NoLaGent

I hope they ask for an invoice/receipt, AS is now requesting them as well. The days of submitting just boarding passes are quickly coming to an end.

Maclock

Nothing was hidden from Delta. As they asked for the ticket number as part of their online mileage claim form process, they knew that I was flying on an AS-issued ticket.

beckoa

To the OP: was earning miles on DL part of your calculus on taking the earlier flight?

I've been able to move flights before (AS metal) in an oversell and think I did get home early once. However, any compensation would be negotiated before accepting the reaccomidation (unless required by law- i.e. IDB or EU261 (for other situations).

Thanks for the datapoint of AS ticketing DL flights. Glad to know it's still possible. ^ IIRC DL and AA didn't endorse on each other for a while a bit ago.​

NoLaGent

Z is an F cabin booking code on DL. They did him a favor with the earlier nonstop, properly booked in F.

And you already know, from the 1st response in your DL thread (linked below) that there's no credit for your situation, but it's certainly worth a shot.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/31275727-post2.html

hbtr

deadinabsentia

Maclock

In part, it was.

Maclock

Well, having been in a situation at the same airport with Delta where the local gate agent faffed up the appropriate courtesy compensation when I helped them (and about whom I was later informed by Delta that she didn't know what she was doing), it didn't seem like a completely unsound notion to me.

As I was departing a larger Canadian airport that has but a handful of non-stop flights to US airports, most of which are on regional jets (the Alaska and Delta flights in question included), it's possible that I might have been the only passenger on that Seattle-bound Alaska flight who was going to a major US airport that afternoon -- Minneapolis-St. Paul -- that Alaska could move to a non-stop flight and free up the Seattle-bound seat that it needed. Admittedly, this is crystal ball stuff, though, and I'm speculating about it.

Maclock

Expect less, get less -- that's what happens if you don't push the limits, test boundaries, and ask questions, isn't it?

Also, I was helping Alaska, not Delta, but thanks for chiming in all the same.

notquiteaff

moondog

IME Delta has been extraordinarily generous wrt compensation recently. While I've never been offered cash, $1000+ vouchers (for minimal disruptions) are fairly common.

channa

I mean you can't fault them for trying. Many people (OP included) would take it for free. I wouldn't. But I realize my leverage in these situations -- they're only offering because they're oversold, and a few hundred bucks in funny money isn't going to hurt them. A mild pushback, "Sure, I can do that, what's the compensation?" usually gets the discussion moving. It wouldn't have to be much for a better flight like that, but usually they will find a way do something. After all, if they don't bump you, they'll have to bump someone else, and the likelihood of finding another passenger with an improved time situation who will fall for this is low (and they're under time pressure to remedy this).

zrs70

Adam1222

It's not unreasonable for him to ask for compensation. It's unreasonable for him to take the offer, after being told there would be no compensation, then follow up to continue to ask for compensation after he agreed to it without compensation, and then to come on here, complain about it, and repeatedly suggest his complaints aren't greedy because he is looking for "courtesy compensation". Of course, compensation implies he gave something up and is being compensated for his loss of that. He did not.

As with all VDB situations, airlines "pay" the least they need to to give up a seat. You were willing to give up your seat for a more convenient flight. That was the bargain you agreed to, OP. VDBs don't work if people come back and demand more *after* the fact.

We don't know all the factors that went into AS's decision here or DL's decision on another flight months ago.

If you don't want to sound greedy, let it go. If getting compensation for VDBs is what drives your choices of airlines, then fly Delta I guess.

Maclock

And that's how I got things going, with the Alaska gate agent stating in reply that there was no compensation on offer. If some of you think that airline-provided customer service is bad in the United States, it can be down right abysmal in Canada. My assumption -- admittedly my mistake -- was that this was little more than cheap, inexpert, sub-par Canadian customer service in action (as I'm Canadian, I should be allowed to say this), but there was hope that Alaska customer service might do something to rectify it. Lesson learned.