Help! Delta screws up again;question on plane transfers in Atlanta

[Cathyb]

For the second time Delta has changed our schedule from Santa Ana to Atlanta and then on to Springfield, MO. Question:

If a Delta plane goes from Santa Ana, Ca to Atlanta then we change to Atlantic Southeast (Delta's) to get to Springfield, MO -- is this a long walk to get off one plane and to the other? They have left us only 20 minutes!

What recourse do we have? We are cash paying, not frequent flier miles.

 

[sfwilshire]

There is a train that runs between terminals, but you have to go down and up escalators. 20 minutes is a pretty tight connection.

Considering all the possible things that could delay you, from thunderstorms to waiting for a gate, I'd be more comfortable with a longer layover. Delta should be willing to work with you to come up with a better schedule since they made a change.

Sheila

 

[Banker]

I agree...you should have more like a 1 or 2 hour wait between flights. One time this happened to us when flying Delta from Atlanta to Nassau, Bahamas. They changed our flight from Atlanta to Orlando and it had a tighter connection. I called them up, explained how they were the ones to change it and they agreed that the timing was too close. They had me on hold for awhile, then came back on, and for that direction only, they gave us a nonstop direct to Nassau with no change in cost to us. Actually, that is what I wanted anyway! This happened about 3 years ago.

 

[DorotaG]

This is exactly what happened to us last June. They did not even notify us, fortunatelly I checked our schedule a day before a flight and realized I have about 9 minutes between flights in Atlanta. They changed the second flight on us and did not let us know. I called Delta, they sent me to Orbitz (since I booked the flight with them), Orbitz was trying to send me back to Delta... Long story short: the minimum time between flights in Atlanta is 50 minutes. After 3 hours on the phone they rescheduled us on another flight with over 4 hours layover. I was no happy! When we landed in Atlanta our original flight was boarding next gate to hours, but even if we made it (which we would have) our luggage would not.

 

[Spence]

I'd get a refund because of the change and book on another airlines that doesn't make me fly all the way to the East Coast to get back to MO!

 

[camachinist]

2 Flights Returned
1 Connection
  	DL 	1778 	0 	SNA
09/02/06 06:45AM 	ATL
09/02/06 02:17PM 	757 	B 	F9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L9 U9 T9 	
DL 	4303 	0 	ATL
09/02/06 04:10PM 	SGF
09/02/06 05:02PM 	CRJ 		Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L9 U9 T9 	
1 Connection
  	DL 	1068 	0 	SNA
09/02/06 07:55AM 	CVG
09/02/06 03:08PM 	757 	B 	F9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L9 U9 T9 	
DL 	5424 	0 	CVG
09/02/06 06:25PM 	SGF
09/02/06 07:01PM 	CRJ 		Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L9 U9 T9

Didn't know your dates so plugged in random. Schedule should be similar. Your connection sounds "illegal", so Delta should make appropriate change to get the connection legal again. I might be able to provide more information if I know dates of travel.

Today, connections are primarily between B and C concourses. Depending on how close you are to the center (where the train is), a 20 minute connection is doable, but not recommended . I've done a center to end with train connection in 10 minutes, but that's off-peak (like early on a Saturday) and walking briskly.

Pat

 

[camachinist]

I'd get a refund because of the change and book on another airlines that doesn't make me fly all the way to the East Coast to get back to MO!

That's an alternative. Not knowing the OP's DOT's, I offer the following:

Fare Details
 
Departing Airport 	SNA
Arriving Airport 	SGF
Departure Date 	10/02/06
 
Note:
The fares listed do not include airport and/or security fees.
 
Fare Basis 	Airline 	Booking Class 	Trip Type 	Fare 	Effective Date 	Expiration Date 	 
80 Fares Returned
S21E1MZN 	AA 	S 	Round-Trip 	449.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
VE14ANQ 	UA 	V 	Round-Trip 	449.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
VE211NNX 	UA 	V 	Round-Trip 	449.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
Q21M1BVN 	CO 	Q 	Round-Trip 	449.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
TE14V8N 	NW 	T 	Round-Trip 	457.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
T21R1QNV 	NW 	T 	Round-Trip 	457.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
U21M1NBV 	DL 	U 	Round-Trip 	458.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
G14E1MZN 	AA 	G 	Round-Trip 	479.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
Q14M1BVN 	CO 	Q 	Round-Trip 	479.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
L14R1QNV 	NW 	L 	Round-Trip 	487.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
QE141NNX 	UA 	Q 	Round-Trip 	624.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
L14M1NBV 	DL 	L 	Round-Trip 	633.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing

As an alternative, if you don't mind some driving, Santa Barbara to Fayetteville.

Fare Details
 
Departing Airport 	SBA
Arriving Airport 	FYV
Departure Date 	10/02/06
 
Note:
The fares listed do not include airport and/or security fees.
 
