Last edit by: Zorak
Delta rolls out schedule changes pretty much every Saturday, though the scope/impact can vary. During this time, seat maps may be locked out, may show the wrong aircraft layout, etc. while changes are occurring. If you are not traveling immediately, FT conventional wisdom is to wait until Sunday (or even Monday in the case of major schedule adjustments where things take longer) for things to settle down, then take stock of your upcoming itineraries to see what changes have occurred and what changes/refunds you may be entitled to.
You are entitled to a full refund to original form of payment, even for a ticket that was purchased as a non-refundable ticket, if any of the following occur as a result of schedule change:
The airline would rather keep your money than refund it, so they will frequently accept any vaguely reasonable rerouting that you propose. This includes, by policy, changing origin and/or destination within 100 miles, rebooking +/- two days, and changing outbound/return date to keep the length of the trip the same post-rebooking.
If none of the above conditions for a refund is true, you may still be entitled to a free change -- in your trip summary there will be a notice about changes/refunds, and per the "conditions apply" popup link in that text:
If possible, you may wish to try modifying your flights online first -- there have been data points where the site allowed a free rebooking even though it did not technically fall into the above categories. NOTE however that self-rebooking online is known not to work if you have (1) any trip involving upgrade certificates (whether cleared or not), (2) if you have self-upgraded by picking an upgraded seat that said FREE (instead of waiting for the automated upgrade system sweep to reseat you in an upgraded seat), this seems to inhibit self-rebooking as well.
Otherwise, suggested best practice is to research your preferred alternative rebooking beforehand (whether DL flight search, Google Flights, ITA Matrix etc.) so that you can speak with an agent already knowing what you want, and ask for it; this will be much more efficient than having an agent find alternatives for you.
Other notes/FAQs:
You are entitled to a full refund to original form of payment, even for a ticket that was purchased as a non-refundable ticket, if any of the following occur as a result of schedule change:
- departure or arrival delay of 2hrs or more
- increase in the number of flight segments (non-stop to connecting, 1-stop to 2-stop, etc.)
- change resulting in a connection below the Minimum Connection Time for a given airport (do a Google search for "site:flyertalk.com minimum connecting time XXX" with the airport code to find the relevant thread if one exists)
- any change in operating carrier, i.e. operated by Delta mainline before the schedule change and Delta Connection after the change
- it is also a commonly-held belief that a change from Delta Connection to mainline, or from one Delta Connection carrier to a different Delta Connection carrier, also qualifies for a full refund -- if anyone has documentation of this, a link would be great...
The airline would rather keep your money than refund it, so they will frequently accept any vaguely reasonable rerouting that you propose. This includes, by policy, changing origin and/or destination within 100 miles, rebooking +/- two days, and changing outbound/return date to keep the length of the trip the same post-rebooking.
If none of the above conditions for a refund is true, you may still be entitled to a free change -- in your trip summary there will be a notice about changes/refunds, and per the "conditions apply" popup link in that text:
If a Delta schedule or routing change has delayed your departure or arrival by more than one hour, you may be eligible to select an alternate flight at no additional charge. Note that the below conditions may apply:
- Your origin, destination and travel date must remain the same
- Alternate flights must be available, and you can only modify once as subsequent changes may result in additional fees
- Voluntary changes to other flights not impacted by a Delta schedule change may result in additional fees
Otherwise, suggested best practice is to research your preferred alternative rebooking beforehand (whether DL flight search, Google Flights, ITA Matrix etc.) so that you can speak with an agent already knowing what you want, and ask for it; this will be much more efficient than having an agent find alternatives for you.
Other notes/FAQs:
- Even if you voluntarily choose a preferred rebooking, you have a high likelihood of success claiming Original Routing Credit since the original reason for the change was involuntary.
- If you booked through a travel agency, including online travel agencies (OTA) such as Expedia, Chase Ultimate Rewards, etc. you will have to contact them, not Delta, to request rerouting if the automatic rebooking is not satisfactory to you.
- There have been reports of an agency insisting that a change of 2 hours was required (per the "pro" site) for a free change, even though the popup on the DL site says 1 hour
- You can sometimes get Delta to take over a travel agency ticket; this is subject to a $50 fee to take over the ticket, although sometimes agents decline to collect it
Consolidated Delta Schedule Change Discussion Thread
#1636
Join Date: Dec 2006
Programs: Marriott Titanium & Lifetime Platinum, United Platinum, Delta Silver
Posts: 592
I hear you but in this case, the flight credit that I used the book the flight and later refunded was a flight credit from March 2020. It doesn't expire until Dec 2022, so I'm not in a huge rush to use it and they have my money one way or the other
#1637
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: Delta Platinum; Hilton Diamond; Marriot Gold
Posts: 1,119
Just got off the phone with a Platinum desk agent who said they got an internal memo today that this weeks schedule change Saturday will be affecting over 90,000 itineraries...
omg.
omg.
#1638
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 1,336
I was definitely impacted by this morning's changes... also seeing a lot of domestic widebody moving back to narrowbody. Which makes sense if they're going to start selling middle seats again....
#1639
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,070
The schedule update last weekend (where they overhauled the May 5th - June 4th schedule) almost certainly impacted many, many more itins. This one would be considered minor in comparison and looks to be mostly some add backs after last weekend's cuts. For example, last weekend DL extended April schedule for 4x daily on DTW-ORD and MSP-ORD through June 4th. They had originally been scheduled to go 6x and 7x daily, respectively, on May 5th. This weekend, they flipped one of the daily CR9 flights on MSP-ORD to a mainline A220 (3:40PM departure). One of the CR9 flights also got a slight time change, but the schedule is otherwise identical.
Last edited by xliioper; Mar 28, 2021 at 7:59 am
#1643
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
#1644
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,520
Just yesterday I was looking at a summer itinerary that included ATL-OAK and then checked May's scheduled to see it isn't actually operating. It could come back any time, of course, but I'm not a fan of booking routes that aren't confirmed to have been reinstated.
#1645
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: ANC
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 1,859
Looks like there’s yet some more fine-tuning of the May schedule today. Mostly minor time changes for my routes. But one really annoying: Last weekend I had a schedule change that caused me to drop down to right at MCT. I called and had no issue getting an earlier flight for more connection padding. It now looks like the system moved me back to the later flight causing MCT again. Will have to add a phone call to the to-do list. Frustrating!
#1647
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,070
Not that major. June 5th and beyond is still placeholder. MSP-ORD goes from 3xRJ, 1xA220 daily (they switched an RJ flight to the A220 last weekend) in May to 5-7x all mainline daily in June. Likewise, DTW-ORD goes from 4xRJ daily in May to 5-7x 717 daily in June. That's not going to hold and June schedule has clearly yet to get significant reductions to it.
Last edited by xliioper; Apr 3, 2021 at 7:12 pm
#1648
Join Date: Aug 2011
Programs: DL DM 3MM 360
Posts: 373
Just had JFK BCN flights cancelled for May 29 and getting push back trying to rebook on AF or KLM in business class. MAD still shows as operating but only a matter of time before they butcher the rest of the Europe schedule.
#1650
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,326
What are they suggesting instead? If DL metal via AMS or CDG, remember you'll get tons of MQMs even if on an award ticket.