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
#736
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: HNL
Programs: DL PM/1MM, BW DE (lifetime), HH DE, Marriott PE (lifetime), National Emerald Executive
Posts: 7,205
#737
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: LAN
Programs: DL Skymiles, AF/KL Flying Blue
Posts: 304
See my prior comment about being a lowly non-status SM member.
#738
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: NYC, BOS, ORD
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM
Posts: 843
Labor day Monday sees the 2:10pm SFO-JFK pulled from the schedule, resulting in a sold out in business class 4:05pm departure and only 3 seats left up front on the 12:45. Seems odd to me to pull capacity on the Monday of a holiday weekend, especially when I would think they could use the afternoon J seats headed back east for business travellers. Oddly enough, I was automatically rebooked to economy on the 4:05, had to call to get changed back to J on the 12:45. Any other way I should have played this?
#739
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: 27,042
Labor day Monday sees the 2:10pm SFO-JFK pulled from the schedule, resulting in a sold out in business class 4:05pm departure and only 3 seats left up front on the 12:45. Seems odd to me to pull capacity on the Monday of a holiday weekend, especially when I would think they could use the afternoon J seats headed back east for business travellers. Oddly enough, I was automatically rebooked to economy on the 4:05, had to call to get changed back to J on the 12:45. Any other way I should have played this?
#740
Join Date: Jul 2006
Programs: DL DM/MM
Posts: 2,272
Refunding Last Leg bc of Schedule Change?
Hi All,
My departure time for my flight from LAX-SFO has moved from 1:45 PM to 3:30 PM -- so, a 1:45 change -- and although DL has a 1:00 PM departure, I can't make that flight because of a meeting that goes until 12:30 PM. I know that with schedule changes, DL is pretty good about making reasonable accommodations (at least for a DM); however, if I simply want to cancel, is it possible for me to get a refund because of a schedule change on DL's part?
Thanks, FTers!
My departure time for my flight from LAX-SFO has moved from 1:45 PM to 3:30 PM -- so, a 1:45 change -- and although DL has a 1:00 PM departure, I can't make that flight because of a meeting that goes until 12:30 PM. I know that with schedule changes, DL is pretty good about making reasonable accommodations (at least for a DM); however, if I simply want to cancel, is it possible for me to get a refund because of a schedule change on DL's part?
Thanks, FTers!
#741
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: 27,042
Hi All,
My departure time for my flight from LAX-SFO has moved from 1:45 PM to 3:30 PM -- so, a 1:45 change -- and although DL has a 1:00 PM departure, I can't make that flight because of a meeting that goes until 12:30 PM. I know that with schedule changes, DL is pretty good about making reasonable accommodations (at least for a DM); however, if I simply want to cancel, is it possible for me to get a refund because of a schedule change on DL's part?
Thanks, FTers!
My departure time for my flight from LAX-SFO has moved from 1:45 PM to 3:30 PM -- so, a 1:45 change -- and although DL has a 1:00 PM departure, I can't make that flight because of a meeting that goes until 12:30 PM. I know that with schedule changes, DL is pretty good about making reasonable accommodations (at least for a DM); however, if I simply want to cancel, is it possible for me to get a refund because of a schedule change on DL's part?
Thanks, FTers!
Note, there is probably an option connecting through LAX that might work.
#742
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
Hi All,
My departure time for my flight from LAX-SFO has moved from 1:45 PM to 3:30 PM -- so, a 1:45 change -- and although DL has a 1:00 PM departure, I can't make that flight because of a meeting that goes until 12:30 PM. I know that with schedule changes, DL is pretty good about making reasonable accommodations (at least for a DM); however, if I simply want to cancel, is it possible for me to get a refund because of a schedule change on DL's part?
Thanks, FTers!
My departure time for my flight from LAX-SFO has moved from 1:45 PM to 3:30 PM -- so, a 1:45 change -- and although DL has a 1:00 PM departure, I can't make that flight because of a meeting that goes until 12:30 PM. I know that with schedule changes, DL is pretty good about making reasonable accommodations (at least for a DM); however, if I simply want to cancel, is it possible for me to get a refund because of a schedule change on DL's part?
Thanks, FTers!
#743
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
That I imagine wouldn't be a problem. But what I always figure is the bigger the change to your trip, the bigger the leeway. But DL considers BWI, DCA, IAD co-terminal for DM SDC so i imagine it wouldn't be a problem
#745
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: 27,042
Confused ? You're connecting in IAH? How would getting IAH-ATL pushed back by 40 minutes stop you from still connecting? Would mean 40 extra minutes to connect.
#746
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: Delta PM
Posts: 890
It's not that it's going to cause me to mis-connect, just get in 40m later than originally scheduled. Would be nice to get back to ATL a bit sooner is all. Not a big deal but if they can work something out it'd be nice. Sorry for the confusion there.
#747
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: MEM
Programs: Starbucks Green Card
Posts: 5,431
Hi All,
My departure time for my flight from LAX-SFO has moved from 1:45 PM to 3:30 PM -- so, a 1:45 change -- and although DL has a 1:00 PM departure, I can't make that flight because of a meeting that goes until 12:30 PM. I know that with schedule changes, DL is pretty good about making reasonable accommodations (at least for a DM); however, if I simply want to cancel, is it possible for me to get a refund because of a schedule change on DL's part?
Thanks, FTers!
My departure time for my flight from LAX-SFO has moved from 1:45 PM to 3:30 PM -- so, a 1:45 change -- and although DL has a 1:00 PM departure, I can't make that flight because of a meeting that goes until 12:30 PM. I know that with schedule changes, DL is pretty good about making reasonable accommodations (at least for a DM); however, if I simply want to cancel, is it possible for me to get a refund because of a schedule change on DL's part?
Thanks, FTers!
#748
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: MEM
Programs: Starbucks Green Card
Posts: 5,431
how did you book that ticket to begin with?
#750
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: 27,042
Ok that makes more sense. Details matter. No they're not going to change the one ticket to goto ATL instead of IAH due to other being pushed back. You can ask but expect the answer will be no even with HUACA.