allergictocoach

I just booked 2 seats (presumably in T class) on a JFK-DUB flt. with a 24 hr. hold until we get our trip finalized and the res. agent says the fare is not guaranteed until we buy...? Now I can understand if they pull the fare, but would it be true that they could/would sell the T-fare out even if you have 2 T seats on hold? That sounds weird to me.... So she says if I call back and all that's left is a Y fare, that's what I pay? What benefit does the hold give you if this is true? In what class would she have booked our reservation? Maybe she just wrote it down on a napkin....?

Robert Leach

What she is trying to say, I think is that you would still have the T seats, but the T fare might change, or there might not be a T fare at all 24 hours later.

Now, as I recall, the stated policy is that the fare is guaranteed while it's on hold for 24 hours, but it could be that the airlines have forgotten this promise they made back in the billion-dollar-profit days when the Feds were rumbling loudly about airline customer service deficiencies.

allergictocoach

I think and most of all I hope that you are right..... It is possible for them to pull a fare in a class and I think in most cases if you scream they would get it back for you in that 24 hr. period. But to say they "only hold reservations, not fares" sounds dumb...you have to select a class when you book and 2 T seats would hypothetically be deducted from the T inventory when that's done in our names. That makes it hard for others to buy them out from under you unless they have some new software. If we are right, pretty poor understanding of some basic ticketing fundamentals for an intl. agent at a legacy carrier.....the question will come so ...no it wasn't an Indian call center event to my knowledge.

Joe Flyer

I think they changed their 24 hr hold program to a "buy and cancel in 24 hrs" if you decide you don't want it. I know some airlines did that about 5 or 6 years ago during the big "customer's rights" thing after the NW passengers were stuck on the plane for hours on end. Delta just changed to that policy recently. Don't know if it applies to international itineraries - too much small print to remember...

TTT

When you put a reservation on hold, you have 2 T class seats in your name for 24 hours. As Robert Leach said, the T fare could change (in either direction), or it could go away (if this is for a trip in the near future, be careful as the reservation must be ticketed before the date of the advance purchase requirement). Because you just have the reservation on hold, they cannot protect you against changes in the fare, but you will still hold 2 T seats, whatever the new fare may be when you do decide to ticket the reservation.

atl runner

I'm pretty sure this is right. If you want to lock in the fare you have to actually book it (not just hold it)--with the option on (at least) most fares that you can cancel within 24 hours and get your money refunded. Holding a reservation entitles you to those seats, but the price is determined when you actually pony up with your credit card.

Robert Leach

I think atlrunner is correct, now that I think about it. I think that the guaranteed 24 hour cancel supplanted the guaranteed 24 hour hold.

Melucher3

DL doesn't have a hold option for Domestic (US, Canada, USVI, Puerto Rico). You have to purchase the ticket and then you can cancel at no risk (RISK-FREE Cancelation) til midnight the following night. International (all other areas) can be held by the rules of the fare (24,48,72 hours but be advised some fares are "Instant Purchase" type fares and allow NO HOLD). Even though the space is held they don't guarentee the fare because of tax and currency conversion rates changing daily. Also they are not required to because of the agreement signed by US airlines and the US government.

allergictocoach

Above is the correct answer albeit a stupid one.... I called back today and low and behold I was treated to $100 increase, even though the T fare still exists and I have 2 of them. So much for good going round!

There is no 24 hr. refund on intl. tix and even if you are holding 2 T class, you can be charged a Y fare if that's all that is left when you call in....presuming that if there are no Y seats left to sell, you have no seat and therefore have NO reservation....so what is the point of the hold in this case? ...to tell DL that I may want to go to place X on X date? It's WORTHLESS. As for the currency and tax...DL is a US company charging US $$ for tix sold and ticketed here so the value of foreign currency could only effect the taxes....meaning the base fare could remain the same and foreign taxes are always deviating by some change here and there.

In any case, CO had no problem holding the seats and FARE on the same route for 3 days so they must not be sweating the taxes figuring the Irish Pound won't falter against the greenback.....

If good really goes around they will liquidate the mass of cr#p called DL and start over.

ecaarch

Don't hold back, allergictocoach. Tell us how you really feel.

TTT

The 24 hour risk free cancellation policy also applies to international itins provided that travel originates in the 50 US States, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Canada. You are allowed to cancel your ticket before midnight the following day. So if you were to buy your ticket at 8:32amEST June 29th, you would have until 11:59pmEST on June 30th to cancel and receive a full refund, including direct ticketing charges.

Now, as has been said before, if you put a reservation on hold you have reserved two seats in T class for 24 hours. If the T fare changes, then you will have to pay the difference. Also, if you reserve a T class seat, you must meet the advanced purchasing requirements of the fare rules etc. They cannot, however, sell out of "a T fare" if you are holding two seats in T class. The seats are in your name and cannot be sold to anyone else. It is possible, as I said above, that once you actually ticket the reservation the fare has changed or is no longer valid for the dates of travel. But it is very unlikely to have a T fare available for purchase one day, and then the next only have a Y fare valid for those dates of travel.

Lastly, there is a way to hold a reservation and guarantee the fare with Delta. If you call and once you have your reservation, you tell the agent that you need to pay with cash, check, or bump voucher, they will guarantee the fare until you are able to make it to an airport/CTO for ticketing or until midnight the day after the reservation, whichever is sooner. I know at CO, their website has a "pay with cash" option that you can select. Your reservation will be held, fare guaranteed for 24 hours, but then you can go back online and choose to pay with a CC so you don't have to pay a direct ticketing charge. I am not sure if you can do this at Delta, but I would think you would be able to call reservations, tell them you are going to pay with cash, then call back the next day and say you would like to ticket the reservation with a credit card. There is no way to do this on the website though, so you would have to pay the $10 phone fee.

Edited to add:

I hope you heard the agent correctly at CO, because all of their cheap tickets (V class) from NYC-DUB have the following resrvation/ticketing requirement:

It is CO's B fare that has the three day window, wich is about $200 more than a DL T fare or a CO V fare.

allergictocoach

Let me amend my previous to post to say the other posters answer was correct in that is what Delta did, (fare went up, they said no 24 hr. hold) not necessarily what they should have done. After further research, I did find what you have mentioned about the cash/airport payment and the 24 hr. hold for tickets ORIGINATING in the USA...etc. Does not read to exclude Intl... I didn't receive notice or ask about the the cash/ATO option on the phone and I did try and get the tickets at the airport yesterday to no avail. Makes me think if they can hold the fare for Granny to go pay cash, they can hold it for me to call in the next day with a card and it kind of shoots down the currency/taxes story I heard on here and at the ATO yesterday.

In any case, I applied strict flyertalk logic - "if at first you don't succeed, call and call again" - and a supervisor in CVG issued the tickets to me at the originally quoted price. I can only hope it gets better from here with DL...I can't wait for my new printed menu!

As for CO, the lady specifically stated 3 days, multiple times (held till July 1) so I can only hope. We should have the return on CO bought within 24 hours in any case so I hope I don't have to find out.

mikey1003

Robert, not sure that that was always true. Something way back in the deep dark recesses of whatever mind I have left tells me that the class was guaranteed, but price might change. I believe that this happened to me in the past.

Melucher3

But saying you are paying cash/voucher/check at fto only holds fare for domestic/canada/usvi/puerto rico. If you are traveling internationally the fare is not guarenteed under **any circumstances****. The fare is only guarenteed on the call. It should be the same provided the fare is not pulled and you still meet all the same restrictions....advance purchase, min/max.

Kahuna

Since Jan 1, 2002 the currency of Ireland has been the Euro