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I Stupidly Split The Reservations on the Outbound and Downgraded Our Return Flights

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I Stupidly Split The Reservations on the Outbound and Downgraded Our Return Flights

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Old Feb 9, 2019, 11:27 am
  #1  
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I Stupidly Split The Reservations on the Outbound and Downgraded Our Return Flights

Today I was flying to New York with my girlfriend. We have a RDU-NYC round trip booked arriving New York today and leaving tomorrow. We got the upgrades based on me being PM for the return flights at T-120 but the outbound had not cleared as of this morning.

When we got to RDU today, we were #2 and 3 for 2 seats for the flight up. The gate agent called us to the podium and asked if we wanted one seat. We said yes and one of us went in F and one went in C+. Then things got weird. Both of us got locked out of our Delta accounts. I finally got back in after calling Delta to get l a new password and the. realized we weren't on the same reservation anymore. My girlfriend is now on a different PNR and has been downgraded to Y and I'm still in F on our original record. I went to an agent at LGA after we arrived who could only put her back on standby for an upgrade not back into F. I then called Delta and the agent told me this is what happens when a reservation gets split and it cannot be undone. I feel really stupid for causing this. I just had no idea one of us taking the seat on the first flight would cause this to happen.

Last edited by CMK10; Feb 9, 2019 at 12:05 pm
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 11:31 am
  #2  
 
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Sounds like the GA messed something up.

A couple of weeks ago SO and I were flying ATL-SJD (Cabo) and we were #1 & #2 for one seat.

SO got the seat, I did the walk of shame.

We had already been upgraded on our return flights - and those weren't affected at all.

This has happened to us multiple times where we have split up, and it never resulted in your situation. Weird.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 11:39 am
  #3  
 
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Originally Posted by TommyD2
Sounds like the GA messed something up.

A couple of weeks ago SO and I were flying ATL-SJD (Cabo) and we were #1 & #2 for one seat.

SO got the seat, I did the walk of shame.

We had already been upgraded on our return flights - and those weren't affected at all.

This has happened to us multiple times where we have split up, and it never resulted in your situation. Weird.
+1
I have had reservations split multiple times and UGs have never been affected.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 11:39 am
  #4  
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Well now I feel less stupid but angrier because the agent caused all this.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 11:50 am
  #5  
 
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No idea what happened, but I am guessing you do not get any tonight :-)

BTW, I am 100% unable to understand your post. As best I can tell, you flew up to NYC at dawn and returned in early afternoon? And somehow taking 1 seat upgrade going up nixed her seat on the return?
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 12:00 pm
  #6  
 
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This happened to me once. Spousal Unit-1 and I were UGed to F at the window for a Saturday LAX>ATL flight. Went to check a bag, where a very pleasant, but very broken-English check-in agent, for some forever unknown reason spent an inordinate amount of time banging away on her keyboard. She eventually took our bags, handed us our luggage receipts, and we walked to our gate, only to find that we were now in Y.

Went to the GAs, who were in the middle of a mutual, competitive over-share about how “wrecked” they were from their debauched Friday night, and looked quite put off by the thought that someone would dare intrude (I’m always respectful and very polite). I began to relay the salient details of our downgrade when, literally 5 seconds in, the curt reply was “First Class has checked-in FULL!” I made a second attempt to explain that it could be because I’d checked in at T-24 into our assigned F seats and that we’d been bumped out just minutes ago. They repeated the mantra, and turned back toward each other to continue their personal dialogue.

For some reason, the check-in agent UN-checked is in, downgraded us, and all F seats disappeared. Not being one to make a stink, I acquiesced and walked away.

To this day, this remains a mystery and a bad DL memory.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 12:02 pm
  #7  
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Originally Posted by exwannabe
No idea what happened, but I am guessing you do not get any tonight :-)

BTW, I am 100% unable to understand your post. As best I can tell, you flew up to NYC at dawn and returned in early afternoon? And somehow taking 1 seat upgrade going up nixed her seat on the return?
Flew up this morning, returning tomorrow.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 1:57 pm
  #8  
 
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Same thing happened to be last week.

