Jun 12, 2015, 7:09 pm
Last edit by: audidudi
This wiki covers basic info and common FAQs. For full terms and conditions, see the relevant DL web page: Same Day Travel Changes
Same-Day Confirmed
To request an SDC, you can
Online SDC does not seem to present all the options available to you, especially when you are SDCing a GAP fare and there is no inventory in your fare bucket. Calling in is best. People have had success with Twitter but that may depend on how "involved" the SDC is.
You can SDC starting 24 hours before your initial departure. You can SDC to any flight leaving the same calendar day. There is a $75 fee for SDC ($50 for tickets issued before March 15th, 2017), waived for GM and higher. This fee, and the waiver, applies for each person, although for GM+ traveling with companion the companion fee is sometimes waived.
Q. Does the same fare class need to be available (main cabin)?
A. Yes (whether revenue or award ticket). Note there is sometimes inventory in a fare bucket even though it may not be offered for sale on the web site. SDC on V or N (low award) fare is not unheard of.
Q. Does the same fare class need to be available (Comfort+)?
If booked into W (not WU) there only needs to be an available seat in Comfort+ regardless of fare class.
Q. Does the same fare class need to be available (First/Business/DeltaOne)?
Q. What about SDC with RUC/GUC/mileage upgrades (that have already cleared)?
As of November 2017:
It is unclear how this affects SDC if you are confirmed in RY/OY.
Q. I have a premium cabin fare, can I SDC to an itinerary with a single-cabin aircraft?
Written reply received from Delta, Dec. 2015:
Q. What about Medallion complimentary upgrades?
A. These do *not* count as premium cabin fares even if you already cleared. The main cabin rules for SDC regarding fare inventory will apply, and if it goes through you will SDC into a main cabin seat (but you are eligible to be upgraded again -- make sure you appear on the upgrade list on your new itinerary)
Q. Can I change the routing/connections?
A. You cannot SDC from a connecting itinerary to a non-stop itinerary. In all other cases the answer is unclear. The SDC rules do not explicitly prohibit routing changes. However ticket fare rules usually contain a clause that additions/changes to connections must be permitted by the fare rules. These are apparently in conflict, and practically speaking it depends on the agent/supervisor you speak with. Some refuse, some allow anything reasonable.
Q. Can I change the origin/destination?
A. Technically no, but there is an unwritten rule that DMs can make co-terminal changes. (There are some unintuitive gaps in what DL considers co-terminal, e.g. DAL and DFW do not count.)
Q. How are SDC flights credited?
A. You will earn MQMs for the route you actually fly.
Q. Can I SDC onto a red-eye later the same day, that connects to a flight the following morning?
A. Yes (though the agent may need to process it manually)
Q. I have a red-eye flight or a flight leaving shortly after midnight; can I SDC to a flight the next day/day before?
A. Officially, no. In practice, some people have reported success (with no real pattern to status). Can't hurt to ask.
Q. Can I SDC on an international itinerary?
A. Officially, no. In practice, you can SDC remaining domestic flights after all international flights have been flown; if you have onward checked bags it is best to do this before you re-check them. There are non-zero reports of SDC of domestic flights before connecting to an international flight but this should not be counted on.
Q. Can I SDC an Alaska Airlines codeshare?
Same-Day Standby
"Same-day standby is only offered if same-day confirmed is not available."
"You can use the same-day standby option for travel within the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands on Delta and Delta Connection flights."
SDS can be requested 24 hours before your initial departure. GM+ can SDS to any flight departing the same calendar day; others can only SDS for an earlier flight. No routing changes are permitted.
SDS costs$75 ($50 for tickets issued before 15 MAR 2017) but only if you clear the standby list (waived for GM+) SDS is now free for all passengers as of August 4th, 2021
Upgrades are not preserved -- if you already cleared the upgrade on your original flight you must still standby for the main cabin.
Q. Is it possible to get upgraded after a standby?
A. Almost always no, whether because it is explicitly forbidden or because the standby list is processed after the UG list and it is rare for any F seats to be leftover after that happens. So, maybe sometimes?
Same-Day Standby Upgrades
"The same-day standby upgrade option allows you to upgrade your flight for a small fee, provided space is available and your ticket is eligible. This option applies to specific flights and routings [...]"
This is not the same as upgrading after successfully standing by for a main cabin seat (see above).
SDSU fee chart (may be out of date):
All flights within and between the Domestic 48 States and Alaska
All flights to and from Hawaii
All eligible other flights
Same-Day Confirmed
To request an SDC, you can
- Use the Same Day Change function on the Today screen in the Delta app (recommended, but with some peculiarities -- may not show all routings, and if changing to an earlier or later flight will only show the option within 24 hours of the target flight)
- Click the "Change" button during OLCI (after you click "Check in" on the first screen)
- Call a phone agent (recommended if app does not work)
- Use Delta's chat functions via the app (hit or miss)
Online SDC does not seem to present all the options available to you, especially when you are SDCing a GAP fare and there is no inventory in your fare bucket. Calling in is best. People have had success with Twitter but that may depend on how "involved" the SDC is.
