davetravels

You have described 2 different scenarios:

First:

Seems completely normal, civil and courteous to me.

Second, you say:

I don't see why you feel that you were treated poorly. The first scenario seems quite normal to me.

Also, I think, with very few exceptions, MOST, if not ALL DMs & PMs would say that the PM/DM hotline are VERY courteous, and truly FANTASTIC at times.

Therefore, when you say:

You lose COMPETE credibility!

readywhenyouare

I wouldn't book an E fare but I don't think I've ever seen one offered in my search results. Are they mainly found on routes where Spirit is a competitor?

FlyDeltaJets87

But not enough of a joke to the point where you were willing to pay the upfare to a ticket that wasn't "a joke" when given a very generous offer by DL that was beyond the fare rules of the ticket you bought.

So again - how is this a "joke"? You kept the original choice when given the option to change by determining the "not joke" fare wasn't worth the additional $72.

Often1

Very well put. And the converse is true. Had OP looked carefully and noticed that there was a joke and a non-joke fare and that the latter cost $72 more than the joke, which one would he have selected?

Rocco7799

I don't agree with the OP about the validity of E fares. They serve a purpose to a very cost-conscious segment. I've seen them offered for a couple years on DTW to Florida flights. It's very clear they come with special restrictions. In fact, they have their own price column on the site.

However, I reread his/her post, and the Medallion agent did not offer a free change. Rather, the agent offered to send the OP to another agent to try to rebook without fees. That sounds like a helpful agent to me.

BenA

I agree these fares aren't so bad when they are used as a Spirit-compete.

Be very, very wary of E fares internationally, though: the experience is an absolute mess. We haven't seen them used much in that context, but there was one Brazil sale fare published under them about a year ago. Delta.com claims Basic Fare rules only apply to US/Canada/Caribbean travel, but they will enforce them anyway incorrectly on international fares filed under E - even if the fare rules filed in the GDS do not contain the Basic Fare seat assignment rules that the domestic ones do.

This created all sorts of headaches, where Delta agents would agree that the ticket was eligible for a seat assignment but be unable to make the assignment in their system.

So domestically, these can be a good option if you understand the limitations - but you should never risk booking anything in E class for an international ticket, since the IT infrastructure appears to simply not be in place to handle it properly according to Delta's own rules.

Right now, I'm not aware of any E fares filed internationally; it would not surprise me to see some filed to compete with the new Norwegian Air Shuttle service in the near future, though.

BackOfTheBus

Listen folks, E fares may have been pioneered in Spirit markets (such as DTW-FLL), however they are spreading to Southwest and Airtran markets as well.

Try looking for a one-way ticket from West Palm Beach (PBI) to Atlanta on May 30th... Only non-stop competitor is Southwest.

Now can y'all think of any other similar markets out of Atlanta that DL only competes with WN in?

Happy E-fares to y'all, ATL-hub captives!

bubbashow

I needed to go to AMS, last-minute a couple of weeks ago. One option I looked at was Norwegian to get to the EU. New York to Oslo, Stockholm, and CPH were all between 220 and 300 one way, day before departure. Scary cheap. Alas, I went with DL.

relangford

To ATL787: I, for one, thank you. I also was not aware of the seat restriction; I thought it was just a rare fare on certain routes.

rylan

Aren't E fares still covered by the risk-free 24hr cancellation period? You could always cancel and do a search for the same flights but select V from the pulldown menu and see what the difference actually is vs what you were told by the agent.

ATL787

Glad to hear that at least a couple of people understand my post and why these pooper fares are a joke.

I am usually a stickler for the rules, and this is one instance where I completely missed a fact that I frankly would have thought "that's got to only apply to kettles" if I had noticed the stipulation when I was in the process of booking the ticket.

To me, the experience of an E fare it is a joke. The possibility that the airline would even offer a "no seat assignment before check-in" fare where Medallions who are eligible for free upgrades and free preferred seats and free/discounted Economy "comfort" seats on a normal basis are relegated to the kettle boat where no seat can be assigned (even through the normal loop holes)..... That is a joke. May as well go to the WN way of thinking and not assign anyone a seat. Last I looked, WN looks like a legacy carrier, too....aside from the no F and no assigned seats (and no change fees or bag fees). And no, I will never fly WN simply because they do not allow seat assignments.

To add to the joke, the fare rules apparently didn't even allow the medallion agents to bend the rules, so they are relegated to the uncomfortable position of trying to sell the extraordinary value that is gained by paying up from an E fare to the vastly superior sLUT etc fares that do allow seat assignments. I'm sorry, am I so stupid as to misunderstand the value proposition that is presented by a $198 non-changeable, non-refundable E fare vs. a non-refundable sLUT fare that is changeable with a $200 change fee? What a f ing joke.

GoHogsAR

You posted an opinion. All but one person who responded disagreed with you, yet you continue to try and make others adopt your opinion. Why?

Canarsie

As I understand it, yes — but I had no reason to invoke it to find out for myself.

ATL787

Another predictable response, even though it came from the Benton Co. area.

Seriously, even the medallion agent admitted that she was getting a lot more calls about these fares, as they have started to become marketed more often recently.

Just wait til they show up on all routes all the time including international fares that will pack a seat selection upcharge of a few hundred bucks or more. That will go over really well. I'm sure all of the OP bashers will gladly pay the extra.

pbarnette

So... You are a stickler for rules when they don't apply to you? Now, that is a joke.

Honestly, I'd be embarrassed to publicly proclaim that I: a) didn't read the rules when booking, b) didn't recognize the rules within the 24-hour cancel period, c) didn't value my comfort at even $72, but I recognize some people have parents that didn't teach them shame.

To be clear, you seem to place an exceedingly large value upon these advance seat assignments. You refuse to fly WN. You complain incessantly about this one instance on DL when you can't get them. So, yeah, to you at least, it seems to be some sort of extraordinary value. Well, it is something valuable until you have to pay $79 and then...