xliioper

First of all, BE fares are not eligible for SDC/SDS, so it was never an option to begin with for OP. Second, only Gold and higher status can standby for later flights. It's not an option for Silver or no status pax even when paying the $75 fee. OP could have possibly done SDC for a later flight if he had main cabin ticket and there was original booking class availability. Paying the $75 fee does not waive the original booking class requirement. If there is no original booking availability, you are subject to fare difference and change fee (although you could get change fee waived by upfaring to C+ or F). Again, a Main Cabin fare is required for these options.

BenA

flyerCO

He should complain that a policy that doesn't really exist wasn't applied? Muchless on a ticket who's rules specifically prohibit changes. Even if the rule normally is used, it doesnt apply to BE tickets. Doing so would negate one of the main restrictions.

BenA

wetrat0

FWIW, on AA the flat tire rule (formally called something like the "2-hour rule") *does* apply to basic economy (“Flat tire” “rule” and Basic Economy / BE). It would be nice to have some clarification on DL's policy. I say this as an AA elite with a few upcoming DL basic economy tickets that I'm not currently planning to miss .

ijgordon

Fly AA next time, they’re more accommodating with their version of the flat tire rule apparently.

“Flat tire” “rule” and Basic Economy / BE

gooselee

I feel bad for OP, but I don't think he should receive anything from DL. Doing so would "dilute" the entire point of BE fares.

As for the Flat Tire Rule, the spirit of that rule is to give agents leeway to accommodate unforseen circumstances and things outside of the passenger's direct control. IMO, oversleeping doesn't meet those criteria and it seems like the DL agent at OP's airport shared that opinion.

flyerCO

IRROPS is the companies fault. Of course they legally must still get you to destination. Flat tire isn't their fault. DL like have been consistent that BE tickets are use it or lose it. Allowing agents to rebook would totally defeat this restriction.

Finally the "policy" simply states they'll handle things on a case by case basis. For me that's more an agent CS discretion policy than flat tire policy . AA/UA have set policies including showing up within 2 hours. AFAIK the DL policy as stated is simply case by case evaluation. Can someone point to an actual policy that is more than statement allowing agent discretion? Every blog says same thing about DL policy. Yes they allow agents discretion, but nothing is required.

tennessetom

Paplover

Jnr586

samwise6222

I understand that the flat tire rule doesn't apply to international flights - but in my case, I got there 15 minutes before check-in cutoff and got past the cut off time by the time I reached the counter. I had to cough up $4k to fly on the next flight

FlyingUnderTheRadar

But why did you show with only 15 minutes before the cut off? Showing up with 15 minutes before the cut off for an international flight check in when one has to check a bag is not going to turn out well as you and many other have found out.

The rules are for actually checking in with a recommendation of when to arrive at the check in. https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...uirements.html

The recommended arrival time at the airport prior to departure of international flights is 3 hours. When traveling to/from a destination outside the United States, you must be checked in at least 60 minutes before your scheduled departure time ...

As much as I hate waiting at the airport, for my last flight where I had to check a bag I showed up well over 2 hours early. I was in and out of the check in, immigration, and was at the gate all with 15 minutes of arriving at the airport. An hour before the flight immigration was backed up.

That said, I once arrived at the airport an hour before my US internal flight and could not check in at the kiosk. I tried several times before going to the desk. The GA said I missed the check in by 5 minutes. I was very confused until I realized I was looking at my inbound flight times and not my out bound which was ~50 minutes earlier. It was my mistake and I was ready to own it. Fortunately, she was able to get me on another set of flights sans any charge (as a GM). For that they got a JWD cert. And as I boarded my second flight with several other medallions who were all sitting in the back (myself included) we just laughed at each other cause we had all been put on the flight at the last minute.

For the OP. Good luck but I doubt you will get anything back. Early morning flights suck.

ethernal

I disagree with this vehemently. There are things outside of the passenger's control that may occur at the airport that would prevent a passenger from making their flight.

I was once delayed at the TSA for an hour because my bag was in a machine that broke - and that was after waiting 20 minutes in line. Incidentally I did not miss my flight (I had planned to take an hour long call from the lounge) but had I arrived at the airport 2 hours early and tried to drop off a bag without status (therefore having to wait 30 minutes..) there is a good chance I would have missed my flight.

What if, similarly, a passenger happens to be on a watchlist? True secondary (not just your basic SSSS secondary) can sometimes take upward of 1-2 hours.

At the very least, the rule should be waived if the passenger arrived at the airport at a reasonable time before their flight.

I don't know why people on this forum hate BE travelers so much. All BE fares are is what the old low fare used to be.. and now you have to pay extra to get the same thing you used to get before or pay less and get abused. And yet people on this forum seem to love the notion of people having a lower fare and getting abused because of it. It makes no sense to me. The schadenfreude is strong here (even though, incidentally, people here suffer through higher prices as well).

Jnr586