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Consolidated Delta Schedule Change Discussion Thread

Old Jul 10, 2016, 5:48 pm
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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:
  • 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
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:
  • 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
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Consolidated Delta Schedule Change Discussion Thread

Old Jul 25, 2021, 6:24 pm
  #2056  
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: PHX
Programs: Delta DM, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, HHonrs Diamond
Posts: 1,336
Originally Posted by xliioper
Except DL uses A332s on ATL-SLC flights mentioned above. Seems broader than just one particular fleet type, but it does seem mostly like widebodies.
I got booted off 4 domestic legs run on 332 and 333 equipment.
All flights are still running and after restoring my reservation, I was able to get an RUC confirmed on two of them where before I was only waitlisted.

A casual look at other hub-ATL flights and I saw a 764 DTW-ATL also emptied out but not Xed out.
Perhaps they were trying to thin them out in advance of a downgauge of equipment in the next couple of weeks in order to make the transition easier, but I think they mistakenly ran it on all non-D1 domestic WB's instead of selected ones.

I know a downgauge is always possible, but I don't want to be moved by 4 hours while my original flight remains bookable, even if it does have a chance of getting downgauged.
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Old Jul 25, 2021, 6:48 pm
  #2057  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,869
Originally Posted by kavok
Finally got through to an agent after several hours on the call line. He tried a dummy booking, and the medallion agent said Thursdays SLC-OGG is not operating, despite it still being bookable on the DL app.

That being said, if that A330 does fly from SLC-OGG, it will be so empty that a FO and their companion would probably both clear an upgrade to F. If it were just me, I might be adventurous. But with family and young kids in tow, I have conceded to a 757 (blah) from SEA-OGG, because at this point I just cant risk it.

So unsure what is going on, but it seems a lot of folks got booted from potential ghost A330 domestic flights this weekend, and I my case, just 5 days before take off.
I understand your desire to avoid risk, but I believe the agent was mistaken.
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Old Jul 26, 2021, 12:10 am
  #2058  
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Seattle WA
Programs: DL DM, Marriott Titanium, AA PLT for Life
Posts: 398
Originally Posted by Crossinator
It seems like there was some sort of a reset involving all (domestic) flights on the A339. My JFK-SEA got switched to JFK-LAX-SEA even though my original flight was never canceled or changed. I had to call to get it switched back (couldn't change on website), and when I saw the seatmap it looks like they booted everyone out. Every seat was open and it was bookable at the lowest fare class (X). I saw another seatmap of SEA-ATL on a 339 and it was the same - most seats were empty.
I had this very thing happen. It clearly was a chaotic error and blew up wait times.

I rebooked both legs myself. The one that was cheaper for me is a win for me.
The one that was 3500 SkyMiles more for me, they refunded the missing SkyMiles after 24 hours of chat "hold".
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Old Jul 26, 2021, 1:21 am
  #2059  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: Marriott, IHG, Delta, United
Posts: 570
Originally Posted by kjnangre
I understand your desire to avoid risk, but I believe the agent was mistaken.
I appreciate the post responses, and agree you are correct.

Attempting to swap back if possible. Should be an emptier ride.
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Old Jul 26, 2021, 7:38 am
  #2060  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: RDU
Posts: 5,208
So I canceled a flight before Delta made big changes to the schedule. RDU-JFK-LIS-BCN-ATL-RDU (I was on a cruise that was canceled.) What do you do if you get a major schedule change, you are bumped to other flights, but there are no seats available, or no seats available in your ticketed cabin? In my case there were one or two other routings available. But there were also less desirable routes, ex going from 1 stop to 2 stops, long layovers like 6 hours, etc.

This is relevant to me because I rescheduled the canceled cruise. So I will deal with this again in 2022. I have an eCredit which I can use until end of 2021.
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Old Jul 26, 2021, 7:43 am
  #2061  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,105
Originally Posted by zitsky
So I canceled a flight before Delta made big changes to the schedule. RDU-JFK-LIS-BCN-ATL-RDU (I was on a cruise that was canceled.) What do you do if you get a major schedule change, you are bumped to other flights, but there are no seats available, or no seats available in your ticketed cabin? In my case there were one or two other routings available. But there were also less desirable routes, ex going from 1 stop to 2 stops, long layovers like 6 hours, etc.

