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
#1742
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,501
A couple of my flights got changed from mainline to Delta Connection operated, managed to change them to mainline and even got changed from 757-200HD's to 763's with lie-flats on ATL-MCO. Didn't bother calling, tried Twitter first, was taking too long so I tried the i-message and it got me through faster. Agent had to get a supervisor to change it due to the ticket type but no pushback needed and got what I wanted in the end.
#1743
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: SNA (home), LAX, BOM/PNQ, LHR
Programs: UA 1K/*G, Marriott Gold Elite, IHG Platinum, HHonors Silver
Posts: 965
not sure if this is the right thread for this but..
Is this for real? I was booked on this route (prayers upgrade clears and seems like this route is on a retrofitted 764) and this seems like an absolute nightmare. 2 hours 50 min red-eye departing past 1 and arriving shy of 6am? Have they always had this timing or is this a fairly recent development? Thanks!
Is this for real? I was booked on this route (prayers upgrade clears and seems like this route is on a retrofitted 764) and this seems like an absolute nightmare. 2 hours 50 min red-eye departing past 1 and arriving shy of 6am? Have they always had this timing or is this a fairly recent development? Thanks!
#1744
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
not sure if this is the right thread for this but..
Is this for real? I was booked on this route (prayers upgrade clears and seems like this route is on a retrofitted 764) and this seems like an absolute nightmare. 2 hours 50 min red-eye departing past 1 and arriving shy of 6am? Have they always had this timing or is this a fairly recent development? Thanks!
Is this for real? I was booked on this route (prayers upgrade clears and seems like this route is on a retrofitted 764) and this seems like an absolute nightmare. 2 hours 50 min red-eye departing past 1 and arriving shy of 6am? Have they always had this timing or is this a fairly recent development? Thanks!
#1745
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,070
not sure if this is the right thread for this but..
Is this for real? I was booked on this route (prayers upgrade clears and seems like this route is on a retrofitted 764) and this seems like an absolute nightmare. 2 hours 50 min red-eye departing past 1 and arriving shy of 6am? Have they always had this timing or is this a fairly recent development? Thanks!
Is this for real? I was booked on this route (prayers upgrade clears and seems like this route is on a retrofitted 764) and this seems like an absolute nightmare. 2 hours 50 min red-eye departing past 1 and arriving shy of 6am? Have they always had this timing or is this a fairly recent development? Thanks!
Yes, they've typically had red-eye's on DEN-ATL. Perhaps you should try to get on this flight instead (these haven't been as commonplace, but they are running them this summer) --
Last edited by xliioper; Apr 30, 2021 at 5:37 am
#1747
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,520
#1748
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DTW
Programs: Alaska, Delta, Southwest
Posts: 1,663
#1749
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: DL PM, UA PG
Posts: 59
Upcoming 5/1 schedule change
Amber on the DM desk told me just now that another big schedule change is coming tomorrow. She didn't give me details on total scope, but both of my flights in early/mid June will be affected. It sounds like there will be additions on a number of mainline/hub routes, though.
Another nugget I got from her: the automatic callback feature shuts off when there are more than 2,000 callers in queue for the PM desk. (don't know about queue sizes for other desks)
FYI yes I'm still PM, she said right now some of the overflow calls get routed to DM desk. I still waited 1:40 for a callback, which is better than what it said on initial call (2:40).
Hope everyone has a lovely Schedule Change Saturday!
Another nugget I got from her: the automatic callback feature shuts off when there are more than 2,000 callers in queue for the PM desk. (don't know about queue sizes for other desks)
FYI yes I'm still PM, she said right now some of the overflow calls get routed to DM desk. I still waited 1:40 for a callback, which is better than what it said on initial call (2:40).
Hope everyone has a lovely Schedule Change Saturday!
#1750
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
Programs: AA, B6, DL, EK, EY, QR, SQ, UA, Amex Plat, Marriott Tit, HHonors Gold
Posts: 12,809
I remember ages ago this DEN-ATL redeye was operated by a 727. It really is a very brutal flight, probably one of the worst redeyes out there.
#1751
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: MSY
Programs: Delta Platinum/1MM, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 652
Amber on the DM desk told me just now that another big schedule change is coming tomorrow. She didn't give me details on total scope, but both of my flights in early/mid June will be affected. It sounds like there will be additions on a number of mainline/hub routes, though.
#1752
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,520
I have no idea if this was what happened to me last night, but I was offered a callback option on the PM line. I actually hung up and called back (twice) thinking something went wrong. The third time, I just waited. I was answered in 40-45 minutes.
#1753
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,070
Both LAX and LAS have red-eye's to DFW on AA. NK even has one on PHX-DFW (2h14m) with 12:59AM departure. Fun times.
#1754
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,070
Sigh. Usually Schedule Change Saturday was a monthly event. Now if is a weekly occurrence, that means more calls and time on hold to DL to fix itineraries. I have travel in July with RUC-confirmed upgrades in both directions. I already had one call last Saturday where my flights were messed up, and I had to push to keep my upgrades. Now I fear this will be a regular event.
Last edited by xliioper; Apr 30, 2021 at 10:28 am