Anybody use Delta to fly to their cruise port?

[Dee777]

We booked with Delta for our upcoming cruise. We booked air in July. In October they emailed us to tell us they dropped that flight and moved us to depart San Diego at 6:34 am. We will still be on the Spirit then. Our original departure flight was around 3:30 pm.

 

They cannot find us a flight to go home until 10:30 that night. My DH's dad who is 80 years old with severe osteoporosis, macular degenerative disease and Parkinson's will be traveling with us (and his DW). This will likely be his last big trip and he desperately wants to do this with us. I spoke to a Delta rep the day of the email, and she told me to see what else I could find then call back to cancel the return flight and that was that.

 

Well I found a return flight with United for noonish, booked it and called Delta back. They want to charge us $150.00 per person to cancel the return ticket and rebook it as a one way. $600.00 admin fee for the four of us? I don't think so! Then they will rebook using the credit leftover after they take their "admin fee" and whatever is left over will be issued as a credit to be used within 12 months. Anyone have an experience with this before???

 

Sorry if this doesn't make a whole lot of sense but my head is spinning, I have never been so blatantly bent over like this before!!! :eek:

[LKYGSR]

If Delta changed your iten and it is not suitable, then they have to give you a full refund, no change fees. It's in their contract.

 

Call them back, remind them that their change was the cause, not yours and they should comply.

 

Edit: Re-reading your post, you will have to re-book the entire flight to get the refund from Delta. Look into another airline for the entire trip, not just the return.

[ptcruzers]

Hey dee777, 2 years ago we booked with Delta, they had us arriving in DTW after our connecting flight had departed. They did make a change to accommodate us because THEY had made a change to our itinerary.Sounds to me as though THEY have changed your itinerary, not you, so I would think they would be, (at least morally, if not legally), obligated to work with you and find a suitable solution. Good Luck!!:D

[Dee777]

Thank you all for your suggestions. With tomorrow being a holiday for us to remember those who have fought for, and are still fighting for our freedom, I will be taking up my own fight bright and early Monday morning!

 

Thank you all again.

Dee

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Thank you all for your suggestions. With tomorrow being a holiday for us to remember those who have fought for, and are still fighting for our freedom, I will be taking up my own fight bright and early Monday morning!

 

Thank you all again.

Dee

 

I wouldn't wait till Monday. They will be there to answer their phones. Like someone else said - THEY made the changes to YOUR itinerary - they need to fix it at THEIR expense! Even if it means they pay for a hotel for you all so you can get a reasonable flight back.

 

These airlines are full of crap anymore .... and we should NOT have to take it!

[av8tr21]

I've flown 21 segments on DL this year, so I might be slightly biased. :cool: If a flight change involves an hour or more, you have the opportunity to change it with no penalty. Whatever agent told you they would charge a fee is mistaken. There really is no reason to book a return on another airline. Give me the date you are going home, destination, and I can do some checking for you. Delta has MANY flights out of SAN, and a 6:34AM departure can't be the only one available. They fly nonstop to Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Detroit, and New York JFK, so there are plenty of ways to get you home earlier. Also, DL is certainly taking phone calls tomorrow so there is no reason to wait until Monday.

[Dee777]

I've flown 21 segments on DL this year, so I might be slightly biased. :cool: If a flight change involves an hour or more, you have the opportunity to change it with no penalty. Whatever agent told you they would charge a fee is mistaken. There really is no reason to book a return on another airline. Give me the date you are going home, destination, and I can do some checking for you. Delta has MANY flights out of SAN, and a 6:34AM departure can't be the only one available. They fly nonstop to Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Detroit, and New York JFK, so there are plenty of ways to get you home earlier. Also, DL is certainly taking phone calls tomorrow so there is no reason to wait until Monday.

 

San Diego to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada (airport code YXE). February 4, 2012. They told me the only other flight they could get us on was late, after 10 pm that night. They said they had absolutely NOTHING available for the next day out of SAN. Thanks!

[av8tr21]

San Diego to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada (airport code YXE). February 4, 2012. They told me the only other flight they could get us on was late, after 10 pm that night. They said they had absolutely NOTHING available for the next day out of SAN. Thanks!

 

 

I'll be back with some info shortly, hang tight!

[hobbyhrs97]

We flew Delta from DTW to FLL last Jan,yes they made a slight change 6 minute delay in departure time:rolleyes:. I was fine with that!

