's schedule could be affected, and later the nonstop be in the schedule again, so can be reaccommodated on that flight once the schedules are more definite.
The final thing to consider is booking through travel agencies, and online agencies, and discount airfare companies can also pose a problem. These agencies generally place THEIR contact information in a reservation where the passenger's information belong. Thus, sometimes when a flight is subjected to a schedule change early on, or with better notice, the airline contacts the agency and it is then the agency's responsibility to contact the passenger and make any adjustments. Beware as well that many cheap airfare companies often sell something called a Bulk Fare Ticket. You may not even know you are purchasing this, but if you go to travel and miss your flight, you may no longer have a valid ticket, regardless of the reason. Airlines have no ability to reissue these tickets to another flight. Some airlines have an option to revalidate a ticket on a same day confirmation basis, but can only do so that same day of travel. With that, if you miss your flight and don't try to rebook until another day, you're out of luck. I call this the "You buy it, you fly it" clause. I urge any customer planning to travel to contact their booking agency often before travel to check on your flights, especially if you book far in advance.
More information on schedule changes and fare/ticketing rules can be found on EVERY airline website. I always find something if I type "contract of carriage" into the search bar. You'll find every airline has the same basic policy. (Examples are below).
Alltogether, don't post your rant on websites or in other forms of media until you have all your facts straight. If you are so concerned, look into things before you spend that kind of money on something. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE AGREEING TO.
**Delta Airlines Contract of Carriage
http://images.delta.com.edgesuite.net/delta/pdfs/contract_of_carriage_dom.pdf
SCHEDULES AND OPERATOINS
Delta will use its best efforts to carry the passenger and baggage with reasonable dispatch. Times shown in timetables or elsewhere are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract. Delta may without notice substitute alternate carriers or aircraft, and may alter or omit stopping places shown on the ticket in case of necessity. Schedules are subject to change without notice. Delta is not responsible or liable for making connections, or for failing to operate any flight according to schedule, or for changing the schedule or any flight.
**American Airlines Conditions of Carriage
RESPONSIBILITY FOR SCHEDULES AND OPERATIONS
http://www.aa.com/aa/pubcontent/en_US/customerService/customerCommitment/conditionsOfCarriage.jsp
American will endeavor to carry you and your baggage with reasonable dispatch, but times shown in timetables or elsewhere are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract. American may, without notice, substitute alternate carriers or aircraft and, if necessary, may alter or omit stopping places shown on the ticket. Schedules are subject to change without notice. American is not responsible for or liable for failure to make connections, or to operate any flight according to schedule, or for a change to the schedule of any flight. Under no circumstances shall American be liable for any special, incidental or consequential damages arising from the foregoing.
**Air Tran
http://www.airtranairways.com/common/PDF/AirTran_Contract_of_Carriage.pdf
RIGHT OF THE AIR CARRIER AND LIMITS ON LIABILITY FOR DELAY OR FAILURE TO PERFORM SERVICE, INCLUDING SCHEDULE CHANGES, SUBSTITUTION OF ALTERNATE AIRCRAFT AND REROUTING
A. AirTran will endeavor to transport the passenger and baggage with reasonable dispatch, but times shown in timetables or elsewhere are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract.
B. The agreed stopping places are those places shown in Air Tran' timetables as scheduled stopping places on the route. AirTran may, without notice, substitute alternative carriers or aircraft and, if necessary, may alter or omit stopping places shown on the timetable.
C. Schedules are subject to change without notice. AirTran is not responsible or liable for failure to make connections or for failure to operate any flight according to schedule, or for a change to the schedule of any flight. Under no circumstances shall AirTran be liable for any special, incidental or consequential damages arising from the foregoing (including the carriage of baggage) whether or not AirTran had knowledge that such damages might be incurred.
(etc.)
By Denise Ray on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 6:29 PM
Maybe it is time for our troubled government to take back and regulate airlines.
