Complain about a product or service

Delta - Reservations & Changes in Itinerary

Marina of Costa Mesa CA (10/05/08)
I purchased tickets in April, 2008 to go to Mazatlan, Mexico from Los Angales, California for Thanksgiving 2008 with Delta Airlines on cheaptickets.com and I found out in September that the flight got canceled by accident because I wanted to make sure everything was ok with the flight. So, I call Delta and they tell me that the flight has been canceled, and that's the first time I heard that and they also say that we got e-mailed that the flight was canceled, but that is a lie. So, I call cheaptickets and I tell them that Delta said that the flight has been canceled so they said they will refund me. I call a week later to visa and I find out that I did not get credited for the flight, so I call cheaptickets and they say that delta was supposed to refund us, so I call delts and they say that cheaptickets is supposed to refund us, so I have a three way call with the manager from Delta and the manager from Cheaptickets and they say that cheaptickets will refund us. I call the next day to cheaptickets and I find out that they requested Delta to refund us and they refused. So again cheaptickets says Delta is supposed to refund you and Delta says Cheaptickets is supposed to refund you. So after being on the phone for hours Delta said that they will refund us. I called today to Visa and finally Delta refunded us the money for the airline tickets.

N/A

Chris of Punta Gorda FL (09/08/08)
Today I went online to book a Delta FF award travel flight for my wife. I was having difficulty booking the flight as it would fill in my name from my FF account as the passenger and there was no way I could make the change. I caled Delta's internet customer service and spoke with an Indian gentlemen with a heavy accent who was very difficult to understand. I eventually came to understand that I actually had to log out of my FF account first and book a different way eventually entering my FF at a later point in time (very non-intuitive IMHO). After about 15 minutes on the phone, with his assistance we got it booked.

The issue I have with Delta, though is that when they priced out my 'free flight (scree 2 Select Trip), it was quoted at 25,000 miles plus $52.50 in taxes/fees plus a $75 redemption fee since the flight was scheduled for less than 20 days away for a grand total of $127.50. However when I got my confirmation I saw my bill was $152.50, an extra $25. When I called Delta, they said that the extra $25 was because one leg of the flight was on another airline, Northwest. (Aren't they merged now??). They did not quote this fee in the itinerary. I told them this like buying something at the supermarket with one price on the shelf and another when the item is scanned.

Had I known of this mystery fee and that a Delta FF award travel meant I would be flying on another airline I would done it differently to avoid the fee. I got no satisfaction from my two calls to Delta whose customer reps told me there was nothing they could do with the reservation since it had just been booked. One offered to make a change to it for another $100. Another told me to write a letter to Delta and they would respond within 45 days. So much for customer service and so much for being a frequent business flyer. At the very least this a misleading way of doing business and at its worst it is a fraud.

$25

Sean of Mineola NY (07/04/08)
On July 4th, Delta airlines called my wife three hours before her flight to notify her of a change in her itinerary, to contact you because the times have changed for our flight. She subsequently received an email which contained the following message:

We are trying to contact you because the times have changed for our flight on July 4. We'll look in your reservation for a telephone number and try to reach you there too. Please review the information for new flight numbers, departure and arrival times.

However, when she arrived at the airport, JFK, she discovered that her flight hadn't been rescheduledher original flight had already departed. When she requested that a representative address the mistake, the employee refused to take responsibility and instead, attempted to charge my wife an upgrade fee to seat her on the next available flight, 10 hours later. Ultimately, without admitting they had in any way inconvenienced my wife, or should be held accountable for the error, a Delta employee booked my wife on a flight scheduled to depart New York 5 hour later, make a connection in Atlanta, GA, and then arrive in Nashville, TN, 10 hours later than she had planned.

Had Delta acknowledged the misinformation, this complaint would be unnecessary, however, the companies refusal to do so makes me suspicious. Could the intention of the call and the email have been fraudulent?

Atman of Cupertino CA (06/08/08)
I had a a 2way reservation on Delta from SJC, CA to OH. I had to change the Return date. Went to Delta.Com and spent 3 hours trying! The seach on Change Travel date at Delta's site lead you to believe that you can do it online. It says go to itinerary==>edit but when you go there all you can edit is your Seat! You give the right Creridt Card number is says can't locate it!

I wasted hours trying till I got to the conclusion it's all fake! They want me to call their overseas support so that they can make $30 for me to make a change to my return date! If at least they said so on their site so that I don't have to waste my time trying online!

I'm just flabergatsed I wish I could call my Congress rep. or somebody and report this!

