Jul 10, 2016, 5:48 pm
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
May 17, 2021, 11:00 pm
#1831
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,032
However the overall change of 60 minutes should. DL is generous with what they consider a significant change. Only time they're going to "go by the book" is when you get pissy with them.
May 17, 2021, 11:05 pm
#1832
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,032
As noted it can just be the normal Sat/Sun weirdness. It could also be they've truly sold out. I've had times when couldn't purchase full J fare with cash, month or two out. (ATL-HNL is highly sought after since its D1 service, flights to HA are full generally, and lots of free rebookings due to schedule changes)
May 18, 2021, 5:55 am
#1833
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 393
Booked ATL to HNL for late summer. Delta wanted like 4K for the direct in F with a lie flat seat, so ended up doing stopover in LAX but with domestic style first class (no lie flat) for only like $1600 roundtrip.
Saturday my flight time changed and move back by almost 90 mins. Because of that I was able to switch to the direct delta one lie flat seat with no extra cost for 4 people. Worked out awesome!
Question: can they swap that back to a non lie-flat seat? I wouldn't want to do 10 hours in a domestic style first class and would rather honestly have the LAX stopover if it wouldn't be lie flat.
Saturday my flight time changed and move back by almost 90 mins. Because of that I was able to switch to the direct delta one lie flat seat with no extra cost for 4 people. Worked out awesome!
Question: can they swap that back to a non lie-flat seat? I wouldn't want to do 10 hours in a domestic style first class and would rather honestly have the LAX stopover if it wouldn't be lie flat.
May 18, 2021, 6:59 am
#1834
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: flyover country
Posts: 2,430
If there is a better thread for this, please let me know and feel free to move this post.
Delta advised me of changes to an upcoming, one-way itinerary. Both of the two legs had flight number and operating carrier changes (and time changes less than an hour). The email says "If you would like to cancel your flight, please do so prior to departure within My Trips, for the fastest option. The value of your ticket will become an eCredit. You’ll be able to use your original ticket number as the eCredit number when you are ready to redeem it for a future trip by following these step-by-step directions." I would like to cancel the flight.
Am I correct that I can get a refund because of the operating carrier changes? If so, can I request this at the web site? If so, where? If not, can I request a refund by email?
Is there any situation where an eCredit would be more beneficial than a refund? Where would I look to learn when the eCredit expires? (I assume it does; does it?)
Thank you for any wisdom.
Delta advised me of changes to an upcoming, one-way itinerary. Both of the two legs had flight number and operating carrier changes (and time changes less than an hour). The email says "If you would like to cancel your flight, please do so prior to departure within My Trips, for the fastest option. The value of your ticket will become an eCredit. You’ll be able to use your original ticket number as the eCredit number when you are ready to redeem it for a future trip by following these step-by-step directions." I would like to cancel the flight.
Am I correct that I can get a refund because of the operating carrier changes? If so, can I request this at the web site? If so, where? If not, can I request a refund by email?
Is there any situation where an eCredit would be more beneficial than a refund? Where would I look to learn when the eCredit expires? (I assume it does; does it?)
Thank you for any wisdom.
May 18, 2021, 8:48 am
#1835
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: Delta Platinum; Hilton Diamond; Marriot Gold
Posts: 1,116
If there is a better thread for this, please let me know and feel free to move this post.
Delta advised me of changes to an upcoming, one-way itinerary. Both of the two legs had flight number and operating carrier changes (and time changes less than an hour). The email says "If you would like to cancel your flight, please do so prior to departure within My Trips, for the fastest option. The value of your ticket will become an eCredit. You’ll be able to use your original ticket number as the eCredit number when you are ready to redeem it for a future trip by following these step-by-step directions." I would like to cancel the flight.
Am I correct that I can get a refund because of the operating carrier changes? If so, can I request this at the web site? If so, where? If not, can I request a refund by email?
Is there any situation where an eCredit would be more beneficial than a refund? Where would I look to learn when the eCredit expires? (I assume it does; does it?)
Thank you for any wisdom.
Delta advised me of changes to an upcoming, one-way itinerary. Both of the two legs had flight number and operating carrier changes (and time changes less than an hour). The email says "If you would like to cancel your flight, please do so prior to departure within My Trips, for the fastest option. The value of your ticket will become an eCredit. You’ll be able to use your original ticket number as the eCredit number when you are ready to redeem it for a future trip by following these step-by-step directions." I would like to cancel the flight.
