klanfa

Hi!
I have upcoming flights on 05/03, SRQ to AMS via ATL. Booked it ages ago, and had some schedule changes (2h earlier departure) that I didn't act upon just yet. I figured out departing on 05/02 would work better for me, and I hope to utilize the schedule change to move the flights free of charge.
I know that officially one can only change the flights on the same departure date, but I wondered whether phone agents tend to be a bit lenient and allow for +- day change? I know this is a YMMV territory, but how has your mileage been?
Any tips to increase the chances of this happening, if possible?
Thanks!

hi55us

Well you can certainly get a full refund if the fare is still reasonable to depart a day or two earlier.... (might even get a sale fare to Europe that a lot of airlines are running right now) I have no experience with moving the departure dates.

klanfa

I thought of that, but it's unfortunately not feasible. The issue is that I'm actually connecting in AMS and going on to South East Europe, and fares ex US are really expensive to there (this is a return for my original ticket from Europe).

FlyingUnderTheRadar

IMHO Given the schedule change is 2 hours earlier you are going to need a good story that it would be more convenient to fly another 22 hours earlier. How full is the flight? If the flight is really full and the flight on 2 May not so full you might be able to use that to help your cause.

iflyalexair

Your schedule change was sufficient enough to warrant rebooking, but as others have said, you may not have luck with changing the date. I had a situation, albeit a domestic trip, where the Tuesday morning nonstop to LGA from MKE schedule changed to about 2 hours later. That meant that I would be arriving work more than just a little bit late. I called up and simply asked to be put on a MSN-MSP-LGA routing the night before, and they did it without question. Never hurts to ask and it never hurts to hang up and try again!

klanfa

Both are quite quite empty I think, showing T class availability on Matrix. I don't have EF so can't tell for sure.
The flights are DL 2593 + DL 72 on 5/2 (preferred) and DL2298 + DL72 on 5/3 (ticketed).

Mr. Tickets

This will be a tough change (to a day earlier). I doubt they will give you a departure a day earlier as others of said. Unfortunately Delta does not really look a how full a flight is to determine of they will change for free as flights are rarely oversold enough to warrant an advance change like that.

MSPeconomist

You might have more luck in this case trying to leave a day later as you could legitimately say that you have obligations that would prevent you from getting to the airport two hours earlier on the original date.

Another extreme exception, which wouldn't apply to the OP, might be a change to an extremely early flight on a weekend day when public transportation to the airport starts later.

klanfa

Yeah, I reckoned it would be tough shot, especially with no status. Just thought someone might have tried it before. I'll try HUCA for some time and see what I get

miraclebear2003

This has been a while ago, but had success on travel to DEN. I had bought the ticket way in advance because it was dirt cheap. I later decided I would prefer to fly a day earlier and when there were flight changes (don't remember details) I asked if we could fly a day earlier and it was granted (GM at time).

So it's always worth a try.

The Situation

I was successful at having my flight moved a day earlier a few years ago and I went from traveling on a cheap day to a very, very expensive day and on my first call too. Be nice, be honest - you don't need to make something up - just say with the schedule change, I think flight #### and flight #### on the day earlier would work better into my schedule. Is it possible for me to switch to those? If they say no, just thank them, say you will think about your options and HUCA.

topcat_dcx

If you are elite - at least PM and above - and have been for a few years, then call and ask for the day earlier flight. DL is pretty good about rebooking. If no luck, HUACA and hope for the better call centers...

Mr. Tickets

OP mentions he has no status

flyerCO

Even AA will allow a move to 1 day earlier if passenger doesn't like new flights and the change is at least over either 1 or 2 hours.

For some reason I highly doubt DL would have a policy I'm this regard that would be worse. Especially how accommodating they are already with schedule changes.

gooselee

I had a MEL-PVG-DTW where MEL-PVG got cancelled and I was rebooked on a flight 11 hours earlier. Called in and had no problem switching to SYD-LAX-DTW, which worked better for us anyway (original routing was purely due to award availability).

But, I was PM at the time which I'm guessing helped, and I had a logical reason why I wouldn't be able to get to MEL earlier to catch the new flight (we actually had to cancel our MEL plans as a result of all this).

A bit different circumstances, but data point that DL is willing and able to change people to a different day in the event of a schedule change. As others have said, it doesn't hurt to call and ask for the specific flights you want. Worst case they say no and you're just where you started.