Donna of Labelle, FL (02/21/08)
On 2-20-08 myself, my daughter and granddaughter along with her dog arrived at the airport for a flight to Missoula Montana. We had previously book a flight out of Fort Myers at 6am, arriving in Missoula at 3:30 pm. Because of an error with Travelocity the tickets had not been paid for. The Delta rep. found the reservation and I paid for the 2 tickets again, for my daughter and 3 yr old granddaughter and dog, to get them on the flight. The flight was with Delta from Ft. Myers to Atlanta, a plane change to Portland Or. and then another plane change onto Big Sky Airways to Missoula. This flight was ticketed in person by Delta in Fort Myers.

My daughter made it to Portland and was told that Big Sky Airways no longer existed! The attendant at the gate told my daughter it wasn't her problem!

My daughter was directed to a phone on the wall. The person on the phone said he couldn't do anything and she would have to go to a Delta agent. By this time my daughter was upset and crying. She, her 3 yr old daughter and the dog made the trip to the agent. She was then informed she would have to wait 3 hours, go to Salt Lake City and then onto Missoula. She would arrive in Missoula at 9:15 pm. She was also told if she didn't stop crying, the agent would call security!

The trip was a nightmare! Why didn't Delta know that Big Sky no longer existed? Why was she treated so nasty, it was Delta's responsibility to get my loved ones to their destination without distress. The poor dog was in the carrier for 15 hours. To top if off, when we were in Fort Myers, the Delta agent had 2 more agents help her with the reservation. One was a supervisor! We were also told that they had checked with Big Sky in Portland to make sure that we wouldn't have to pay another $75.00 for the dog when she changed to Big Sky. SHAME ON DELTA.

Distress for my entire family. My daughter, my 3 year old granddaughter and the dog. Not to mention the rest of our family.

Mark of Bethpage NY (02/20/08)
On 12-28-07, in good faith, I booked and paid for airline tickets from Delta.com for a June trip out west. Because I am in a wheelchair, getting on and off a plane is a struggle, so I booked two non-stop flights. Yesterday, 2-19-08, I decided to check online to see if those same flights were available at a reduced cost, and I was shocked to find out that my return flight no longer existed. Furthermore, their agents put me on a flight with a stopover in Cincinnati. When I called customer service I was told that they could refund my money for the return flight. However, by now all the inexpensive non-stop flights were gone. They offered me their 8 AM non-stop flight as an alternative, but I need a later flight so I could arrange a ride home from the airport in NY, and I also need more time in the morning to medically prepare for such a long flight. I asked that they pay for my return flight on another airline so that I could get an acceptable non-stop flight. I was told that they couldn't do that. I asked to be transferred to a supervisor, and I was. The supervisor told me that they couldn't refund the price of the return flight, but rather they would have to refund the whole amount and cancel both my flights. This is an unreasonable solution.

Delta, I was told, canceled this non-stop flight on 1-19-08 and never told me. If I hadn't accidentally checked online, I still would not know of the change; and it's now more than a month! By not notifying me they never gave me an opportunity to change my plans before all the good fares were gone. Normally, a 1-stop flight is less expensive than a non-stop flight and replacing a non-stop flight with a 1-stop flight, is giving me less value than what I paid for. If they sold me a product and then told me it's not available, and then replaced it with something of less value for the same money, thats called BAIT AND SWITCH. What I want is to keep the Delta flight from JFK to SLC and replace the DEN to JFK flight with the afternoon Jet Blue non-stop flight, since Delta doesn't offer one. I think its only fair that Delta pay me the cost difference. I think that this abysmal level of customer care is indicative of a company that wants to reduce customer options and raise prices by merging with Northwest. I trust that they will discover that good customer relations is worth the price of the cost difference for one flight, and perhaps my congressional representatives would be able to use their response as partial guidance in considering the approval of the upcoming merger.

Delta is forcing me use a flight with one stop instead of the non-stop flight I booked and paid for.

Russell of Santa Barbara CA (01/06/08)
After trying to buy a ticket on line from Delta.com, I was not able to for the following reason: The window requesting the dates of credit card expiration would not activate despite several attempts. I called Delta and explained this. The ticket agent took my info and said that she would ask her person for the internet price. After waiting a long time, I spoke with this person who asked me what the problem was; and she then said it was my computer. I have a Mac, and she said I needed at least 2.0 Safari. (I have 3.04.) I was using Firefox, and she said I needed at least 2.0. (I have 5.0.)

Finally, she said she could not give me the internet price. All of this has taken me hours, and Delta could not figure out what customer service is. No wonder they went broke.

Gayle of Hollywood FL (12/11/07)
Tried to book business class on Delta from FLL-FCO on 9/19/08 returning on 9/29 from VCE. Delta wont release seats for frequent flyer points but will allow you to use 250,000 miles instead of 90,000 as they advertise. But their partner airline Air France does have coach seats released; and if I book them and at a later date find Delta or Air France has business class seats, it would cost me $75.00 per person to rebook. They won't tell me when seats are going to be released which makes it extremely difficult to plan a vacation. Most people need to advise their bosses when they are planning to take vacation.

