ijgordon

FWIW, DL's COC does provide for reimbursement of nonrefundable expenses, but doesn't give a time limit on correcting the error fare.
I think what complicates this in general is that often times tickets are issued by third parties (i.e., travel agents), so it's harder to verify in real-time.

cfischer

6 weeks? Wow, I would write to the DOT. They should have cancelled this much earlier.

Often1

OP held tickets which he purchased in clear violation of DL's anti-fraud ticketing provisions for 23 days. While he did cancel the duplicate ticket at some point, this does not change the anti-fraud provision in the COC and it is more than likely that this is what caused the entire issue to come to a real person at RM and it may be the reason DL elected to cancel the mistake fare ticket.

For those who think that the rules ought to be different, that is fine. But, the rules today are clear and DL has changed its COC to align with DOT's Guidance. The provision here is DOT's post-purchase rule which generally prohibits an add/collect once a ticket is issued. DOT recognizes mistake fares and has issued Guidance providing that the carrier may cancel a mistake fare ticket so long as the carrier reimburses expenses which were incurred in reliance on the ticket and which cannot be refunded. The Guidance does not set a time limit, but as many have noted, it makes no sense to wait longer than necessary as the costs mount (for DL).

If indeed DL did cancel the mistake fare ticket because of the duplicate ticket violation, DL might be quite happy ---- to the extent that businesses are happy and sad ---- to respond this one as it would demonstrate to DOT the complexities of these issues. Even if DOT changes the Guidance to set a time limit, that will not help OP as the Guidance will not be retroactive.

OP's best bet is to get himself in front of a supervisor, if not a second-tier supervisor, and explain the purpose of his trip. Maybe a second tier supervisor will take up the battle for him, maybe offer to ticket in Y, reinstate the award ticket, or perhaps even manage what is most unlikely, reinstate the D1 mistake ticket.

jdrtravel

Huh? What fraud occurred?

jdrtravel

Second guessing the advertised price is absolutely not the responsibility of the consumer. Period.

As others have said, perhaps if the fare was an utterly obvious mistake fare then one could possibly start to make this argument, but $900 is clearly not that, and DL's 1.5 month delay in taking action only further cements that.

spamkiller

I am not a lawyer licensed to practice law. However, I have done some study on the issues relating to contracts, precisely two classes.

Unilateral mistakes arise most commonly when one party makes a mechanical error in computation. If only one of the parties is mistaken about facts relating to the agreement, the mistake will not prevent formation of a contract. However, if the nonmistaken party knew or had reason to know of the mistake made by the other party, the contract is voidable by the mistaken party. As is the case with mutual mistake, for the contract to be voidable, the mistake must have a material effect on the agreed upon exchange and the mistaken party must not have borne the risk of the mistake.

Here, there is nothing that would indicate to the reasonable traveler that a $900 business class fare would be a mistake, depending on when the travel was for I paid $1,200 for a Delta One ticket for BOS-JFK-MAD. Some very cheap fare sales have been common. In the case of mileage awards (someone mentioned an 80,000 award), Delta made it harder to claim the purchaser knew it was a mistake where they removed the mileage chart and instead went to a more dynamic pricing model.

GadgetFreak

kthomas

First: I don't need a novel, and you've left out critical details such as dates of flights. Skip the irrelevancies.

If true-- I presume you've contacted DL via all media to try and resolve or reinstate? If not, do so before b.t..ing here.

That said, six weeks (if true-- I don't necessarily believe you) is absurd. If your story is true, find an attorney and file for reliance damages. Start at about $2M.

Oh-- you're story isn't true, you haven't told us something? (OP alludes to many other flyers affected, but doesn't seem to substantiate this. Why not? A DM who *does charity work*? Oh ... )

Darn, the damages to us are too low to justify litigation, except to make a point.

Which DL might want to do, given reputational damage. (Is there a reason you haven't posted the email from DL, or does it not exist, or six weeks isn't true?)

OP has a posting history and seems like a real person (at least, presuming no one logged into their account), but ... this just doesn't quite smell right and add up. Do we have any other instance, of a cancellation six weeks out?

At least: start a post like this with beef, and don't wander around into five different issues, which make me worry it's all a smokescreen.

TBD

This isn't so black & white. The CoC has a provision for error fares.

Often1

The common definition of wire fraud in this country can be found at 18 USC 1343. In this case, purchasing a ticket which one does not intend to fly (one ticket or the other had to be one of these) after acknowledging in writing (the little "I agree" checkbox is there fore a reason) is fraud.

This is not about whether anyone goes to prison or is sued, it is about the term. It is why the COC are written the way they are and an acknowledgement is required before a ticket is sold.

3Cforme

The OP - in his first thread posting - acknowledged he thought it could be a mistake fare. He's not claiming special insight, either. Emphasis mine.

naples_flyer

As the OP of this thread I need to make an update. After Delta notified me of the cancellation of my ticket I did send a written complaint to them. At this point I have not heard anything from them but when I log into my Delta account there is a reservation with a new confirmation number that replicates the ticket they cancelled. I suspect I will be hearing from them as to why they reinstated it but for now I can just express my thanks to Delta for handling this.

jdrtravel

Have you been charged? Or were you never refunded?

spamkiller

Nonsense! Contracts 101 says to have a valid contract , you have offer, acceptance, consideration, and no defenses to formation. There had been many sales of US to Asia and US to Europe for less than $500. You are correct about the a ticket in the premium cabin for 6,000 miles being a clear mistake, since you can take a quick look at the reward chart....oh...never mind, there is no reward chart.

On a $900 fare, I would doubt that a jury would find it an clear mistake that the original poster would know. The claim by delta of having another ticket would also fail, as he cancelled the earlier conflicting ticket after booking the second. There is nothing wrong with changing plans. If you had a ticket booked go to go Detroit in December, but you got a great deal on a airfare and hotel to go to Bali (not a mistake), would you do the same?

Often1

This never gets to a jury.

OP acknowledged the COC and agreed to them.
1. There is an "error fare" provision. It's DL's to determine that the fare was offered in error and there is no time limit. Just a duty (reflecting DOT Guidance) to make good on non-refundable expenses.
2. The anti-fraud ticketing provision (a bit more than simply duplicate tickets) also does not have an "out" if you cancel one of the duplicate tickets before DL catches you.

In order to win on the facts, there has to be a violation of the law and whatever happened here, DL did not violate either DOT rules or its contract.

But, what all of this shows is that the Greek Chorus ranting about DOT complaints was the wrong way to go. Calling won't help in these situations, but clear & concise requests for reconsideration do get read. Simply declarative sentences, free from invective, conjecture, and quasi-legal opinions, do wind up with adults.