By anonymous on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 6:47 PM
i totally agree with the travel agent. ive been ttraveling before when people are in the airport and i hear them in the lobby calling airlines not sure even who they booked on! why is it the airlines fault if you dont know what youre buying and dont look into rules and regs. they post that information for a reason. i for one wouldn't buy a car without knowing the loan contract information or the warranty, or any other big purchase. and if youre booking your flights to travel same day to holidays or other big events, you should realize anything can happen. your the one not giving yourself any flex room for unexpected events. everyone's car breaks down sometimes, everyone runs late sometimes, weather prevents us from getting to work ontime. the airlines have a commitment to keep us safe and i think thats most important.
i think people who are so quick to blame others for every incident or misfortune in their life are only advertising their ignorance and irresponsibility.
i don't travel too oftenbut i've traveled on lots of different airlines of course to find a cheap fare. everyone wants something for nothing, and with all the effects since 2001 its no wonder all the airlines are bankrupt or treading on bankruptcy. every airline has different cities that are bigger hubs than others, and if you choose the airline that has a cheap fare, doesnt mean that its from their hub, so yea youre going to have to make connections some time. its a fact of life.
cant just float thru life expecting things to be laid out and always work for us. if youre going to be so annoyed, at least research the facts before telling everyone a bunch of stuff you embellished because you were mad.
By Britt on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 6:57 PM
My neighbor's father is a pilot, and it isn't that they just don't show up for flights. I know the delays with crew is actually because there are regulations on how long crew members can work. Do you want a pilot flying your flight that has just worked for however many hours their normal shift is? I don't, that's not safe. I think the government needs to not take over the airlines, but do something to address the huge shortage of flight attendants and pilots.
You have to think too its a domino effect. Sometimes those crew delays are because of delays from the day before, and it backs up and backs up and keeps backing up sometimes. I am actually amazed at how the airlines can manage so well to get people where they need to go with how many millions of travelers and when something goes wrong or there's weather, how they manage to get people rebooked. Its funny too when people demand compensation for weather delays. The airlines don't play God my dears. And again it goes to safety. There is a reason they aren't flying you through that, and just because its clear in Washington and Clear in New York, doesn't mean there's not something that could be inbetween that could be too dangerous to fly through, and too large to maneuver around.
Another thing to consider, there are also a lot of delays that are imposed on the airlines by air traffic control (again weather is just one example). Air traffic control IS the FAA/Government guys. That's why this is in congress now, because the technology they're using is pretty outdated and could be a lot better if the government would work on something with satellites to control the airspace. So sometimes the airlines are right in not offering you compensation. I'm all for compensation and dont get me wrong, there are lots of times the airlines should offer it or you should ask for it. But you guys who are so quick to point the finger, make sure you point it in the right direction and demand your compensation from the right people when you do.
I dunno, lots of stuff to talk about, but those are just some other points to ponder.
By Rebecca R. Leas, Ph.D. on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 8:24 PM
This should be illegal! I just flew last week after not having flown for awhile. Now I know why I usually choose to drive. The whole experience was exhausting and maddening.
My flights with Delta from PGH to Cincinnati to Salt Lake to Bozeman were so close it was ridiculous. I had to run to make the Salt Lake connection and then I really had to run at an allout pace carrying two heavy bags for almost 3/4 of a mile to JUST get on the flight. Coming home the flight from Bozeman had light panel problems (they came over the PA system and asked if any mechanics had a screw driver!) and thus I landed in Salt Lake at the time the next flight was to depart. Here comes the bad part. They (Delta) told all of us (at least 10-15 people) that they would hold the flight and so we all ran (I again had 2 heavy bags) for 3/4 mile (I got a bloody nose I ran so hard) only to find there had never been any chance for us to make the flight! Now I must say the agent was helpful in rescheduling me to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh and gave me a $7.00 lunch voucher (since I would now have to wait 3 hours) but I nearly gave myself a heart attack or stroke trying to make a flight that I couldn't make anyway! Delta SURELY could have communicated that to us but no, they just pawned us off on other agents and contributed to me feeling sick the rest of the day. I was supposed to arrive in PGH at 6:30PM and arrived at 10:40 but live far away from the airport so didn't get home untill 1:30 AM.
Flying SHOULDN"T be this big of a hassle in this day in age!!!! My God, in the 60's-80's it was much better and we even got food!!!
By georgehobica on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 8:26 PM
o Anonymous who said the original tale was incomplete: the person in this story is actually a friend of mine, who I *insisted* should book this $138 RT precisely because it was nonstop. He usually flies United nonstop (he goes home for Christmas every year). And he *was* confirmed on a nonstop at $138 RT. Delta did NOT change the schedule of the nonstop flight he was on. They simply kicked him off of the nonstop so they could sell his now expensive seat to someone else for much more money during the peak holidays. He's too kind to yell a Delta about this, but I'm going to ask him to call them again and insist on his original flight. I've also called Delta PR about this, but of course they haven't called me back.
