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
#1802
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Idaho
Programs: Delta PM
Posts: 352
#1803
#1804
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 41
They do, but the D1 cabin is considerably more dated in the 767-300, vs the reverse herringbone layout in the a330-200 or -300. I'm happy having a lie-flat on that flight regardless of which it ends up being, just would prefer for that change to stick (or even a further swap to a refurb 767-400 or a330-900neo )
#1805
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Tacoma, WA
Programs: Delta Platinum Medallion, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 495
Does anyone know how many of the 763s are due to get upgraded D1 and PS seats? It'll be nice to see those old cabins finally get refreshed. I personally don't mind the 763 D1 cabins, although I've never flown them for anything longer than a 6 hour transcon...
#1806
#1808
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Tacoma, WA
Programs: Delta Platinum Medallion, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 495
Ah, thanks for the clarification. I guess that makes sense, given the age of the 763 fleet. It will be curious to see what they start replacing those birds with, since the 763s are the biggest part of DL's widebody fleet.
#1809
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
Overseas missions will be shifted towards the 75S/764/332/333/339. Domestic missions will be shifted towards the 739/321/752/753. The transition has already started. There is no like-for-like replacement. It's simply a matter of looking at the missions and looking at the fleet and assigning the most appropriate plane to each mission.
#1811
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Tacoma, WA
Programs: Delta Platinum Medallion, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 495
Overseas missions will be shifted towards the 75S/764/332/333/339. Domestic missions will be shifted towards the 739/321/752/753. The transition has already started. There is no like-for-like replacement. It's simply a matter of looking at the missions and looking at the fleet and assigning the most appropriate plane to each mission.
#1812
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
Really not looking forward to the day when the 757's get retired. As a SEA based flyer, the vast majority of my transcon and HI flights are on the 752. The 739 is a poor substitute from a comfort and overall ride-quality perspective. I really like the A321, but I only get those when I'm on the East Coast or occasionally out of SLC.
#1813
Join Date: Jun 2013
Programs: DL Diamond, UA Premier Gold
Posts: 2,939
Really not looking forward to the day when the 757's get retired. As a SEA based flyer, the vast majority of my transcon and HI flights are on the 752. The 739 is a poor substitute from a comfort and overall ride-quality perspective. I really like the A321, but I only get those when I'm on the East Coast or occasionally out of SLC.
Last edited by DLASflyer; May 17, 2021 at 7:51 pm
#1814
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
DL has more than enough planes in its current fleet and its current order book to completely replace the 767 fleet, and that's what they're doing.
#1815
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,520