Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > Delta Air Lines | SkyMiles
Reload this Page >

Why is Delta Website so often problematic?

Community
Wiki Posts
Search

Why is Delta Website so often problematic?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 6:09 am
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 190
Why is Delta Website so often problematic?

This morning, I am trying to book a flight on delta.com. Everytime I enter my search parameters, I get an error screen telling me I must do the following:

You must enter a departure city.
You must enter a destination city.
You must enter a departure date.

Well I have been entering that information. Delta is raking in lots of money right now. You would think they could get effective IT support for a decent website. I just want to book a flight.
kelvinj is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 7:32 am
  #2  
All eyes on you!
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: BNA
Programs: Non-Affiliated
Posts: 7,695
Originally Posted by kelvinj
This morning, I am trying to book a flight on delta.com. Everytime I enter my search parameters, I get an error screen telling me I must do the following:

You must enter a departure city.
You must enter a destination city.
You must enter a departure date.

Well I have been entering that information. Delta is raking in lots of money right now. You would think they could get effective IT support for a decent website. I just want to book a flight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem

This should explain everything you need to know about delta.com.
james318 is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 7:44 am
  #3  
10 Countries Visited20 Countries Visited30 Countries Visited20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Washington, D.C.
Programs: UA Premier 1K: PlAAtinum; DL SM, MM; Marriott Gold; CO Plat Emeritus; NW Plat Emeritus
Posts: 4,777
ummm... beacause they (management) don't care.
Alpha Golf is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 8:14 am
  #4  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Look up - On a ✈ DELTA ✈ jet NOW!
Programs: Blogger & Delta Diamond Medallion Million Miler
Posts: 4,174
Originally Posted by Alpha Golf
ummm... beacause they (management) don't care.
That's not entirely true. They do care about one thing - taking our money for as little back as they can. Thus the web site works perfect:

1) Price jumps at last purchase click
2) Mileage jumps at last step of checkout
3) Lowest price tickets at Kayak.com-> Delta.com
4) Price jumps for AMEX BOGOF certs
5) Price jumps when spending ETVs

I could go on but I see the web site working perfect - don't you?
Renes Points is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 9:55 am
  #5  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
2M
100 Nights
All eyes on you!
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: DL DM 2MM, Marriott LT Titanium, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 17,198
Because its easier to outsource IT to the lowest bidder in some 3rd world country and show how much money you're saving on overhead.
rylan is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 10:29 am
  #6  
2M
50 Countries Visited
All eyes on you!
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NYC, NJ, Long Island
Programs: DL DM, 1.6MM, UA Silver, NEXUS, SkyClub & AdmiralsClub Lifetime, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 6,652
Vote for:

Post #2
Post #3
Post #4
Post #5
All of the above
All of the above + the next 100 posts (This gets my vote)
SuperG1955 is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 10:31 am
  #7  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
30 Countries Visited
2M
All eyes on you!
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: KARB
Programs: DL 2MM
Posts: 26,981
I've been doing searches all morning and can't say I've experienced anything like what OP describes. Ya know, it's also possible this is a browser/middlebox and not a DL issue. Anyone else experiencing what OP describes??
xliioper is online now  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 10:35 am
  #8  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
10 Countries Visited20 Countries Visited30 Countries Visited15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Somewhere between here and there...
Programs: WWF, Appalachian Mountain Club
Posts: 11,595
It seems to have been extra problematic the past couple days. It's returning flights that don't exist as if they do (search LHR-JFK and it'll return VS 25, which doesn't go to JFK, but DL.com says it does). Also, even more frustratingly, trying to book a trip with multiple travelers, the top tile where you enter the pax info is supposed to automatically populate the same fields in the secure flight info tile, where the name field is grayed out so you can't enter that info manually. It was not doing that and I had to keep refreshing the page until it would. Grrr!
tkey75 is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 10:48 am
  #9  
30 Countries Visited
All eyes on you!
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: DL DM+(segs)/MM, UA Ag, Hilton DM, Marriott Ti (life Pt), TSA Opt-out Platinum
Posts: 3,366
Originally Posted by LBJ
I've been doing searches all morning and can't say I've experienced anything like what OP describes. Ya know, it's also possible this is a browser/middlebox and not a DL issue. Anyone else experiencing what OP describes??
<sarcasm>

