sophiagymgall

Hi everyone,

I am flying YUL-LGA-BHM tomorrow and am unfamiliar with DL, as I usually fly with *A carriers and am a relatively unfrequent flyer anyway. I am a bit nervous about my connection at LGA, because the LGA-BHM flight is the last one of the day. I've been checking Flightaware for quite a while and know that both flights tend to be delayed, and LGA has been experiencing particularly important delays in the past few days. Our connecting time is more than okay at almost 2 hours, and we won't need to change terminals. However, with the current delays, even that would not be enough.

Odds are everything will be fine tomorrow, but I was wondering if there is any way to be proactive, if I realize some time tomorrow that things are going to go wrong? For instance, could DL rebook me on an earlier flight out of YUL if it appears that the YUL-LGA leg of my trip will be delayed, or even rebook me on a different route? I'm flying with my mom, and I really want to avoid messing up our non-refundable hotel reservation or making her sleep somewhere unfamiliar!

Thanks for reading!

Zeeb

If your flight gets delayed you'll automatically be given the option of rebooking via the app or website. If it is so much of a delay that you'll miss your connection you should automatically be rebooked onto a later flight. If you don't like what they rebooked you on you can use the website/call to get a different routing.

javabytes

Airlines are not really cooperative when it comes to proactive rebooking. Unless they've issued a blanket weather waiver, they want to see an actual delay before taking action. If your flight is actually delayed and endangers your connection, then yes, they'll be willing to rebook you, including on an earlier flight or a different routing. If it isn't actually delayed yet and only seems like it might be, then no, they probably won't... but you can still ask, the worst they'll say is no.

CarmenOM

You could see if you are eligible for a SDC (Same Day Confirmed) to change to an earlier YUL-LGA flight. It will depend on whether space is available in the same fare class as your original ticket. Search for "same day changes" on delta.com to find out more about it. You will have to pay a fee; it's currently $50 per passenger, I think.

miraclebear2003

Hope everything goes well and you make it to Nationals on time.

sophiagymgall

Thanks for the quick replies, I appreciate it.

Yes, that's what AC does as well. The problem with DL (and most other airlines, really) is that the flight is delayed basically every day, but they don't announce it until it's very close to departure time, and by then it's too late to do anything. I've just done the OLCI and it said they needed volunteers to switch flights, so I might ask if they have anything earlier to put us on, especially if they offer compensation

sophiagymgall

Thanks I'm mostly worried about our hotel reservation, but I'll be very disappointed if we miss the afternoon session, it's going to be a crazy meet! I'm so excited to see it live!

javabytes

With a non-refundable hotel reservation, if you are delayed, just call them up... your room should be guaranteed with your credit card, so let them know you're delayed because of your flight and your room should still be there for you for the subsequent nights when you get there the next day. Sucks to lose the $$$ for the first night, but it's not like an airline where they'll cancel the rest of your stay... just call the hotel to let the front desk know.

azeckel

if LGA is experiencing delays on the inbound, you can expect that they are also experiencing delays on the outbound. A 2 hour connection should give you a TON of time.

As for the oversold issue - it's very unlikely that DL will switch you to different flights due to an oversell prior to boarding at the gate. During OLCI they are building a list of volunteers just in case. Unless the flight is so rediculously oversold or there are other IRROPS (like the flight before yours getting cancelled) they very rarely proactively bump pax to different flights ahead of time.

As for being proactive, the best thing you can do is have all the information about availability of other flights and routings. ExpertFlyer.com is a great resource (but costs money) for finding that availability. Alternatively, you can try mock bookings on delta.com. That way if your outbound is delayed to where you would miss a connection, when you call up, you can tell the agent that you see availability on flight XXX through DTW/ATL/MSP that you would like to switch to.

jrl767

I believe SDC on international itineraries is only allowed after all intl segments have been flown ... others can confirm if trans-border (Canada --> US) flights are considered "international" in this context

sophiagymgall

Thanks again for the answers. We have a Priceline reservation, so they're technically allowed to cancel our whole stay if we don't show up the first night, hence the worry. I really don't think that will happen, as we're staying at a Westin that seems to have particularly great customer service. However, I'd rather not risk it!

Thanks, this was particularly helpful, especially the VDB/list-building explanation. I'll definitely have alternate routings ready to offer if the need arises. And everything will probably be fine anyway - I often see FT posts about how important it is to be proactive, so I wanted to know what it meant concretely

kop84

You can SDC to/from Canada but cannot SDSB due concerns with separation of bags

MSPeconomist

If you had a nonrefundable reservation booked through the hotel/chain or had such a normal refundable reservation but were within the hotel's cancellation period, normally a phone call explaining that your flight was delayed and you had missed a connection would cause the hotel not to charge your deposit for the first night, but in your case, you've already paid priceline.


Be sure to check your flight status not only on delta.dumb but also on a site like flightaware.com, where you can track the inbound aircraft. Get to the airport early and if it looks like the inbound flight that becomes your aircraft is likely to be delayed, ask nicely to be put on an earlier flight or a different routing. If you can, avoid checking a bag so that you can easily change flights if needed.

sophiagymgall

Well, seems like tonight's LGA-BHM has been cancelled, so making it wouldn't have been the problem anyway Hopefully everything is back to normal tomorrow and my last-minute panic ends up being completely unjustified!

javabytes

Lots of weather related delays today. Hopefully things will be more normal tomorrow.