 

We again are booked on Delta again DTW to FLL, the other day I got a email with flight changes, I could not see the changes in the email. I called the 800# to inquire about my changes made ,16 minute delay leaving and return flight 20 minutes earlier:D. I am ok with all changes. I have heard numerous horror stories about Delta and to date i have no issues with them.

 

Good Luck with your flight!

[av8tr21]

San Diego to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada (airport code YXE). February 4, 2012. They told me the only other flight they could get us on was late, after 10 pm that night. They said they had absolutely NOTHING available for the next day out of SAN. Thanks!

 

I found you a flight, albeit not on Saturday but Sunday. Gives you just over an hour in MSP which is plenty at that time of night. There are plenty of seats open on both flights so that shouldn't be a problem to get you on. The reason there are no options for Saturday is because the last flight to Saskatoon leaves MSP at 5:35PM and anything leaving SAN after 7:30AM gets into MSP too late to make that connection. I wouldn't go through the hassle of switching airlines if you are able to stay an extra day in SAN. Call DL right now and have them change your itinerary. If the agent gives you a hard time, call back until you get one that knows what they are doing/talking about. Hope this helps!

 

February 5, 2012

DL 1987 SAN-MSP 2:45PM-8:21PM

DL 5765 MSP-YXE 9:30PM-12:06AM +1

 

PS...not sure why they told you there was nothing available for Sunday? I have had this happen periodically and the truth is reservations agents sometimes don't look up all possible options if they don't want to. Sometimes they won't try to force a connection through another city even if there are seats available. Confusing, I know..

[Dee777]

I found you a flight, albeit not on Saturday but Sunday. Gives you just over an hour in MSP which is plenty at that time of night. There are plenty of seats open on both flights so that shouldn't be a problem to get you on. The reason there are no options for Saturday is because the last flight to Saskatoon leaves MSP at 5:35PM and anything leaving SAN after 7:30AM gets into MSP too late to make that connection. I wouldn't go through the hassle of switching airlines if you are able to stay an extra day in SAN. Call DL right now and have them change your itinerary. If the agent gives you a hard time, call back until you get one that knows what they are doing/talking about. Hope this helps!

 

February 5, 2012

DL 1987 SAN-MSP 2:45PM-8:21PM

DL 5765 MSP-YXE 9:30PM-12:06AM +1

 

PS...not sure why they told you there was nothing available for Sunday? I have had this happen periodically and the truth is reservations agents sometimes don't look up all possible options if they don't want to. Sometimes they won't try to force a connection through another city even if there are seats available. Confusing, I know..

 

Thank you very much for your trouble! I will give them a call tomorrow morning and see what they can do for me... I also have to talk to DH and see if the extra day will work for his work schedule. We will already be away from home for 18 days, so one more shouldn't make a difference :) That was very nice of you to check, thanks again!

[av8tr21]

Thank you very much for your trouble! I will give them a call tomorrow morning and see what they can do for me... I also have to talk to DH and see if the extra day will work for his work schedule. We will already be away from home for 18 days, so one more shouldn't make a difference :) That was very nice of you to check, thanks again!

 

Hey, no problem! Glad to be of help :)

[Essiesmom]

My sister was booked on Delta Tuesday for return from FLL to ABE (Allentown PA). Her itinerary was ALL/ATL/ABE, leave at 10:15am, arrive 4pm. When I went to do her online checkin the day before, I discovered she had been changed to FLL/ATL/Detroit/ABE, with arrival after 9pm. If they notified her of the change, it had to be while we were on the cruise, and she never checks email on cruises (unless she is expecting a grandchild...). EM

[YB Nrml]

We flew Delta from Kansas City to LAX. They took us by way of ATLANTA!!! Horrible service, rude stewardess, seats were torn up (and I mean the metal arm rests) tore DH's shorts to shreds. We haven't flown Delta since.

[cruise_pirate]

I feel your pain!! We booked Delta in Sept. for our upcoming Jan cruise. We found a pretty good deal from PIT to JAX. Once we booked it every week they kept changing our flight times. 3 times in a month to be exact.

 

Got an email about a Southwest sale, checked it and seen the flights were $114 to Jax and $65 return with two free bags pp. :eek:

 

Checked my Delta flight and lo and behold they had again changed our flight. Called Delta, and told them the new flight was not acceptable, to which they pretty much did not care, asked for a refund and got it.

