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
#2071
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,062
Looks to be mostly updates to schedule from Oct 6th - Dec 17th (my flights on Oct 1st - 2nd were not impacted). Lots of flights between 10/6 - 12/17 look to be in flux/not bookable (inventory zeroed out) right now.
#2073
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,062
Last edited by xliioper; Aug 7, 2021 at 7:15 am
#2074
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: OKC
Programs: DL DM/2.768MM, Global Entry, Titanium_Marriott, GHertz
Posts: 6,752
The biggest changes are in my ATH trip that departs late Oct and returns early Nov. I hope the direct ATL-ATH is not lost.
Curious that several ATL-OKC or OKC-ATL are blanked out. They already put us down to a 717 so maybe they think some kind of RJ is what we 'want'?
Curious that several ATL-OKC or OKC-ATL are blanked out. They already put us down to a 717 so maybe they think some kind of RJ is what we 'want'?
#2075
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,062
ATL-ATH looks like it now ends on Oct 29th (with last return flights on 10/30). ATL-OKC looks like it will still be 5x mainline on weekdays (down from 6x daily mainline).
Last edited by xliioper; Aug 7, 2021 at 10:54 am
#2076
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: ATL
Programs: DL - PM (Sky Priority);HH - Gold; Marriott - Silver; National - Executive; DL Reserve AMEX
Posts: 5,234
My travel for early November seems to have been affected, but only in that we don't have seats assigned anymore. But when I look at the seatmap as if I was booking the flights again, it shows our seats as taken.
I am unable to select the seatmap or choose seats in my current reservation, however. Will this get fixed on it's own/eventually?
I am unable to select the seatmap or choose seats in my current reservation, however. Will this get fixed on it's own/eventually?
#2077
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,187
My travel for early November seems to have been affected, but only in that we don't have seats assigned anymore. But when I look at the seatmap as if I was booking the flights again, it shows our seats as taken.
I am unable to select the seatmap or choose seats in my current reservation, however. Will this get fixed on it's own/eventually?
I am unable to select the seatmap or choose seats in my current reservation, however. Will this get fixed on it's own/eventually?
#2078
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: OKC
Programs: DL DM/2.768MM, Global Entry, Titanium_Marriott, GHertz
Posts: 6,752
If so, I want to call DL before the automatic system makes a wreck of my return. For the moment, both OKC-ATL then ATL-ATH are blank in terms of seats and aircraft.
#2079
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,062
Could you parse Oct 29 for me? My flight leave ATL on Oct 28 and of course arrives Oct 29. Is this the final flight?
If so, I want to call DL before the automatic system makes a wreck of my return. For the moment, both OKC-ATL then ATL-ATH are blank in terms of seats and aircraft.
If so, I want to call DL before the automatic system makes a wreck of my return. For the moment, both OKC-ATL then ATL-ATH are blank in terms of seats and aircraft.
No, final flight departs on Oct 29th and arrives Oct 30th (and final return flight departs ATH on Oct 30th). I don't think they are doing significant changes to OKC-ATL flights. I thought they were reducing from 6x to 5x daily, but they already did that to Oct/Nov flights a couple months ago (they just extended those cuts through Dec 17th).
Last edited by xliioper; Aug 7, 2021 at 11:40 am
#2080
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
No you don't. Things are still changing. It often takes a day or two for all the inventory to show up properly. Then you can see all your options and pick your favorite; you'll be able to chose any reasonable option you like.
#2081
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: ANC
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 1,856
My travel for early November seems to have been affected, but only in that we don't have seats assigned anymore. But when I look at the seatmap as if I was booking the flights again, it shows our seats as taken.
I am unable to select the seatmap or choose seats in my current reservation, however. Will this get fixed on it's own/eventually?
I am unable to select the seatmap or choose seats in my current reservation, however. Will this get fixed on it's own/eventually?
Could you parse Oct 29 for me? My flight leave ATL on Oct 28 and of course arrives Oct 29. Is this the final flight?
If so, I want to call DL before the automatic system makes a wreck of my return. For the moment, both OKC-ATL then ATL-ATH are blank in terms of seats and aircraft.
If so, I want to call DL before the automatic system makes a wreck of my return. For the moment, both OKC-ATL then ATL-ATH are blank in terms of seats and aircraft.
#2083
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,320
#2084
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: 27,043
By policy if your flights have date changed, you're entitled to a a date change of equal length on opposite direction. Ie if you must fly two days later (no daily service) on outbound, you can change return to two days later also. Basically you get to keep same trip length if want it.
#2085
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: CMH
Programs: Delta SkyMiles (Silver), AAdvantage, Sun Country, FmrUS Airways Dividend Miles, Northwest WorldPerks
Posts: 353
I was looking into buying tickets on a CMH-MSP/ATL-SAN-MSP-CMH routing and the schedule went from CR9/739-757/753-753-739 to CR9/739-753/764-753-319.
Is ~60 days out still the typical rule of thumb for when schedules are locked in? I feel like there's a better chance for upgrades on a 764 than on a 753 and would hate for an ATL-SAN segment to get dumped down to a 739 or 321.
Is ~60 days out still the typical rule of thumb for when schedules are locked in? I feel like there's a better chance for upgrades on a 764 than on a 753 and would hate for an ATL-SAN segment to get dumped down to a 739 or 321.