Dick Ginkowski

Not been a good year for our family. Daughter just got home from the hospital and now my mother-in-law is failing. We called in hospice and have no idea whether it's going to be six minutes or six days.

I have a base MKE-BZN-MKE round trip on 9/20-25 which I will need to cancel (nonrefundable). I have had to reschedule (such as coming home a day early when my kid was hospitalized) but now I don't have a specific date to give DL when I call.

Advice on how to handle this situation? Thanks.

orr333

I don't have specific advice other than to offer my thoughts for the rough time you are dealing with.

will2288

Good luck with your situation, but I suspect I am not only one who doesn't understand quite what you are asking.

Are you trying to cancel a reservation? Or make a change to one? Are you looking for a favor from DL or just trying to understand the standard policy?


Apologies if the only issue here is my misreading of the OP's post.

Dick Ginkowski

Not having done it before I apologize for the lack of clarity.

Guess I would rather not lose all of the value of the cancelled ticket but I don't know today when/where to rebook.

javabytes

DL is usually quite good about waiving chg/cxl fees in the event of adverse medical situations. You have a decent shot at getting your ticket fully refunded - if not back to your card, then at least as an eCredit.

Even if DL doesn't waive the cancellation fee, you can always cancel and get the eCredit for your ticket amount less the $150-200 fee depending on when you booked.

Doc Savage

Looks like you have been a very long term NW/DL customer, that may well work in your favor.

Best wishes, hope all works out as well as possible.

Dick Ginkowski

I think the two answers above are most helpful..thanks!!

HongKonger

I hope everything works out for the best for your family.

If you have no idea when you can use this ticket, try to get the full value as an e-cert, then you'll have a year from the original ticketing date to use it. If you don't get the answer you want from the first agent you talk to, politely thank them, say you'll leave it as is, and end the call, then call back and talk to someone else. Chances are you'll get the change fee waved after a few tries. Chances are probably better if you are willing to take an e-cert rather than refund.

jb008

First off, sorry to hear about the present hospice situation and I hope your daughter is on the mend.

I didn't see a specific note about this in the CoC or on the delta website. I've had good experiences on a case by case basis requesting changes/cancellations by using similar guidelines to what's requested for Medical Fares earlier this year when my grandmother was hospitalized, and then later passed away.

From Delta's page on "Medical Fares"

In both cases, the tickets were converted to an eCredit minus the change fee, and I had to call in to use the eCredit and was directed to request the change fee be waived due to a previous family medical emergency/death causing the cancelled travel. In one case they asked for the Med Emergency info again at rebooking as it hadn't been recorded in the file (family member's name, hospital, hospital phone number). Also to note, DeltaAssist was able to take care of this for me, and that provides some written correspondence on this since Twitter DMs are logged.

If your ticket value is <Change fee you won't have an eCredit noted in your DL.com wallet, so save the ticket number for when you go to rebook as the phone agent will need the ticket number to be able to access the value of the ticket for rebook. As an aside, one of my eCredits was "invisible" in my DL wallet as ticket value was <Change fee, whereas the 2nd eCred shows as ~$75 (TicketValue-Change Fee)... but I was told will be honored at original value and they'll waive the change fee once I go to rebook.

Also kudos to Delta for being understanding and accommodating during an obviously stressful time for passengers.

misinfobuster

Sorry to hear of your situation. As others have said, Delta is usually pretty good about this.

When I faced a similar situation like this (though it was 5 years ago), I went to the airport to take care of this. It's usually a little easier in person, especially trying to explain the situation. I don't know how close you are or if you have time, you may want to try that.

jsbh

So sorry to hear this

When my father passed I needed to postpone a trip. Called the diamond line and they said not to worry, they canceled the trip and told me to call back when I needed to reschedule and they would apply the full value of the ticket. All total maybe 2 minutes on the phone. They could not possibly have been better at this.

dd1612

when you DEFINITELY know that you have to cancel or re-book then giving DL a call is the best solution.

DoubleWidesFly

I have had a similar situation more than one time. Once Delta allowed me to fly home early from SE asia to get home to a sick family member, and the other time delta allowed me to cancle my flight and I received an e-voucher for the total cost of the ticket minus the change fee of $250 since it was an international booking. BUT, DL also waved the changed fee, it just meant when I wanted to use the evoucher I had to call Delta, book it over the phone, and they then used the e-voucher +$250, in turn giving me my full amount back

Dick Ginkowski

We had the funeral service tonight. I cancelled the trip Monday, which was the right thing to do, and DL will give me credit for most of the ticket. Thanks again.

As for my mother-in-law, the end Friday morning was merciful.