topmom101
TUG Member
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2012
- Messages
- 455
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- Location
- South Carolina
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- Harbour Lake, Divi Phoenix, Coconut Palm II
What is going on with Delta lately?
My daughter got married in Aruba 2 weeks ago and many family members and friends flew from JFK on various Delta flights, including myself. Many of them reported delays, ranging from one and half hours to 3 hours due to mechanical problems.
Worst of all was my own return flight one week ago on Saturday. I was scheduled on a 2:25pm departure arriving at JFK at 7:15pm. Everything seemed fine, we were lining up to board when an announcement was made that there seemed to be an issue with the door slide. Mechanics were trying to fix the problem and we would depart soon after. Within an hour of the initial announcement, a second one was made declaring the door could not be fixed and a new aircraft would be sent from Atlanta to pick us up. The aircraft wouldn't arrive until 9:30 pm. A 7 hour delay!!!! We settled down to wait and the Delta alerts began to arrive on my phone, each one announcing a new delay. We were told we weren't allowed to leave the airport due to customs regulations and provided passengers $15 dinner vouchers which were very limiting since most restaurants were closed/closing. A few hours later they brought out sandwiches, pizza, snacks and drinks for everyone. We finally left Aruba at 11:45pm, a 9 hour delay, and touched down in NY at approximately 4:00 am.
As we exited the plane we found ourselves locked out of the terminal. All 300 plus passengers standing around, locked in the hallway. People were getting crazy. Finally the pilot comes out and announces that Aruba failed to send clearance and until they do, we can't enter the terminal. Thankfully, we weren't trapped very long, maybe 20-30 minutes.
Finally, we reach the luggage claim area where, you probably guessed, no luggage for well over one hour. While all this is going on, I get an email from Delta expressing how sorry they are for the delay, how much they value me and to keep me happy they are depositing 7,500 points into my account. Keeping in mind that a R/T flight from JFK to Charlotte (a frequent destination for me as my mom resides there) is 26,000 points, a mere 7,500 points is really nothing at all.
After 4 days of trying to reach Delta customer care (a story in itself), they offer a $200 future travel voucher, upped to $300 after I politely decline or 20,000 points.
Back and forth, back and forth and not so polite by this point, they agree to refund me the cost of the flight ($398), take it or leave it. Thoughts???
My daughter got married in Aruba 2 weeks ago and many family members and friends flew from JFK on various Delta flights, including myself. Many of them reported delays, ranging from one and half hours to 3 hours due to mechanical problems.
Worst of all was my own return flight one week ago on Saturday. I was scheduled on a 2:25pm departure arriving at JFK at 7:15pm. Everything seemed fine, we were lining up to board when an announcement was made that there seemed to be an issue with the door slide. Mechanics were trying to fix the problem and we would depart soon after. Within an hour of the initial announcement, a second one was made declaring the door could not be fixed and a new aircraft would be sent from Atlanta to pick us up. The aircraft wouldn't arrive until 9:30 pm. A 7 hour delay!!!! We settled down to wait and the Delta alerts began to arrive on my phone, each one announcing a new delay. We were told we weren't allowed to leave the airport due to customs regulations and provided passengers $15 dinner vouchers which were very limiting since most restaurants were closed/closing. A few hours later they brought out sandwiches, pizza, snacks and drinks for everyone. We finally left Aruba at 11:45pm, a 9 hour delay, and touched down in NY at approximately 4:00 am.
As we exited the plane we found ourselves locked out of the terminal. All 300 plus passengers standing around, locked in the hallway. People were getting crazy. Finally the pilot comes out and announces that Aruba failed to send clearance and until they do, we can't enter the terminal. Thankfully, we weren't trapped very long, maybe 20-30 minutes.
Finally, we reach the luggage claim area where, you probably guessed, no luggage for well over one hour. While all this is going on, I get an email from Delta expressing how sorry they are for the delay, how much they value me and to keep me happy they are depositing 7,500 points into my account. Keeping in mind that a R/T flight from JFK to Charlotte (a frequent destination for me as my mom resides there) is 26,000 points, a mere 7,500 points is really nothing at all.
After 4 days of trying to reach Delta customer care (a story in itself), they offer a $200 future travel voucher, upped to $300 after I politely decline or 20,000 points.
Back and forth, back and forth and not so polite by this point, they agree to refund me the cost of the flight ($398), take it or leave it. Thoughts???
