# Delta Airlines -- Boo...Hiss



## b2bailey (Aug 23, 2009)

Our son had a leave approved. We bought Delta plane tickets to fly him home from Ft. Benning for a couple of weeks. Today son calls to say the leave was reduced to one week and he needs a new ticket. We paid $259 for the original ticket.

To make the 'change' we will need to pay $200. (Note: We can buy a new ticket from ATL to PHX for $220 today.) We could buy a one-way for $99
but if he doesn't use the first half of the ticket, it will invalidate the return.

I'm so mad at Delta I'm going to cancel the ticket and buy a new one on AIR TRAN!!!

I'm thinking awhile back he had a ticket on Air Tran and they allowed a change for him at no charge BECAUSE he is military.
Yes, talked to 3 people...no budging. In fact the fee at first was $160 and by the last conversation it went to $200 for
some unknown reason.

I think it has been awhile since I've read the airlines 'fine print' because I was fully expecting to pay $100 change fee --
but not $200.


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## Talent312 (Aug 23, 2009)

b2bailey said:


> Our son had a leave approved. We bought Delta plane tickets to fly him home from Ft. Benning for a couple of weeks. Today son calls to say the leave was reduced to one week and he needs a new ticket. We paid $259 for the original ticket.
> 
> To make the 'change' we will need to pay $200. (Note: We can buy a new ticket from ATL to PHX for $220 today.) ... I'm so mad at Delta I'm going to cancel the ticket and buy a new one on AIR TRAN!!!



You are mad at Delta for following the rules under which you bought his ticket, when its the U.S. Army that messed up his schedule?  What would you say if you'd bought your tickets on AirTran and they'd said the same thing?


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## isisdave (Aug 23, 2009)

Did you tell Delta the circumstances and ask if some consideration could be given to a serviceman, perhaps if he forwarded a copy of his new orders?

Even if you did, call again and talk to someone else. Maybe ask for a supervisor.


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## dougp26364 (Aug 23, 2009)

I hate to tell you this but Delta's not the only airline that will hit you with a heavy change fee. That include Airtran. The Southwest Airlines has the most liberal change rules. All the others hit you with a large fee IF they'll allow you to change the ticket at all. Back in 1999, I needed to make a change to a United Airlines ticket. At first they weren't going to let me make the change at all and insisted I just had to buy a new ticket and eat the loss on the old ticket. After running it up the ladder, I finally got them to allow me to change the name for the $100 change fee (it was only $100 back then. It's higher now). 

As someone else posted, the issue is with the change in his schedule. They're the one's the messed you up. When you buy a non-refundable ticket, which is the cheapest ticket you can buy, that's the risk you take. If there's a chance there will be a change you should consider buying a fully refundable ticket. But that's going to cost you about twice as much as the non-refundable seat.


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## b2bailey (Aug 24, 2009)

*Mad at Delta and the US Army...*



Talent312 said:


> You are mad at Delta for following the rules under which you bought his ticket, when its the U.S. Army that messed up his schedule?  What would you say if you'd bought your tickets on AirTran and they'd said the same thing?



My gripe with the Army is bigger. Our son was due for discharge (after serving4 years) in December. His group is shipping out to Iran in October (2nd tour) -- and Jordan will have to be 'unwillingly' extended until they return.


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## california-bighorn (Aug 24, 2009)

I thought there used to be airlines that allowed our armed services personnel to fly standby at a reduced rate.  Do any of the airlines have a policy similar to that?  If not, they should.


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## Talent312 (Aug 24, 2009)

california-bighorn said:


> I thought there used to be airlines that allowed our armed services personnel to fly standby at a reduced rate.  Do any of the airlines have a policy similar to that?  If not, they should.



From the Delta website...
Certain discounts or companion fares may apply to a selected itinerary 
but are not available at delta.com. 
-- bereavement fares, 
-- international adoption fares, 
-- *military and government fares*, or
-- senior discounts
Contact Reservations to check availability of these fares for your travel needs.


