Not Charged for a Flight?
 

I booked a ticket recently on delta.com, and used a voucher I received from being bumped. I booked on the Korean version of the website (though in English), the voucher went through, and I still entered my credit card information. The voucher applied correctly, and on my account the charge was "pending". I received my e-ticket, and have seats.

However, a few days later the charge was neither pending nor had it processed from my account. I still had the money.

A week and a half later, I called Delta to change the date of my return flight. After doing that (that charge is still pending), I asked the rep if my card had been charged. She said it had, otherwise I'd have no ticket, and I definitely have a ticket. I was planning to call my bank, but...

Shortly after I booked my flight, my girlfriend booked a similar flight, also with a voucher (different dates, but done on the Delta Korea website). Her card was "pending" and she never bothered to follow-up with it.

Tonight, though, as we were discussing things she checked again, and her card had not completely processed the transaction. It was no longer pending, but she had not been charged.

My dear sweet mother says I don't need to beg Delta to let me pay them. I tend to be anti-corporation, but my morals plague me from time to time. When have I done due diligence on this? Has anyone else experienced an issue with this? Will they charge me later?

When it comes time to check-in, you may find that you do not have a ticket.

As much as I resent how DL management tries to take unfair advantage of me on a too-frequent basis, if I were in your position I would try to prove that I maintained the higher ethical standard and persist in trying to get them paid.

Really? I have a confirmation e-mail, and just changed the reservation last week. Wouldn't Delta have the problem if someone shows up with a ticket but doesn't have a ticket?

Agreed about the higher ethical standard part--that's why I'm even still thinking about it.

I think you're just seeing a fairly normal lag in processing foreign transactions. Because you booked through the Korean site, it sounds like your transaction may be considered a Korean-initiated transaction and is beng batched with others, routed through transit banks, and converted to dollars, etc. I've had tix on other foreign sites like Ethiopian and Egypt Air bill through after completed flights and returned home. It makes filing timely expense reports frustrating and you may incur a currency exchange fee.

DL wouldn't have the problem... you would.

You are probably OK. But, as much trouble as DL has "getting it right" and as rigid as they have proven to be when things go wrong, I just would not risk it.

How important to you is a timely, hassle-free arrival at your destination (or, at least, an arrival free of hassles originating from this particular cause)?

If you have an “electronic ticket” with a ticket number vs an emailed “DL itinerary” with a confirmation number you’re probably OK.

If you’re a few days away from your trip, however, and your credit card still hasn’t been charged, I’d make some calls. Your ethics will mean nothing if you show up at the airport and the TA says you don’t have a ticket…

I called again and this is what they told me. Strange thing, though, is that it showed up as "pending" in my account right after the trip.

I get your point about Egypt Air, but having lived in Cairo for a while, I wouldn't be surprised if you were charged 24 months after a flight. They operate in a world all to their own, there.

I confirmed on the phone call that I was good to go regardless of how this played out, and was told it was fine. Fortunately, I do have some time to play with, so long as I can get in touch with the people meeting me on the other end. Purely a leisure trip. I'll follow up with Delta (and this thread) in a week if I don't hear anything more.

Would still love to know if anyone's had this specific issue with DL!

Thanks to all!~

Time to fess up...
 

I had this happen 2.5 years ago on a crazy, crazy multi legged trip from Europe running through more US hub cities than I will divulge here. I netted over 20k MQMs on it in the end.

What happened in booking it was that delta.com could not complete the multi city transaction. The final page came up and said "your itin is saved but please call this number to have it confirmed" using this ID#. It may have been a PNR or just some 5 or 6 digit number. I can't remember. I called the number and I swear I got two guys in India playing computer games in the background and tolerating my bothering them. I explained the situation to them and asked that the itin be confirmed and my cc charged. They put me on hold for a few minutes and came back to say, "it's all done. You should have your confirmation email now." I checked and there it was. Goodbye India.

I forgot about it until about a week before my flight when I confirming details and such. I went back looking for the $1100 some odd charge on my previous cc statements and never saw it. I went back further and never saw it even going back before the actual date of purchase and never saw it. I flew the trip, got the miles, and then kept watching it. A month and another billing cycle passed and nothing showed up. I called Delta and explained the situation as my ethics also would not allow me to walk off with my loot. The agent said in their records the ticket was paid for. He then said "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" to which I said "you will agree I have tried to make this right, right?" He did. We both laughed and as I hung up I realized the greatest haul on a CPM basis (for status miles no less) in the history of air travel had likely just taken place.

I've longed for that screen to pop up again with a command to call India. I've even tried building the same itin over and all I get is error messages or $6000 itins. It was a day to remember and I do have full peace of mind in that I tried to pay them the amount my ticket said needed to be paid. In their eyes it was paid.

Pursue it until you're at peace that you've given it your best shot. Then I say let it go.

Bring up your itinerary online, and look at the bottom section called Payment Details. Is there a Ticket number that starts with "006"? Then, just to the right of the Ticket number, click on Details. Under the heading Flight Information, what is the status of each flight coupon? "OPEN", hopefully?

I haven't had this happen on DL but it did happen to me on TAP Portugal. I booked a flight and got a confirmation e-mail. So far so good.

When I showed up to check in, however, TAP did not have my reservation and made me buy full fare Y to fly. When I talked to customer service, they claimed they had sent an e-mail saying that my credit card never processed and that they cancelled the reservation. I never got this e-mail or I would have taken care of it. I asked them to refund the extra money I had to spend, but they refused. I talked to several reps, wrote letters, the whole nine yards. Nothing.

I no longer fly TAP, nor do I advise anyone else to (worst customer service I have EVER encountered). I now religiously check my statements to make sure the debit posts.

I wasn't charged for a flight about 20 years ago. It was for a frequent flyer award. I redeemed two awards, one transatlantic and another within Europe. The agent got confused and deducted only the transatlantic part. It was ticketed separately but maybe was counted as a stopover. Anyway, I've been keeping running tabs and there were a few flights that I could never get the airline to give me credit so the overall tab is about even.

Free will catchup to you soon.

I would look for a ticket number. No matter what someone at DL said, about being "good to go" the key is a ticket number. If you have that, then you are indeed "good to go." If you only have a reservation, good luck trying to sort it out, even with 3-4 extra hours at the airport. The voucher part is what would take hours to track down (IMHO).

I do have a ticket number.

Then I would not be too concerned about it.