sa39

Hello Everybody,

I am new and would like to know from all the experience you had flying with Delta that I had booked an international ticket from Atlanta-Bombay-Houston-Atlanta for $1375 on 16th June through Delta.com

However when i Searched the same itinerary with the same flight again i found out the fare to be $1088. I called up the customer service and they said they would hv to rebook my ticket by first cancelling the original ticket and then buying a new ticket for which I would occur a $250 change/cancellation fees and $37 would be issued to you as a voucher.

I argued with them and wrote email on their customer service too that How can you bill me $250 as change/cancellation fees when nothing on my itinerary has changed and also that I have found out a lower fare on your website and not any partner website.


I want to know is there a way to get $250 refund from Delta.??

Please help me

Thanks

3Cforme

The change fee is charged when re-faring a ticket - a common practice with several U.S. legacy airlines.

delayedinLGA

You will know that its price changes.

You can't call Ford Motor Co and say hey, I bought your stock for $20, now it sells for $12, can I have my money back?

Or, if your favorite grocer sold you apples for .50 / lb but now they have them for .40, do you ask them for the difference?

I know airline prices can be mind-boggling sometimes, but I think they have the right to charge you the fee.

Now, if you can still be $37 better, I would take that rather than nothing.

HWGeeks

20 dollars says if you canceled yoru ticket that you paid 1375 for. When they go to rebook you the 1088 fare may not even be available anymore lol

Would be funny if oyu canceled after paying 250 and they said hmm seems like the fares 1375 again

fti

Well, with some places of business, yes you can ask them for the difference:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Electron...at107400050005

But in the airline business, only Southwest (that I am aware of) offers a penalty-free credit when the fare drops if you buy non-refundable tickets.

AJDelvarno

If, when you re-checked the fare, it had gone up to $1500, would you be posting here to ask how you go about sending the additional $125 to Delta? Didn't think so...

Fare changes happen.

RCarverJr

Ah, but the OP booked longer than 30 days ago

HeathrowGuy

The Wing of Satan appreciates your tithing.

TTT

A number of years ago NWA used to offer a $25 (IIRC) refare. It was a good deal^

MikeMpls

And on the only airline that is consistently profitable (and has been for over 30 years) I am always taking advantage of opportunities to refare our tickets, typically recovering > $1K annually in fare costs with no change fees. Delta & the other legacy carriers have yet to learn that gouging customers with fees does not engender long-term loyalty from customers.



Target will refund price differences for 14 days after your purchase, and Barnes & Noble recently made a similar adjustment for some customers. Interesting though that you should cite Best Buy -- the former head of WorldPerks is now running Best Buy's loyalty program.

Guy Betsy

Hi sa39, welcome to FlyerTalk !

Sorry you have to go through this.. but what you're doing is effectively cancelling your original ticket which incurs a cancellation charge of $250. And then issuing a new ticket on the new fare. So even though its a savings, you lose $250.

Sorry. You won't be seeing the cancellation fee back. That's the way it goes with many airlines' fares.

Evan!

I love analogies. I use them all the time. But many of the analogies presented to the OP are mixing apples with apple picking. Best Buy, Barnes & Nobles, Ford, and grocers (for the most part) sell products. Delta and other airlines (for the most part) sell a service - travel from point A to point B.

OP, you could buy a fully changeable fare and not incur the $250 fee. All airlines are more than willing to sell you flexible tickets. But those fares are much more expensive. By offering you a cheaper fare with restrictions you are making a commitment to fly the flight you chose and Delta (and their ilk) will plan on you being there for the flight. If they raised fares they wouldn't come back to you and ask for more money. In fact, I suspect you (and others) would have many many threads griping if airlines did this. So for them to offer you a refund on the fare difference for a price drop is unreasonable.

While the Southwest reference is quite accurate you should know that WN does offer fully refundable fares like Delta. But most people buy the non-refundable fares. While they will not charge you a fee if your plans change they will only let you apply that money to another ticket. So if your plans change and there are no cheap fares for those flights WN expects you to pony up the difference in price. It is great that they don't charge you a change fee but they have a very different biz model than AA, US, UA, CO, and DL (as well as others). In fact, WN is more the exception than the rule when it comes to change fees. By all means use WN to avoid change fees. They have a huge following of loyal customers that cite this very policy as their main reason for flying them.

But your situation was not a change in itinerary just a price drop. Even when WN offers ding fares they don't go back to everyone who bought a higher fare for the same itin and refund the difference.

When did you originally make your purchase? DL will give you till midnight the following day to get a full refund on any ticket purchased with no change fee. I have canceled a DL ticket and re-booked the last three days in a row because an August itin dropped each day.

MikeMpls

Not really relevant -- no different that any other airline.

Yes indeed, they are profitable and have been for decades, definitely a different business model than the competition!

The first legacy carrier that learns to be truly nice to its customers will make a killing.

fti

Definitely true. MikeMpls hit one point on the head:

6P&E

The only long-term loyalty that the legacy carriers really care about are their Diamonds, Platinums, Sapphires, maybe Golds. All others are insignificant.