We were on DL 1298 which was over 4 hours late leaving LAX. The flight was supposed to depart at 5 and we didn’t leave until after 9. The sky club agents were great and protected us on 2 different sets of flights for tonight’s and tomorrow morning but the agent somehow offloaded us from our original flight (and got it back, we ended up taking it) and in the process somehow switched our bags to a flight with a connection tomorrow. Super inconvenient all around since they told us our plane was repaired at 7 but after we left the lounge because boarding was announced they took the plane out of service and got another plane from a hanger. No real food or drinks were provided - there was a small snack cart set out with crackers and nuts. And service on the flight was nonexisyent other than quick dinner. Trays cleared in 20 minutes and no drink refills at all.

We were in F on an award that we booked through Virgin Atlantic if it matters.

Luckily our car rental company stayed open (many closed on arrival) because no delta employees are around to assist with taxi vouchers. Worth contacting DL for any comp?

Shoot them a note, they'll probably toss you 10 or 15k skymiles for your troubles.

On the chance that someone does not know from memory, this would be the evening LAX-KOA service.

There is no compensation due, but DL will generally issue a customer service gesture of some SkyMiles.

Check your travel insurance as a 4+ hour delay may result in some standard reimbursement per passenger.

I would only complain about the service if it was abbreviated due to the delay. In other words, if dinner was scheduled and not served, that would likely increase the gesture. The award ticket is irrelevant, your status is not.

This is a bit of a DL fail as F pax should likely have been issued a meal voucher at the Club or gate when the clock kept ticking. On the other hand, this one sounds as though it involved creeping delays and the location of a substitute aircraft, so hard to send people off for a meal.

There are no mandatory compensation laws for delays in the US. Airlines have a Contract of Carriage which describe their liabilities in the event of delays. These can be found on their website. They generally limit their liability to providing you with a hotel (and transportation to the hotel if they do not provide a shuttle) when delayed overnight at a connecting airport and only when the delay is not due to reasons outside their control (such as weather). Note, you need to go through the airline for these (don't assume they will reimburse if you arrange on your own). They do not provide for transportation at your origin or destination airports or other incidentals (like food) unless they divert you to an alternate nearby airport where they will provide ground transportation to your original destination airport. As noted above, they may provide some miles or a future transportation credit as a goodwill gesture.

This would not apply in this case since you booked with miles, but for future reference some credit cards (if you book the full cost of the flight on that credit card) are your travel insurance and will reimburse you for incidentals. As always, read the fine print though.

Did you expect a buffet at the gate? I think the cart with snacks and drinks is a nice touch from Delta.


As for the drink refills...if you left after 9p, they were probably trying to keep aisle traffic to a minimum as most people would want to sleep. You always have the call button. I've never seen that ignored.

Thanks everyone. We are still missing our bags which were removed from our original flight but at least we are in Hawaii. Our bags were on another flight this morning but tracking showed they were removed from the plane and then reloaded and now no further update to the connection flight even though the plane landed.

Fwiw, it wasn’t a rolling delay. Started out that way but we were told the plane left the maintenance hanger and was at the gate so we left the lounge to board. Instead of boarding they told us the plane failed the mechanics test and they had to swap out the aircraft. Just annoying but apparently many of the evening flights to HNL and KOA from LAX were delayed last night.

Prestige and chase sapphire cover you when you travel on points too

You can buy stuff and delta will reimburse you for your delayed suitcase

thanks. Will check to see how we paid for the taxes - likely amex plat or chase sapphire. Our hotel ended up finding our suitcase - Delta keeps leaving us messages that it never came in on any of the flights today. The whole thing is bizarre. We went to target and I bought a replacement swimsuit, dress, flip flops, sunblock and hair brush. My husband just got flip flops. Hopefully they will reimburse.