By georgehobica on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 8:31 PM
Also, to Lisa: I don't know how to make this much more clear that this was *NOT* a schedule change! Not in the least. The schedule did not change. The Delta nonstop is still operating. They kicked this passenger off the flight because they wanted more money for their nonstop. This is actually a new route for Delta, and they launched it with ridiculously low fares. When it started to become obvious how popular it was, at least over the holidays, they booted this guy. It's horrendous. No excuses for this sort of thng.
By Anonymous on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 8:47 PM
georgehobica,
while I don't have first-hand knowledge of the situation like you do there absolutely must be more to this story than you are reporting. Did the online reservation reflect the change? What did Delta say when you called to report the re-routing?
I'm not a huge Delta fan but I do fly them. They do not simply "kick people off" a flight because they booked a cheap ticket.
I would strongly urge you to call Delta and ask them to investigate why the reservation was rebooked and then to put you back on the original flight.
Do all the flight numbers match?
Did you have an electronic ticket issued originally or just a "confirmation"?
By Dee on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 9:34 PM
Sorry JP I beg to differ with you. Of course You've had good fortune in flying because you fly a lot (business!) The airlines aren't going to make flying difficult if you're flying often. Money talks.
By Anonymous on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 9:46 PM
Again, I repeat there simply is more to this story than is being "reported". Once you have a confirmed electronic ticket issued to you, barring a schedule change which the poster and the comments have denied, you simply will not be "kicked off" in order to sell more tickets on the flight at a higher cost, particularly when the flight still has seats open.
I think this report was totally irresponsible on the part of the original poster "George" in not fully investigating the entire situation before posting such an inflammatory piece.
By JP on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 9:52 PM
Yes, you do have a point. However, everyone starts somewhere. There are particular airlines I choose to fly more than others because of how they treated me from the get-go and consistently treat myself and others I know. I don't endorse any specific airline on a blog like this because I am giving a general view, more concerning ticketing issues, fare rules, contracts of carriage, etc. The one thing I do like about Delta, however, is they respond to their complaints. With any airline, just know where to express that. The agents at the airport, the crew on the plane, they don't have much power and neither do the reservations agents. Go to corporate customer care to pursue a resolution to service issues. PR is an entirely different department. Perk members may have some complimentary benefits, but fare rules are the same for us as they are for anyone.
By Jose A. Prieto on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 9:58 PM
This is why people are so uset with the Airlines. And this is why I WILL NOT FLY DELTA.(PERIOD) I AM SURE SOME DELTA BIG WIGS ARE READING THIS OR THEIR UNDERLINGS. EVERYONE ON HERE SHOULD ADD A COMMENT THAT THEY WILL NOT FLY DELTA EITHER. I DON'T WANT GOV. REGS. SO IF WE ALL JUST SAY "NO TO DELTA" I AM SURE IT WILL HIT HOME.
OK I AM OFF THE SOAP BOX.
THANKS.
JOSE A. PRIETO
By admin on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 10:00 PM
This is getting way out of hand, don't you think. I was with this person when he booked his flight. I was literally standing over his shoulder urging him to grab it. I saw the confirmation come through. Nonstop flight. Today, I went on Travelocity, thinking, "Probably, Delta scratched the flight from its winter schedule because it wasn't selling well. New route, didn't work out, happens all the time. Sad, but that's the way it is." This I could sort of understand. But when I discovered that Delta is still selling tickets on this flight at $600. These are the facts. And the person who was screwed I have known for 30 years. And I feel very bad for him, especially since I practically forced him to buy this ticket, which we had listed on Airfarewatchdog. He could have been sitting pretty on a nice United nonstop instead. I don't understand why some posters here think I'm making this up.
By Anonymous on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 10:22 PM
admin,
you watched him book it. You saw him get a confirmation number.
A confirmation number is NOT an electronic ticket number. If you only have a confirmation number and no electronic ticket number you have no ticket or reservation or seat or right to a seat.
