milesrunner

Friday 10/24 to Saturday 11/1 lists outbound and return flights with the same $825 price, and green check "Companion Applied" notes. I get the same error when I select the return leg.

Saturday 10/25 to Sunday 11/2 gets $906 outbound and $825 return, same error.

It seems to clearly be a glitch, but who can I turn to?

milesrunner

The CSR got the same type of message and would not try to book the flights shown.

gooselee

Oof. What about trying DL.com web support instead of reservations or promotions? The website is providing you with booking options, but then refusing to actually let you book them.

I count myself very lucky that I have not had any problems using my certificates - I wish DL could provide a consistent experience to others. It's not like the Amex certs are that rare, or that new...

milesrunner

I got the PD number from the Website Support process. I started with Web Support online form and waited almost a week for the e-mail response that, for privacy reasons, I needed to call PD.

milesrunner

Ok. Delta Promotion Desk came through on the second call. I reached Nancy this time and she was very helpful and courteous. Nancy realized that there was a web site problem, contacted a supervisor, and took care of getting the flights booked. The final all-in price was $789 ($650+ taxes and fees), so I saved $1272 - $789 = $483 over the lowest discount First fare.

Thanks for all the advice. Remember to HUCA until they make it right.

rylan

Nice, glad you got someone who could think and realized there was a problem instead of repeating garbage about ineligible fares.

bdschobel

The people who work the phone lines for these companion certificates are truly Delta's very worst agents, without a doubt. That's just one of many reasons that I still consider these companion certificates to be -- essentially -- a scam. It's close to impossible to use them correctly without huge hassles, including people rudely telling you that you are breaking the rules.

Bruce

kaaria

I recently booked SAN to ROC flight was $305 and companion fare came out to $110ish after taxes.

I checked before I booked and two fares were $610.

Worked well for me.

gooselee

Glad you got a good phone agent who was able to work it out for you. These things definitely should not be this much of a hassle to use, but I'm happy you got your flights booked in the end.

That's a bit unfair.

Yes, these can be much harder to use than they should be, as evidenced by milerunner's experience. Yes, the phone agents could be better. Yes, there is limited inventory (as indicated in the T&Cs).

However, they are not "close to impossible" to use. A not insignificant number of FT posters, myself included, have repeatedly reported that we have been able to use multiple certificates over the years, online, with zero issues. I would assume there are many people who are not on FT but are just as intelligent and savvy who do the same.

mooper

Glad it worked out, and perhaps they overrode the allowable inventory, but you missed answering the first part of my question. Nowhere do the terms say that *all* A fares are eligible. It's a limited-inventory thing. The website probably was correct in limiting, but they decided to make it available for you.

mother-

You're not seriously trying to take this discussion there again, are you?

mooper

No need. You may interpret "limited to" and "limited in" however you wish, and while Delta should have been more definitive with their words, it's certain that they did not include language that states that all A fares are eligible.

mother-

Mooper, sorry, but no. It requires not understanding english to have your interpretation, sorry. Just accept that Delta does not stick to the T's and C's of these things and move on with your life, and feel free to stay out of the thread complaining about Delta's tortious behavior if it bothers you.

mooper

I didn't state my interpretation. I stated the facts. "Limited to" and "Limited in" are the terms Delta uses. They do not say anything about "all" or "every" A fare (or any other class, for that matter) being included.

Why do I care? Because I'd rather not see Delta harassed into changing a thing. I just redeemed my fourth companion cert of the year last week, this time to save $650 on a domestic coach fare over the peak holiday period for two family members. This is one "scam" I'd love to see stick around.

gooselee

I know we go in circles about this about once a month on here, but I have to agree with both sides of this statement.

Delta could have made the T&C language more clear and definitive, but as they currently read, the T&Cs make no statement that all AILUTXV fares are eligible.

The language that is there now is more precisely interpreted as "being in an AILUTXV fare class is one requirement for a fare to be eligible". That does not preclude there from being other requirements, such as a sub-class.