Booked roundtrip for two and me and my companion were upgraded both directions to comfort plus.

Outbound Flight - I was upgraded to first, and it instantly separated my friend off the reservation and by doing so he lost his upgrade since he was no longer tied to my reservation. The flight was oversold and when he scanned his ticket they had given it away. Luckily we were able to get him on the plane, but how does that happen?

Return Flight - I was still in Comfort Plus but since had been separated from my reservation he did not have a seat assignment, would no longer be in comfort plus, and since he was not on my reservation he wouldn't be eligible for the free checked back.

I called twice and the agents said it would not be possible to re-add my friend to the reservation.

I can't see how by simply taking an upgrade why it would split the reservations and even if it did, how customer support can't just "fix it" on the phone. Weird glitch.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 3:35 pm
  #9  
 
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This happened to me back in December with a colleague who didn’t have status, same reservation. I got upgraded at the window, she didn’t, but for some reason, as it was explained to me, that split our reservation since we couldn’t fly in two different fare classes on the same reservation. Whether that’s true or not, who knows, but that’s what the agent said and my peer subsequently lost my DM benefits (C+ seat, boarding group, bags, etc.).
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 8:38 pm
  #10  
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Originally Posted by TheHorta
This happened to me once. Spousal Unit-1 and I were UGed to F at the window for a Saturday LAX>ATL flight. Went to check a bag, where a very pleasant, but very broken-English check-in agent, for some forever unknown reason spent an inordinate amount of time banging away on her keyboard. She eventually took our bags, handed us our luggage receipts, and we walked to our gate, only to find that we were now in Y.

Went to the GAs, who were in the middle of a mutual, competitive over-share about how “wrecked” they were from their debauched Friday night, and looked quite put off by the thought that someone would dare intrude (I’m always respectful and very polite). I began to relay the salient details of our downgrade when, literally 5 seconds in, the curt reply was “First Class has checked-in FULL!” I made a second attempt to explain that it could be because I’d checked in at T-24 into our assigned F seats and that we’d been bumped out just minutes ago. They repeated the mantra, and turned back toward each other to continue their personal dialogue.

For some reason, the check-in agent UN-checked is in, downgraded us, and all F seats disappeared. Not being one to make a stink, I acquiesced and walked away.

To this day, this remains a mystery and a bad DL memory.
Excuse me, but why didn't you make a stink about this? It clearly should not have happened.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 8:51 pm
  #11  
 
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Excuse me, but why didn't you make a stink about this? It clearly should not have happened.
This was literally 2-3 weeks after the AMS GUC reversal debacle, and two weeks prior to our ATL>PDX downgrade from paid F, so it seemed like I was perpetually on the receiving end of Delta's wrath. That's when I was in the UA and AA forums asking if the grass was any greener over there.

I should've made a stink, but I was worried that somehow I was becoming a problem child and was going to get on some unfavorable customer list, so I just sucked it up and lived with it.
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Old Feb 10, 2019, 5:17 am
  #12  
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This problem is another good reason to always book one-way flights.
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Old Feb 10, 2019, 7:11 am
  #13  
 
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Happened to me and I had an extensive long conversation with Delta. Delta says you must be on the same reservation AND in the same cabin. I said, where is that stated and they said "You can't have a reservation where each person on that reservation is listed in a different cabin." Guess that's true? Bottom line, I told the supervisor that they need to have that written in their guidelines. That was months ago. Never seen it yet, but what I do know, is that it does happen, happened to me several times so either don't take the one seat upgrade, or if you do, make sure the other person on your reservation has status to keep their original or comp upgraded seats. Very aggravating. And not only that happens where their seats may change, but they also get another Confirmation # and good luck with finding that reservation. A true mess.
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