If you book through the Delta website the ticket should have been issued within minutes of your booking. If you booked through a third party site it may have taken somewhat longer. If you used a less well known site or a travel agent then someone on their end did not do their job.
No one has so far answered the simple question: "Did the traveller have an electronic ticket number? Yes or no." That does not equate to "confirmation number" or any other variation thereof.
If he had an electronic ticket number issued to him for this non-stop flight then it's time to call Delta, write Delta and figure out what happened.
I suspect he did not.
And thus far all the people who "watched him" or had "first-hand knowledge" have not provided any information to the contrary.
By DeltaAgent on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 10:25 PM
I work for Delta . George is delusional if he thinks we kick people off flights just for the fun of it, to sell his seat at a higher cost. I deal with New Yorkers on a daily basis, and it doesn't suprise me that he'd blow things out of proportion and make a mountain out of a molehill...seems par for the course amongst passengers from that part of the country.
The IPRS (that's the system that rebooks during schedule changes) has had glitches as of late where this exact situation occurs, even in the instance of a flight number of time change....and even if the nonstop still exists. DT hasn't given us a clear answer on why it does this. I can tell you on the two calls that i've received regarding this we have indeed reinstated the original flight (or equivalent) nonstop per valid ticket holder.
So George, before assuming Delta is out to get you how about doing some research first?
By Admin on
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 11:12 PM
Interesting a website where anyone can type admin in as their username could be taken for any kind of verification.
You all have interesting points, but the only one I've seen so far add references to the matter is that TA with the big long post with quotes and links, very informative regardless of what's going on here. Its great to post your feelings out here on the web, some will take things into consideration and continue to verify the truth, and some believe anything they read and take it for face value. Just makes for an interesting example here.
By John Lanese on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 12:39 AM
United did the same thing to me on a flight from San Francisco to the East Coast....wound up on a US Air regional.....no leg room....no food except for the pretzels...all 6 of them in the bag....and just rude desk people when confronted with the change from one terminal to another in SF.....without ever being forewarned!!!
By Allan Markowitz on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 12:41 AM
I wanted to fly from LGA to AUG on 11/9 with a known connection in Boston. I paid the ticket. I treceived an e mail from US airways of a "change in itinerary" Instead of taking an hour from Boston to Augusta it was now going to take an an hour and thirty five minutes. No reason given. I called US Air and asked what was the problem and was told the aircraft was stopping at Bar Harbor to either pick up passerngers or for maintenance. I changed flights to avoid this and old them I was not paying any rebooking fee.
By David on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 5:18 AM
As is true more often that not in stories such as this, the operative word is "Delta." Those people couldn't run an airline if their life depended on it!
By Emily on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 5:29 AM
This just happened to me with Continental. I paid for a direct one-way flight from Newark to SJC. I received NOTHING from them that they changed my flight. Luckily, I checked the flight to make sure nothing changed. Ha! Now I have to leave 5 hours earlier and change planes in Houston. Yippee.
By Unique on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 7:28 AM
To the travel agent (who posted the that long-winded dissertation) and all the other puppets who are agreeing with you, please talk to the hand because, obviously, not everyone agrees with you! Better yet, you might want to call 1-800-WHO-CARES on your way back to your airline jobs!
Until you've been on the receiving end of these bait-and-switch schemes, keep your trap shut! The fact that you take offense because some one was given an itinerary change just proves that Delta screwed the customer for the sake of a buck. The issue is not personal to you, yet you take it personally. Bottom line, these airlines do screw customers at their leisure. It may not be the case all of the time, but it sure as heck is the case some of the time. Admit it and quit it.
I'm traveling this Thanksgiving and you can be assured I will NOT be considering Delta for my traveling needs.
By Joe on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 8:55 AM
Delta has gotten horrible lately. They are now run by a mess of lawyers and bean counters so you know they're gonna screw you.
I wanted to book a flight to Calgary. All of the flights are operated by NWA but code shared by Delta. Delta's $ was $1600 and NWA's $ for the same itinerary was $622. I booked it on NWA!
