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
#3166
#3167
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,538
Last train appears to be 7:50pm from NYP arriving BOS at 12:15am. If OP was willing to take a 9pm from LGA (and will be in Manhattan) then it might be an alternate option.
Of course, OP may have a car parked at BOS which would complicate things. I have no idea how late the Silver Line runs.
Of course, OP may have a car parked at BOS which would complicate things. I have no idea how late the Silver Line runs.
#3168
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: 27,103
Last train appears to be 7:50pm from NYP arriving BOS at 12:15am. If OP was willing to take a 9pm from LGA (and will be in Manhattan) then it might be an alternate option.
Of course, OP may have a car parked at BOS which would complicate things. I have no idea how late the Silver Line runs.
Of course, OP may have a car parked at BOS which would complicate things. I have no idea how late the Silver Line runs.
#3169
Join Date: Oct 2019
Programs: Flying Blue, Hilton Honors, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 2,430
#3170
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
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Posts: 29,707
Agreed. Given rush hour traffic, OP would probably have to leave for LGA latest by 7pm. Depending on where the OP will be in Manhattan, they can probably leave even later than 7pm for the station & still be on time for the train.
#3171
Join Date: Aug 2022
Location: IND
Programs: Delta SkyMiles (DM), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium, LTP)
Posts: 546
Has anyone else noticed an increased trend in schedule change emails simply stating "there has been a change in your itinerary", without actually showing the itinerary change(s)?
I've had one particular itinerary that has changed almost weekly since I booked it. At least one change was an equipment change, because our seats changed (and I had to go in and reassign them). And there have been minor schedule changes, which I can verify against the original booking confirmation.
Why can't Delta actually indicate the nature of the change? (Even going into the trip details, the change isn't particularly intuitive. It's not showing a schedule change, which is why I suspect it is equipment-related?)
I've had one particular itinerary that has changed almost weekly since I booked it. At least one change was an equipment change, because our seats changed (and I had to go in and reassign them). And there have been minor schedule changes, which I can verify against the original booking confirmation.
Why can't Delta actually indicate the nature of the change? (Even going into the trip details, the change isn't particularly intuitive. It's not showing a schedule change, which is why I suspect it is equipment-related?)
#3172
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SAT
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton and Wyndham Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Delta Plat, United Silver, Hertz PC
Posts: 726
Has anyone else noticed an increased trend in schedule change emails simply stating "there has been a change in your itinerary", without actually showing the itinerary change(s)?
I've had one particular itinerary that has changed almost weekly since I booked it. At least one change was an equipment change, because our seats changed (and I had to go in and reassign them). And there have been minor schedule changes, which I can verify against the original booking confirmation.
Why can't Delta actually indicate the nature of the change? (Even going into the trip details, the change isn't particularly intuitive. It's not showing a schedule change, which is why I suspect it is equipment-related?)
I've had one particular itinerary that has changed almost weekly since I booked it. At least one change was an equipment change, because our seats changed (and I had to go in and reassign them). And there have been minor schedule changes, which I can verify against the original booking confirmation.
Why can't Delta actually indicate the nature of the change? (Even going into the trip details, the change isn't particularly intuitive. It's not showing a schedule change, which is why I suspect it is equipment-related?)
#3173
Join Date: Aug 2022
Location: IND
Programs: Delta SkyMiles (DM), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium, LTP)
Posts: 546
#3174
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,881
I had a schedule change months ago, and I get a schedule change email exactly once a week since then. There have been no new changes since the initial change months ago. Just an annoying bug.
#3175
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: New England
Programs: American Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Silver
Posts: 5,653
The last train is the 9PM Acela which gets into Boston around 2AM, on a Friday night, which means getting cab will be difficult, and Uber will be surging.
And for everyone else who assumed I'd be leaving from Manhattan, unfortunately, I will not be leaving from Manhattan. I will be at Randall's Island Park for an event, which was what made LaGuardia the ideal airport to leave from. The event will be huge and taxis/ubers, etc will not be allowed into the area (this event was held last year as well, and there was no vehicular traffic allowed on the island at that time, only thru traffic on the highway above was allowed). So, my ways out are either on the bus (X80) that would drop me off at 125 st, ferry (NY Waterway will operate a ferry for the event, but last year it was crowded trying to leave and most people had to wait for at least 1-2 trips before they were able to get on), or on foot. Last year, I was booked on the same 9PM flight out of LGA and made it with plenty of time (I took the X80 to 125 st where I grabbed the M60-SBS to LaGuardia)
I've switched to the 9PM JFK flight. I've also booked the 11PM American flight out of JFK as a backup. I will try my best to leave early from the event to make it onto the 9PM Delta flight out of JFK, but if I know I'm going to miss it, I can just cancel it. (and if I make it, I can cancel the American ticket). Current plan is to take the X80 bus to 125 st, take the 4/5/6 to 51 st, then take the E train from 53 st to JFK.
If I really feel like it, I might grab an Uber at 53st, but my avoidance for doing so is in principle - I paid $60 for this flight. It seems dumb to now pay another $60-70 to get to the airport when Delta’s schedule change was what forced my change of plans in the first place. If I really wanted to pay double, there’s a jetblue flight at 9:50PM that’s $160. (And according to statistics is very prone to delay so I’m probably still better off with the American flight)
And for everyone else who assumed I'd be leaving from Manhattan, unfortunately, I will not be leaving from Manhattan. I will be at Randall's Island Park for an event, which was what made LaGuardia the ideal airport to leave from. The event will be huge and taxis/ubers, etc will not be allowed into the area (this event was held last year as well, and there was no vehicular traffic allowed on the island at that time, only thru traffic on the highway above was allowed). So, my ways out are either on the bus (X80) that would drop me off at 125 st, ferry (NY Waterway will operate a ferry for the event, but last year it was crowded trying to leave and most people had to wait for at least 1-2 trips before they were able to get on), or on foot. Last year, I was booked on the same 9PM flight out of LGA and made it with plenty of time (I took the X80 to 125 st where I grabbed the M60-SBS to LaGuardia)
I've switched to the 9PM JFK flight. I've also booked the 11PM American flight out of JFK as a backup. I will try my best to leave early from the event to make it onto the 9PM Delta flight out of JFK, but if I know I'm going to miss it, I can just cancel it. (and if I make it, I can cancel the American ticket). Current plan is to take the X80 bus to 125 st, take the 4/5/6 to 51 st, then take the E train from 53 st to JFK.
If I really feel like it, I might grab an Uber at 53st, but my avoidance for doing so is in principle - I paid $60 for this flight. It seems dumb to now pay another $60-70 to get to the airport when Delta’s schedule change was what forced my change of plans in the first place. If I really wanted to pay double, there’s a jetblue flight at 9:50PM that’s $160. (And according to statistics is very prone to delay so I’m probably still better off with the American flight)
Last edited by diburning; Mar 21, 2024 at 10:16 am
#3179
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: PDX
Programs: DL Plat, UA Plat 1MM, AS MVP, Hyatt Discoverist, Avis Presidents Club, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,938
I was in the process of re-booking flights impacted by schedule changes overnight when the new flights also had schedule changes to them so.. I'm going to let the dust settle and try again tomorrow. Every trip in June and July impacted.
#3180
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,356