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
#1966
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
Supposedly shoddy IT work on the Android app causes these issues. I don't use any Android devices so I'm not 100% sure, but that's what has been reported. Rest assured, you won't be flying ATL-HNL on an MD-88.
#1967
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: 27,042
/s
#1969
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: OSH
Programs: SWRR, HH, SM, TSA Pre
Posts: 757
I'm going in October. The issues I have with the trip down is I'm meeting a business partner at MSP and we are flying together to MCO. I'm coming back through ATL for timing purposes. We got flights close to the same departure time for the return. I'm on a mainline B717 that is scheduled for 1959, the next flight ATL-ATW is 1510 the next day on an Endeavor CR9.
#1970
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 399
I got a change of a few hours ,I try to modify flight and I get "not offered" for the times I want yet if I search the flight directly its offered and (slightly) cheaper?
So anything wrong with this strategy, cancel flight and use credit to book new one? Is the credit available immediately?
So anything wrong with this strategy, cancel flight and use credit to book new one? Is the credit available immediately?
Last edited by jmsnyc; Jun 28, 2021 at 7:04 pm
#1971
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
I got a change of a few hours ,I try to modify flight and I get "not offered" for the times I want yet if I search the flight directly its offered and (slightly) cheaper?
So anything wrong with this strategy, cancel flight and use credit to book new one? Is the credit available immediately?
So anything wrong with this strategy, cancel flight and use credit to book new one? Is the credit available immediately?
#1972
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 399
Thanks. I tried calling but hold times are ridiculous. They say no fare differences if within 2 days due to schedule days yet half the flights that day were blocked out. So instead of modifying I had to cancel and rebuy, and got $15 leftover . I guess if I want to make another change I'll probably have to call.
Last edited by jmsnyc; Jun 28, 2021 at 7:26 pm
#1973
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 782
Last month, I was looking at flight options for a trip this fall.
Delta's website showed that a 6:10 AM departure was $70 less than a departure later in the day. I didn't want to get up at 3:15 AM to catch a 6:10 AM flight, and I definitely did NOT want to have to "run the gauntlet" of sharing the road with drunk / stoned / sleep deprived motorists as I was driving to the airport at 3:45 AM. However, I guessed that, if the flight was priced so low, there was a good chance DL would cancel it, so I decided to take a chance and book the earlier flight.
Sure enough, 1 1/2 weeks after I made my reservation, DL sent me an email that the 6:10 AM flight was cancelled, and they were moving me to the 8:35 AM departure I'd originally wanted to book. It was very nice to save $70, and still wind up confirmed on my preferred flight.
Sometimes, you get lucky :-)
Delta's website showed that a 6:10 AM departure was $70 less than a departure later in the day. I didn't want to get up at 3:15 AM to catch a 6:10 AM flight, and I definitely did NOT want to have to "run the gauntlet" of sharing the road with drunk / stoned / sleep deprived motorists as I was driving to the airport at 3:45 AM. However, I guessed that, if the flight was priced so low, there was a good chance DL would cancel it, so I decided to take a chance and book the earlier flight.
Sure enough, 1 1/2 weeks after I made my reservation, DL sent me an email that the 6:10 AM flight was cancelled, and they were moving me to the 8:35 AM departure I'd originally wanted to book. It was very nice to save $70, and still wind up confirmed on my preferred flight.
Sometimes, you get lucky :-)
#1974
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 193
Schedule change rules/options
I have DL schedule change that is now a misconnect.
Originally booked for a Wednesday departure with 1 stop using reduced miles during their Alaska promotion.
I would like to change this to a Saturday departure with 1 stop and a 5 hour connect time at no additional miles/charges.
Key points are - change date by +3 days and originally booked during their award miles promotion.
Does DL's schedule change rules allow this ? Thought I would be armed with the info before calling into the horrendous wait time call.
Originally booked for a Wednesday departure with 1 stop using reduced miles during their Alaska promotion.
I would like to change this to a Saturday departure with 1 stop and a 5 hour connect time at no additional miles/charges.
Key points are - change date by +3 days and originally booked during their award miles promotion.
Does DL's schedule change rules allow this ? Thought I would be armed with the info before calling into the horrendous wait time call.
#1978
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: ATL
Programs: DL DM, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 208
ATL-MAD nonstop rescheduled, options ?
Delta just rescheduled my non-stop ATL-MAD flight to ATL-JFK-MAD. The new flight leaves too early for my wife to get off work (she's a teacher) so the whole trip is in effect hosed. Looks like Delta is no longer offering a non-stop flight to MAD that day at all.
Would Delta allow me to change my ticket to ATL-MAD nonstop the following day? I see Delta has an interim schedule change policy that allows +/- 1 day change but that seems to be for Domestic flights only. https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...on-policy.html
Appreciate anyone's experience with international schedule changes before I call Res and wait on hold for hours.... A few other pertinent details in case it helps
Would Delta allow me to change my ticket to ATL-MAD nonstop the following day? I see Delta has an interim schedule change policy that allows +/- 1 day change but that seems to be for Domestic flights only. https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...on-policy.html
Appreciate anyone's experience with international schedule changes before I call Res and wait on hold for hours.... A few other pertinent details in case it helps
- booked Delta One, Z fare
- DM here if that makes any difference these days.
#1979
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: CMH
Programs: HH Diamond, DL PM
Posts: 121
Delta just rescheduled my non-stop ATL-MAD flight to ATL-JFK-MAD. The new flight leaves too early for my wife to get off work (she's a teacher) so the whole trip is in effect hosed. Looks like Delta is no longer offering a non-stop flight to MAD that day at all.
Would Delta allow me to change my ticket to ATL-MAD nonstop the following day? I see Delta has an interim schedule change policy that allows +/- 1 day change but that seems to be for Domestic flights only. https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...on-policy.html
Appreciate anyone's experience with international schedule changes before I call Res and wait on hold for hours.... A few other pertinent details in case it helps
Would Delta allow me to change my ticket to ATL-MAD nonstop the following day? I see Delta has an interim schedule change policy that allows +/- 1 day change but that seems to be for Domestic flights only. https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...on-policy.html
Appreciate anyone's experience with international schedule changes before I call Res and wait on hold for hours.... A few other pertinent details in case it helps
- booked Delta One, Z fare
- DM here if that makes any difference these days.
#1980
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: ATL
Programs: DL DM, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 208
God bless Singapore Res - was able get through to an agent in under 30 minutes who said "no problem" and quickly re-issued my ticket for the non-stop the following day.
Pleasantly surprised that they didnt even need any help to do it. Trip saved !! CMH Flyer2 Thanks for your quick response!
Pleasantly surprised that they didnt even need any help to do it. Trip saved !! CMH Flyer2 Thanks for your quick response!