resolute

How do you redeem these?

My wife received a gift of 2 DL paper "gift certificate"(s) printed on old school green ticket stock (remember those?). The instructions are not clear on how to redeem and hearken back to the bygone days of travel agent ticketing and using a Delta plate (I remember those from when my parents used to own a travel agency..) to ticket on 006 ticket stock (who does THAT anymore?)

I called DL to see about somehow depositing them in the new school wallet, and the agent took the 006 ticket number on the certs but could not locate it in their system. The certs are showing issued on 25 Nov at ATL FTO (airport), but their own people don't even know how to use them. She got two $250 certs, so I would like to deposit them into her online wallet or mine with all our other Amex companion certs and VDB vouchers and remnants of cancelled tickets, etc.

Anyone ever used one of these? If so, how? Thanks.

MSPeconomist

When did you get them? Who gave them to your wife? If they're very old, they might be invalid even if there's no explicit expiration date printed on the certs?

resolute

No they are new - purchased at ATL airport on 25 Nov 13.. given to her at a holiday party as a gift and they are printed with her name on them. Of course, it says they must be redeemed or ticketed within one year of the certificate date of issue, which has always been standard procedure with airline tickets, certificates, etc. The hangup is converting the value of the paper into the electronic credits that Delta uses these days.

rylan

Oh geez, its one of those gift certs. They used to use the paper ones and changed to electronic gift cards in May this year... unfortunately if I recall the paper T&Cs you have to go to the airport ticket counter in order to use them.

javabytes

Good luck. I doubt you'll be able to convert them, and they're a pain to use. If they're the same paper gift cards Delta has had for a long time (before introducing the new eGift cards), you can't use them online or by calling in, you have to go to a Delta ticket office or airport location.

resolute

Thanks for the info. Are there even any more Delta Ticket offices in operation? I live in ATL (and have mostly for 40+ years) and I cannot recall seeing one in quite some time. I thought they closed them down everywhere several years ago. You would think if there aren't any HERE, they're aren't any anywhere...

Hopefully they won't try to stick the redemption with direct ticketing fees, etc. I'm a GM this year and wife is Silver, so I believe they still try and stick the Silvers with more fees for stuff like this, right?

Mr. Tickets

It is amazing that Delta would still give out those old style certificates. Plating on Delta 006 ticket stock is just a term. No one actually has validation plates any longer. All the CTO's closed down probably 10 years ago, at least. You won't be able to convert to electronic certs. I would plan to visit the airport to redeem. I would also plan on a rather lengthy amount of time to handle the transaction as the airport agents are not well trained in old school ticketing. They will likely have to handle through their own help desk. If they try and charge you a processing fee, I would argue the point. Not your fault.

Good luck!

Peatisback

If my memory is correct I had one of these type certificates sometime last year and somehow the Twitter team was able to convert it to an e-certificate.

FlySkyTeam

I actually had one of these last year. It took a little bit, but I called Delta and explained to the SMS rep that I needed them to hold a reservation for a particular flight. I then went to the airport, luckily I had a flight that day, and redeemed the certificates at the counter when the agent pulled up my reservation.

It did take a few minutes as the counter rep needed to call in the numbers, but it all worked out in the end.

gercohen

My brother last year gave me a paper free drink certificate issued by DL in around 1984. No expiration date on it. Might try to present it to get a laugh from the FA.

resolute

Just to follow up (as a helpful hint to anyone else having these horrid things..), it worked just as described below. I held a reservation from JFK - LIN on the phone (I found a very cheap fare and they gave me 7 days to ticket the two tickets I had after I explained that I had these paper certificates that I needed to use). I then went down to the airport late one evening with my wife (who's name the certificates were in. We arrived pretty much after all the overseas flights had left - they were just getting out the last couple when we showed up about 10 PM or so). Went to the International ticket counter and the first agent was totally clueless about them and wanted me to go over to the domestic side of the airport where she claimed "there are supervisors and people who can help". She called someone on the phone who wasn't able to help much. But then she called a couple of more people and the second person to show up was clueless also, and they called someone else who messed around with them a few minutes trying to apply them to my reservation.

The first agent also kept having to deal with a drunk European passenger who had apparently been denied boarding from one of the last flights out that night and sent back to the ticket counter because he was drunk (she ended up telling me that after she came back to try and help me and the other agent who was helping me by then - "Honey, you can smell it ALL OVER HIM, MMHh, MMMHH" in her words while shaking her head as she was typing into the computer still trying to make sense of my certificate.. He kept arguing for a hotel and this and that and the other, after she rebooked him on tomorrows flight for free, and telling him it was his own fault he got kicked off the plane. He finally moved on after about 45 minutes of arguing.. Then finally a redcoat shows up with another agent in tow and they fool around a while longer before finally calling the (apparently correct this time..)help desk on the phone who walked them through the computer commands on how to exchange the certs for the tickets being held.

One of the agents at one point kept insisting that the reservation must be invalid because I had confirmed tickets from NYC - Milan for $600 and something (it was like a $50 base fare and the rest fees and taxes), but apparently the person on the phone finally set them straight. We ended up leaving the airport about 90 minutes after arriving, having paid $100 _ for one ticket and the $600+ for the other one. No processing fees were ever attempted to be levied by anyone (I was prepared for that one, but it never came..)

What a royal PITA it was though... . But the trip was good in the end.. I just longed for the days when this would have been handled by the old school agents who could have had this done in a few minutes and never have had to call anyone. Those folks in the 70s-90s really knew their stuff. The ones these days seem like they need a flowchart or dumbed down point and click computer screen to prompt them to do anything out of the ordinary. ..sigh