pvn

You don't even need same-bucket inventory!

Jnr586

ATLawyer

Reading threads like this drive me insane. As lawyers, we are taught the "letter" of the law and the "spirit" of the law. Yes, OP may have violated the "letter" of his contract, but he certainly didn't violate the "spirit."

"I'm sorry, I overslept by 30 minutes" should almost always result in the passenger being re-booked on a later flight at no fee. Richard Anderson said as much to USA Today in a published interview (google it), and there has been no indication that Ed has changed anything. (side note, having met Ed on a few occasions, he's one of the more down-to-earth CEOs out there).

Is OP "entitled" to anything? No. Should OP have been accommodated on a later flight for no fee? Absolutely.

pvn

Normally I would agree with you but in the case of BE fares, you're explicitly exchanging all expectation of goodwill and courtesy for $20.

Jnr586

btonkid12345

If this ever happens again - to you or anyone else reading - make use of DL's multiple methods of contacting them. You could try to call (see comments below), tweet, DM, or deal with airport folks. Any note before departure even noting your tardiness could help immensely with another agent.

Having said that - once you accept to pay a fee and fly the ticket - unless you can prove true DL error (as I have once done with check in technical errors and they refunded me my add collect via customer service) - it is near impossible to get back. Especially given you consumed the flights.

Did you offer to pay the $75 standby fee? I find that DL agents at some stations hold strict to the fee rules when you look or act like a business traveler, as they assume you can use OPM. But acting like you should be rebooked for free on an E fare can also zap all sympathy.

I find if you offer to take some accountability and pay a small fee, proactively, or mention rules like flat tire or SDS, they can be more willing to help.

You also should play agent (or Red Coat) roulette. A lot of agents nowadays only know SNAP and dont know exceptions. Red Coats do. Ask for a Red Coat, you can always replead your case to them (I once bought a BOS-DTW-SFO 4 days out; fare of that and BOS-SFO identical for an award.

I could now arrive later due to my plans and asked at BOS to move to the nonstop (I nicely said I didn't sleep the night before and wanted a chance at a lie flat seat). Agent was nice, called a desk, and they quoted 22K extra miles. I was hesitant to pay, so she suggested calling a Red Coat. The nicest Red Coat showed up and after some typing, got me on the nonstop. Note they aren't supposed to move you to nonstop from connecting voluntarily, and I told her I knew that upfront and I didn't want her to get in trouble (she said it was fine).

This. If you get through or tweet, explicitly ask them to leave a note and you can even direct them as to what you want it to say. Sometimes previous documentation of any sort can get you a lot more leeway.

ethernal

Perhaps that is true, but the average flies-twice-a-year-traveler won't see it that way. Delta needs leisure travelers just as much as they need the road warrior and screwing people over in this way creates significant negative will against a brand - and I can guarantee you that Aunt Jane will complain when she makes it to her family reunion after getting screwed over.

It is one thing to tell a passenger they can't pick a seat or get charged to carry on a bag. To tell a passenger that they won't get taken to their destination because of a small mistake or unexpected issue is not going to be well received. People have an expectation of what it means to fly on a legacy carrier, and stuff like this is part of that expectation. Putting someone on standby costs Delta no more than a few bucks for a bag of peanuts and fuel for the extra weight and would be worth it from a brand protection standpoint.

It is certainly well within Delta's rights to refuse rebooking of the passenger. I just think it's ill-advised in the long run. Delta won't out-compete Spirit being Spirit and they shouldn't try to (although I'll note that I've heard good success of people getting flat tired on Spirit in the past - admittedly anecdotal but somewhat ironic relative to what one might expect).

gooselee

To clarify some earlier posts, even if eligible OP could not have paid $75 to SDS as only GM+ are allowed to SDS for later flights.

He should be sure to bring a photo, too.

SJC ORD LDR

Rules are rules and Basic Economy allows for no changes whatsoever. At least they do make you agree with the rules before you buy the fare. Otherwise, it would be kind of shady.

ijgordon

Three threads down, DL apparently isn't following its own rules on upgrades, why should they necessarily here?
Does Delta Follow it�s Own Upgrade Rules

Some/many of the European low-cost-carriers that sell completely inflexible tickets will also sell you "insurance" that if you miss your flight, they'll accommodate you on the next available one, and it's a fairly modest fee ($10-15 maybe?).

Contrast that to DL here apparently, where, sticking to the letter of the rules, even a non-BE fare would at least require a $150-200 change fee (for someone not eligible to standby for a later flight), and that assumes you contact them before your original flight departs (heaven forbid the OP didn't even wake up until 6:01am). Surely that's not the airline's intention?

flyerslc

pvn

Whether I would or not doesn't really matter, a lot of people happily would.

Bowgie

I get that Delta's BE fares on Delta are much scorned here on FT, and for good reason. Delta doesn't say explicitly, but I think it is not unusual for a third of the pax on a given flight to be on BE. This is strictly my unscientific impression that a week before a flight, the Delta often shows over one hundred people as "standby" (meaning no seat assignment), and the seat map shows all the back-of-plane seats as blocked off. Assuming I'm right, I find it unlikely that so many people are making irrational decisions buying BE. I've bought UA basic economy myself because I have no United status, and it's extraordinarily rare for me to miss a flight. A lot of FT'er in the Delta forum are not chosing BE just because of being kept out of the upgrade lottery.

It would seem that as bad as TSA lines are nowadays for no-precheck people, I would expect lots of BE pax miss flights for that reason alone. Delta can't tell if someone who just misses a flight did so because of TSA chaos (common) or just overslept (less common, but the OP's situation.) I'd be curious to know how Delta handles this for BE flyers. I guess the situation is rare for Delta FT forum people because of precheck and paying for regular coach as the normal practice.

flyerCO

This is where giving discretion comes in. Ie if passenger misses flight stuck in TSA line and showed up in time to clear vs waited till 10 minutes before gate closes to get to airport. First will most certainly get rebooked, latter truly depends on how agent feels.

flyerslc

I guess I did not say what I meant very clearly. I meant that if I was the merchant, I would not forsake goodwill and courtesy because the customer had paid a little less. I would do what I could, within reason. My experience with Delta has been that they usually do.