dealornot13

Hi guys,

I wanted to seek your advice on what I can do in this situation and whether I can get any compensation for the downgrade.

I was initially booked in the following

YYZ-LGA Delta but operated by Westjet in Economy
LGA-ATL Delta Comfort+
ATL-SNA Delta Comfort+

Just an hour before my YYZ-LGA flight, I received a notification that the LGA-ATL segment will be leaving an hour later which leave me with only 15 minutes to connect from ATL-SNA flight, so for sure I will miss this flight.

I called them immediately and they can only offer me another flight which get me into Orange County (SNA) around 7:55pm which is almost 6 hours later than I was originally shceduled to land.

The worse part was that both Delta Comfort+ segments above are now in Economy and they told me that I will not be getting a refund for the difference in class fare. Do you think I have a case here to get my refund for the difference?

kop84

I think that if you submit your records to Customer Care they'll refund you the difference. But over the phone with the whole East Coast getting snow with I"m sure thousands of people on hold they just need you off the phone and anything like that they can take care of later. They probably should have told you to do it that way, but I try to cut people some slack on days like today...especially with the ATL blackout, and all the other storms, that has to weigh on people after a time.

dealornot13

Got it, thanks for your input.

Cory6188

Also, was the Comfort + seating an upgrade, or did you pay for it right off the bat? If it was a complimentary upgrade (SU), then you're probably SOL in terms of any compensation. It's just the unfortunate downside of IRROPS and taking what you can get in terms of available seats. If you had paid, then that's obviously a different story for downgrade compensation accordingly.

jdrtravel

This is all that matters. If you paid for C+ you get a refund, it you did not, you don't.

yaychemistry

I wonder if the fact that it's IRROPS and not a schedule change that has anything to do with the agent's answer.

During my latest IRROPS adventure I was able to choose between different rebooking options via the App. I vaguely recall there being language on the selection screen that said something along the lines of "if you accept a routing in a different cabin then you will not be refunded". We were supposed to fly RU, and managed to (eventually) get re-upgraded on the flight we actually took, so I'm not sure if the fact that we were upgraded triggered this language or not...

Maybe someone with today's weather will get a chance to take a screen shot (although hopefully everything goes as smoothly as possible for everyone on the road today)? It took some digging to find the options. It wasn't present on the "Today" panel or on the boarding pass. You have to go to "My Trips" and there was a button at the bottom to select a different routing.

All that being said, even if there were that language I would hope that DL customer care would refund the difference!

dealornot13

I bought these roundtrip seats and as of right now my flight back to YYZ is still in Comfort+ unless there is another change.

That's good to know that they will be compensating me for the downgrade. Any idea what it might look like once I complete my entire trip. Will they be refunding the difference for 1/2 the trip or how does it work?

jrl767

any refund would certainly be for only the affected flight(s)

jdrtravel

It varies. Most likely they will issue you a voucher in the $200 range, plus fare difference. You need to write them an email using the complaint link on the website to get the ball rolling.

kop84

OP may get a $200 voucher plus the fare difference, but it wasn't a straight downgrade, it was an IROP (likely weather) and OP accepted the fastest routing DL had left vs waiting for a flight that has C+. DL would likely consider that a voluntary downgrade...he'll likely get the difference back but extra compensation is unlikely if the cause of the delay was weather...but who knows sometimes the CC rep is feeling extra generous!

beachmouse

I've gotten that refund in the past (downgrade due to ATL ground stop IRROPS recovery) but I had to proactively call it in and then it had to get escalated to a second level CS rep who could pull the record for the original booking including cabin/fare class and not just the record for what I actually flew. My kettle self didn't get a voucher but did get 10K Sky Miles for service recovery in a related screw up on that ticket during the same IRROPS event.

Lehava

Exactly what was said here. At the top of the screen today it clearly stated if you accept an alternative routing in a different class you get no credit or refund.
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