The last few times I have called-- and it required some HUCAing-- Delta has given me the option of having them call back whenever they're ready for me. I find that helpful.

In this case I think that asking for a supervisor is the best option.

The downside of HUCA is occasionally, even after waiting a random 1-30 min amount of time, sometimes you get the same agent you were just speaking to. And THAT is a super awkward conversation...

Yeah-- that's why I don't agree with the wait 5 minute thing people have been saying. I think call back immediately as the agent you spoke with is likely to be on another call.

True. But it still requires time and I've had the call-back thing screw up before. The phone rings and then when I've answered, it disconnects, and another call back puts me back in the queue. Not an issue if you're calling the elite line and get through in a few minutes but when the hold times are 30-60 minutes or more, it's annoying so unless I need my phone for something else, I usually just choose to remain on the line.

I think a lot of times, the agents on the regular lines are used to dealing with non-frequent flyer passengers who aren't as familiar with the ins and outs of the system, and aren't used to getting get push-back based on knowledge of how the system works. I had award travel on another airline that I didn't have status on at the time and my itinerary had a significant change (AA, miles booked as all AA marketed/operated flights). Long story short, my comfortable 90-120 min layover at ORD in late December was cut-down to 40-45 min. Not acceptable to me. I called and asked to get rebooked via a different hub or a longer layover. I was told by the agent "sorry, no mileage tickets available at the rate you booked at" the by the first agent (I knew this as I had already looked at itineraries on AA.com prior to calling). Now while it might be somewhat DYKWIAish, or perhaps a better case of "Do You Know What I Know?" I said "Yes, but I know you or a supervisor can open up the award space in the case of a schedule change" and they responded "yea, I guess we can do that", and a supervisor was brought on and the change was made to get me an itinerary that more closely matched my original itinerary times with a reasonable layover in DFW. I don't know if the agent just didn't know this or simply didn't want to do the extra work, hoping an initial "No, nothing's available" would get me - a non-status passenger with their airline - to go away and allow them to go on to the next customer.

Last year I had a schedule change where a 5pm non-stop flight to BWI was changed to a redeye leaving at midnight (so 7 hours later than planned). I requested to be moved to a non-stop flight to DCA that left at 5:05pm and was denied by the agent because it was a "different city", unless of course I paid an additional 70,000 SkyMiles. My only other option was a refund. I asked for a supervisor and she made the change during their discussion while I was on hold. By the time I was connected she quickly confirmed the itinerary and reissued my ticket. For me being denied a reasonable alternative due to an extreme schedule change is becoming more and more common without supervisor intervention.

That should be allowed by the DM co-terminal exception anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Billy Mumphrey (Post 29461857)

Last year I had a schedule change where a 5pm non-stop flight to BWI was changed to a redeye leaving at midnight (so 7 hours later than planned). I requested to be moved to a non-stop flight to DCA that left at 5:05pm and was denied by the agent because it was a "different city", unless of course I paid an additional 70,000 SkyMiles. My only other option was a refund. I asked for a supervisor and she made the change during their discussion while I was on hold. By the time I was connected she quickly confirmed the itinerary and reissued my ticket. For me being denied a reasonable alternative due to an extreme schedule change is becoming more and more common without supervisor intervention.

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Yes I have run into similar issues. Sometimes the first agent pushes it through, sometimes it requires HUCA or elevating to a supervisor if the first agent balks but thankfully I've had overall good success in similar scenarios on Delta. It took two calls but in one case I was able to use the schedule change to switch HND-LAX-SEA to NRT-DTW-SEA to get a 747 - my one and only Delta 747 flight before they were retired.

That may be true for SDC but the schedule change referenced was well in advance, not an SDC, and waiting until day-of to try to SDC in such a case would be unreliable, especially as SDC is now more difficult with the fare bucket restrictions, not to mention the issue of little to no ideal seats being available. Better to try to get a more ideal itinerary as early as possible once you realize the schedule change. But with schedule changes in advance, I've even had success with DL getting alternate airports that aren't even co-terminals.