Originally Posted by
wetrat0
Interesting. I am considering changing all my travel to Delta (mostly for route/schedule reasons). So far I've bought 4 BE tickets this month and saved $25 per one-way. I'm not very price sensitive, I just didn't see any value in paying $25 more.
So why would I buy BE? Well, I have no status (yet) so I'm not eligible for any kind of upgrade, I don't check a bag, and although I sometimes change my plans, when that happens I usually end up throwing away the original ticket anyway because most of my tickets are below the value of the change fee. The flights where I bought BE are all on E170/E175 so no chance of a middle seat (there's really not a bad seat on those planes).
I came to this thread because I was surprised that DL reportedly does not apply the flat tire rule to BE (as AA does, which is confirmed in the AA forum). That may influence my decision on whether to keep buying BE (although so far I'm $100 ahead)
(By the way, the majority of customers on my last flight were in BE. Maybe we're Delta's least valuable customers but they're making up for it in volume.)
If the vast majority of your tickets are less than $200, then you are very lucky that the markets you fly are either hyper competitive or you can book far out. That just isn't the case for most people.
I think DL would apply the flat tire rule for BE tickets depending on the circumstances. OP waking up late is not some extra-ordinary event that was outside of his control. And if OP got to the counter the moment his flight was going to be taking off, then it should have been readily apparent when OP woke up The flat-tire rule, is in place for exactly what it's called. Something like a flat tire on the way to the airport. An accident that snarls traffic, or some other type of emergency beyond your control.
Could DL have made an exception as customer service gesture, sure. But if OP had come here a week before the flight, and posed this exact scenario as a hypothetical "what would happen to me" question OP would have been told it's at best 50/50 DL applies the FTR or makes you buy a new ticket.