 

Before I got off the phone with them, I had already filled out the Southwest booking and the moment that Delta said they would refund my money, I hit the submit button and bought the other tickets!:D

[KrystalWaters]

We booked with Delta for our upcoming cruise. We booked air in July. In October they emailed us to tell us they dropped that flight and moved us to depart San Diego at 6:34 am. We will still be on the Spirit then. Our original departure flight was around 3:30 pm.

 

They cannot find us a flight to go home until 10:30 that night. My DH's dad who is 80 years old with severe osteoporosis, macular degenerative disease and Parkinson's will be traveling with us (and his DW). This will likely be his last big trip and he desperately wants to do this with us. I spoke to a Delta rep the day of the email, and she told me to see what else I could find then call back to cancel the return flight and that was that.

 

Well I found a return flight with United for noonish, booked it and called Delta back. They want to charge us $150.00 per person to cancel the return ticket and rebook it as a one way. $600.00 admin fee for the four of us? I don't think so! Then they will rebook using the credit leftover after they take their "admin fee" and whatever is left over will be issued as a credit to be used within 12 months. Anyone have an experience with this before???

 

Sorry if this doesn't make a whole lot of sense but my head is spinning, I have never been so blatantly bent over like this before!!! :eek:

And examples like this is the reason why i can't stand DELTA!! Their customer service is TERRIBLE. I'm not too surprised this happened to me. Without highjacking your thread....i've had very similar customer service experience with DELTA. To this day I don't fly them. If they don't lose your luggage or strand you they come up with a whole bunch of BS on how they are not going to give you back your money. I am sorry you are going through this. They should have allowed you to refund your money with ZERO FEES. It's not your problem they couldn't sell their high a$$ seats. Oooooooooooooh this gets me upset just reading what happened to you.:mad:

[hoskins123]

I work for Delta and if your itinerary was changed 90 minutes or more you are entitled to a full refund if we can not accomodate you on another flight of your choosing. You must have spoken with a shabby representative. I apologize

[zqvol]

This is not directed to the OP in particular, but to everyone in general.

 

This happens on all of the major airlines all the time. You need to be an informed consumer so that you can discuss matters with them and let them know what works for you. If you rely on them to make decisions the result is bad flights and connections. if you do not have the computer skills to become an informed traveler, then pay a TA to take care of you.

 

Flights changes happen. It is always a good idea to travel with an tablet PC or laptop or Internet enabled phone so that you can connect to the Internet from the plane if you are delayed and get a jump on making your flight changes.

[Tapi]

To all the Delta haters:

 

As someone said before, THIS HAPPENS ON EVERY AIRLINE. In fact, Delta has a much better record than many airlines out there. I will fly on Delta ANY DAY before getting on a cattle like, crampep airplane making 3 stops with minimal service just to save a few bucks (and sometimes there are no savings).

 

Delta hasn't become the largest airline in the world with some of the most impressive earnings by making people angry, giving them bad customer service or stranding them all over the place. On the contrary.

 

Granted, they don't get it right every time, but it's part of running a business. If you search, there are plenty of horror stories from dissatisfied customers on every airline.

[MNelson486]

I am a Delta frequent flyer -- mostly because I live in Minneapolis and have few other choices.

 

I have been very happy with their customer service in an occassion very similar to the one you are describing... My family of 4 had our return flight from Miami changed to an hour earlier (and an extra stop) when I explained we were on a cruise with small children and did not want to make 3 stops to get home, and could not get to the flight on time, the very nice agent accomodated me.

 

I do have to say, I think it helps that I have elite status -- they tend to want to make me happy. This has made my experience flying their airline 2-3 times per month this year-- much better!

 

I would say call again and talk to someone else!

 

Good luck!

[6rugrats]

We booked with Delta for our upcoming cruise. We booked air in July. In October they emailed us to tell us they dropped that flight and moved us to depart San Diego at 6:34 am. We will still be on the Spirit then. Our original departure flight was around 3:30 pm.

 

They cannot find us a flight to go home until 10:30 that night. My DH's dad who is 80 years old with severe osteoporosis, macular degenerative disease and Parkinson's will be traveling with us (and his DW). This will likely be his last big trip and he desperately wants to do this with us. I spoke to a Delta rep the day of the email, and she told me to see what else I could find then call back to cancel the return flight and that was that.

