Niomi

Hi all,

I am aiming to change the date of my Delta awards biz ticket; I've already flown the outbound and this will be the return flight.

I want to change it from 14 December to some time in January (I'm not picky when).

According to the reservations page there have been changes made to my itinerary and it says I can make some changes for free so I'm hoping I can do this without the $150 change fee.

Looking at some dates in January, it says that I will need about 72,000 more miles to actually make the change.

Is there a way to look for specific dates that wouldn't require this amount of additional miles? Or is it maybe possible to get this waived by calling Delta?

Note, I had got a very good deal on this ticket: it was about 110,000 miles for SJC-LHR.

Is it possible at all to make this date change without having to pay those extra 72,000 miles?

Thank you for your advice!

3Cforme

If the change to your itinerary results in a schedule misconnect, or a departure or arrival change by 90 minutes or more, you should be able to change flights without regards to available award inventory on DL-operated flights or a fee -- for the ticketed day of travel.

A date change (not justified by DL changing service to less-than-daily) will call for the $150 fee.

JPG3392

If you don't mind being very specific about your ticket (what kind of award? what class?), your original travel plans (airline? schedule?), and the exact changes that were made to your itinerary, it would be possible for readers to offer more helpful suggestions.

Niomi

Thank you -- below is the info on the ticket (this is the return journey; the outgoing was in May and was the same flight in reverse):

Sun 14DEC
LV 12:35pm LONDON-HEATHROW DELTA 36
AR 2:55pm BUSINESSELITE® (O)
SEATTLE

LV 5:50pm SEATTLE ALASKA AIRLINES 328
AR 7:53pm (A)
SAN JOSE

I used 112,500 Delta miles for everything.

Niomi

Also this is what it says on the 'My Trip' details page:

'There has been a change affecting your trip. If you are not satisfied with this updated itinerary, you may be eligible to change your flight(s) at no extra cost. ( Conditions Apply)
Be sure to check the latest Visa and Passport Requirements for each country you'll be stopping in or visiting.
If we are unable to accommodate a previously purchased Economy Comfort seat, Trip Extras or other trip purchases please select the 'Cancel' button to see eligibility. '

Zeeb

As already has been posted, when there is a change that impacts your itinerary Delta will allow you some flexibility to move to a different flight, maybe even a day earlier or a day later. And in my experience they'll be very reasonable in the options they'll let you switch to if you have something particular in mind. But that isn't carte blanche approval to do whatever you want to your ticket. You want to make an actual material change to your ticket, not switch a flight to avoid a tight connection brought on by Delta changing a schedule.

Niomi

Thanks for the reply. I'm fine with paying the change fee; but will it be possible to avoid paying 70,000 extra miles to switch too?

MSPeconomist

A minor schedule change doesn't give you the right to change your flights by a month without paying the change fee and additional costs, in this case in miles. Prices in miles might have gone up since you got the award ticket (look at award ticket charts then and now). However, you might be able to do better by looking for dates and flights with low award inventory availability. Check the sticky threads at the top on this forum for some helpful advice about how to search for this.

jgxtrav1

Call Delta and tell them you would like to change your flight due to the itinerary change. Only a Delta csr can tell you whether or not it will be free.

My experience has been if the itinerary change made me leave/arrive 1 hour earlier/later they will change it for free (no $ and no extra miles). However, I've never tried to change the date by more than a day or two.

For what it's worth, my opinion is that when you ask for it to be changed a couple weeks or more, you will be required to the $150 change fee and the 70K+ extra miles .... and rightfully so, as the change you want has nothing to do with the itinerary change.

In any case, my opinion is just a guess and not really worth much. Delta's opinion is the only opinion that counts!

Remember, if you don't get the answer you want the first time, you can try, try again. As mentioned earlier (and which has also been my experience), most Delta csr's will want to change it so you are happy with the change .... so, try and hope for the best.

Also: You can get more bees with honey than with vinegar .... so be nice! In my experience, the csr's appreciate someone calm who isn't confrontational or upset.

Good luck!

JPG3392

Thanks for posting the information on your originally scheduled flight. But what was changed? What "updated itinerary" was proposed?

Niomi

It looks like each flight moved about 25 minutes later than it was previously (not a big change..)

JORBUST

Unlikely to get them to budge on a mileage ticket like this.

mnbp

OP says the outbound was flown in May. When was the ticket originally purchased?

JPG3392

That's unlikely to be enough for DL to allow a change without a fee.

dd1612

New Updated Modified Rule:
"you should be able to change flights without regards to available award inventory on DL-operated flights or a fee -- for the ticketed day of travel or the day before or the day after.

This modification may apply only for international travel on award tickets. Have not tried doing this on domestic within USA tickets.