If the vast majority of your tickets are less than $200, then you are very lucky that the markets you fly are either hyper competitive or you can book far out. That just isn't the case for most people.

I think DL would apply the flat tire rule for BE tickets depending on the circumstances. OP waking up late is not some extra-ordinary event that was outside of his control. And if OP got to the counter the moment his flight was going to be taking off, then it should have been readily apparent when OP woke up The flat-tire rule, is in place for exactly what it's called. Something like a flat tire on the way to the airport. An accident that snarls traffic, or some other type of emergency beyond your control.

Could DL have made an exception as customer service gesture, sure. But if OP had come here a week before the flight, and posed this exact scenario as a hypothetical "what would happen to me" question OP would have been told it's at best 50/50 DL applies the FTR or makes you buy a new ticket.

I appreciate your use of "typically" , I've been reading this thread because I have a basic economy flight coming up this Friday. I am gold with VS (which translates to gold with Delta) and fly Delta for all of my domestic business trips and a handful of leisure. Mainly so that I can maintain my gold status with VS.

So I've been reading related threads and having some concerns but mainly my reasons for selecting the basic economy tickets are these:

3 tickets, saving me around 100 USD over main cabin fare, (that covers 3 days of dog boarding).
Short flight (connecting in ATL), so middle doesn't matter, we're bringing carry on only (under seat). Potential for upgrade wasn't that important. It was really just 100 USD extra to select our seats in advance.
Bu the main reason- basic economy and main cabin fares both earn 5 tier points per segment (unless I shell out a lot more $ for a higher fare bucket). Why am I going to pay more to earn the same (minuscule) amount of TPs?

I'll revisit this decision after my flight.

The last couple times I've called Delta, the wait was 2+ hours. So if one tried to call before the departure of their flight & was on hold for hours, would Delta likely have given the flight credit?

Go online. Can cancel the flight without human intervention. Can also see about SDC to later flight.

Hey lawyers reading this: The airlines are exempt from state law (mostly) under the Airline Deregulation Act.

But, don't you think a non-assignable ticket that is totally non-refundable would be illegal under your state's law?

There’s been a car accident right at A in BOS. My SO is stuck in traffic and has to return rental car. I assume this would fall under some kind of flat tire rule?

The agents at Bos are pretty helpful so I would guess they will rebook your so

I think you now get an ecredit for full value less $99.

Let it be a lesson learned: NEVER buy BE on DL or any other carrier.

Airfares are expensive. I get that. But 99% of the time the cost difference from BE to Main is not substantial. Pay the extra couple of bucks and choose your seat, and have flexibility in situations like these in knowing that at a minimum your ticket value is valid in the form of a credit in the full amount should you need to make changes, cancel, rebook, etc. If your schedule is that in flux, and you don�t fly DL (or whatever airline) that often where a credit is feasible, buy refundable.

Unfortunately, ticket must be cancelled or changed before departure to get an eCredit (less $99 fee for domestic and $199 for international).

I have missed many a flight before, though I'm not sure if it was BE or not. Regardless, I have never had an agent at the airport tell me I had to pay for a new ticket or for the price differential for another flight. I get put on standby and I wait to clear. Have done this in Atlanta and out stations.

Have others not asked at the airport? Or do I just get lucky in who I'm dealing with?

oh, my, after all those terms and conditions are just too hard to read, and now it�s highway robbery that they�re enforcing the terms of conditions you agreed to. 😂


And the taxi didn�t arrive in time. So just to give us all a little more information what time was your flight and what time was your taxi supposed to arrive?

this. why are you complaining to everyone because YOU didn't plan accordingly? Sorry it didn't work out, but a lesson learned.

While I certainly do not condone the OP's response to your comment, there are many times in life when taking all the reasonable precautions of arriving to the airport early does not 100% guarantee that you will arrive at the airport in time. Not too long ago, we had a funeral on a Saturday locally and a wedding on Sunday out of town so we were on the last flight out Saturday night. The funeral ended earlier than we expected and it seemed we were going to arrive at the airport way earlier for our flight than we wanted (3 hours for a domestic flight when we usually arrive an hour and 15 minutes early) even with construction related closures on most of the major highways. A fatal accident on our route derailed that, and we cut it so close that we left the bags were going to check in our car. We wound up going through TSA with the clothes on our backs (thankfully it we were wearing dress clothes that could be worn to both occasions) and our personal items and got to the gate at ~T-15 and made our flight. If someone said to me, "you should have planned better", I would have asked them is it better to miss a wedding or a funeral or if it's appropriate to leave a funeral halfway through a prayer?

Point is, you can do everything right and still have things go haywire. You should not always assume that someone planned poorly or that there was a lesson to be learned as you have no idea what might be going on in someone's life that caused them to have things go haywire. Have a little grace for others.

​​​​​"LOL, you made a mistake, I'm so glad the multibillion dollar airline which screws travelers as a matter of course is keeping your hard-earned money" remains the most predictable response on FT.