Connection and Skymiles ???'s

[Minnesota_Nice]

My husband and I have booked our flight using our Delta Skymiles for a cruise in November. My Flight is as follows:

 

Departing

 

MSP-ATL

3:16pm-6:48pm

 

ATL-BCN

8:00pm-10:05 am

 

Return

 

BCN-ATL

1:05pm-5:15pm

 

ATL-MSP

9:45pm-11:30pm

 

My worry is that I don't have a long enough layover in Atlanta we are traveling the first part of November so I am a little stressed about weather but not too terribly.

 

We are arriving same day as embarkation so we can't really afford to miss our flight in ATL.

 

As I have read it sounds as though Delta changes flights frequently so these may change.

 

Now to my second question as I said before we used our Skymiles for this flight and we were lucky enough to have enough miles to fly First/Business Class and to actually get a flight using the miles.

 

So has anyone taking this flight using/not using skymiles? Is this flight generally on time? I am so freaked out about missing the flight and not getting to the cruise on time. In hindsight wish I would have booked a day early but didnt' really work out with vacation time.

 

Anybody experiences would be appreciated.

 

Thanks Jen

[greatam]

Why not make it easy on yourself and call Delta and reschedule the MSP/ATL flight? Quite a few flights daily and it should not be much problem to change to an earlier flight. When using FF miles, the problem getting flights usually comes on the international legs, not the domestic legs (except for Alaska).

 

I don't fly Delta and am not 100% sure that they will change, but the chances should be VERY good. There is even a flight at 5:30AM, arriving about 8:00AM. 12 hours should be more than enough time to connect. Good luck!!!

 

PS-I just looked at the Delta schedule for November. I don't see any flights from MSP to ATL at about 3:00PM. One at 1:45, arrives about 5:15. Next flight at 6:53. Please check your flights-they may have already changed.

[Minnesota_Nice]

Actually I just looked at more closely and I am on a Northwest flight from MSP to ATL at 3:15 pm arriving at 6:48 pm.

 

I did call Delta a little while to possibly see about changing to go one day earlier and she said it would a 75.00 fee per person so I said never mind.

 

So I dont' know then I think should I ride it for awhile and see if my flight changes or just try and change it I really don't want to pay 150.00 to change them but I also don't want to miss my flight to BCN either.:confused:

 

I also was wondering if they change your flight do they still have to give you first class if thats what you had even if you use skymiles? I would hope they would have to honor it but you never know.

 

Jen

[greatam]

I am making a very educated guess, but if you asked to go earlier the SAME day, I don't think there would be a fee. When you asked for the day before, you are actually totally changing the itinerary.

 

Since you have quite a while and really only need to change the first segment, I would just wait a few months. If your first flight changes by more than 2 hours or the change is detrimental to your connection, the general rule is you get a free change. Getting a plane from MSP to ATL (major hubs) should NOT be a problem, unless you are flying Thanksgiving. And I would bet the 5:30AM plane will be pretty empty.

 

As a last resort, if you have not made the change by the day you fly, you can go to the airport and try for a standby seat. You MAY NOT get first class on the first segment on standby. But what you are looking for is a good connection and be able to sleep over the pond (which has no bearing on an earlier standby seat). You can sit up for a couple of hours to ATL if need be.

[vivian02]

Greatam is right. Why not see if you can get a earliier flight into Atlanta. It doesn't hurt to check it out. By the way I have done the flight from Atlanta to Barcelona and Barcelona to Atlanta. When we departed the plane (767) had to go back to the gate for maintance issue. We left an hour late but made the time up before arriving in Barcelona. That 1:30 PM flight returning is perfect. We have to admit there were no problems with the Delta flights on that trip. Now I can tell you about the time in 2005 when we left Phoenix late because of weather issues and arrived in Atlanta 45 minutes before our Air France flight left and we had to change terminals. We made it with only minutes to spare which started a change of events. Some of our luggage didn't make it but did catch up to us later that night in Munich. Delta didn't think we made our flight in Atlanta and cancelled our tickets the next day after we landed at CDG. You can imagine the look on my wifes face when the ticket clerk tried to explain that our tickets had been canceled? We did get on the next flight going into Munich but had to make the best of time (two and a half hours) at CDG. Not my wife's choice of airports for an extra layover. Anyway I hope the information helps. Tim

[Minnesota_Nice]

Thanks for the reassurment I did just call Delta and the agent felt like I would have plenty of time I expressed my concern for bad weather and she said if its a bad weather day to give them a call that day. So I guess for right now I will ride it out and see if they end up changing it. Then hopefully if they change it then I would have a better chance of getting them to change it to what I wanted. I am glad to hear that you have taken that flight we are luckly flying straight to BCN with no Europe connections so as long as we get on the ATL to BCN flight we are ok. Also if the flight is a little late we will be ok we are supposed to arrive at 10:05 am and the cruise doesn't leave until 7:00pm so we would have a pretty good window for any flight issues.