You can SDC starting 24 hours before your initial departure. You can SDC to any flight leaving the same calendar day. There is a $75 fee for SDC ($50 for tickets issued before March 15th, 2017), waived for GM and higher. This fee, and the waiver, applies for each person, although for GM+ traveling with companion the companion fee is sometimes waived.
Q. Does the same fare class need to be available (main cabin)?
A. Yes (whether revenue or award ticket). Note there is sometimes inventory in a fare bucket even though it may not be offered for sale on the web site. SDC on V or N (low award) fare is not unheard of.
Q. Does the same fare class need to be available (Comfort+)?
If booked into W (not WU) there only needs to be an available seat in Comfort+ regardless of fare class.
Q. Does the same fare class need to be available (First/Business/DeltaOne)?
Q. What about SDC with RUC/GUC/mileage upgrades (that have already cleared)?
As of November 2017:
* If your original ticket is a Delta OneTM ticket, you may move to any other flight with a premium cabin seat available
* If your original ticket is a First Class ticket, you may move only to other flights with a First Class seat available; you may not move to a flight with a Delta One experience, even if seats are available.
* If your original ticket is a First Class ticket, you may move only to other flights with a First Class seat available; you may not move to a flight with a Delta One experience, even if seats are available.
Q. I have a premium cabin fare, can I SDC to an itinerary with a single-cabin aircraft?
Written reply received from Delta, Dec. 2015:
f the aircraft does not support a First/Business/Delta One cabin you are still eligible to change to the flight as long we are still selling seats on the flight.
Q. What about Medallion complimentary upgrades?
A. These do *not* count as premium cabin fares even if you already cleared. The main cabin rules for SDC regarding fare inventory will apply, and if it goes through you will SDC into a main cabin seat (but you are eligible to be upgraded again -- make sure you appear on the upgrade list on your new itinerary)
Q. Can I change the routing/connections?
A. You cannot SDC from a connecting itinerary to a non-stop itinerary. In all other cases the answer is unclear. The SDC rules do not explicitly prohibit routing changes. However ticket fare rules usually contain a clause that additions/changes to connections must be permitted by the fare rules. These are apparently in conflict, and practically speaking it depends on the agent/supervisor you speak with. Some refuse, some allow anything reasonable.
Q. Can I change the origin/destination?
A. Technically no, but there is an unwritten rule that DMs can make co-terminal changes. (There are some unintuitive gaps in what DL considers co-terminal, e.g. DAL and DFW do not count.)
Q. How are SDC flights credited?
A. You will earn MQMs for the route you actually fly.
Q. Can I SDC onto a red-eye later the same day, that connects to a flight the following morning?
A. Yes (though the agent may need to process it manually)
Q. I have a red-eye flight or a flight leaving shortly after midnight; can I SDC to a flight the next day/day before?
A. Officially, no. In practice, some people have reported success (with no real pattern to status). Can't hurt to ask.
Q. Can I SDC on an international itinerary?
A. Officially, no. In practice, you can SDC remaining domestic flights after all international flights have been flown; if you have onward checked bags it is best to do this before you re-check them. There are non-zero reports of SDC of domestic flights before connecting to an international flight but this should not be counted on.
Q. Can I SDC an Alaska Airlines codeshare?
"Same-day standby is only offered if same-day confirmed is not available."
"You can use the same-day standby option for travel within the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands on Delta and Delta Connection flights."
SDS can be requested 24 hours before your initial departure. GM+ can SDS to any flight departing the same calendar day; others can only SDS for an earlier flight. No routing changes are permitted.
SDS costs
Upgrades are not preserved -- if you already cleared the upgrade on your original flight you must still standby for the main cabin.
Q. Is it possible to get upgraded after a standby?
A. Almost always no, whether because it is explicitly forbidden or because the standby list is processed after the UG list and it is rare for any F seats to be leftover after that happens. So, maybe sometimes?
Same-Day Standby Upgrades
"The same-day standby upgrade option allows you to upgrade your flight for a small fee, provided space is available and your ticket is eligible. This option applies to specific flights and routings [...]"
This is not the same as upgrading after successfully standing by for a main cabin seat (see above).