I work for another airline as a flight attendant and need to look for another flight attendant to swap my vacation dates. This too, is extremely difficult. I do believe Delta's program is a come-on to get people to fly on them with great rewards which they can't honor. False advertising and an unfair practice. Why offer a program then they don't follow through with it? They need to at least give you a better time frame when seats are opened so people can plan--not guess.

This has complicated and nearly made impossible our family's vacation scheduling. Stress and unfair business practice are the damages.

Michelle of Sunriver OR (12/06/07)
I bought two tickets from Redmond, OR to Austin for the holidays. We booked a more expensive flight because it was more direct and had a shorter layover. A couple of weeks later we receive an itinerary change notice; then another one a few days after that. The changes nearly doubled our travel time! Now we have to board our dog, who we were going to bring with us, because she cannot be locked up for so long; and we have to endure a LONG layover in SLC. When I spoke to a Delta rep I advised her that I would like a credit or a partial refund because the flight I paid for was not the one I was getting. She advised me that Delta would provide a full refund or I could fly out of a different airport (Portland) but they would not do partial refunds. Their bait-n-switch way of selling tickets is completely unacceptable to me. I feel like I'm being held hostage by them because if I cancel my ticket I'd have to pay a ton more for a new ticket on another airline and it would require more layovers, etc. Going forward, I will do everything I can to fly a different airline. Their loss because I have used them to fly around the US and abroad (Air France), but their level of service is terrible.

John L Harris of Decatur GA (09/24/07)
Trying to make an online reservation, but the web site would not complete the reservation. Talked to customer and web support, said they could not over ride the system. It sounds like if the technology doesn't work properly, the people can only say I'm sorry you are having a problem. But the customer service provides no service.

Ended up having having to pay a higher price for the reservation.

Eugene of Battle Creek MI (08/08/07)
On August 14, 2006, my wife and I had reservations on a Delta flight that was overbooked. We volunteered to take a flight the following morning and received credit vouchers for $400 apiece.

I booked flights for August 14, 2007 online at Delta.com. I thought, from reading the conditions on the vouchers, that we would get a credit when we checked in. However, I was told by Pat Gledhill of Delta that you have to phone or go to a Delta ticket counter to make the reservations and get the credit.

I cannot find on the credit voucher any such aforementioned restrictions and feel Delta is just trying to avoid paying for their overbooking in 2006.

Sharon of Mount Vernon NY (08/08/07)
On August 8, 2007 I was schedule to fly from NY to Montego Bay@8:00 am. However, there wa a horrific storm occured. i CALLED dELTA AT LEAST 10 TIMES to check for delays. I spoke with several representative who only advised me of the delays which turned out to be at 3hours. I arrived 45 minutes before the scheduled flight, yet when I reached the agent to check my bag I was told they had give them to someone else! I was unable to get a flight that day. As a result I lost a day in Montego, have to pay for hotel accomodations, parking, tips for baggage help although I didnt get to go anywher, and a wasted day of boarding my dog.

I don't expect you to pay for my losses,but I should be compensated in some way. You took my seats n spite of my calls on the road the flight 565 had not taken off, and I could have been seated. You absolutely ruined my vacation.

Johnny of Jonesboro GA (08/03/07)
On the 18th of July I purchased a ticket from Delta Airlines over the internet at their site for $200.00, about a week later they sent me an email for a lower fare to the same destination. I asked Delta for the lower fare, and was told that they would not give me the lower fare. Furthermore, that if I would change the reservation that I had made I would be charged $50.00 for such, and the newer reservation would then be booked less the $50.00 with me receiving the balance. I think that this is unfair practice with Delta, no other airline that I have dealt with pratice this kind of behavior.

I was charged $200.00 for a flight that went on sale a week later for about $118.00, to the same destination. My flight is not until the 6th of September. Well in advance for this to be changed.

Ashley of Montgomery AL (04/05/07)
I tried to change my itinerary and take an earlier flight. I was on hold for over 2 hours and finally got one person who could not help me at all. He could only verify my flight info, so he put me back on hold. I know that there is a fee associated with changing your ticket and was fine with it. It really shouldn't be this hard to give a company your money. No wonder they filed for bankruptcy.

Rick of Renton WA (03/16/07)

I selected a flight with Delta to take a friend and I to Mexico in April. We paid for the flight and it was confirmed. Eleven days later, I got an email from cheaptickets that Delta changed our itinerary. Our one plane flight southbound was now a two plane flight. This negates the main reason I selected this Delta flight. Now, a month later, an email from cheaptickets saying Delta made another itinerary change. Our layover at SLC is now 15 minutes longer delaying our return home.

