BlueSeat

out of curiosity, how do you know that Delta keeps track of how many times they've waived a change fee for a particular customer? Has anyone here been denied a waived change fee because of doing it too frequently?

Psyduck1

Apologies gooselee,

I did not fully comprehend your response. I blame 16 hours in my office with no windows.

Still it seems policy is a little unclear. $200 service fee and/or fare difference. I wonder if there is an internal interpretation of the rule, or if it is up to the agent?

Or is the differentiation based soley on nonrefundable/refundable?

Psyduck1

Never been denied but as a skymiles member last august(when I really ramped up both personal and business travel) I missed a flight and the res agent specifically told me that she was waiving any fees and that it would be noted in my skymiles account.

flyerCO

Airlines have had these type of tracking systems in place for years. AA system scores you even and depending on the score, you can get favors/waivers.

mot29

I've had the fee waived several times, once health, several times when my employer has scheduled a meeting I needed to attend.
With the health issue, the DL agent asked the name and phone number of my doctor but said they wouldn't be calling.
When for my employer issues, the fee has been waived when the change has resulted in a more expensive ticket purchase, and not waived when the price was even or reduced.

jdrtravel

There are reports, including a case that went all the way to the supreme court, of airlines cancelling peoples frequent flyer accounts when they have abused the system.

kitkat77

I have had my fees waived a few times as a DM. Weather waivers or anything resembling weather in the area they usually do it with no hesitation, of course. Some of the others were circumstantial.

Once was a flood in Bs Aires that basically rendered all routes in but one impassable. I called en route as it was obvious that the 4 hr drive from where I was working was going to be an 8+ hr drive, and it was about 2 hrs from departure. He rebooked me, no fee, no problem. Only had to call once, thankfully, as I was on a sketchy data connection and a Skype call from the middle of nowhere. I did ask to be rerouted on a different airline later that night and he said no to that, but would do the Delta flight next day (Delta-op is once per day from EZE).

Twice was in response to health/death. Once my FIL was put in hospice care. They asked for the name of my FIL and the name and phone of the hospice. The 2nd was the following week. FIL went downhill fast and I had to book a same-day award ticket to in-laws for my husband and I on a day I had a trip scheduled. FIL died en route. I went to the ticket counter in in-laws home airport, explained the situation and that I had a trip later that night, and they did not ask for proof (although I volunteered) and called in and had it resolved, no fee, no worries. Both were moved forward ~2 months, same origin and destination.

miraclebear2003

As has been discussed, they basically can't call, because the doctor, hospital, etc. are not permitted to give out information without your permission. Rest assured that it's on your record.

BTW, I've called for "medical" reasons as a GM and have not had any problem changing the flight without charge.

NoStressHere

Not sure how much the change fee is vs just throwing the ticket away. In any event, wait as long as possible to do anything. Flight might get changed. Or your meeting will come back.

And this is why some folks buy refundable tickets.

rucksack

This thread is the epitome of YMMV. Over the years I've seen the gamut of responses from Delta reps, but generally I've had positive experiences with Delta reps:

• + Rep asked if I had a medical reason for needing a change and when I said "no, my work trip changed and this interrupted my personal trip," she waived the change fee without even asking a supervisor
• + I didn't ask for the change fee to be waived but asked for the cheapest possible option to change my flight to the following day, and the rep waived the change fee by finding me G/A/P availability the following day and documenting the change as an upfare (technically the upfare policy only permits the change fee to be waived when remaining on the same flight)
• + Rep agreed to cancel my ticket and waive the change fee after I had already booked a new one way on a flight the next day.
• - Rep refused to waive the change fee for a same day change rather than just charge the difference in fare when my same fare class wasn't available.

Generally, I've found that simply asking the rep to waive the change fee "as a courtesy" gets the best response if you don't have a permitted reason for a waiver (e.g. medical, bereavement, etc.).

nichelle

I called today as I was trying to change the return routing on a trip I have scheduled in a week and a half. There was no reason other than convenience. After looking at multiple possibilities, the agent offered to waive the change fee to help. I left the itinerary as it was and didn't take the offer. But, it was made.

gooselee

No worries! As someone already said, this is such a YMMV topic, even though there are rules it can be hard to distinguish when they are being enforced vs. when an agent is being nice.

The exact fees are actually buried in the fare rules of every ticket. This would include not having any change/cancellation fee for fully-flexible/refundable tickets. (Note that there are also "Refundable" tickets where you are still charged a fee - the "Refundable" designation simply means you can have $ returned to your original form of payment.)

But, the definition of a change is pretty simple: switching anything other than the exact dates and flights that were originally ticketed. Some changes like SDCs are eligible for reduced or waived fees. Other changes like airline-initiated schedule changes or rebookings due to IRROPS are of course done without a fee. But for most of the changeable/nonrefundable tickets many of us book, a change initiated by the passenger should, by the letter of the rule, result in a charge of $200 (for domestic) plus the difference in fare (or minus the difference, if the new ticket is cheaper than the original).

EWR-6785

1. My spouse and I were at the airport checking in for a return flight on a round trip and received a call of a medical emergency for my father, who lived relatively close to the airport. The counter agent made a note in the record that we cancelled due to a medical emergency, and that we should contact Delta later about waiving the change fee on our tickets. We did not use the return portion of that ticket.

2. My father passed away and I immediately booked a ticket on the DL app to a small station close to where he lived and sprinted to the airport. However, it was the (beginning) of the week of massive weather disruptions, with the flight to the small station delayed 4+ hours. The Delta counter agent was very accommodating, and changed me to a flight to a larger station about an hour further away at my request. That flight was a good bit cheaper than the flight I booked to the smaller station, but she said it would take her some time to process a refund or bereavement accommodation, and she said I could contact Reservation about an adjustment later since I had to hurry to the gate.

Was wondering if you had advice as to whether 1)it would be better to make these requests by phone, or by email/web submission and 2) it would be better to request the change fee waiver for the first trip and price adjustment for the second trip together, or separately submitted requests.
I currently have no status. I realize this would be much easier if I could just call the Medallion line. I have, however, been making a fair number of high fare/refundable ticket purchases this year.

dinanm3atl

Yah. I had a motorcycle accident and the medallion line changed 4 different trips(cancels, changes and such) and none of the fees. I provided accident info, Dr Info(contact info) and details. Offered to provide X-Rays but not required. I also noted that I have a LOT of other travel already booked and an agent handled.

As with anything YMMV.

jdrtravel

I would suggest starting with a phone call to Customer Care: 1-800-455-2720
Hours
Mon-Fri: 8:00am-9:00pm ET
Sat-Sun (and U.S. Holidays).

Explain the whole thing to them over the phone, and be sure they understand that you were caught up in the meltdown last week, as agents seem to have the green light to be very accommodating when it comes to this. If this does not work you could try an email. I would keep it all together.