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## thheath (Aug 24, 2009)

As a retired service member I would like to say I had nothing but positive experiences with Delta Airlines over the years.  They treated me great and always upgraded me when they had an open seat.


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## summervaca (Aug 24, 2009)

I don't understand the negative tone directed toward the op.  Yes, they did buy the ticket under certain "rules", shall we call them.  That doesn't change the fact that this is a serviceman whose orders were changed through no fault of his own.  Companies and individuals alike pay lipservice to how much they appreciate the troops etc.  I would like to see more of them put their money where their mouth is.  Talk is so cheap.  

Thank you for lending your son to this country.  

Debbie


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## Patri (Aug 25, 2009)

summervaca said:


> I don't understand the negative tone directed toward the op.  Yes, they did buy the ticket under certain "rules", shall we call them.  That doesn't change the fact that this is a serviceman whose orders were changed through no fault of his own.  Companies and individuals alike pay lipservice to how much they appreciate the troops etc.  I would like to see more of them put their money where their mouth is.  Talk is so cheap.
> 
> Thank you for lending your son to this country.
> 
> Debbie



I agree. My son's plans changed last minute, and it affected his Honeymoon plans! He was traveling Air Tran and we had to go through hoops to get any concession from them as well. They did waive the change fee, but he had to pay the difference in airfare, which was plenty.


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## Pens_Fan (Aug 25, 2009)

b2bailey said:


> My gripe with the Army is bigger. Our son was due for discharge (after serving4 years) in December. His group is shipping out to *Iran* in October (2nd tour) -- and Jordan will have to be 'unwillingly' extended until they return.



Does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad know about this?


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## laurac260 (Sep 2, 2009)

Pens_Fan said:


> Does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad know about this?



Let's just home Mahmoud is not a TUGger!


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## Carolinian (Sep 3, 2009)

Talent312 said:


> You are mad at Delta for following the rules under which you bought his ticket, when its the U.S. Army that messed up his schedule?  What would you say if you'd bought your tickets on AirTran and they'd said the same thing?



Delta added new junk fees and jacked up existed ones about the time it snared Northwest, and has visited most of those fees on Northwest by now.

The worst one is the ''foreign original surcharge'' of over $200 that they tack on to award tickets originating outside the US.  No other US-based airline does that, not even NW (yet!).

DL and US are the two airlines that have been leading the race to the bottom.


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## laurac260 (Sep 3, 2009)

DELTA, Driving Every Loyal Traveller Away??  I thought it stood for Deliver Every Living Thing to Atlanta?


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## thheath (Sep 3, 2009)

Delta just rolled out its 2010 Frequent Flyer program that combines it and NWA and it looks pretty good.  The perks offered flyers with status are the best I’ve seen.  Of course the proof is in the pudding with award ticket availability.


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## alvin (Sep 3, 2009)

*thank you for sharing yet another reason for me to avoid delta!*

i used to try and fly delta whenever and wherever possible when i had Status.  now that i don't, i try NOT to fly them whenever and wherever possible!

at first i tried desperately (with no luck of course) to regain Status, but their new formula for accumulating valid miles made it too difficult and expensive.   plus all the extra fees started getting old.  they price gouge wherever possible.  i've spent hours collectively on hold, just to end up speaking to someone in India who rarely is of any help.  Their standby policy is awful.  they charge you to "confirm" a seat on a flight but only up to 3 hours in advance of the flight you want to "standby" for.  So basically if you have a 6pm flight, and want to leave early, you have to either go to the airport 3 hours before the earlier flight and wait in line to try and confirm a seat, OR you can try a game of Indian roulette by calling in advance.  But the worst part is they won't let you on the plane if no "confirmed" seats are available EVEN if there are empty seats at the time of departure!