Fare Basis 	Airline 	Booking Class 	Trip Type 	Fare 	Effective Date 	Expiration Date 	 
65 Fares Returned
N21E1MZN 	AA 	N 	Round-Trip 	187.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
K21R1QNV 	NW 	K 	Round-Trip 	195.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
T21M1NBV 	DL 	T 	Round-Trip 	196.00 (USD)			View Rules    View Routing

Pat

 

[Dave M]

I think there is an easier and more practical answer.

If you can't get DL to reschedule you through ATL with an acceptable layover of an hour or more, ask them to reroute you through Cincinnati. You'll have a two+ hour layover, plenty of time to sample some Cincinnati-style chili in the food court! SNA-CVG 11:40am-6:43pm; CVG-SGF 9:00pm-9:40pm.

DL will make a change that works for you. They have to do that. If they don't offer you something acceptable, simply ask for a refund. Their schedule-change rules require that they give you a full refund in this situation if you want one.

 

[Cathyb]

sf: The ironic thing on a later flight is that we chose to pay 50% more for this early flight (original schedule was 2 hr layover) because we have an hour drive to timeshare in Branson and I read on tug that the roads at night are tricky to the Bluegreen timeshare. Thank you for the option.

 

[Cathyb]

banker: do you happen to know if there is a partner of Delta that we could 'demand' we put on, rather than the much later flight?

 

[Cathyb]

Pat: To complicate things, we have Delta taking us from Springfield to Fort Myers a week later -- all on the same ticket. Can we keep half of the trip and get a refund for the balance? This gets real messy

 

[Cathyb]

DaveM: Another brilliant idea from you, thank you so much. I have tasted that chili and it is great. Too bad my deceased Cinncinati brother wasn't around to visit him. Does it snow in mid-November there much? That was one element I was trying to avoid when going Delta.

 

[Dave M]

No, you can't keep part of the ticket and get a refund for the rest of it. Your choices are to have DL reschedule the SNA-SGF portion of your trip to your satisfaction or, if you aren't satisfied, ask for a refund - a full refund.

Even if you could keep part of the ticket, DL would reprice that part of the ticket. Without the lower fare of the round trip, you would likely get little if any refund.

You have no right to be put on a partner airline. You can ask, but DL can say no. Further, the only DL partner airline that flies to SGF is NW, which - through Minneapolis - would get you there later than if you reschedule to a later DL flight through ATL or CVG.

 

[laxmom]

Cincinnati rarely gets snow in November. We have lived here 8 years and our first snow isn't usually until later in December. We even had 60's in December last year while also getting our biggest measurable snow of 5 inches or so in the same month. The weather is strange here sometimes but we just don't get much snow.

Delta did the same thing to us on our upcoming trip to Oahu. Left us 20 minute layover in LAX. We called and they switched our flight to an itinerary that wasn't an option for the price we paid to begin with so we ended up with different layovers and getting home 3 hours sooner. We did book directly thru Delta to begin with.

 

[Pat H]

It would be very unusual to get snow in November in Cincinnati.

 

[camachinist]

Interestingly, the CVG connector shows up for September, but goes away in October, at least on my GDS access. Maybe a city-pairing rule changes. I can see SNA-CVG via ATL or SLC, but can't get SNA-SLC-CVG-SGF or SNA-CVG-SGF. I can see SNA-ATL-SGF and SNA-ATL-CVG.

Example:

Flight Availability - SNA to SGF - 11/15/06
Airline	Flight	Stops	Departure	Arrival	Aircraft	Meal	Available Classes	 
1 Flights Returned
1 Connection
 	DL	1778	0	SNA 
11/15/06 07:55AM	ATL 
11/15/06 03:23PM	757	B	F9 A9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L9 U9 T9	   
DL	4303	0	ATL 
11/15/06 04:14PM	SGF 
11/15/06 05:05PM	CRJ		Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 K9 L9 U9 T9

Pat

 

[Cathyb]

First thanks for all your help. We decided in order to avoid any missing of planes, nervous about Delta schedule changes and arriving at Bluegreen's timeshare in daylight instead of midnight, we had Delta reissue our departure for one day earlier and spend the night in Atlanta.

Question: Is there more than one airport in Atlanta -- we see several different airport names; one of which has "North" on the end. We made reservations at Marriott Fairfield at airport and hope it is the 'right airport'. Would appreciate reassurance from someone because they offer airport shuttle service.

 

[ronandjoan]

good solution

Sounds like you solved a problem well for your own stress levels!

I asssume that Delta did not charge you for changing since it was their own error and/or change. They have been most accommodating to us when that has happened and given us good service

 

[Cathyb]

ronandjoan: No charge for the reissue. Interestingly they have a special department called "Reissue Department" that we were transferred to after we told the agent the change in times was not comfortable for us. Everyone was very congenial and this will be the last time we fly Delta.

 

[Dave M]

I recommend that you not dump DL for future trips merely because of this experience. As has been well documented on this forum recently and much more so at FlyerTalk, all of the major legacy airlines have frequent schedule changes that could put you in the same situation.

The only escape is to avoid making reservations until a month or so from your trip. And that, of course, would mean much higher fares!