How friendly is DL with mis-connects from other airlines?
 

My partner and I have an upcoming winter flight out of Kabul on Emirates, which is notorious for cancelling their once-a-day flights due to weather (and sometimes explosions). We are connecting in Dubai onto a DL code share KL flight 6 hours later and then on to the US. So I'm curious how magnanimous is DL likely to be if I call them up the day of that connecting flight and say that we're stranded for 24 hours because another airline couldn't get us to Dubai.

Here are some factors if they are helpful: this was all booked together by my organization's travel agency. So while there are two separate ticket numbers, DL.com shows me our first leg on Emirates, including our layover in Dubai. The DL flights are on a discounted K fare and my partner and I hold PM/DM status.

If DL will almost certainly make us pay hundreds or thousands of dollars if to make a last minute date change due to being stranded, I'm thinking I'll buy travel insurance. But how likely is it that DL would do that vs. cutting us a break and waiving the costs? Or are there obscure international rules that force DL to accommodate common carrier delays for the same itinerary, even if they are on different tickets?

It's not DL, but KLM who'll be making an exception on DoD. I wouldn't call DL and mention Emirates at all. They don't even interline and are the worst of friends.

You need to call the agency who booked you. They're the ones responsible for rebooking you, not DL and not KLM.

I would keep insurance in this case.

OP - is everything on the same PNR? If so I would check with the agency that booked you regarding what IRROPs protections are and how they, as the booking agent, can provide you with primary IRROPs service.

Don't call DL. You have even worse chances calling or talking to KL. If you tell them a non-alliance partner misconnected you, expect to get zero sympathy from either and a bill for change fee plus fare difference. KL agents' two fave words are "not possible" after all. I remember a thread recently about a Gold Medallion flying Vueling inside Spain to connect to either Madrid or Barcelona to JFK. Separate tickets and PNRs, misconnected. Was truthful with DL, didn't get sympathy, and had to buy one-way walk up fares in full Y class. Ouch.

But if everything is on the same PNR despite different ticket numbers, you might be protected. But it would be the booking agency that should rebook you in case of IRROPs. Some even have waiver codes and should have good relationships with airlines to get you quickly rebooked in IRROPs.

It seems to me that whatever happens, it's the responsibility of the travel agency and the organization, not you personally. However, since you don't specify the organization or your relationship with it, it's hard to imagine the circumstances. For example, I'm not sure what happens in the case of volunteer work where the sponsor makes travel arrangements but participants pay their own way, although I'm tempted to draw an analogy with the case of passengers on a cruise ship who delegate their plane tickets to the cruise line.

You should ignore the fact that your Emirates flight is visible on delta.com. Any travel agency can add any other airline's flight to a Delta reservation, even if there isn't a ticket for it. A Reservations agent could even delete that Emirates flight out of your Delta reservation just for noticing it. You definitely should purchase travel insurance. Delta and KLM wouldn't normally offer any waivers or favors due to an IROP on Emirates. Having your flights on the same reservation is irrelevant since any travel agent can manually add these flights; it's the ticket that really matters. Since your travel is on two separate tickets (because Delta & Emirates have no ticketing or baggage agreement), you would most likely be out of luck if Emirates delayed your travel.

However, if you purchase travel insurance, be sure it covers situations involving separate tickets and the time allowed. You do NOT have a connection, so this wouldn't be classified as a case of a missed connection.

Does the organization provide travel insurance or will it buy travel insurance for you?

BTW, for where you're going, you should have emergency medical evacuation coverage.

Travel insurance is going to be expensive, as you will require "any reason" coverage due to the "known perils". And read the policy carefully, as despite its name, some any reason policies nevertheless exclude acts of war, declared or undeclared, into which category your mentioned "explosions" fall.

Thanks all for the pointers. Sadly, I'm told from colleagues that calling the agency that booked me will be my most expensive and least-helpful option. But perhaps this is where a decent insurance policy will keep me from eating those costs personally, assuming that the reason for the misconnect (and the fact that it isn't a true connection) is covered.

It's entitlement R&R travel through the USG, so any change fees are all on me if the itinerary I requested falls through. I'd also have to get my own insurance, which is where I'm leaning now. I do have perhaps some of the best medevac options in the world though through work, but I hope to not try it out :)

Sadly, no, it's a Frankenstein's Monster of a ticket because of Fly America constraints. So it's 4 different PNRs as we make our way on this trip, but mercifully this is the only time we connect between two different airlines on a single day.

