Kudos to the Delta Diamond Desk. Bravo!
Apr 3, 2018, 8:14 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: HSV
Programs: Bellevue Lifetime Premiere Mega Elite Supreme
Posts: 1,509
Kudos to the Delta Diamond Desk. Bravo!
In the age of Internet squeaky wheels, I’d like to offer some praise on behalf of the DM desk.
Today, I arrived at HSV at 4:00 PM for my 4:55 PM flight out of BHM.
Yeah. You read that right.
In the likely event you aren’t familiar with Huntsville and Birmingham (Alabama) airports, they’re roughly 90 minutes drive apart.
Oddly enough, I checked in and rechecked my itinerary multiple times in the 24 hours leading up to my flight. I just got in my car and drove, without thinking, to HSV.
I arrived and had a rare checked bag — heading to Vegas for NAB and have some gear I needed to take. Agent asks for my last name, then says I’m not in the system. I chuckled at her obvious error.
Pulling up my itinerary on my iPhone, with great horror I spot the “BHM to ATL”. My heart sank.
She advises me me to call the desk. I’m on a discount F fare (A) and she says horrible things will happen if she tries to muck around and that the desk has superpowers she lacks, but the agent holds my hand while I plead with the Medallion desk agent, who is AWESOME with a capital “AWESOME!”
it takes 20 minutes on and off hold, but for the grand total of $13.61 in additional costs I’m on an alternate itinerary on a J fare on both flights (HSV>ATL>LAS).
So, here I sit in 1C on DL2202 just having finished my chicken parmigiana dinner, washing it down with a cheap red wine while “typing” this post on my iPhone.
Bravo, Delta. Bravo.
Today, I arrived at HSV at 4:00 PM for my 4:55 PM flight out of BHM.
Yeah. You read that right.
In the likely event you aren’t familiar with Huntsville and Birmingham (Alabama) airports, they’re roughly 90 minutes drive apart.
Oddly enough, I checked in and rechecked my itinerary multiple times in the 24 hours leading up to my flight. I just got in my car and drove, without thinking, to HSV.
I arrived and had a rare checked bag — heading to Vegas for NAB and have some gear I needed to take. Agent asks for my last name, then says I’m not in the system. I chuckled at her obvious error.
Pulling up my itinerary on my iPhone, with great horror I spot the “BHM to ATL”. My heart sank.
She advises me me to call the desk. I’m on a discount F fare (A) and she says horrible things will happen if she tries to muck around and that the desk has superpowers she lacks, but the agent holds my hand while I plead with the Medallion desk agent, who is AWESOME with a capital “AWESOME!”
it takes 20 minutes on and off hold, but for the grand total of $13.61 in additional costs I’m on an alternate itinerary on a J fare on both flights (HSV>ATL>LAS).
So, here I sit in 1C on DL2202 just having finished my chicken parmigiana dinner, washing it down with a cheap red wine while “typing” this post on my iPhone.
Bravo, Delta. Bravo.
Apr 3, 2018, 8:41 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: HSV
Programs: Bellevue Lifetime Premiere Mega Elite Supreme
Posts: 1,509
Apr 4, 2018, 6:43 am
#7
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Huntsville, AL
Programs: DL DM 1.929MM, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, IHG Platinum, Avis CHM, Marriott Titanium (lifetime gold)
Posts: 7,860
Did you get rebooked back to HSV as well or do you have to hitch-hike?
Apr 4, 2018, 7:04 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Treasure Coast, FL
Programs: DL Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, HH Diamond, Avis Preferred Plus, National Executive
Posts: 4,578
In 2010 or so I showed up for my AS SFO-PDX flight. Minor issue was I was ticketed OAK-PDX. They took care of it no questions asked and processed my upgrade. Twas embarrassing.
Glad it worked out for you.
Glad it worked out for you.
Apr 4, 2018, 7:25 am
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: DL Scattered Smothered Covered Medallion, Some hotel & car stuff, Kroger Plus Card
Posts: 10,745
OTOH, I had a coworker call me a couple years ago because she had arrived at IAD (her usual airport) for a flight out of DCA. She was flying her beloved UA, who told her to pound sand and would only quote her full-fare walk-up tickets, including repricing her next-day return at a similarly high fare, while smugly making fun of her for going to the wrong airport (she called me from the check-in desk and I could hear them in the background). She ended up walking away from the UA desk and rebooking with another airline. While I guess UA was fully within their rights to do that, the attitude of their response pissed her off enough that she became airline agnostic from that point forward.