 

Well I found a return flight with United for noonish, booked it and called Delta back. They want to charge us $150.00 per person to cancel the return ticket and rebook it as a one way. $600.00 admin fee for the four of us? I don't think so! Then they will rebook using the credit leftover after they take their "admin fee" and whatever is left over will be issued as a credit to be used within 12 months. Anyone have an experience with this before???

 

Sorry if this doesn't make a whole lot of sense but my head is spinning, I have never been so blatantly bent over like this before!!! :eek:

 

You have received some really crazy and extreme "advice". There is no need to even think about legal action with this situation, you don't need to spend all day calling DL, waste time building a webpage, or contact some reporter, etc. You have rights; instead of complaining, people should know what their rights are before they hit that "purchase" button. You're too late for that, but you can learn now.

 

OP - if you booked your UA flight more than 24 hours ago, you are now SOL and stuck with that return. If it's within 24 hours, you can cancel and get a refund, if not you're stuck now with the UA return flight, unless you want to pay the $150 per ticket change fee and receive a voucher for the remainder with UA.

 

All airlines change flights; it's the way it is. Anyone who travels has this experience. When you purchased your DL ticket, you agreed to what's called their "Contract of Carriage" (CoC), which states you agree to these change fees, etc.

 

With this extreme schedule change, DL has to refund your money in full, if that is your choice. However, if you choose to drop the return flight with them, and just keep the outbound, I am not sure that they aren't correct about then being within their rights to charge the change fees and any refare. You'd have to read the CoC. There are some posters here who are DL flyers and perhaps they'll clarify this.

 

I'd probably save myself some stress and just cancel and get a refund from DL, and rebook my outbound flight with another airline. Just realize that you could be in for future schedule changes with your new flight.

[FlyerTalker]

Thank you very much for your trouble! I will give them a call tomorrow morning and see what they can do for me.

BIG ERROR.....you should never wait until tomorrow. You were given advice that was quite time-critical, you have time to post here, but not to call. DING DING Seat inventory moves quite quickly at times. There are time limits for changes/cancellations. Both speak for action, not waiting. Advice for everyone out there: If it needs to be done, especially with an airline, do it now while you can!

 

Very strange story. The skycap is not employed by DL.

Hey....why let facts get in the way of an impassioned story. ;)

[Shorex]

We flew Delta from Kansas City to LAX. They took us by way of ATLANTA!!! Horrible service, rude stewardess, seats were torn up (and I mean the metal arm rests) tore DH's shorts to shreds. We haven't flown Delta since.

 

If the routing MCI-ATL-LAX was unacceptable, why on earth would you book the ticket? Before you hit the purchase key, was not the entire itinerary displayed for your review and approval?

[FlyerTalker]

Well I found a return flight with United for noonish, booked it and called Delta back. They want to charge us $150.00 per person to cancel the return ticket and rebook it as a one way. $600.00 admin fee for the four of us? I don't think so! Then they will rebook using the credit leftover after they take their "admin fee" and whatever is left over will be issued as a credit to be used within 12 months. Anyone have an experience with this before???

To the OP: Let's run this through for you. Based on the limited information provided, it seems that you:

 

1) Bought a round-trip ticket from Saskatoon to San Diego on DL

2) There was a schedule change by DL

3) The change offered wasn't an option for you

4) Bought a ONE WAY ticket back from SAN to YXE on UA.

5) Now want to cancel the RETURN DL segments from SAN to YXE

6) Receive a refund from DL for what you don't fly

 

Here's the rub.....you bought a round-trip ticket that (details not provided) was a ROUND-TRIP fare, not an addition of two one-way fares. These tickets require the r/t purchase. When you want to cancel out half of the ticket, you change the underlying conditions. You now made it a ONE-WAY ticket, and that causes a different fare basis. Because this is being made at your choice (change to one-way from r/t), there is the change fee. Contrast that with a complete cancel, where you would get your money back and could book a full r/t with UA.

 

Now, you could of course do throw-away ticketing, where you just don't bother to show up for the return portion of the tickets. But I get the feeling you want money back for the unflown portion.

 

Sorry, but that's the reality of ticketing. When flying from a city with limited service, such as YXE, be aware that you are extremely vulnerable to schedule changes. This time, it caught you.

[FlyerTalker]

If the routing MCI-ATL-LAX was unacceptable, why on earth would you book the ticket? Before you hit the purchase key, was not the entire itinerary displayed for your review and approval?

I'll bet it was one of two situations:

 

1) Cruiseline provided air

2) Cheapest alternative