Have you learned nothing on FT? It's ALWAYS the airline's IT problem. Never the user's issue...
  • Can't get the fare you want? IT screwed up
  • Can't assign the DYKWIA seat you want because it's already assigned? IT screwed up
  • Can't get an DYKWIA upgrade because you aren't eligible? IT screwed up
  • Website returned the wrong days because you entered them wrong? IT screwed up
  • Award calendar doesn't show all low awards everyday on every flight? IT screwed up
  • Facetime doesn't work inflight on a CRJ? IT screwed up
  • Website doesn't render correctly because you're using IE5? IT screwed up
  • Your computer gets a blue screen of death? IT screwed up

</sarcasm>
HDQDD is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 10:55 am
  #10  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
10 Countries Visited20 Countries Visited30 Countries Visited15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Somewhere between here and there...
Programs: WWF, Appalachian Mountain Club
Posts: 11,595
Originally Posted by HDQDD
<sarcasm>

</sarcasm>
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but...

tkey75 is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 11:06 am
  #11  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
30 Countries Visited
2M
All eyes on you!
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: KARB
Programs: DL 2MM
Posts: 26,981
Disclaimer: I'm not saying the website doesn't have issues (for example, the award calendar), but working in networking, I've seen too many issues that came down to browsers and middleboxes (firewalls, proxy's, NAT's, etc.) before immediately declaring that it's all the fault of the website. You can now return to mocking me and telling me I'm just a DL fanboy that should have his *ss kicked off FT.
xliioper is online now  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 11:24 am
  #12  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
10 Countries Visited20 Countries Visited30 Countries Visited15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Somewhere between here and there...
Programs: WWF, Appalachian Mountain Club
Posts: 11,595
Originally Posted by LBJ
Disclaimer: I'm not saying the website doesn't have issues (for example, the award calendar), but working in networking, I've seen too many issues that came down to browsers and middleboxes (firewalls, proxy's, NAT's, etc.) before immediately declaring that it's all the fault of the website. You can now return to mocking me and telling me I'm just a DL fanboy that should have his *ss kicked off FT.
And I'm not saying you networking guys aren't worth having around when needed, but you're often too quick to blame the user
tkey75 is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 11:35 am
  #13  
30 Countries Visited
All eyes on you!
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: DL DM+(segs)/MM, UA Ag, Hilton DM, Marriott Ti (life Pt), TSA Opt-out Platinum
Posts: 3,366
Originally Posted by LBJ
Disclaimer: I'm not saying the website doesn't have issues (for example, the award calendar), but working in networking, I've seen too many issues that came down to browsers and middleboxes (firewalls, proxy's, NAT's, etc.) before immediately declaring that it's all the fault of the website. You can now return to mocking me and telling me I'm just a DL fanboy that should have his *ss kicked off FT.
I would tend to agree. DL's website does have its issues and its quirks, but it's certainly not as bad as the angry mob here would have everyone believe. IMO it's usable for what I need (i.e. booking flights). I can even book award flights on the website. I agree the UX sucks for award bookings. It requires a lot of "workarounds" to book low award flights, but the point is that I can still get them when they are available.

And now I shall be flamed as well.

As one of our R&D managers said: "If you want to wait for a software version that never has bugs, it will never be delivered..."
HDQDD is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 1:08 pm
  #14  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
10 Countries Visited20 Countries Visited30 Countries Visited15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Somewhere between here and there...
Programs: WWF, Appalachian Mountain Club
Posts: 11,595
Originally Posted by HDQDD
As one of our R&D managers said: "If you want to wait for a software version that never has bugs, it will never be delivered..."
But that doesn't mean stop chasing bugs and accept things as they are. I believe the feedback I gave above flights that don't exist appearing as if they do is clearly a DL IT issue and not end user based and should be brought to their attention. IOW, there's legitimate gripes that DL is hopefully open to receiving.
tkey75 is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014 | 2:04 pm
  #15  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
10 Countries Visited
20 Countries Visited
30 Countries Visited
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,163
This morning I got a mileage ticket for a friend. The boxes on the page where I entered traveler data kept blanking out. I ended up having to phone in.
sethb is offline  


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.