FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Customer-unfriendly decision: 120-minute delay for a full refund
Old Aug 3, 2020, 10:53 am
  #47  
ethernal
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
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Originally Posted by ATOBTTR
On the flip side, if you decide that you want the 6:30 AM because you value $200 over sleeping in, and DL pulls the 6:30 AM flight and shifts you to the 8:30 AM flight, DL does not come to you to ask for the $200 premium - you now get the savings of $200 and the benefit of sleeping-in.
The issue is that the sleeping in was valued at less than $200 - for that individual, it was only worth anywhere from $0 to $199. It was never equal to $200 - otherwise they would have picked the 8:30 AM flight. So, no, it doesn't come out as a wash. In fact, in some cases the 8:30 AM flight may be worth even less to that individual because they really needed to be on the 6:30 AM flight. Inherently in any economic system where actors self-select for their own preferences and utility curves, reducing from 2 option sets to 1 option set will always result in a loss of total buyer value. Delta pockets the "destroyed" surplus for themselves.

It's certainly a debate about what's right, but it's also a "be careful what you ask for, you may just get it". It could possibly be changed by DOT policy and the DOT becomes more strict on airlines and forcing them to provide more when they change schedules by more than a certain amount (say 1 hour). But there many be other consequences, such as increased airfares or DL or other airlines becoming far less flexible with it's current schedule change policies. Right now, DL will let you rebook anything that day without a change fee or fare difference and often even switch days (I've also had luck even switching airports for no fee/fare difference). Maybe as a response, DL says "We'll only rebook you without fee or fare difference to a flight within 3-4 hours of your original time, unless no option is available". You may see some sort of step policy that says "if the schedule is changed this much more than X number of days before departure, these are your options, if changed this much Y days before departure, these are your options", etc.

I can say in my own experience, I feel I've come ahead many times more in this respect (booking cheaper flights and then due to schedule changes, getting far more desirable options) than I've come out behind, both with DL and other airlines.
I agree that Delta has been historically flexible and I've benefited from that flexibility, but candidly I would rather have clear guardrails rather than rely on Delta's goodwill. I realize this is not the case for everyone, but to me the whole exception/waiver/etc dance feels like haggling to me and I hate haggling. If Delta wants to be a customer-friendly airline, then they should be willing to be customer-friendly in their contract - and not selectively reward (or, indirectly punish) passengers based on the agent they happen to call.
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