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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:38 am
  #1  
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Question Rules for customer award flight cancellation?

On 1/2/2019, I purchased a round-trip economy ticket to Europe starting on 3/15/2019, using 40,000 skymiles + $90.23. Think I did pretty good finding a flight for that price. Plans have changed and I can no longer make the trip.

I realize the no-questions-asked 24-hour window for a full refund has passed. But is there some kind of partial refund or a goodwill gesture possible in getting at least some of the skymiles or money back? Is it a YMMV type of thing or something flexible based on the phone agent's mood? Or a hard "no"? Thanks!
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:39 am
  #2  
 
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You can do a mileage redeposit for a $150 fee per ticket.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:41 am
  #3  
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Originally Posted by ethernal
You can do a mileage redeposit for a $150 fee per ticket.
Thanks - online or on the phone? $150 payment redeposits all of the skymiles used for the purchase, in this case 40,000? The paid cash portion is lost, correct?
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:44 am
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Originally Posted by s2kdriver80
Thanks - online or on the phone? $150 payment redeposits all of the skymiles used for the purchase, in this case 40,000? The paid cash portion is lost, correct?
I believe you can do it online. I think that you'll get your taxes back as well (so you should only pay a "net" of around $60) as well as the miles.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:46 am
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If there is a major schedule change prior to when your trip would have been, you might be able to get a full refund for free.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:47 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by ethernal
I believe you can do it online. I think that you'll get your taxes back as well (so you should only pay a "net" of around $60) as well as the miles.
Awesome thanks, I'll search for it. Lol so had I paid this ticket all in cash, I would have been screwed pretty much?
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:48 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by angra
If there is a major schedule change prior to when your trip would have been, you might be able to get a full refund for free.
Lol so should I wait until the day before the scheduled flight to do the $150 redeposit (assuming this redeposit option doesn't have a minimum timeframe deadline before flight)?
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:55 am
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Originally Posted by s2kdriver80
Lol so should I wait until the day before the scheduled flight to do the $150 redeposit (assuming this redeposit option doesn't have a minimum timeframe deadline before flight)?
The deadline is 72 hours before departure so I would do it before then.

Given that the flight departs in less than a month, a material schedule change is highly unlikely at this point. You could hope for a weather waiver, but technically you would need to rebook travel within a certain window which you could likely not do (although an amenable agent may do a redeposit for free).

In terms of whether you would have been "screwed" if you bought a ticket in cash, you would have been held to the terms of the ticket you bought - which would likely be non-refundable. You could have cancelled the flight and received a credit good for one year on future Delta travel minus a change fee (which is usually $300 for an international itinerary).
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 8:56 am
  #9  
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I think you can get most/all of the taxes and fees refunded (to the original means of payment, normally meaning the credit card that was used) on cancelled award tickets even if you don't pay the $150 (unless the miles were from a FF account that is DM/PM at the time of cancellation) to get the miles back.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 9:05 am
  #10  
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Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I think it's safe to say that 40,000 skymiles is worth more than $150, so will go with the redeposit.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 9:08 am
  #11  
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Originally Posted by s2kdriver80
Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I think it's safe to say that 40,000 skymiles is worth more than $150, so will go with the redeposit.
I agree, just make sure that you don't miss the T-72 deadline to do this.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 10:41 am
  #12  
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Originally Posted by ethernal
... You could hope for a weather waiver, but technically you would need to rebook travel within a certain window which you could likely not do (although an amenable agent may do a redeposit for free)...
typically wx waiver allows fee-free cancellation as well as rebooking (although it's rather uncommon for wx waivers to appear 72 hours in advance)
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 1:02 pm
  #13  
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Haha, this is one of those times where I wish I got a bad deal initially or I was cancelling a huge skymiles award ticket. Would feel better getting back those miles with a flat fee $150. What a waste that I'm cancelling a good buy lol.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 3:54 pm
  #14  
 
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another (far-fetched, maybe) option would be to quickly make PM and cancel for free
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Old Feb 24, 2019, 11:58 am
  #15  
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So I log in to Delta's website, navigate as follows...
My trips --> Modify flight --> Start flight cancellation

Then there's a cancel button. So far in this cancellation process, no mention or option of skymiles redeposit. If I click cancel, would it eventually present me with an option to let me redeposit the miles for $150? Or can I only access the redeposit option through a special link on Delta's site that isn't intuitive?

Not really in the mood to call in to Delta and have them put me on hold for hours lol.

Thanks!
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