LA2NY&BACK

Buckle up, this is a long ride.

As good FTers should do, my better-half and I scheduled an international vacation by booking business class award tickets almost a year in advance through a DL Medallion phone agent on DL partner airlines (Alitalia and KLM). Our 12-day itinerary was supposed to take us from JFK to FCO, FCO to NCE, NCE to AMS, and AMS back to JFK. First two legs on Alitalia, next two on KLM (operated by Air France).

First two legs went off nearly without a hitch (although Alitalia changed our seats without notice and we had to re-confirm them a few months before travel). We weren’t worried about our KLM seats because the handy dandy Delta app showed us our reserved seats. Relying on the booking agent and the Delta app? Bad move.

We get to the airport in Nice to take the third leg of our trip and get to the AF counter, passports in hand and luggage in tow. Lo and behold, the desk agent cannot find our reservation. She asks us if we are sure we’re supposed to fly that day. Restraining the urge to respond like the idiots she took us for, I calmly provided her with the confirmation number and seat assignment, pointed her to the screen on the Delta app that shows our flight information, and told her that we had been receiving flight updates all morning, so yes, we were sure we were supposed to fly that day. Still, nothing. Then, more typing. “Oh, here it is.” Sigh, relief. But, more typing? “It says here that Delta canceled your reservation in July of last year.” Utter confusion and dumbfoundment. This wasn’t going to end well. Time to call Delta.

I get on the phone with the medallion desk and the agent assures me that Delta did not cancel our reservations (which makes sense, seeing as how we flew the first two legs on the same itinerary). The medallion agent said that according to Delta’s records we are confirmed on the flight that should be leaving in the next hour. She provided me our ticket numbers. Now, back to the check-in desk with ticket numbers in hand.

Still can’t find it. This is really going to be fun. We’re told that the flight is overbooked but that we might be able to fly stand-by on a later flight which was also overbooked. More typing. “There’s no way we can get you onto the flight.” The agent seems to be missing the point that we are not trying to buy tickets, we HAVE tickets and seat assignments. By now, my better-half is experiencing what I can only define as a bout of textbook apoplexy, leaving me to address by myself the circus commonly known as the AirFrance check-in counter. All in all, it took 3 different agents at the airport over 75 minutes to tell us that – drumroll – they could not find our reservation. In the meantime, the deadline to check in for the flight passed, so guess who wasn’t going to Amsterdam that day…that’s right: us, the same “us” who booked our tickets nearly a year beforehand.

What to do now? Well, we’re told that we might be able to get to AMS the next day, but there were no empty seats on flights, so we couldn’t be confirmed. They could, however, confirm us back to JFK the following day. So after over 4 hours at the airport, countless phone calls and trips back and forth between desk agents, forfeiture of several hundred dollars in hotel reservations in Amsterdam that we could not cancel (even in this circumstance), we were left completely missing out on the third destination in our vacation due to what can only be described as a carefully planned and precisely executed display of incompetence.

Alas, Delta will make it right, right? Wrong.

Delta’s take can be summed up in the following words: It wasn’t our fault.

That’s right, Delta’s response to our inconvenience was that despite using Delta SkyMiles for the flights, booking through Delta agents, having Delta confirmation codes, having Delta ticket numbers, and accessing our flight info on the Delta app, Delta had no responsibility to us for the flights. It sounds ridiculous because it is ridiculous.

Herein lies a huge problem. Delta presents this so-called streamlined process wherein customers can use SkyMiles to book flights on SkyTeam airlines through Delta’s website or Delta phone agents. Medallion customers in particular (who typically have several hundred thousand SkyMiles) frequently rely on this process when traveling internationally, and Delta touts it as one of the great things about the SkyTeam Alliance. The flights we booked were advertised, promoted and sold through Delta’s website, but when something went wrong with the flights, Delta completely disclaimed any responsibility.

As a “goodwill gesture,” we were offered a pittance, a few thousand SkyMiles; not enough to cover a flight to Amsterdam, not enough to cover one night at the hotel we were forced to pay for in Amsterdam, not even enough to cover a one way flight from LAX to JFK. If that’s all the “goodwill” Delta can muster itself to “gesture,” I can think of several applicable gestures suitable for a response in kind. The most significant of which is likely a simple wave of my hand, as I prepare to take my business elsewhere.


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[Hyper-technical Ranty Statement, for people who think Delta should be in the clear: Though I am an attorney, I’m no expert in contract law (and this is NOT legal advice). That said, it would seem that because our business was conducted with Delta, the contracts of carriage are Delta’s responsibility. To the extent Delta has to make amends for something it thinks its chosen partners did wrong, that’s between Delta and KLM/AF. Here’s why: if Delta doesn’t have responsibility for flights booked using its tender (SkyMiles), by its agents, and on its systems, and KLM/AF has no contractual relationship with the purchaser, there is no recourse for a failure to honor the ticket. Partner airlines could simply ignore these tickets all the time and no one could do anything. That’s a ridiculous outcome. Delta exercises its agency in whom it chooses to partner with and in whom it puts its name behind. So, when Delta sells a ticket for a flight operated by another airline, Delta should remain accountable to the customer.]