For all its faults, I do think DL at least has agents who are willing to try to do something to help their customers, especially their elites. I've been told "no" any number of times, but it's generally at least conveyed in a friendly, or at worst neutral, way.
For all its faults, I do think DL at least has agents who are willing to try to do something to help their customers, especially their elites. I've been told "no" any number of times, but it's generally at least conveyed in a friendly, or at worst neutral, way.
Apr 4, 2018, 8:21 am
#10
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 799
Its interesting to see the opposite side of DL.
I went from diamond last year to Nothing this year (well, silver but that really is the same as nothing). As a diamond I noticed the telephone support slipping tremendously over the last year. Now, as a lowly FO I notice the staff is generally not very nice and I would say as a casual flier there really isn't a big difference airlines anymore. All airlines seem to treat us with indifference and presume we will take what they give as we have almost no choice.
The free agent role actually works pretty well if one books J most of the time. I find all airlines take big spenders differently even if they have zero status on the airline. One thing I have noticed - I get killer J fares now when I look at DL. I don't know if that is part of FCM or due to my drop in status but it sure seems like DL wants to sell me J a lot more now then they did when I was diamond. I almost feel guilty taking the upgrade from a diamond, almost...
I went from diamond last year to Nothing this year (well, silver but that really is the same as nothing). As a diamond I noticed the telephone support slipping tremendously over the last year. Now, as a lowly FO I notice the staff is generally not very nice and I would say as a casual flier there really isn't a big difference airlines anymore. All airlines seem to treat us with indifference and presume we will take what they give as we have almost no choice.
The free agent role actually works pretty well if one books J most of the time. I find all airlines take big spenders differently even if they have zero status on the airline. One thing I have noticed - I get killer J fares now when I look at DL. I don't know if that is part of FCM or due to my drop in status but it sure seems like DL wants to sell me J a lot more now then they did when I was diamond. I almost feel guilty taking the upgrade from a diamond, almost...
Apr 4, 2018, 8:23 am
#11
In memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PIT
Programs: DM life is over 2MM PM now & NW MillionAir Wyndham Rewards Plat -Hotels.com Silver -Accor Silver
Posts: 15,408
I'm ALWAYS hesitant to post what I consider to be "favors" the Diamond Desk has done for me, for fear of them reading the posts and clamping down on them, but, here's what I consider to be a biggie a couple of weeks ago . . . .
I was flying DCA/EZE/DCA on a paid Y ticket upgraded to D1 with GUCs. I had an AA mileage award ticket from PIT to DCA the day before - staying overnight with a friend, and I had a DL mileage award ticket on the tail end to get home. <The fare was $700 cheaper from DCA than PIT, which left me with enough FlexPerks points to get a free trip from PIT to MEX!>
Anyway . . . .
The DCA/EZE trip was during heavy snow days. I simply couldn't get to DCA on AA! All flights were canx for 2 days! No rental cars were available, and, even buses were being canceled!
Initially, the DL weather waiver was only in place up til the day BEFORE my trip, but, they eventually added another day onto the eligible weather waiver dates. As soon as I saw the updated dates, I called the DM hotline, and explained that I simply COULDN'T GET to Washington DC. They gladly changed my itinerary from DCA/EZE to PIT/EZE at ZERO cost, and I kept all of my upgrades! Yay! I also redeposited my AA miles to my account, since the flights were canceled. I didn't have enough nerve to ask for my return to be changed, but, that's OK, as I met my friend there for brunch between flights! 
In all fairness, my travel agent friend told me that, weather waivers usually have a 300 mile range to change flights to, but, they can still charge whatever the new fare is. I still consider it to have been a ABSOLUTE Diamond favor!
Thanx Delta!
I was flying DCA/EZE/DCA on a paid Y ticket upgraded to D1 with GUCs. I had an AA mileage award ticket from PIT to DCA the day before - staying overnight with a friend, and I had a DL mileage award ticket on the tail end to get home. <The fare was $700 cheaper from DCA than PIT, which left me with enough FlexPerks points to get a free trip from PIT to MEX!>
Anyway . . . .The DCA/EZE trip was during heavy snow days. I simply couldn't get to DCA on AA! All flights were canx for 2 days! No rental cars were available, and, even buses were being canceled!
Initially, the DL weather waiver was only in place up til the day BEFORE my trip, but, they eventually added another day onto the eligible weather waiver dates. As soon as I saw the updated dates, I called the DM hotline, and explained that I simply COULDN'T GET to Washington DC. They gladly changed my itinerary from DCA/EZE to PIT/EZE at ZERO cost, and I kept all of my upgrades! Yay!
