DCAproducer

Thankfully I've only had one downgrade and it was becausen of a broken seat on a CRJ900 on a short flight.

With that said I've had several issues with paid F seats and getting a downgrade due to cancelations, mis-connects due to delays. The reason, UP fares. This is the most BS load of you know what. Thankfully most reps have bent over backwards to try to get me back into F seats and I'm sure they've revoked some upgrades to do it.

My biggest issue with UP fares is that they are not called UP fares when you are on DL.com and booking. They just show up as F or D1. If you don't understand the fare codes you don't know it's an UP fare.

It's not the downgrade that's most frustrating, it's that they don't have to compensate you if you ride in coach.

sethb

That's why you take a screenshot of the page showing that you bought an F fare. If they don't want to refund the difference, take it to the news media.

MSPeconomist

This is the first time I've heard of any rule about needing to SDC by T-1 hour.

MSPeconomist

The problem is that often you cannot see the fare code or fare rules when purchasing the ticket on delta.dumb. About half of the time, I get either an error page or a page saying that the fare rules aren't available.

StayingHomeIsBetter

Sell put. Thank you. ^

Esltroy

Whoever someone posts that I hear the nasal voice of Cartman from South Park. Want first buy first. Respect my authoritah!

puddinhead

Recently my MXP-JFK flight was late and I got on my JFK-LAS connection at T-15. There were 4 in our party and they held row 2 for us. At bag re-check they wanted to put us on a later flight (4 hours) but we thought we could make it to the last gate in T4.

I heard a couple of complaints from row 4 because we made the flight but if I paid for BE/FC why shouldn't I be entitled to sit there - in the seats for which I had a BP.

If what you're saying is your DM status on a V fare should trump my $4,000+ ticket because of some sense of entitlement then DL should fly with empty FC seats instead of making me fly in a middle seat in row 80 just because my flight was late and a DM wanted a freebie.

More recently the incoming plane for my LAX-LAS flight was delayed so I SDC'd to the next flight so I would get in earlier. There were 2 seats open so someone didn't get an upgrade. We were ticketed for FC.

BFDEFC - buy FC, entitled to FC.

Esltroy

Respect my athoritah.

Bicostal

Operative statements...they HELD row 2 and "I SDC'd". In both those cases there was no operational failure. In the first, they did you a favor. In the second, it's program rules.

Had you missed the flight, the 4 seats would have been filled by passengers who had earned elite benefits. In your second example, had there not been space in first, your SDC would have been into coach.

Neither of these situations are analogous to or in anyway similar to the situation described. My comment was that once issued, an upgrade should belong to the person to whom it was issued when the error is that of Delta. I thank you not to try and put words in my mouth and infer some sense of unearned entitlement. Complimentary upgrades are earned and paid for by medallion elites.

Crazyhotelguy

Let's not forget that when you are downgraded to Y, often your originally booked preferred seat is no longer available. This brings up a whole new can of worms, IMO.

SoCal

Yes, it's a bummer, but I gather you still got the type of seat you paid for. You could gently chastize Delta for the bad impression they gave, and perhaps you'll get something as a good will gesture. But since you didn't pay for an upgrade, you weren't denied something you didn't pay for. They got your hopes up and then dashed them. Not sure about something "fishy," and, if so, how you'd prove it. But suggesting to Delta that there could be a better way to handle things? Sure.

sethb

Want First, Buy First, Sit in Coach Anyway.

I wonder what the WFBF Delta Apologists have to say about that one.

sethb

I've been known to grumble because somebody caught a flight (or even because somebody didn't catch one). That doesn't mean I think I'm entitled to anything, I just wish the opposite had happened.

BlueStreak17

I can't understand why people think that disappointment you didn't get a seat in first is the same as entitlement. Or why having a seat taken away that you were already given by Delta is somehow equivalent to just not getting one in the first place.
Expectations are completely different in each circumstance.
And I'm not sure how people don't think it's completely poor form for Delta to give something to a customer and then take it away. If they really can't give it away unconditionally, don't give it away at all.

DL2SXM

People need to realize that at the end of the day, getting from point A to point B safely is what matters.. If Delta decides that it becomes necessary to downgrade someone for one reason or another, even if it was an UP fare, then it was for a pretty darn good reason. The reasons are plentiful and are all valid, but people will imagine the worst and let it nag at them until it seems like the end of the world is coming. Deal with it. Enjoy the coach seat that gets you safely to your destination and the next time, maybe you will look at that F fare a little more closely. Which by the way, probably wasn't that much more then the Y fare to begin with.