By shelleyk on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 9:01 AM
I have a good comment regarding Delta, and no, I do not work for them or have any family or friends who work for them. I am posting this so that Delta knows that good customer relations and avoiding bad publicity will go a long way in attracting and keeping customers. I booked a flight for Nov.22 (Thanksgiving Day) from Manchester, NH, connecting at JFk to Seattle. A month after booking, Delta called to say that they no longer fly into Jfk from Manchester, and I would now have to fly through Atlanta to get to Seattle. Yes, it is a long way to get from the northeast to the northwest, and if I knew that when I booked the ticket, I would not have chosen Delta, but that is water under the bridge. The problem came up when there was a second schedule change that left me only 35 minutes to make my connection in Atlanta. i told Delta that I considered this an impossible connection even though they considered it a "legal" connection. I told them that I needed at least a 1 hour connection time. Since there was no plane on Nov. 22 that would accomplish this, they offered to either refund my ticket or put me a plane on Nov. 21, where they had more scheduled flights because it was the day before Thanksgiving. I chose the latter. I have not travelled yet, so I can't conclude this story, but I do want to say that the people I spoke to at Delta (all speaking very good English, so I assume that this was not an off shore call center) were very nice to deal with and did their best to resolve my problem. Again, when there are problems, good customer service goes a long way in attractin and keeping customers.
>
By ReNae on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 9:20 AM
Traveling today is VERY frustrating! I've been on both ends of air travel. Flying it myself as a customer and working for the airline industry. I know as an agent, I do everything in my power to accomodate the passenger who was effected by the involuntary schedule change, at absolutely no cost to the passenger. There are many regulations that effect the schedules, DOT, TSA and FAA. Weather and air traffic control can also play factors in your travel. Granted, I agree whole heartedly that changing from a direct non-stop to a connecting flight can be more than frustrating. People buy non-stop flights for just that reason, the flight is non-top. There is the hassle of misconnections, shorter time in the air, convenience with small children and elderly pax, people with disabilities. I know that there are some agents out there that do not care about the passenger and basically just don't try to accomodate anyone. I truly wish that were different. I would just like to say that there are just as many agents out there who want you to get where you are going, who care deeply that you are getting the most for your money from your travel experience and want you to come back to that particular airline you booked on.
Mainly, you do have many protections under the contract you basically agree to when you purchase a ticket. Know what your rights are as a passenger and also know that there are certain rules and restrictions to every ticket out there. As an agent I do try to let passengers know as much as I can within a very small amount time to relay that to them. I am cut off a lot of times when stating these rules because passengers don't want to listen to all the legal mumbo-jumbo and honestly there is not time to go over every single rule. Yet, here might be a couple of things that might help that I think every passenger should know and I don't think do know.
The TSA has a rule that you must be checked in 30 minutes prior to that flight's departure. This isn't each airlines rule, it is the Transportation Authority. That means your bags, if you have any, and your boarding pass in hand. You must travel with your bags. There are 6 airports that have 45 minute check in times. Las Vegas, Atlanta, JFK, Orlando, Denver and LAX. If you miss that check in time, you are required to pay a small fee to get on the next flight. If you are not at your gate 10 minutes prior, they will shut the gate and leave. They will not wait and are not allowed to wait as per TSA rules. The days where you can call down to the gate to let them know a flight is coming in late is a thing of the past too. Booking with an outside agency can save you money, but you do lose a lot of your rights when you do book through another agency that purchases multiple bulk tickets and offers that substantially less than the airlines. Know the rules that follow those tickets.
While maybe off the subject a little, my main point is, you are protected as a passenger. You do have rights. You also have obligations as a passenger to know your rights and as a responsible consumer should be aware of all rules, regulations and restrictions associated with your ticket. Just know that the airlines want your business back and will honestly try to help you to the very best of their ability when you are inconvenienced. Barring weather, availability and ATC, the airline does want you to get where you are going when you are inconvenienced. It isn't a perfect system, but I do try to help those that are stranded.
By wendi on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 10:15 AM
We have had a similar experience with United. Our flight was supposed to be a decent departure time and we paid extra for the flight that left the latest, allowing us to spend more time at Disney. Our flights have changed SIX times since we booked them in January for a November trip. Sometimes the flights were just cancelled, but twice they had just put us on worse flights with open seats on our original flights. I called to switch them back and was told I had to pay extra to get them back to our original itinerary! We already paid extra to get the flights we wanted in the first place. This is so disappointing, especially because this is a family trip with children involved who will not be happy that they are losing six hours of Disney time.
By Karan Paulson on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 10:35 AM
The same thin happened to my son, daughter-in-law, and new born baby.