Anyway, the one good result of Delta's inane policies is that i "discovered" southwest, and haven't looked back since.

no baggage fees, no change fees, no cancel fees, democratic boarding rules, simple fare system, cheap drinks and a great loyalty program (8 round trips = free flight).  and the customer service???  it's like night and day.  southwest employees actually seem, or at least ACT, like they really enjoy their job.  my only complaint is that they don't offer standby either, unless you are paying full fare for the segment (but you can upgrade at the gate).

if you have Status, and a generous corporate travel account, by all means, fly Delta.  If not, and Southwest is an option, i highly recommend checking them out!


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## Jim C (Sep 4, 2009)

*Better take another look*



alvin said:


> Anyway, the one good result of Delta's inane policies is that i "discovered" southwest, and haven't looked back since.
> 
> no baggage fees, no change fees, no cancel fees, democratic boarding rules, simple fare system, cheap drinks and a great loyalty program (8 round trips = free flight).  and the customer service???  it's like night and day.  southwest employees actually seem, or at least ACT, like they really enjoy their job.  my only complaint is that they don't offer standby either, unless you are paying full fare for the segment (but you can upgrade at the gate).
> 
> if you have Status, and a generous corporate travel account, by all means, fly Delta.  If not, and Southwest is an option, i highly recommend checking them out!




Alvin, Hate to break the news to you, but Southwest just climbed aboard the fee-go-round.  Sorry!!!


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## goaliemn (Sep 4, 2009)

thheath said:


> Delta just rolled out its 2010 Frequent Flyer program that combines it and NWA and it looks pretty good.  The perks offered flyers with status are the best I’ve seen.  Of course the proof is in the pudding with award ticket availability.


Diamond now gets the benefits that pre-merger NW plats got.. its an upgrade for old Skymile members, but not for Worldperk members.


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## Janis (Sep 7, 2009)

THe change fees are ridiculously inflated. We have four r/t tickets to Cancun for Spring Break on United. They dropped the price by $60 on the route. I called and asked if they would honor the price change. The answer was YES. For $600!!!  Really? a 600 dollar administrative fee to reflect the current price? 

Outrageous..


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## Carolinian (Sep 8, 2009)

thheath said:


> Delta just rolled out its 2010 Frequent Flyer program that combines it and NWA and it looks pretty good.  The perks offered flyers with status are the best I’ve seen.  Of course the proof is in the pudding with award ticket availability.



Look a little closer.

Until the DL takeover of NW, silver elites at NW earned 50% bonus miles and platinums earned 125%.  Now, with the DL downgrade, it is 25% and 100%.

Until the DL takeover of NW, it was 50K miles for a saver economy ticket to Europe, now with the DL downgrade, it is a minimum of 60K miles, and with their ripoff three tier award chart, you are more likely to be whacked for even more than that.  Other foreign destinations have also increases in milage requirements.

DL has added numerous junk fees that NW did not have.

As a NW silver and gold elite, I have only had one domestic flight on an aircraft with a business class section that I did not get upgraded.  Upgrades were virtually a sure thing.  On DL, my upgrade percentage as a silver or (most of the time) gold was about 30%.  That is a huge downgrade with DL.

If you originate overseas on DL, and use miles for an award ticket, they whack you for a $200+ junk fee called a ''foreign origination fee'' and they are the only US-based airline to employ this particular form of theft.  They have not even imposed it on their captive NW yet, but once the programs are combined in October they will.  As a result of this assinine fee, some on the DL board at FlyerTalk have reported cases of the all-in cost of a paid ticket intra-Europe being less than the taxes and fees of an ''award'' ticket, for which you also have to give up 25K miles.

Yes, the rollover can sometimes be handy, but there is a heck of a lot more bad than good.  That is why I did a comp and got CO to status match my NW elite status.  My miles go on CO now.


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## laurac260 (Sep 10, 2009)

*Can someone explain this to me?*

Why do airlines charge fees for bags that you check, but not for ones you carry on?  Nothing annoys me more as a traveller than having to wait while people unload from the upper cargo bays all the stuff they just HAD to carry with them.  Imagine how quick it would be to deplane if everyone checked their baggage.  I prefer to check everything I can, the less stuff to deal with in an airport the better.  Seems to me they got this backwards.