I really would call KLM, even if it's a DL ticket and we connect in AMS on DL metal to the US and beyond?

You need the favor from KLM on DXB-AMS (or whatever other routing to your DL-ticketed destination you can negotiate with a KLM counter rep). Good luck. If you get more than 45 seconds in without getting a 'That is not possible!' or 'We just don't do that,' you have done well.

Day of departure issues need to be addressed by the operating carrier. If you misconnect, you will be at the mercy of KLM.

OP --- Please return when you've purchased your insurance and let us know how it went. Would be interested to know premium/coverage ratio and exclusions. Thanks.

I kind of gave up on insurance after two calls. It became a headache for the conditions: departing from a war zone, covering a connection between two different airlines. I was told there's no way that I could get a policy for under $150-200 PP.

I decided instead to look at the estimated cost out of pocket for a last minute change, and this is where I found some good news. We're booked on a OW K fare from DXB-MSP. Pulling up the fare rules I can see that it's $100 change fee/$200 cancel. For whatever reason, one can buy a walk-up K fare ticket for that route most days of the week (except for immediately around the new year). Even if it's not available in mid-January, an M fare is about $800 more than K and is DL's highest economy fare for that routing.

So, in this case, I'm thinking I'm going to self-insure. I figure the out of pocket cost would be somewhere between $100 and $900 if I know I'm going to misconnect on DoD. I can cover $900 if I need to, and it seems silly to pay > $200 for a policy to cover that kind of possible cost. Any flaws in my reasoning?

Well, I really disagree with the concept of travel insurance (other than perhaps medical) as it on average be a net loss and if one can not afford the loss, maybe they can not afford the vacation. So I agree with your self-insure action.

A few points though.

Are your sure they are separate tickets? You will have separate PNRs anytime multiple carriers are involved. Do you have separate ticket numbers?

Second, despite the fact that airlines owe you nothing, they do tend to take care of stranded pax in these type cases. Upon a late arrival at DBX just go to the transfer desk (or ticket window) and beg.

It's kind of like the flat tire rule. The airlines are certainly out to gouge you if you change plans, but are not out to screw you on a travel problem.

As as been noted above by a couple of us, EK and DL don't interline. It's not possible to issue a single ticket.

I would agree with your decision. In the last 2 weeks Emirates only cancelled this last Saturday's flight. At the quoted insurance price, and given the walk up fare, self-insurance appears logical.

While weather and warfare will probably affect all airlines equally, depending on the day there may also be a FlyDubai flight available that will reach DXB in time for your connection.

Good luck.

I have personal experience in a situation where a cross-airline-partner connection on separate tickets went awry. I was booked SEA-ORD on an AS ticket, and then ORD-AMS-IST on a separate KL 074 ticket. The AS flight was delayed, causing me to not be able to join the ORD-AMS flight on KL.

AS coordinated with DL staff in SEA, and a compromise was reached - DL took control of my ticket and allowed me to rebook onto SEA-AMS-IST. I had to pay the additional fare collection for the SEA-AMS-IST itinerary on the order of $750/person, but Delta waived the change fees and allowed me to book a V fare (even though it was day of departure), making the additional collection painful but not disastrous.

That was a miserable day of travel and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but I did find there was some level of agent discretion (at least regarding waived change fees) even though they weren't obligated to accommodate me. To be fair, though, at the time the DL/AS/KL relationship was a stronger one... I'd expect less generosity in an EK situation.

Does the typical frontline DL agent or first level supervisor hate EK as much as certain DL top executives do?

This thread went sideways with bad terminology. OP is not connecting anywhere. One may only connect between segments of a single ticket. Anything else, including multiple tickets in a single PNR is not a connection. None of the carriers mentioned in the OP offer protection across separate tickets, even in a single PNR.

If OP no shows for a departure, his ticket will be cancelled and it will retain whatever value it has under the fare rules of that ticket. Anything else is at the mercy of the onward carrier and that is a matter of finding the right agent with the correct knowledge and seniority as well as access to inventory.

This may be a series of tickets where insurance is worth the cost. But, read the policy in detail before purchasing. Few policies cover transits between tickets or at least few will purchase an entirely new ticket. So, be careful that you are not reading "connection" when you have separate tickets.

"Buy America" suggests that this is some form of official travel under a USG contract or somesuch. If this is the case, won't the contractor or USG agency be responsible for getting you back to the US if this crazy itinerary does not work out? Your route is hardly infrequently traveled these days and whatever agency is involved must confront no show / cancelled tickets routinely. Perhaps it has some escalation contact with which it deals.