SDSU fee chart (may be out of date):
All flights within and between the Domestic 48 States and Alaska
Code:
Traveling Y/B/M Fares S/H/Q/K/L Fares U/T/X/V Fares 0 to 500 miles $49 $119 $169 501 to 1,000 miles $79 $149 $199 1,001 to 1,500 miles $99 $209 $259 1,501 to 2,000 miles $149 $249 $319 2,001 to 3,000 miles $239 $269 $359 3,001 miles and up $329 $369 $399
Code:
Traveling Y/B/M Fares S/H/Q/K/L Fares U/T/X/V Fares 2,001 to 3,000 miles $239 $269 $359 3,001 miles and up $329 $369 $399
Code:
Traveling Y / B / M / H / Q / K Fares 0 to 500 miles $50 501 to 1,000 miles $75 1,001 to 1,500 miles $100 1,501 to 2,000 miles $150 2,001 to 3,000 miles $225 3,001 miles and up $350
Same-day confirmed and same-day standby options
May 10, 2018, 4:49 pm
#3541
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Treasure Coast, FL
Programs: DL Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, HH Diamond, Avis Preferred Plus, National Executive
Posts: 4,578
how many more times does this scenario have to be cussed and discussed?
May 12, 2018, 5:51 pm
#3542
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Seattle
Posts: 93
SDC from a non-stop to a connecting flight?
I am planning a trip planned to Chicago. The evening non-stop flight is the cheapest for my travel date. Ideally, I would like to take a connecting-flight (with a family-member) in the morning instead - but that's almost 3 times more expensive. I am thinking of booking the non-stop evening flight & try my luck with a SDC for the connecting morning flight.
- Is a SDC from a non-stop to a connecting-flight allowed (same destination)? I do know that a SDC from a connecting to a non-stop is not allowed.
- How do i ensure that i have a higher chance of a SDC?
- What fare classes should i look for when booking the non-stop ? Is it better to book the non-stop with cash or with miles?
- Instead of booking a non-stop, should i look at booking the cheapest connecting-fight & try the SDC? The cheapest connecting flight is not at my ideal time, plus its twice as expensive as the non-stop.
Last edited by smariner; May 12, 2018 at 6:08 pm
May 12, 2018, 6:16 pm
#3543
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,042
Yes can go from nonstop to connecting. Note in those case they usually will add taxes of $5-10. They usually won't when going 1 connection to 2, but do for nonstop to connecting.
Lower fare classes tend to sell out more. Frequently I look for the cheapest F fare since you don't have to have same fare class to SDC on F fare. The cheapest F fare can sometimes be less then the coach fare for flights you want. Otherwise there's no way to know which fare bucket will sell out by T-24 for coach.
Lower fare classes tend to sell out more. Frequently I look for the cheapest F fare since you don't have to have same fare class to SDC on F fare. The cheapest F fare can sometimes be less then the coach fare for flights you want. Otherwise there's no way to know which fare bucket will sell out by T-24 for coach.
May 12, 2018, 7:19 pm
#3544
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Seattle
Posts: 93
Yes can go from nonstop to connecting. Note in those case they usually will add taxes of $5-10. They usually won't when going 1 connection to 2, but do for nonstop to connecting.
Lower fare classes tend to sell out more. Frequently I look for the cheapest F fare since you don't have to have same fare class to SDC on F fare. The cheapest F fare can sometimes be less then the coach fare for flights you want. Otherwise there's no way to know which fare bucket will sell out by T-24 for coach.
Lower fare classes tend to sell out more. Frequently I look for the cheapest F fare since you don't have to have same fare class to SDC on F fare. The cheapest F fare can sometimes be less then the coach fare for flights you want. Otherwise there's no way to know which fare bucket will sell out by T-24 for coach.
F seems to a first-class fare category. For my travel date, it's almost 8 times more than the cheapest coach
Also, from the SDC terms on Delta.com - "If your original ticket is a First Class ticket, you may move only to other flights with a First Class seat available; you may not move to a flight with a Delta One experience, even if seats are available."
How is F any special?
May 12, 2018, 7:24 pm
#3545
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,371
it’s not that F is “special”; it’s that DL markets TCON D1 on the 757s and widebodies as “special” ... between the time DL relaxed the F SDC rules about four years ago and the time they put this exclusion in a few months back, a lot of people (myself included) were buying discounted F for maybe $400 and SDCing to the D1 flights that typically cost 2-4x that
May 12, 2018, 7:49 pm
#3547
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,371
that’s more tricky ... with the caveat that just because you may not be able to buy a ticket in your particular inventory (advance purchase restrictions) doesn’t mean that DL doesn’t actually open the inventory for SDC purposes
May 12, 2018, 10:17 pm
#3548
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,061
I am planning a trip planned to Chicago. The evening non-stop flight is the cheapest for my travel date. Ideally, I would like to take a connecting-flight (with a family-member) in the morning instead - but that's almost 3 times more expensive. I am thinking of booking the non-stop evening flight & try my luck with a SDC for the connecting morning flight.
