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
#1336
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 1,330
Unfortunately.
#1337
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVPG, DL FO, Marriott Gold, Hertz 5 Whatevers
Posts: 1,099
Yeah it's going to be a very challenging environment for airlines to survive in. This is a more severe disruption than the 2 most recent crises (Great Recession of 2009 and 9/11). I'm really hoping that there won't be a second wave (like there was with the Spanish Flu a century ago) this fall; travel demand would recede back to the lows back in March/April (if not worse).
#1338
Join Date: Jan 2020
Programs: DL GM, HH Diamond, Hertz Five Star
Posts: 32
Had booked direct DCA to BOS for Labor Day weekend (Sept. 4). Flight was cancelled and no directs from DCA to Boston that day. They wanted to send me through a Detroit connection. I had booked with a voucher from a cancelled trip and took the credit, so I just cancelled and used my JetBlue (which has 10+ direct flights that same weekend) instead.
#1339
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,877
Yeah it's going to be a very challenging environment for airlines to survive in. This is a more severe disruption than the 2 most recent crises (Great Recession of 2009 and 9/11). I'm really hoping that there won't be a second wave (like there was with the Spanish Flu a century ago) this fall; travel demand would recede back to the lows back in March/April (if not worse).
#1340
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVPG, DL FO, Marriott Gold, Hertz 5 Whatevers
Posts: 1,099
Yeah, the first wave hasn't even ended yet. What a shame. If states start issuing travel restrictions again, airlines might have to reverse the service increases that they've been planning for July/August.
#1341
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
One can only hope this doesn’t happen. It was already enough of a pain to deal with DL’s crap schedule in June.
#1342
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,318
#1343
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
#1344
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVPG, DL FO, Marriott Gold, Hertz 5 Whatevers
Posts: 1,099
#1345
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,877
#1346
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVPG, DL FO, Marriott Gold, Hertz 5 Whatevers
Posts: 1,099
#1347
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: DL DM; DL AMEX Reserve; HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,984
Get ready for more schedule cuts and long call center hold times. This morning Japan extended their travel ban for US and most other countries through the end of July. Expect it to continue into August and beyond. Delta and the others had best continue their belt tightening for TPAC and TATL given our horrifying trend lines
#1348
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: DL DM 2MM, Marriott LT Titanium, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 15,187
Wonder when the cuts for the newly restored EU flights will hit? Can't imaging that DL will be adding that many flights from the US to AMS etc when we're banned from going.
#1349
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVPG, DL FO, Marriott Gold, Hertz 5 Whatevers
Posts: 1,099
Yeah thinking there's a good chance they'll roll back to the service offerings back in March/April - daily flights to AMS from DTW/ATL and maybe some cargo flights doubling as passenger flights.
#1350
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Canada
Programs: FB Platinum, SM Diamond
Posts: 645
Delta announce the return for SEA and DTW to PVG (via ICN).
https://news.delta.com/delta-resume-...-china-june-25
Call Diamond desk... but now one "see" this flight in August...
https://news.delta.com/delta-resume-...-china-june-25
Call Diamond desk... but now one "see" this flight in August...