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## Talent312 (Sep 10, 2009)

laurac260 said:


> Why do airlines charge fees for bags that you check, but not for ones you carry on?  Nothing annoys me more as a traveller than having to wait while people unload from the upper cargo bays all the stuff they just HAD to carry with them.  Imagine how quick it would be to deplane if everyone checked their baggage.  I prefer to check everything I can, the less stuff to deal with in an airport the better.  Seems to me they got this backwards.



The delay in turnaround from on-board luggage is insignificant in comparison to the cost of baggage handling.  It costs the airline far more money to handle your bag, weigh it, screen it, route it to the gate and push it into the cargo hold (whether they do or the airport's ground support crew does it) than it does to inconvenience passengers on a plane for a few minutes.  

But its also true that a substantial portion of baggage handling is a fixed cost of operation that ought to be incorporated into the fare, the way it used to be.

More irksome to me are fees for pre-selecting assigned seats even when done online, as if that actually costs the airline a dime. Relying on counter-agents to assign seats at check-in is where the cost lies. That is more akin to just digging into our pockets.


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## Carolinian (Sep 11, 2009)

I am just the opposite.  I am sick of the delayed, lost, and damaged baggage one gets from checking it and thus leaving it to the tender mercies of the airlines' luggage throwers and baggage mishandlers.  I also hate the delay waiting for baggage.  I would rather just walk on out with my carryon and avoid that delay at the airport.  I try to travel light to take everything I need in a carryon whenever I can.

My favorite carryon policy is that of EasyJet, which has no specific weight requirement on carryons.  It is only required that one person be able to heft it into the overhead unaided.




laurac260 said:


> Why do airlines charge fees for bags that you check, but not for ones you carry on?  Nothing annoys me more as a traveller than having to wait while people unload from the upper cargo bays all the stuff they just HAD to carry with them.  Imagine how quick it would be to deplane if everyone checked their baggage.  I prefer to check everything I can, the less stuff to deal with in an airport the better.  Seems to me they got this backwards.


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## hibbert6 (Sep 12, 2009)

The interesting thing about change fees is that Southwest has proven that they are unneccessary.  They charge none yet I believe they're the most profitable airline, quarter after quarter.  Therefore, a change fee does nothing to prevent passengers from bailing out  (the airlines' argument for charging the fees) and is therefore nothing but gouging.

Dave


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## dougp26364 (Sep 13, 2009)

hibbert6 said:


> The interesting thing about change fees is that Southwest has proven that they are unneccessary.  They charge none yet I believe they're the most profitable airline, quarter after quarter.  Therefore, a change fee does nothing to prevent passengers from bailing out  (the airlines' argument for charging the fees) and is therefore nothing but gouging.
> 
> Dave



SWA's has an entirely different business model than the rest of the industry. They have no hub airports, they are selective about their destinations choosing not to fly to smaller and less profitable destinations (like my home airport), they fly one aircraft (boeing 737) thus keeping maintenance costs down and they're great at hedging their fuel costs. 

I personally wouldn't be in favor of everyone going to the SWA's way of doing business. Because I'm in a small market consider non-profitable to SWA's model, I'd be forced to drive to the larger market airports such as Kansas City to catch a flight.


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## Carolinian (Sep 13, 2009)

dougp26364 said:


> SWA's has an entirely different business model than the rest of the industry. They have no hub airports, they are selective about their destinations choosing not to fly to smaller and less profitable destinations (like my home airport), they fly one aircraft (boeing 737) thus keeping maintenance costs down and they're great at hedging their fuel costs.
> 
> I personally wouldn't be in favor of everyone going to the SWA's way of doing business. Because I'm in a small market consider non-profitable to SWA's model, I'd be forced to drive to the larger market airports such as Kansas City to catch a flight.



Actually the European LCC's have shown small markets to be profitable.  Look at the route map of EasyJet or RyanAir sometime.


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