They were scheduled to fly home from Seattle to Moline, Il for Christmas.
My son checked and they had changed their flight without notification. My daughter-in-law called them and complained so they rescheduled their flight to depart from Portland, OR at the same price as Seattle.
They live in Vancouver, WA so this was to their advantage.
By Fred on
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 11:39 AM
I usualy fly Continental - love their service and reliability. Have flown Delta once in the past ten years, and there were problems coming an going.
Seems though, that the 'bait & switch" would fall under "false advertising", or in AMEX policy, failure to substitute of equal value. I have gotten my money back from AMEX from three hotels for similar bait & switch.
By sid galbaugh on
Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 11:48 AM
Talk about DELTA bait& switch-for over 2 years I have been fighting this. My wife and I booked a 1st. class ticket from Cincinatti to Zagreb Croatia using our Delta Skymiles.We had to move a few miles from one account to the other.We did so per instructions from a DELTA agent.When we returned DELTA informed us they were dropping 62,000 unused miles from our account for non-use.
By corkman on
Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 12:11 PM
DELTA DID THE SAME THING TO ME !!! I SAW A FANTASTIC SALE ON AIRFAREWATCHDOG TO CABO SAN LUCAS IN JUNE FOR A NON STOP FLIGHT IN SEPTEMBER FROM NYC TO CABO. I JUMPED ON IT AND GOT SEATS FOR MY WIFE AND I. (THANK YOU DOG!) AT THE END OF AUGUST THEY CONTACTED ME WITH AN AUTOMATED RECORDING THAT THERE WERE SOME CHANGES TO MY RESERVATION. THE NON STOP FLIGHT HAD BEEN CANCELED, AND I HAD TO RE BOOK TO A ONE STOP THROUGH ATLANTA TO CABO AND A ONE STOP BACK HOME THROUGH MEXICO CITY VIA AERO MEXICO. IN THE PROCESS THEY DESTROYED MY SURFBOARD BAG EN ROUTE TO CABO, AND ARE NOW GOING TO TAKE 10 WEEKS TO FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH TO COMPENSATE ME ON IT! 10 WEEKS! LAST YEAR'S TRIP, AMERICAN AIRLINES ALSO DESTROYED MY OTHER BOARD BAG AND CUT ME A CHECK FOR IT WITHIN 10 DAYS. I WILL LET YOU KNOW THE OUTCOME AROUND JANUARY.
By DB on
Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 10:25 PM
Delta is not the only one that does this. Last summer it happened to me with Delta. My most recent is happening now with AirTran. I booked non-stop tickets in August for myself and 2 small children going to Orlanda for a family gathering for 8 days. Had great times, get there at 10:30 and don't come back till 3:00. The 1st of Oct. I recieved and e-mail informing me that both flights had been changed. The day we were to come home the had pushed the leave time up by 2 hrs. It was still non-stop, only one for the day so I took it so as not to run through the airport with 2 kids. After reading your comments on go on the web site and checked my flights and low and behold they have done it again. Coming home another 2 hrs. earlier, which is now 4 hrs. earlier. That means a whole day lost and I have already bought park tickets for that day and took out flight insurance and paid for seat assignments. The bad thing about all this is they haven't even notified me for this change yet. Means another phone call.
So, don't think it happens only on one airline! I feel like I have been scamed. Should have driven to Chicago-Midway and flew non-stop on SW with the rest of the group. You can't tell me that business is slow in Orlando!!
By Michelle Roberts on
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 12:59 PM
For those that are posting the buyer must not have had a confirmation from Delta, or that there are other items "not reported," I can only tell you how the same thing happened to me, and that DELTA CONFIRMED that they do this.
I am having all my family up to visit us for Christmas. My father hates to fly and is always the most difficult to get anywhere. Well, I managed to book him a direct flight from Orlando to Boston, for December 23rd (peak time, obviously) for about $300. He lives in Ft. Myers but was willing to drive to get the nonstop afternoon flight. Plus the cost was pretty good for a roundtrip, coming back the 28th of December.
Now, we already PAID for the tickets, had confirmations (from Delta) in hand, and so on. I even double-checked it with Delta on the phone, because the email confirmation took overnight to show up. Then what does Delta do? Informs us a week later that now he has to fly through Atlanta AND leave 3 hours earlier in the day! They also changed his return flight by more than 3 hours.
