DiamondInTheRough

My 20 year old son agreed to VDB out of BHM airport last week. In exchange he was promised an email where he can choose his compensation in the amount of $400. Instead he received future flight credit in that amount (no email, we found it in his wallet in skymiles account). He has no use for this, as I buy all his tickets using my miles.

I talked to GA in MSP this week when I traveled about the situation and they told me to call CS, which is what he did. CS told him to talk to corporate. He just got off the phone with corporate and basically they told him that what he got is not negotiable and that he signed a document that he agrees to compensation. When he challenged them regarding this, the person on the line just kept repeating: this is not negotiable, take it or leave it.

He would have never agreed to be inconvenienced and delayed for $400 future flight credit. It was a very early flight he had to wake up at 3 am to take and he wanted to get home ASAP. As I said, there is no value to him in this nor is it to me.

My question is, does he have a recourse. He wanted to complain to DOT, but I told him to hold his horses before we find out if it is even under DOT purview. I am sure if he complains to Delta, they will throw some miles at him which once again will be useless. Any advice how and if to proceed?

suvayanr

I’m confused. You buy his tickets with your miles, so I assume he flies Delta every now and then. Why not use the credit to buy his next ticket instead of using your miles?

As far as recourse, unless you have the documents he was given as part of the VDB, I don’t think you’ll have much of a case. It seems more of a he-said/she-said kind of thing.

Allan38103

The first question is:either (A) he signed the agreement or (B) he didn't.

If it is A, you're out of luck. If it's B, keep trying.

Get the answer to the question first.

3Cforme

As suvayanr notes, there's value in his next travel as you wouldn't need to use miles (or as many miles).

You noted he volunteered, but then state he wouldn't have volunteered for a $400 flight credit. What compensation and amounts did he think would be available to him in the email?

exwannabe

I assume the VDB voucher could be applied to a ticket for Daddy DiamondInTheRough?

If OP really wants to fight the issue though I would ask for a copy of the signed agreement.(presuming OP's son did not keep it). Sounds like a real difficult fight though as even the OP did not assert he was promised cash, only a choice provided by DL. Such would likely be a choice between a $400 voucher and 40K SM (or whatever).

MSPeconomist

Isn't DL still letting inconvenienced passengers choose a gift card from Amazon, Target, etc. instead of DL gift cards? When DL started doing this, it was very well received. My guess is that this is the offer the OP took, not an expectation of either cash or miles.

indufan

Only from a few markets. The only ones I know of are MSP and BOS.

pvn

"agreed to VDB"

"wanted to get home ASAP"

hmm

Often1

As a starting point, what is it that you or he wants? The only time these credits are worthless is for people who can't use them and it sounds as though he can.

Why even ask here until you know the facts? What did the document he signed say? If he agreed in writing to whatever it is that DL offered, perhaps even specifically to flight credit, that is the end of it. If your son wants to sue the individual DL employee who made the commitment, he can do that.

But, if the document says that the son gets a choice, then that's what DL owes him.

Presuming that the son didn't snap a picture of the document, I would simply ask the next GA you bump into at a non-busy time to print one off for you so you can see what it says. It's always possible that the son got a different form, but it's a starting point.

Once you have the form, you will know whether you pursue DL in writing, file a DOT complaint or he sues in SCC.

viperbrown

IMO it's not worth yours our your son's time to fight this further. Feel lucky you got some compensation, most people don't even get that. The voucher has value as follows -

Option 1 - instead of using your miles, buy your son's next flight using this voucher. Mind the expiration date.
Option 2 - if the voucher allows, use it to buy a ticket for someone else
Option 3 - if the voucher allows, try selling it on ebay
Option 4 - if the voucher or Delta allows, donate it and get a tax benefit, if you itemize your deductions

all four options have value.

MSPeconomist

AFAIK all DL vouchers are nontransferable, so Options 2, 3, and 4 are precluded.

MSPeconomist

I got a "you can choose the gift card you want" offer from DL by phone when I called afterward to point out an issue, IIRC about a DeltaConnection flight from MSP.

exwannabe

Non-transferable does not imply one can not spend it on another's ticket. Miles are non-transferable as an example.

Edit: So option 2 is in play AFAIK. Agree with you on 3 and 4.

MSPeconomist

You can if the other person's ticket is on the same PNR as your ticket, in which case the voucher credit will be split equally.

Paplover

Here is a quote from one of my VDB vouchers -

• Redemption/Transferability: eCredit is non-transferable unless assigned to someone traveling with the original eCredit owner on the same reservation at the time the eCredit is being redeemed. Delta assumes no responsibility for unauthorized use of the eCredit by any person who presents it for redemption. A maximum of one eCredit per passenger may be applied and used on one ticket.

This is pretty standard for Delta VDB vouchers so you see they are very limited in who can use them. I think this was a response to people selling them on Craigslist and then claiming they were stolen and the buyers blaming Delta. United's are truly transferable, my wife used one I got from them.

You can use SkyMiles to buy a ticket for someone else but you cannot freely transfer them into another person's account.