How friendly is DL with mis-connects from other airlines?
My partner and I have an upcoming winter flight out of Kabul on Emirates, which is notorious for cancelling their once-a-day flights due to weather (and sometimes explosions). We are connecting in Dubai onto a DL code share KL flight 6 hours later and then on to the US. So I'm curious how magnanimous is DL likely to be if I call them up the day of that connecting flight and say that we're stranded for 24 hours because another airline couldn't get us to Dubai.
Here are some factors if they are helpful: this was all booked together by my organization's travel agency. So while there are two separate ticket numbers, DL.com shows me our first leg on Emirates, including our layover in Dubai. The DL flights are on a discounted K fare and my partner and I hold PM/DM status.
If DL will almost certainly make us pay hundreds or thousands of dollars if to make a last minute date change due to being stranded, I'm thinking I'll buy travel insurance. But how likely is it that DL would do that vs. cutting us a break and waiving the costs? Or are there obscure international rules that force DL to accommodate common carrier delays for the same itinerary, even if they are on different tickets?