 

Thanks again Jen

[FlyerTalker]

I am making a very educated guess, but if you asked to go earlier the SAME day, I don't think there would be a fee. When you asked for the day before, you are actually totally changing the itinerary.

Doesn't matter....if you make the change after the first 24 hours, you pay the change fee, be it for revenue tickets or FF tickets. DL policy.

 

There is a DL policy for same day confirmed changes that may be applicable to your award tickets. However, there needs to be availability.

Award Ticket Applicability The same-day confirmed option is available for Award Tickets. However, these rules do not apply if you are using Medallion unlimited complimentary upgrades or other upgrade products.

See this page for details.

[alcpa1]

Jen, Delta is our line of choice/necessity so perhaps I can help too. I don't have the expertise of greatam [few do] but when we flew to Barcelona a couple of years ago for a cruise we also used ff points. We booked 331 out and our flights changed 12 times.

Don't sweat it because they were terrific to work with and we ended up with the best possible connection to ATL. Periodically check your itinerary because any change will kick out your seat assignments.

Enjoy planning your cruise and rest easy.

[Minnesota_Nice]

Hey alcpa1-Oh my gosh 12 times it changed. Well I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it right now. I think my two biggest worries are missing our ATL-BCN connection and not getting our First/Business seats. When you used your FF miles did you fly in first or coach? Did you get your original seats when you booked or comparible seats?

 

Thanks Jen

[greatam]

Doesn't matter....if you make the change after the first 24 hours, you pay the change fee, be it for revenue tickets or FF tickets. DL policy.

 

 

Thanks for the info. That is a very bad policy, IMHO, especially since in this case, the only reason to change is get a longer connection between a domestic and international flight. Most changes on the same day would just be to get an earlier or later flight. Since same day standby is offered (usually for free) on most airlines, I would have thought a same day change of flights would be handled the same way-FREE.

 

And the really bad thing-I bet the OP was offered no choice, just told "this is what we have". Another reason to stress repeatedly-when you are booking FF tickets-look at what flights you want BEFORE you call for the tickets. If what you are offered is NOT what you want, you can at least ask if you can get what you want. Again, the old airline adage, you may have to call three times to get an agent who is willing to take the time to help the customer.

[SelectSys]

... Since same day standby is offered (usually for free) on most airlines...

 

Unfortunately Delta is not such an airline:

http://www.onlinetravelreview.com/online_travel_review/2007/08/delta-ups-a-bun.html

 

I showed up at the ticket counter early for a flight once and got hit with a request for $50.

 

To the OP - is $150 an acceptable insurance policy amount for some additional peace of mind? To me it would be. I wouldn't even care if they downgraded me to coach for the trip from MSP to ATL.

[fti]

Unfortunately Delta is not such an airline:

http://www.onlinetravelreview.com/online_travel_review/2007/08/delta-ups-a-bun.html

 

I showed up at the ticket counter early for a flight once and got hit with a request for $50.

 

To the OP - is $150 an acceptable insurance policy amount for some additional peace of mind? To me it would be. I wouldn't even care if they downgraded me to coach for the trip from MSP to ATL.

 

Same-day change of flights (not really standby since they immediately confirm it) is also no longer free on Northwest unless you are a high-level elite. But it is not expensive - $25 I think.

 

I booked a trip on Delta in March 2007 for travel in December 2007 (Minneapolis to California). I had at least a dozen schedule changes. One of the last ones worked in my favor - the first flight from Minneapolis to Salt Lake City had been moved up 90 minutes earlier and they allowed me to reschedule the entire connection for the night before - what I originally wanted but the cheaper fare was not available that day. So as was stated, perhaps a schedule change will work in your favor.

 

John

[janetz]

Actually I just looked at more closely and I am on a Northwest flight from MSP to ATL at 3:15 pm arriving at 6:48 pm.

 

I did call Delta a little while to possibly see about changing to go one day earlier and she said it would a 75.00 fee per person so I said never mind.

 

So I dont' know then I think should I ride it for awhile and see if my flight changes or just try and change it I really don't want to pay 150.00 to change them but I also don't want to miss my flight to BCN either.:confused:

 

I also was wondering if they change your flight do they still have to give you first class if thats what you had even if you use skymiles? I would hope they would have to honor it but you never know.

 

Jen

 

 

I would change it to the day before. ;) As far as first class, you would have to ask. Better safe than sorry.

[Guest nhrich]

Chances are there will be several schedule changes between now and then. Once they make a significant change, just call them and they should change you for free.

[Mapu]

When flying to a destination prior to a cruise I would always recommend flying at least one day prior. In addition to weather "mechanical difficulty" and rescheduled flights could cause you to miss your cruise. Check out the problems that cruisers flying to Buenos Aires for the January 10 sailing of the Star Princess experienced.

 

If your flights are available one day prior, I would definitely change even for a charge. If your first call to Delta was within 24 hours of booking your flights you could try to get them to waive the change fee,