This is relevant to me because I rescheduled the canceled cruise. So I will deal with this again in 2022. I have an eCredit which I can use until end of 2021.
All ecredits should be good until 12/31/22 not 12/31/21.
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Old Jul 26, 2021, 6:19 pm
  #2062  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Programs: DL DM 3MM 360
Posts: 372
Had 8 friends get moved from slc jfk ath to slc atl jfk ath due to the a330 screw up over the wknd. None received an email. 8 hour call back time now for them. I called and it's some new voice activated bs that doesn't even recognize DM. Supposed to meet another group in jfk. Delta is beyond belief now.
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Old Jul 26, 2021, 6:28 pm
  #2063  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: RDU
Posts: 5,208
Originally Posted by p100a
Had 8 friends get moved from slc jfk ath to slc atl jfk ath due to the a330 screw up over the wknd. None received an email. 8 hour call back time now for them. I called and it's some new voice activated bs that doesn't even recognize DM. Supposed to meet another group in jfk. Delta is beyond belief now.
Will this madness never cease?!
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Old Jul 31, 2021, 7:14 pm
  #2064  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Programs: DL Diamond, UA Premier Gold
Posts: 2,904
Happy schedule change Saturday everyone!

The Wall Street Journal highlighted Delta's frequent and repeated schedule change issue.

They Got Great Deals on Airfare. Then Came the Flight Changes.

Fliers who thought theyd scored cheap fares on Delta and other airlines are getting rebooked on longer, less convenient itinerariesand thats just the start of their headaches

https://www.wsj.com/articles/they-go...es-11627477200
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Old Aug 2, 2021, 1:10 pm
  #2065  
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,820
Getting a "your upgraded seat" email for a C+ upgrade, on an itinerary where I was already in C+ on all segments, was a slightly amusing way to find out about a schedule change (this time I actually did get an email for the actual schedule change which followed a day later)
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Old Aug 5, 2021, 2:20 pm
  #2066  
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3,676
Has anyone been able to get Delta to make a free change to a flight going the opposite direction? For example, I got a schedule change notification for ABC-XYZ, so I'm wondering if I can make a free change to go XYZ-ABC on a different date.
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Old Aug 5, 2021, 2:30 pm
  #2067  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: DCA
Programs: DL SkyMiles Platinum Medallion
Posts: 272
Originally Posted by m907
Has anyone been able to get Delta to make a free change to a flight going the opposite direction? For example, I got a schedule change notification for ABC-XYZ, so I'm wondering if I can make a free change to go XYZ-ABC on a different date.
I have two examples of this from trip changes:

1) A DL schedule change causes me to have to depart a day later. I have had success having the return changed to a day later so the trip span remains the same overall.

2) When a DL schedule change causes me to miss a substantial portion of a day (a midday flight is removed from the schedule and I can only do the last flight of the night). In this case I requested and was moved to an evening flight the day prior. (I avoid 6am flights at all cost, ha! Not a morning person!)
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Old Aug 5, 2021, 2:58 pm
  #2068  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,105
Originally Posted by m907
Has anyone been able to get Delta to make a free change to a flight going the opposite direction? For example, I got a schedule change notification for ABC-XYZ, so I'm wondering if I can make a free change to go XYZ-ABC on a different date.
Agents are generally reasonable within reason. Sometimes they need supervisor approval but if you can make the link between the outbound and return then generally I have had it done for no additional fare.
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Old Aug 7, 2021, 5:10 am
  #2069  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,105
Check your October, November and December flight bookings. Major schedule changes this morning for virtually all of my fall bookings including Thanksgiving right through to mid-December. Agent told me more than 1 million reservations impacted. Well over an hour on the phone this morning with an excellent DL agent making all my rebookings one by one but at least its done. Expect very long hold times the next few days as this plays out for the masses - especially those with now altered Thanksgiving travel plans.
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Last edited by sydneyracquelle; Aug 7, 2021 at 7:44 am
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Old Aug 7, 2021, 6:09 am
  #2070  
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: Delta Platinum; Hilton Diamond; Marriot Gold
Posts: 1,108
Looks like JFK-SFO is staying wide-body 763 thru at least November (they have been doing that since summer but initially had it reverting back to 75S in the fall).

hopefully its the new 763 with the PS seats sold as C+
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