Delta's New Ripoff?
Went to book 2 tickets on delta.com for IAH > GFK. Total fare was $1002.
Filled out everything and went to checkout. Must have taken 3-4 minutes With cursor over "Purchase", a popup appears saying "your fare is now $10 more per ticket. A Delta "Frequent Ripoff"? Anybody else experience this? |
I'll move this to Delta's forum.
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Happens frequently but FWIW the problem is not limited to DL. Seen this just as often with CO though I gotta admit, I have never had an instance with any airline where a few minutes later, the price was lower.
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Several years ago I was in the process of booking a trip on nwa.com, and got a popup screen saying the price had changed. It was almost $100 lower. Made my day.
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This has happened to me about a dozen times with DL over the past 9 months and can be quite infuriating. Don't remember it ever happening with NW, KL, or UA (if it did then not often enough or a big enough diff to stick in my mind.) I'd think integrity would say that if they quote you a fare then they should honor that fare for the time it takes to complete the booking process. 15 minutes would be a good timeout I'd think.
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Originally Posted by ebhb2004
(Post 14006131)
Went to book 2 tickets on delta.com for IAH > GFK. Total fare was $1002.
Filled out everything and went to checkout. Must have taken 3-4 minutes With cursor over "Purchase", a popup appears saying "your fare is now $10 more per ticket. A Delta "Frequent Ripoff"? Anybody else experience this? |
Happened to me twice Once on Delta and once on American. When the American one happened I checked other sites expedia etc and the prices were still higher, when I did it with delta expedia etc showed the new price but AMEX travel still showed the fare i was trying to book listed as (only 1 available at this price)
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If it's for two or more tickets, likely the price was for one ticket (there was just one seat available at the price) and the pricing system is set to display the lowest price, regardless of the seat # requested. That is, for multiple seats it doesn't automatically go to the next higher fare class with the # of seats requested.
It's always a good idea to book multiple seats one-by one. Vs. paying the higher fare class price for two seats, getting it as two separate PNRs can get one at the lowest fare class (last seat avail), while only pay more for the second seat. I always, before booking any multiple seats PNR together, I price it out separately one-by-one and ensure that the price of booking it together doesn't fall into a hire fare class vs. doing it one-by-one (at least for the first seat). |
Typical.
One time it increased my fare by $500 between booking the ticket and going to checkout (actually on the confirm page during checkout). I ended up canceling and booking it through phone reservations at the originally quoted price. That's much more than a caching problem Bait and switch. |
peak summer surcharge?
Since the difference is $10, could it be that the new peak summer days surcharge of $10 (most days June through August) announced on most/all legacy carriers only shows late in the booking process? I don't remember how the holiday surcharges were handled when they were introduced at the end of last year.
Or does the fare code change when the price changes, which would seem to indicate a last seat availability issue? In that case, purchase the tickets one-by-one as suggested above unless children are traveling or you otherwise need to be on the same PNR. |
Delta is not ripping you off.
Originally Posted by ebhb2004
(Post 14006131)
Went to book 2 tickets on delta.com for IAH > GFK. Total fare was $1002.
Filled out everything and went to checkout. Must have taken 3-4 minutes With cursor over "Purchase", a popup appears saying "your fare is now $10 more per ticket. A Delta "Frequent Ripoff"? Anybody else experience this? As your credit card was not yet billed for your Delta flight, and the price increased, you were proactively notified by Delta of the price change before submitting your credit card for billing. Just like the stock market, until your buy offer for your ticket is finalized, the price from your original quotation to final purchase changed in less than four minutes. You might be more upset if the price dropped $100.00 two days after purchase and it would have been cheaper to wait to purchase. Then you could get really frustrated in finding out doing a reissue to a refund the $100.00 price difference could potentially cost you a service fee of $150.00 or more. |
Originally Posted by Sez_Who
(Post 14008350)
Happens frequently but FWIW the problem is not limited to DL. Seen this just as often with CO though I gotta admit, I have never had an instance with any airline where a few minutes later, the price was lower.
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Originally Posted by ceieoc
(Post 14013011)
Prices can and will change (up or down) as seat inventory changes. Just because you are booking a flight in three to four minutes using the internet, does not preclude other passengers throughout the world, from doing the same and reducing the seat inventory available on your selected flight.
As your credit card was not yet billed for your Delta flight, and the price increased, you were proactively notified by Delta of the price change before submitting your credit card for billing. Just like the skock market, until your buy offer for your ticket is finalized, the price from your quotation to final purchase changed. You might be more upset if the price dropped $100.00 two days after purchase and it would have been cheaper to wait to purchase. Then you could get really frustrated in finding out doing a reissue to a refund the $100.00 price difference could potentially cost you a service fee of $150.00 or more. If I re-start my search, then the price can be different based on either fare changes or inventory changes. If this occurs in the middle of a transaction, it's no different than a retail store marking an item $10, then ringing up at $20 and saying 'oops, the price just changed, sorry'. How about a gas station changing the price per gallon while you're in the middle of filling the tank? OP - hopefully you can get screenshots, but nonetheless, you should file a formal complaint against Delta with the Federal Trade Commission. |
Originally Posted by bocastephen
(Post 14013512)
No, this IS a total ripoff (and I've never, ever seen this happen on CO). Once you select your flights, that inventory space is being held for you - no one else can 'take your seat inventory' away. Your transaction needs to be completed in a reasonable amount of time or it will expire and the inventory goes back, but once you've selected your flights and have gotten to the point of entering passenger and payment information, the price should never change!
If I re-start my search, then the price can be different based on either fare changes or inventory changes. If this occurs in the middle of a transaction, it's no different than a retail store marking an item $10, then ringing up at $20 and saying 'oops, the price just changed, sorry'. How about a gas station changing the price per gallon while you're in the middle of filling the tank? OP - hopefully you can get screenshots, but nonetheless, you should file a formal complaint against Delta with the Federal Trade Commission. I understand that the price changes, but it is unconscionable for them to change the price on you right in the middle of the transaction. |
Originally Posted by bocastephen
(Post 14013512)
No, this IS a total ripoff (and I've never, ever seen this happen on CO). Once you select your flights, that inventory space is being held for you - no one else can 'take your seat inventory' away. Your transaction needs to be completed in a reasonable amount of time or it will expire and the inventory goes back, but once you've selected your flights and have gotten to the point of entering passenger and payment information, the price should never change!
If I re-start my search, then the price can be different based on either fare changes or inventory changes. If this occurs in the middle of a transaction, it's no different than a retail store marking an item $10, then ringing up at $20 and saying 'oops, the price just changed, sorry'. How about a gas station changing the price per gallon while you're in the middle of filling the tank? OP - hopefully you can get screenshots, but nonetheless, you should file a formal complaint against Delta with the Federal Trade Commission. Only reason I didn't is that the phone agent got me the same price & waived the phone booking fee - net, net, DL made it right. |
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