Originally Posted by
btonkid12345
My point is - OP could walk away and purchase his own DL or other carrier itinerary, choose to take a train or drive, etc. Not everyone has $500 for a same day change of a domestic flight.
This is why I think many DL agents see it as a win win to charge the $75 SDS fee and the person clears if a seats available - a tiny marginal cost to DL, but they get $75 and customer goodwill. Especially for leisure passengers who can't expense the cost of the change.
And that is a very good point. And you may very well be correct that it would be in DL's best interests to allow SDS to a later flight for a fee for non-status pax on BE fares. Or some other accommodation or consideration for late-arriving pax.
But, that isn't currently how DL's BE policies stand. So when OP comes here asking what he can expect from DL, it makes sense to give him the answer that applies to DL's policies as they exist right now, as those answers will fit OP's current reality.
DL has lots of policies and rules that are unfair or just plain bad. But DL certainly enforces most of them the vast majority of the time, especially for non-status pax, and this is what OP should expect. .