Ronn of New Prague MN (08/17/06)
On June 5, 2006 I made reservations with Delta Airlines using my frequent flier miles (Skymiles). I wanted to fly my son and his family (wife and three children under the age of five). The flight was to orginate in Charlotte, NC and end in Minneapolis, MN. The flight leaving on August 15, 2006 and returning on August 20, 2006 was booked. We also had the seat assignments confirmed. It was important that it be a direct flight so that the children could arrive quickly and not have the hassle of connecting through another city. The reservation was completed and the representative gave me a confirmation number. Due to the request of a direct flight Delta Airline contacted Northwest for a flight through its system. This was completed and a second confirmation number was issued by Northwest Airlines. I called Delta in July to check and confirm the arrangements, we also went on-line and confrimed that the reservations were in the system. On the day prior to departure we again checked on-line to confirm seat assignments. All of these inquires were positive and the boarding passes would be issued at the ticket desk.

Upon arrival at the Charlotte Ticket counter the attendant informed my son that the reservations had been cancelled. My son called me in Minnesota to inform me of the situation. I immediately called Delta Airline and after several mintues was able to talk to a representative. He checked on the flight and said; the flight had been cancelled in June. I said this was not possible because we had checked on the arrangements and had confirmed and I was never informed of any issue. I tried to make other arrangements quickly to salvage My son's visit. I called my son about the Airline problem and about the flight arrangements made at the last minute (trying to make it work). Due to the late departure, extended connection time and the very late arrival it was decided that this was not in the best interest of these small children. We had to cancel our son's vaction and scrap all the plans for this important visit with me and my wife.

I had friends in the travel business check into the situation. They could not understand how confirmation numbers could be issued and then cancelled at the time of arrival. It has come to my attention through the Internet that bumping of frequent flier ticketed passengers is a real issue as of late. After flying Hundreds of Thousands of miles and spending Hundreds of Thousands of $; I am rethinking any future business on Delta airline. I travel to Europe once every month flying in the business class section and fly domestically twice per month.

Venky of Kendall Park NJ (12/2/04):
I had to change my flight from the scheduled morning flight to an afternoon flight due to an emergency. When I called Delta special member services (since I am a Platinum Medallion member), the representative refused to do that since I was traveling on a "free ticket" based on a promotion. I looked at the conditions but did not find any about changing flights on same day travel. When I asked for other options, the Delta representative told me that he would give me a seat if I use my miles (50,000) and a $75 fee. This felt like rubbing it in when I was already upset about the situation.

Additional cost since I had to pay and buy a ticket on some other airline. In addition my so called "free ticket" (since it was based on "buy-three-get one free" promotion) was wasted.

Kristen of San Diego (4/29/04):
Recently, my boyfriend and I purchased tickets to Europe this summer. According to the agreement, these tickets were set at a lower rate because they are nonrefundable. However, since we purchased tickets, I have been laid off of my teaching job and cannot afford to go.

Yes, we read the conditions, but you would think they would be more willing to work with us due to my economic position. We called several times to speak with the customer service. They told us we could pay an extra $200 per ticket and receive only an international credit that needs to be used by next Feb. Therefore, we would have to pay $1,100 each for a trip we will not be able to take. The international credit does not do us any good, considering we can't take off during the school year. We have always flown Delta, and you would think that they would be more willing to work with us.

Kesha of San Mateo CA (11/13/03):
I recently booked a vacation through the Delta website for a trip to Banff, AB. To my dismay, when I received the confirmation I realized that there was a mistake in the reservation. When I called the customer service line I expected to be greeted by friendly helpful individuals who would have an understanding of my issue, and gladly help me resolve any problems.

Instead I was bounced around to numerous people until I finally reached a man by the name of Dennis B. At this point I did finally get a few answers, but it was far from what I had expected. I was told by Mr. B that because the date had to be adjusted I would have to pay penalties to the airline as well as the hotel, even though I was simply adding on another day to the vacation package. I found this to be a bit ironic that I would be paying more money, just to in theory, to pay more money. The charges were going to be $200 in penalties as well as the fee for the extra day added on.

I don't feel comfortable with this fee. If the mistake was on my end, I would think you would be more than happy to extend a vacation free of charge, because bottom line, you are still making more money. I chose to cancel the vacation until this matter could be resolved.

My experience with Delta's employees has been a disappointment. They were rude, often contradicted each other, and clearly did not understand the value of customer service. Mr. B outright lied about not having a manager until later on in the phone call after many unnecessary probing questions. It turns out the vacation that I booked may not even be through Delta, and possibly an outside vendor, which I feel is an inappropriate abuse of customer trust.

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