- Is a SDC from a non-stop to a connecting-flight allowed (same destination)? I do know that a SDC from a connecting to a non-stop is not allowed.
- How do i ensure that i have a higher chance of a SDC?
- What fare classes should i look for when booking the non-stop ? Is it better to book the non-stop with cash or with miles?
- Instead of booking a non-stop, should i look at booking the cheapest connecting-fight & try the SDC? The cheapest connecting flight is not at my ideal time, plus its twice as expensive as the non-stop.
May 12, 2018, 10:52 pm
#3549
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Seattle
Posts: 93
It's quite possible that the fare you are purchasing requires non-stop routing. SDC is supposed to follow the routing rules of your fare, so if you book a fare that requires non-stop routing, you can't assume they will allow to change to a connecting flight. SDC also requires original booking class availability. An agent might waive one requirement, but you are going to need a lot of luck if you expect them to waive both.
May 12, 2018, 11:25 pm
#3550
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,234
In might be in the detailed fare rules you can see when you book the ticket, but it’s more likely in the routing rules that you’d need a service like ExpertFlyer for (or a travel agent or Delta itself).
May 24, 2018, 9:28 am
#3552
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 19
I'm flying Delta Shuttle from LGA to ORD on Monday, June 4, in first. Gold medallion. Just had a meeting scheduled that I need to get to Chicago earlier for - hoping to switch to the 9:15 or the 8:15 - both currently have a good number of seats, and I don't want to pay the change fee if I can avoid it. Thoughts on if I'm playing it safe by waiting to SDC onto an earlier flight? I would also take a downgrade if I needed to in order to make the earlier flight. Thank you!
May 24, 2018, 10:06 am
#3553
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Cheese Country and Koh Samui, Thailand
Programs: DL Diamond MM, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond . www.chicagosemianrs.org
Posts: 536
I'm flying Delta Shuttle from LGA to ORD on Monday, June 4, in first. Gold medallion. Just had a meeting scheduled that I need to get to Chicago earlier for - hoping to switch to the 9:15 or the 8:15 - both currently have a good number of seats, and I don't want to pay the change fee if I can avoid it. Thoughts on if I'm playing it safe by waiting to SDC onto an earlier flight? I would also take a downgrade if I needed to in order to make the earlier flight. Thank you!
May 24, 2018, 12:57 pm
#3554
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Canada
Programs: AS, DL, UA, Hyatt, SPG
Posts: 2,574
The problem is what you have isn't a connection per Delta's rules, because it's domestic and exceeds 4 hours. So you have a different fare component on a different day--I would have given you an ok chance of getting an agent to overlook one of those two issues; both seems unlikely.
I'd be very interested in the same-day issue as applied to Canada flights, where a connection on a single fare component can usually be up to 24 hours.
I'd be very interested in the same-day issue as applied to Canada flights, where a connection on a single fare component can usually be up to 24 hours.
And when you call, agents can be knowledgeable and handle it, though more often than not I get sent to the "International Reissue Desk". It's not uncommon to have agents advise that Canada isn't eligible for SDC, or that you can't change the routing (connecting cities), or that you have to pay a fare difference, and various other incorrect guff.
To your specific question about 4hours or 24hours... The only connections that pull up for me on Delta.com still have <4 hours. Although the fare rules on some fares seem to indicate that 24 hours is the max connection time, in practice Delta.com doesn't seem to present any valid routings other than those with <4 hour connection time. I have not had success with requesting any layover >4 hours. I recently had a FLL-ATL-SEA-YYC that I tried to SDC to FLL-MSP-YYC but due to the limited number of frequencies on these routes, the only connection would have been 5 hours in MSP. They said they could not do it as it broke the fare.
May 24, 2018, 2:02 pm
#3555
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Cheese Country and Koh Samui, Thailand
Programs: DL Diamond MM, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond . www.chicagosemianrs.org
Posts: 536
To your specific question about 4hours or 24hours... The only connections that pull up for me on Delta.com still have <4 hours. Although the fare rules on some fares seem to indicate that 24 hours is the max connection time, in practice Delta.com doesn't seem to present any valid routings other than those with <4 hour connection time. I have not had success with requesting any layover >4 hours. I recently had a FLL-ATL-SEA-YYC that I tried to SDC to FLL-MSP-YYC but due to the limited number of frequencies on these routes, the only connection would have been 5 hours in MSP. They said they could not do it as it broke the fare.
I have done several Canadian and Caribbean fares with >4 but <24 hour stop booked online. Has to be done via the multi-city tool. Regarding the SDC for domestic only segs with an itin as such, should be able to do so but might get a little pushback.