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
#1066
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: MCO
Programs: DL PM, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 4,319
Its not real, it’s a Delta Android App glitch. Whenever there is no aircraft scheduled on a flight (like during a schedule change) the Android app defaults to a MD-88 where the iPhone app and DL.com will leave the aircraft blank.
#1067
Join Date: May 2015
Location: DCA
Programs: AA EXP, DL FO, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 6,712
#1068
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
#1069
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: London/JAX
Programs: DL PM, BA Gold, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, Radisson Premium, Global Entry, CLEAR
Posts: 872
Looks like the only stuff I got was a bunch of new flight numbers but all of the flight times were the same and there are still the same number of flights per day on all of my routings.
#1070
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 85
Yeah, I didn't really observe any real changes for June other than many new flight numbers. My June 2nd DL2721 flight oddly changed to 1211, even though both are current active flight numbers, 1211 on a different route. I feel like this was a preliminary setup for major schedule changes in the next 2 weeks. Everyday we get closer to June, the more nervous I get about my flight because I know they aren't going to leave it "as-is" with just minor changes.
#1071
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: London/JAX
Programs: DL PM, BA Gold, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, Radisson Premium, Global Entry, CLEAR
Posts: 872
Yeah, I didn't really observe any real changes for June other than many new flight numbers. My June 2nd DL2721 flight oddly changed to 1211, even though both are current active flight numbers, 1211 on a different route. I feel like this was a preliminary setup for major schedule changes in the next 2 weeks. Everyday we get closer to June, the more nervous I get about my flight.
#1072
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
Doesn't seem like schedule change Saturday is complete. Our June reservation for SFO (which we likely won't take since the wedding we were attending has been postponed) shows new flight numbers but no equipment but I find it pretty hard to believe that DL is keeping RDU - SLC in the June schedule so I'm sure there is more to come here.
This is a complicated ticket (companion pass with already cleared RUCs) so I'm waiting for them to cancel or significantly alter to schedule so I can take a full refund and get the RUCs reset (or extended).
This is a complicated ticket (companion pass with already cleared RUCs) so I'm waiting for them to cancel or significantly alter to schedule so I can take a full refund and get the RUCs reset (or extended).
#1073
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: ANC
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 1,856
Agreed, I feel that there is definitely more to come regarding the June schedule in the coming weeks. While I wouldn't expect seasonal routes (such as ANC-ATL) or focus city routes (SEA-RDU, SEA-BNA, etc) to operate, I hope we will see a return of overall more connectivity. This means nightly west coast to east coast red-eyes between hubs in order to catch morning flight banks. As it is, routes from west coast to east coast currently get into hubs too late to catch what has become the last flights of the night (whereas used to be second to last fights of the night), etc.
#1074
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: London/JAX
Programs: DL PM, BA Gold, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, Radisson Premium, Global Entry, CLEAR
Posts: 872
Agreed, I feel that there is definitely more to come regarding the June schedule in the coming weeks. While I wouldn't expect seasonal routes (such as ANC-ATL) or focus city routes (SEA-RDU, SEA-BNA, etc) to operate, I hope we will see a return of overall more connectivity. This means nightly west coast to east coast red-eyes between hubs in order to catch morning flight banks. As it is, routes from west coast to east coast currently get into hubs too late to catch what has become the last flights of the night (whereas used to be second to last fights of the night), etc.
#1075
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS
Posts: 15,027
My BOS-AMS trip in July shows as changed, but the flight number is exactly the same as before. I did lose my assigned seat. Systems wants me to "accept" the change but why accept something that hasn't really changed or isn't there??
#1076
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,878
Accepting just changes the text from red to green. Has no impact on anything else as far as I can see. Certainly doesn't forfeit any rights you have because of the schedule change (which in this case are none since it's so minor). I believe DL agents can't even see if you've accepted or not.
#1077
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Back in Reds Country (DAY/CVG). Previously: SEA & SAT.
Programs: DL PM 1MM, AA PLAT, UA Silver, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 10,352
Accepting just changes the text from red to green. Has no impact on anything else as far as I can see. Certainly doesn't forfeit any rights you have because of the schedule change (which in this case are none since it's so minor). I believe DL agents can't even see if you've accepted or not.
#1078
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS
Posts: 15,027
Accepting just changes the text from red to green. Has no impact on anything else as far as I can see. Certainly doesn't forfeit any rights you have because of the schedule change (which in this case are none since it's so minor). I believe DL agents can't even see if you've accepted or not.