Am I correct that I can get a refund because of the operating carrier changes? If so, can I request this at the web site? If so, where? If not, can I request a refund by email?
Is there any situation where an eCredit would be more beneficial than a refund? Where would I look to learn when the eCredit expires? (I assume it does; does it?)
Thank you for any wisdom.
Use this link here: www.delta [dot] com/contactus/iropForm
May 18, 2021, 1:34 pm
#1836
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,875
Yes, if you're booked in first class, and your trip is messed up by a schedule change, they will let you reschedule into a D1 itinerary if it's available between your origin and destination. There are only a handful of domestic D1 routes so it's a rather limited circumstance, but quite nice when you can do it.
May 18, 2021, 2:07 pm
#1837
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 393
Does arriving more than 1 hour early count as a reason to change for free? I'm curious if the 60 minute change goes all ways, 60 minutes early or later for department OR 60 minutes early or later for arrival.
May 18, 2021, 2:09 pm
#1838
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,875
Generally, arriving early does not count. Departing early counts. Arriving late counts. Having an illegal connection time counts. As always, if you ask nicely you might get lucky. Status definitely helps
May 18, 2021, 2:12 pm
#1839
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 393
May 18, 2021, 2:17 pm
#1840
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,875
May 18, 2021, 3:02 pm
#1841
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,032
Arriving earlier does indeed count. All that matters is that it was XX minutes different.
May 18, 2021, 3:09 pm
#1842
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Posts: 9,985
Doesn't it depend on the context? Say there was a very long nonstop flight, such as to South Africa. Perhaps the schedule was originally padded. But the airline decided that the flight was arriving so consistently early that they could remove the padding. And so now the flight arrives an hour earlier than when a person booked it, per the published schedule. I can't see in that situation how it would be reasonable for an airline to be required to allow a free schedule change.
May 18, 2021, 3:11 pm
#1843
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,032
Doesn't it depend on the context? Say there was a very long nonstop flight, such as to South Africa. Perhaps the schedule was originally padded. But the airline decided that the flight was arriving so consistently early that they would remove the padding. And so now the flight arrives an hour earlier than when a person booked it, per the published schedule. I can't see in that situation how it would be reasonable for an airline to be required to allow a free schedule change.
May 19, 2021, 4:34 am
#1844
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 393
Thanks for everyone's help yesterday. I got through this morning after a 5 minute hold via 1-800-835-9154 at 615 AM EST this morning. The super nice agent changed us from our 2 stop to HNL to 1 stop HNL via ATL on Delta One with no issues at all. Updated reservation email already came through.
The agent didn't go into the old route change details, she just said it had changed a lot. What was kind of weird is that the route change email I got no longer even matched up with what was in my Sky Miles account. Either way, great ending for us.
The agent didn't go into the old route change details, she just said it had changed a lot. What was kind of weird is that the route change email I got no longer even matched up with what was in my Sky Miles account. Either way, great ending for us.
May 20, 2021, 8:28 am
#1845
Join Date: May 2021
Posts: 46
I have 3 questions on flight changes:
1) If there is a significant schedule change qualifying for a free change, does that allow a change to only the affected leg, or are you able to also change your (unaffected) return flight?
2) To my understanding, you are able rebook flights according to historical prices in the case you change your flight after flying your first leg, however, what prices are used if you change to a flight that was more than 11 months out at the time of booking and did not have any active pricing(but still within ticket validity)?
3) If there is a significant schedule change communicated a long time out for a multi-city ticket (2 fare components each with a stopover), are you able to ask for a refund for the remaining 3 legs after flying just the first leg?
1) If there is a significant schedule change qualifying for a free change, does that allow a change to only the affected leg, or are you able to also change your (unaffected) return flight?
2) To my understanding, you are able rebook flights according to historical prices in the case you change your flight after flying your first leg, however, what prices are used if you change to a flight that was more than 11 months out at the time of booking and did not have any active pricing(but still within ticket validity)?
3) If there is a significant schedule change communicated a long time out for a multi-city ticket (2 fare components each with a stopover), are you able to ask for a refund for the remaining 3 legs after flying just the first leg?