I also redeposited my AA miles to my account, since the flights were canceled. I didn't have enough nerve to ask for my return to be changed, but, that's OK, as I met my friend there for brunch between flights! In all fairness, my travel agent friend told me that, weather waivers usually have a 300 mile range to change flights to, but, they can still charge whatever the new fare is. I still consider it to have been a ABSOLUTE Diamond favor!
Thanx Delta!
Apr 4, 2018, 9:38 am
#12
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,928
A friend of mine (who is notorious in our circle of friends for being disorganized/chronically late etc.) once showed up at OAK (his usual airport) when he was in fact flying out of SFO. However he had time to correct the error because it was a heavy weather day and things at SFO were so delayed.
----
For the "misery loves company" folks, there's also this thread in the TravelBuzz forum:
The dumbest travel-related mistake you ever made?
----
For the "misery loves company" folks, there's also this thread in the TravelBuzz forum:
The dumbest travel-related mistake you ever made?
Apr 4, 2018, 9:49 am
#13
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,413
I'm ALWAYS hesitant to post what I consider to be "favors" the Diamond Desk has done for me, for fear of them reading the posts and clamping down on them, but, here's what I consider to be a biggie a couple of weeks ago . . . .
I was flying DCA/EZE/DCA on a paid Y ticket upgraded to D1 with GUCs. I had an AA mileage award ticket from PIT to DCA the day before - staying overnight with a friend, and I had a DL mileage award ticket on the tail end to get home. <The fare was $700 cheaper from DCA than PIT, which left me with enough FlexPerks points to get a free trip from PIT to MEX!> Anyway . . . .
The DCA/EZE trip was during heavy snow days. I simply couldn't get to DCA on AA! All flights were canx for 2 days! No rental cars were available, and, even buses were being canceled!
Initially, the DL weather waiver was only in place up til the day BEFORE my trip, but, they eventually added another day onto the eligible weather waiver dates. As soon as I saw the updated dates, I called the DM hotline, and explained that I simply COULDN'T GET to Washington DC. They gladly changed my itinerary from DCA/EZE to PIT/EZE at ZERO cost, and I kept all of my upgrades! Yay! I also redeposited my AA miles to my account, since the flights were canceled. I didn't have enough nerve to ask for my return to be changed, but, that's OK, as I met my friend there for brunch between flights!
In all fairness, my travel agent friend told me that, weather waivers usually have a 300 mile range to change flights to, but, they can still charge whatever the new fare is. I still consider it to have been a ABSOLUTE Diamond favor!
Thanx Delta!
I was flying DCA/EZE/DCA on a paid Y ticket upgraded to D1 with GUCs. I had an AA mileage award ticket from PIT to DCA the day before - staying overnight with a friend, and I had a DL mileage award ticket on the tail end to get home. <The fare was $700 cheaper from DCA than PIT, which left me with enough FlexPerks points to get a free trip from PIT to MEX!>
Anyway . . . .The DCA/EZE trip was during heavy snow days. I simply couldn't get to DCA on AA! All flights were canx for 2 days! No rental cars were available, and, even buses were being canceled!
Initially, the DL weather waiver was only in place up til the day BEFORE my trip, but, they eventually added another day onto the eligible weather waiver dates. As soon as I saw the updated dates, I called the DM hotline, and explained that I simply COULDN'T GET to Washington DC. They gladly changed my itinerary from DCA/EZE to PIT/EZE at ZERO cost, and I kept all of my upgrades! Yay!
I also redeposited my AA miles to my account, since the flights were canceled. I didn't have enough nerve to ask for my return to be changed, but, that's OK, as I met my friend there for brunch between flights! In all fairness, my travel agent friend told me that, weather waivers usually have a 300 mile range to change flights to, but, they can still charge whatever the new fare is. I still consider it to have been a ABSOLUTE Diamond favor!
Thanx Delta!
Apr 4, 2018, 4:00 pm
#14
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: West of CLE
Programs: Delta DM/3 MM; Hertz PC; National EE; Amtrak GR; Bonvoy Silver; Via Rail Préférence
Posts: 5,384
I did something like this last year, only it involved rental cars. I had a one day trip to FLL, where I rented a Hertz car. I needed to be in SAN the next day, and I used my laptop to book another Hertz car; only, when I got to Hertz at SAN, I found out that I had booked my car for pickup at FLL. Fortunately, the nice Hertz people in SAN got me a car and honored the rate I would have had at FLL.