Delta Accused of Tricking Customers Into Thinking They’re Getting Premium Economy When It’s Really Just Plain Old Economy
Jeff Edwards September 05, 2018
A quirk of nomenclature and technology can lead passengers to mistakenly believe they are booking premium economy class seats when in fact they are booking much less desirable economy class seats. Delta Air Lines blames the de facto bait-and-switch on “the limitations of some current shopping experiences on third-party sites” and Google’s search engine.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but depending on the airline, an economy delight seat is not nearly as sweet as a premium economy seat. Passengers booking Delta Air Lines’ tickets through Google tickets might just find that the premium economy experience they thought they were paying for ends up being an economy class seat at boarding time.
This seemingly sneaky substitution, first pointed out by GodSaveThePoints, occurs when air travelers book Delta Air Lines tickets on a flight operated by Virgin Atlantic online through Google Tickets. In this case, passengers who search for premium economy seats are shown premium economy class tickets for flights operated by Delta, but are shown simply economy class tickets with extra legroom for segments operated by Virgin Atlantic.
The confusion for flyers may be understandable because Virgin Atlantic calls economy class seats with extra legroom “Economy Delight,” but refers to a more traditional premium economy class experience as “Premium Economy.” Although customers might be excused for not knowing the subtleties of airline lingo when searching for premium economy tickets, Delta Air Lines clearly knows the difference, but has apparently chosen to keep the search results intentionally vague.
The travel site points out that the less than straightforward booking process has been in place for several months. So, it seems unlikely that the confusing search results are inadvertent. In fact, Delta seems to blame Google for the not entirely upfront business practice.
“Delta recognizes the limitations of some current shopping experiences on third-party sites may not be ideal,” an airline spokesperson told Inc’s Chris Matyszczyk. “That’s why we are leading industry collaboration to ensure customers have access to all of Delta’s products, no matter where they shop. It’s time for third-party displays, including Google Flights, to invest in the technology necessary to display the various products available so customers can view all their options clearly, just as Delta has done for customers on delta.com.”
There is no word yet if Google will take the airline’s advice and make a substantial investment in information technology. It seems booking codeshare tickets through Delta will remain something of a buyer beware transaction in the meantime.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
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most US based carriers are crooked, have crooked management, with shady business practice. I feel bad of their operational staff, have to put up with greedy and useless management, and customers' wrath.
@BMGRAHAM +1 See my comment on the orig article. https://www.godsavethepoints.com/2018/08/21/be-careful-with-this-delta-mistake-when-booking-virgin-atlantic-flights/#comment-65176
How is this a Delta issue if it only occurs when booking on a third party site? It's the third party's responsibility to ensure compatibility with Delta's systems.
Delta's other bait and switch is to offer 767 service each way LAX-HNL with lie-flat seats in First, then cancel the flights and switch you to an old 757 with 2x2 reclining seats in First with NO COMPENSATION for the downgrade. If I wanted that old NWA 757, I could have booked it cheaper in the first place. I ONLY book direct with the airlines and always well in advance to book my most preferred option, so this is ALL ON DELTA. I've only flown Delta a few times in my 68 years, but I guarantee this will be the LAST TIME! DELTA CAN'T BE TRUSTED.
Nothing airlines or agencies do, whether the ticketing process or their choice of labels, is conducive to transparency or to the advantage of passengers. If you keep that in mind, you can avoid falling for their tricks. I prefer to book directly once I've reviewed options. At the least you can avoid the extra layer of confusion that arises from using indirect bookings. Airlines, with all their tiers of classes makes it hard, but at least with direct bookings you know what you're getting, usually.