When we called to insist we had reservations specifically to coincide with other family members flying in from all over, we couldn't believe what Delta told us. They actually said that they had the RIGHT to change our flights whenever they deemed it necessary, NOT SIMPLY WHEN IT WAS CANCELLED. As my father forced the customer service person to admit, Delta apparently no longer sells confirmations, they sell "suggestions." They also could not tell us why it became necessary to change his flights three months ahead of time, when his original was still available (and still is). Do they know something about the weather that we don't? Of course not. They want to save those choice seats to sell to frazzled, hard up last minute travelers.
We called back twice more, asking for the next supervisor in the off chance that the first person had no idea what they were talking about. But the supervisors told us the same thing. Delta reserves the right to boot us or change our flights for ANY reason. They actually said that! Not because of cancellations, not because of overbooking, but for "any reason." Then she said, "Well, it's a busy time of year, we need to be able to move people around if we want to." What?? Then what on earth am I paying for?
For those of you that work "in the airline industry" and insist it doesn't happen, why don't you tell me just what your position is, then I'll decide if you are even aware of what your whole company is doing. After all, I can't imagine you are the expert on all booking practices if you are in, say, front counter ticketing!
Thankfully, the new SkyBus airline had opened up their Ft.Myers-Portsmouth leg that week, and we immediately cancelled the Delta flight and booked on SkyBus. This is even better, since my father can leave from his own town, and lands in my town rather than the huge Logan airport in Boston. Obviously, SkyBus could surprise us too with a change but they seem a little less likely, since they fly only a few routes anyway.
Delta even gave us some trouble about the refund, but finally gave in since their policy stated that if flights were changed by 3 hours or more, we were entitled to a refund. I likewise have many frequent flier miles on Delta and frankly, before this last year, I had no problems like this (and I flew Boston to Honolulu all the time for Navy purposes). Now, I am seriously wondering if someone new has come along in management. When did they decide that bait-and-switch would work and no one would notice?
By susie on
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 5:53 PM
I'm never flying Delta again. Employees posting blog comments calling the customer a liar and the blog owner delusional? Justifying it because he's from New York, so he must be exaggerating? Shameful!
That employee should be fired, for giving his/her own company a black eye and costing it business. I had taken the original story with a grain of salt, but DeltaAgent's protestations have made me a firm believer. Way to shoot your own company in the foot. Wow.
By Cindy on
Friday, November 02, 2007 at 9:40 PM
Yes, on Delta, actually, for our wedding!! We decided we would try out delta cuz we had heard good things. (WRong time to try out new airline) They changed our flights to the point that we lost 7 hours of our wedding time. We will NEVER fly Delta again!!
By Howard Berk on
Monday, November 05, 2007 at 4:36 PM
To Michelle: I hope your father goes to the right airport in Florida! Skybus does not fly to Ft. Myers! They fly to Punta Gorda. Make sure he gets himself to the proper airport!
By Jane on
Friday, November 09, 2007 at 5:15 PM
I spent a good amount of time checking flights from Pit to Zurich,Switzerland for this January. By using flexible dates and alternate cities, I found what seemed to be a great deal. I wound up booking through cheaptickets.com and got a flight into Friedrichshafen, Germany, which is over the border from Zurich....not a big deal.....an hour train ride after a nice ferry across lake constance.
I also didn't mind that there were 3 flights to get there and that it was code shared between United, Lufthansa and USairways.
Pit/bos/fra/fdh going...fdh/fra/phl/pit back.
Today, I received email notification that there was a schedule change to my itenerary. My last leg of 3 flights coming back was being changed. This would give me a 4 hour layover instead of 1:50! I looked on-line and saw that my original last leg was still available.....so I called Cheaptickets.
At first, they said I had an illegal connection time(too short at 1hr 50 min). But, I asked why they couldn't put me on another flight....2 existed before the one they scheduled me on. Next they said that Lufthansa only code-shared with the later flight time and not the earlier with the same carrier. I challenged them on that. I then gave them options that were suitable to me......fly through another city, fly on another code share, etc.....I had 3 websites pulled up on my computer and new what other options were available.
After 1 1/2 hours on the phone, they somehow agreed that I could stay on the original flight ......but now I don't have a confirmed seat! There are only 3 seats left on the plane!
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