spudley007

I'm sitting in the DTW Sky Club, and DL 159 is delayed, yet again. Luckily I'm not headed there. The agent in the skyclub just got on the speaker and mentioned it was Delta's policy that only Red Coats could issue hotel vouchers, but everybody is entitled to one. Only one skyclub agent could issue vouchers, so he recommended everybody head to the gate to see a red coat or a self service kiosk to process it on their own. The flight would likely depart tomorrow morning at 8 am. I hadn't heard this before nor read it on here...just thought it was interesting and would pass along.

milesandpoints

I was at the DTW Skyclub as well and heard the same message. In talking with the agents, they are so frustrated with the changes that a Redcoats needs to do almost anything. So much for the special services of the sky club. There ware a lot of unhappy people on that Korea flight.

My flight was cancelled and needed to overnight. Apparently it is also Deltas policy now that they have eliminated meal vouchers as well. Even Redcoats are blocked

Instead of waiting an hour for a Red coat, I booked the marriott and will send the receipt to corporate customer care.

DL is really racing to the bottom.

Pharaoh

When this is done how much do you usually get reimbursed?

tmf

Do they reimburse you at the full cost of the room? I'd imagine the rates they have negotiated with hotels are nowhere near published rates...

us2

For $695 a year at the new rate, you would think that they could empower the SC agents to handle these matters.

OHDL1

Yep..hotel and meals eliminated from the everyday CS agents arsenal. Redcoats and higher DO have the power of the meal voucher. It has surely escalated the Redcoats workload during multiple delays/cancellations. It IS frustrating for all concerned.

milesandpoints

If the rate of the room is reasonable I don't have a problem. I have the agent put a note in my PNR that there was no one available to authorize but stranded overnight.

122554

I have no idea why you people even bother? I leave the airport, check into a hotel, and call DL to reschedule. In the morning, I go to the service desk, give them a copy of the receipt, and get a check within a couple of weeks.

Often1

This is where the 24/7 backup for our corporate TA earns its money. They handle rebooking and hotel and then handle the interface with the carrier if it's appropriately reimbursed, e.g. MX vs. WX.

dd1612

+1 ^ It is that simple and people spend many postings and open many threads for the same issue.

Often1

This is also where imporved IT can come into play. The decision to issue vouchers (which can be sliced and diced by class of service, status and even origination) can be made anywhere in the world and a voucher simply authorized. Once authorized, the physical voucher can be printed anywhere in the world and a text sent to each pax (who registers a #) that they can pick up their voucher. In fact, at larger stations with relationships with larger chains, there is no reason why a voucher needs to be issued at all. A simple text with an ID # provided to the front desk at check-in should all suffice.

While there are occasions when thee are massive IRROPS across a broad region and things will slow down, there is no reason why routine IRROPS of a single aircraft or at a single station cannot have the slack taken up elsewhere. This applies for acommodations and then service recovery.

puddinhead

It's on DL's must do list, right after the award calendar. Unfortunately the DL IT staff left to work on the ObamaCare website a year ago and DL hasn't replaced anyone.

Pharaoh

Nice. Unfortunately, not everyone hires TAs.