TrojanTraveler

Increasingly, yes, Delta doesn't care.

But assuming all the facts are in your favor, then continue to escalate your complaint. Don't give up. The squeaky wheel gets Delta's grease. I don't have the customer care contact information handy, but someone here should.

DLATL777

There are worse places to be stuck.

TrojanTraveler

And I've found the AF staff in NCE to be fairly good. But they are often hamstrung/unempowered by Delta. I watched them handle a large NCE-JFK flight disruption that resulted in a massive amount of reroutes. Impressive.

LA2NY&BACK

True, but in trekking to a hotel near the airport, we might as well have been in Helena, Montana.

Certainly not in line with our experience. They treated us like we were nothing but an inconvenience.

TrojanTraveler

While of course YMMV, they do get exasperated with DL's errors and bs.

spamkiller

I would send a letter to both. Since your profile mentions LAX, I would include information about B&P 17200. Include a specific demand for all the money you spent/list as a result of their screw-up, the cost of a new trip to AMS, and damages as an involuntary bump.

They admitted that the flight was oversold, but claim that the reservation was cancelled. The fact that you had the tickets tend to show otherwise. I think this may be a way to claim you were not bumped on a flight that was oversold.

If you file a lawsuit, file against both. Let them point fingers at each other.

houserulz77

Obviously this is something DL either screwed up, or something AF/KLM screwed up that DL should take responsibility for. I would keep escalating for sure.

I also think this underlines the importance of checking up on reservations through the airline that one is actually flying. Not something one should have to do, but the reality is that you can never be sure.

seanthepilot

In what seems like another life, on an ex-CMB ticket, issued by SQ, I had a few AF segments. Booked many months in advance, I showed up for our flights with a printout of the reservation in my hand.

I got to the AF counter to check in for my CDG-DKR flight and they had no record of my booking. It was a paper ticket, on SQ, and they tossed it. I bounced between agent to agent. Finally, an agent walked me to ticketing and cut the queue for me.

Initially, their position was: we don't have a booking.
My position was: Well, with printout of my booking, HK1 means confirmed, so I hope you have plans for accommodating us in Paris, because we have not made plans. You may not have our reservations, but as you can see, we have had them confirmed for months.

Magic ensued and 20 minutes before flight time a seat (in Biz) was found.

I can tell you that being friendly was the key to my making this flight. But I must have heard no about 4 or 5 times before I found someone to help me. The key was to act like a distressed traveller... but one who knew his rights.

Grouchy

Not that helps but thanks to similar experiences in the past i always try to check my reservations @ the operating airline well in advance & try to check in online asap, at least you have 30-24 hours to fix those screwups.

Enjoy Nice and send the bill of you extra costs to Delta. In the end if you going to send a complaint to AF/KLM or Delta. Delta will handle it anyway.

LA2NY&BACK

Thanks. I am considering my options at this point. It was an expensive error on someone's part, but it certainly wasn't my fault.

Couldn't agree more. This seems to be lost on Delta, though. The Customer Care reps claim it was escalated to Executive Office of Customer Care (if such a thing exists) and that Delta is unwilling to consider it any further. So, since they've closed the door, I'm considering my other options.

paul21

It's unfortunate that these kinds of events happen in modern reservation systems. I once had my entire itinerary cancelled by Delta due to a bug (someone accidentally pressed flight cancelled at the gate). Between scanning my now-paper ticket to board and walking to the plane, my reservation was cancelled yet again and my seat automatically reassigned. I've come to expect my reservation can be cancelled by Delta at any time, and it's only truly safe once the boarding door is closed (and the plane in the air because I've also had it cancelled after a return-to-gate mech issue). I wouldn't be surprised if the KLM flights were never actually issued or if the flight reported a 5-minute delay so DL cancelled the reservation.

Having said that, you might want to file a FOIA request for your CBP maintained PNR history to see if there's a log for what actually happened to it (this could take months). If you can prove who's at fault, you may be able to get some cash compensation via a demand letter. Just be sure to document your expenses.

On a side note, it used to be possible to verify e-ticket status with a 3rd party like Saudia but not anymore it seems, so in the future I'd call the operating airline with the e-Ticket number (which you should always have with you) to casually assign seats, check status, and get the airline-specific PNR.

flyguy

Good advice from many. If you can do come back and report what redress there was.

rylan

DL ticketed the flights, so it IS their responsibility to get you to your destination(s), not pass the buck and say it isn't their problem.

You may also want to consider filing for the EU261 compensation for involuntarily denied boarding payment and associated expenditures. Since you have evidence of a ticket number, seat assignments etc but they didn't get you on the plane I'd go for that too.

LA2NY&BACK

Great advice from many. I will certainly report back with developments.