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Consolidated Delta Schedule Change Discussion Thread

Old Jul 10, 2016, 5:48 pm
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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:
  • 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
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:
  • 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
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Consolidated Delta Schedule Change Discussion Thread

Old Feb 27, 2015, 12:42 pm
  #16  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
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They really need to get a handle on seat changes when a small non impact schedule change occurs. I was booted from an exit seat on a 747 after a schedule change to a connecting flight by 5 minutes. No change in metal on any flights. By the time I received notification and checked my itinerary it was already too late. Someone grabbed my exit seat. Of course when I called in I got the run around. Agent claimed the seat was blocked and under airport control. Really!?! 3 weeks out and already under airport control, total load of BS.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 1:18 pm
  #17  
 
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Love to see those schedule changes that result in a misconnect. They let you pick any alternate legal connect. Turns a 4700 mile $199 same day MR into a 5400 mile one.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 1:26 pm
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
At one point either the email schedule change notification or the itinerary showed the old time crossed out in red with the new time given. It would be so much simpler if this practice were to continue.

I sometimes have to call the DM line to ask them to tell me exactly how the schedule has changed.
I've deleted it now otherwise I would post a screenshot but I'm certain the e-mail I received Monday with the usual 1 hour ExpressJet delay showed both the old (crossed out) and new times. I agree, it is really useful to know whether to panic (as above) or if it's a five minute snooze alert.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 1:42 pm
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by KenfromDE
Love to see those schedule changes that result in a misconnect. They let you pick any alternate legal connect. Turns a 4700 mile $199 same day MR into a 5400 mile one.
Yeah, they'll often even let you choose routes that otherwise might not be available for ticketing. In my previous example, I turned ANC-SLC-CVG-STL into ANC-SLC-JFK-STL, where JFK wasn't listed as a valid connection point on my original ANC-STL fare. With the holiday service reductions, the JFK route turned out to the fastest way back to STL on that particular day.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 9:11 pm
  #20  
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I often book cheap international flights 9-11 months out. There is almost always a substantial flight schedule change, which allows you to rebook for free on a much more expensive direct flight (or cancel for free).
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 10:30 pm
  #21  
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Bloomfield, MI, USA
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Last spring I booked a decent G fare DTW-PVD for July 4 period travel. When I got the dreaded email I found they had cut the schedule to two flights that day, and had rebooked me on a CR2 There was still a mainline flight in the evening, so I called up and rebooked on that one with little drama.

The point is check your reservation to see if anything has happened to a booked seat in F or in C+.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 10:35 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by KenfromDE
Love to see those schedule changes that result in a misconnect. They let you pick any alternate legal connect.
They'll often let you book alternate connections that aren't exactly "legal", especially if you have a valid-sounding reason. ("I checked the seat maps, and there are no decent seats available on the shorter connection" can work.)
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 10:41 pm
  #23  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
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Originally Posted by captiveguru
If you are not satisfied with this updated itinerary, you may be eligible to change your flight(s) at no extra cost.

Of course there is no indication as to exactly what the change is. How do I determine the change?
I've gotten a few of these and most were international flights booked well in advance. The last one I got was due to a 1 minute schedule change. Like someone else posted earlier, look at your original email from you booking and compare it to what the current flight times are. Also, check flight numbers.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 11:34 pm
  #24  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 391
How about a change that takes NRT connection from 2 hours down to 50 minutes? (I've been through their baggage rescan where it took 2 hours to replane, and more recently would have just caught the 50 min., walking full speed.)

Think I can get out of this ticket (refund?), or maybe move it off to November? The T&C say something about a 1-hour change needed to qualify -- this one is just shy of that, but the connect time is scary. Alternative routings are several segments and many hours longer. (But they are still selling the same route at 50 min. What? Hold up every outbound for incoming pax?)

When they changed my HKG by 2 or 3 hours, they said you can only reschedule for a few days later, but a very nice supervisor gave me the 2 weeks I wanted. Don't remember what story I gave, but this time I should be allowed to write a new ticket, doncha think?

That's the trouble with trying to grab award seats to burn miles, and grab TPAC bargains out of SEA. I end up with overlapping itins, and DL collects either $150 or $ 300. Silly me.
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Old Mar 1, 2015, 1:01 am
  #25  
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Looked closer. Noticed a check mark inside a green circle next to the "There has been a change..." message.

Scrolled down and noticed a check mark in a green circle followed by:

"SCHEDULE CHANGE FLIGHT DL XXXX"

Still had to find the confirmation email to see that the arrival time for this leg had changed by 5 minutes.
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Old Mar 2, 2015, 6:53 am
  #26  
 
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I booked a ticket Friday night, and woke up Saturday morning to find "there has been a change affecting your trip."

David
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Old Mar 2, 2015, 8:47 am
  #27  
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I had a two hour schedule change a couple weeks ago for a summer TATL trip. I noticed it on the itinerary but did not do anything to accept it. Yet somehow the change notice no longer shows on the itinerary so it looks like someone at DL "cleared"/accepted it for me without asking or telling me. In addition, I never received an email about the change.

So far the new time is sticking, but the episode is making me wonder whether DL is thinking about changing the schedule back to what it was or knows that there will be further schedule changes for the flight.
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Old Mar 2, 2015, 3:55 pm
  #28  
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 107
Change Destination?

I received my schedule change notice today for a flight in a couple months. I am ticketed MKE MSP PHX and my layover was increased by roughly 2 hours 15 min, which means I get in 2 hours 15 min later. I searched but could not find the answer to my question, which is, can I rebook to MKE MSP DFW keeping the same MKE MSP flight? I am on an award ticket booked at the lowest mileage level. The new flight I want also has the lowest mileage level available. I feel like I am prepared to call but wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience.
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Old Mar 2, 2015, 4:05 pm
  #29  
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that significant a change in destination likely won't work (swapping PHX to TUS might) ... better to cancel and rebook
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Old Mar 2, 2015, 6:15 pm
  #30  
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I was also able to overcome AmEx companion ticket inventory limitations ... last weekend's schedule change converted our 38-minute MSP layover (which was dicey enough) to minus-56 minutes; now routing over ATL for an extra 400 or so MQM, a civilized (1+10) mid-day layover, EC seats, and a daylight arrival
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