Upgrading to F: Change Fee Waived?
Mar 2, 2019, 1:27 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: ANC
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 1,852
Upgrading to F: Change Fee Waived?
I’m pretty sure the answer to this is generally Yes, however wanted to see other’s opinions before I call. I have an anniversary trip to LAS at the end of the month I booked in Y. Looking at the current price for F, I’m seriously thinking about calling DL and upgrading the tickets. When I used the “modify flight” feature online it wants to charge me the $200 change fee per ticket. The only FCM offers are segment by segment and it’s insanely expensive. Would DL waive the change fee for an upgrade to F and solely collect the fare difference? I’m Gold if it helps. Current booked fare classes are X,V. I’m showing a great Z fare in F. Thanks!
Mar 2, 2019, 1:33 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: HSV
Programs: Bellevue Lifetime Premiere Mega Elite Supreme
Posts: 1,506
Cabin upgrade generally is NOT charged a fee. However, a couple of years ago I wanted to UG from an actual Y fare to a Z fare which was LESS than my original ticketed price and the agent wanted to whack me with the fee. I asked her to check with a supervisor and she said she’d do it “as a courtesy” — to which I replied “Thank you, and I’ll continue to fly your airline as a courtesy.”
The supervisor claimed that the fee was not waived, even for a cabin upgrade, if the new fare was lower. To this day I still don’t know if that’s bogus or true, but my gut calls foul.
The supervisor claimed that the fee was not waived, even for a cabin upgrade, if the new fare was lower. To this day I still don’t know if that’s bogus or true, but my gut calls foul.
Mar 2, 2019, 2:35 am
#3
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,879
Cabin upgrade generally is NOT charged a fee. However, a couple of years ago I wanted to UG from an actual Y fare to a Z fare which was LESS than my original ticketed price and the agent wanted to whack me with the fee. I asked her to check with a supervisor and she said she’d do it “as a courtesy” — to which I replied “Thank you, and I’ll continue to fly your airline as a courtesy.”
The supervisor claimed that the fee was not waived, even for a cabin upgrade, if the new fare was lower. To this day I still don’t know if that’s bogus or true, but my gut calls foul.
The supervisor claimed that the fee was not waived, even for a cabin upgrade, if the new fare was lower. To this day I still don’t know if that’s bogus or true, but my gut calls foul.
https://pro.delta.com/content/agency/us/en/policy-library/self-service-exceptions/main-cabin-fare-to-premium-fare-ticket-exchange-policy-.html
In the case of exchanging for a Z ticket that’s cheaper than the original Y ticket (I’m assuming it’s longhaul international), you should have received the difference in fare back as a credit, less the change fee, per the rules in the policy above.
Mar 2, 2019, 7:33 am
#4
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Delta’s official policy on the topic can be found here:
https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...e-policy-.html
In the case of exchanging for a Z ticket that’s cheaper than the original Y ticket (I’m assuming it’s longhaul international), you should have received the difference in fare back as a credit, less the change fee, per the rules in the policy above.
The link doesn't work for me, but it does in this quote.
Note that the policy of paying the change fee is it's less that the fare difference applies only to international tickets. For domestic, there's no change fee. I also don't see anything about getting any difference in your favor back as a DL credit.
Note that the policy of paying the change fee is it's less that the fare difference applies only to international tickets. For domestic, there's no change fee. I also don't see anything about getting any difference in your favor back as a DL credit.
Mar 2, 2019, 7:53 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,879
The link doesn't work for me, but it does in this quote.
Note that the policy of paying the change fee is it's less that the fare difference applies only to international tickets. For domestic, there's no change fee. I also don't see anything about getting any difference in your favor back as a DL credit.
Note that the policy of paying the change fee is it's less that the fare difference applies only to international tickets. For domestic, there's no change fee. I also don't see anything about getting any difference in your favor back as a DL credit.
Mar 2, 2019, 10:18 pm
#8
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Join Date: Feb 2015
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Just a follow up post to hopefully serve as a datapoint to others:
In summary I called DL today and they happily upgraded me to F with no change fee. I called and simply asked the agent for a price quote to upgrade our two tickets to First Class, roundtrip. I did not mention I had attempted to do the same online and the system wanted to charge a change fee. She quickly came up with a number that matched the fare difference as I had viewed online exactly. I then told her I was definitely wanting to make the upgrade and just wanted to verify no change fee on top of the quoted fare difference (I then told her I had attempted online). She said that the website will always try and assess one, but they have an unwritten policy to not charge change fees on tickets where the only thing being modified is moving to a higher class of service. If everything else stays the same (dates, fights, destination, etc) no change fee.
Overall I was happy with the result. My original booked fare code was (X,V,V,X) and now booked into (Z,Z,Z,Z). The fare difference for both of us totaled around $1100.... had I done the change online it would've been $1100 + $400 change fee = $1500 total.
In summary I called DL today and they happily upgraded me to F with no change fee. I called and simply asked the agent for a price quote to upgrade our two tickets to First Class, roundtrip. I did not mention I had attempted to do the same online and the system wanted to charge a change fee. She quickly came up with a number that matched the fare difference as I had viewed online exactly. I then told her I was definitely wanting to make the upgrade and just wanted to verify no change fee on top of the quoted fare difference (I then told her I had attempted online). She said that the website will always try and assess one, but they have an unwritten policy to not charge change fees on tickets where the only thing being modified is moving to a higher class of service. If everything else stays the same (dates, fights, destination, etc) no change fee.
Overall I was happy with the result. My original booked fare code was (X,V,V,X) and now booked into (Z,Z,Z,Z). The fare difference for both of us totaled around $1100.... had I done the change online it would've been $1100 + $400 change fee = $1500 total.
Mar 3, 2019, 6:48 am
#9
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Mar 3, 2019, 7:25 am
#10
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This one is okay as unwritten. They could write a no favors/waivers policy and then we always get charged to give them more money for a higher class of service. I'd prefer not.
Mar 3, 2019, 8:35 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,414
She said that the website will always try and assess one, but they have an unwritten policy to not charge change fees on tickets where the only thing being modified is moving to a higher class of service. If everything else stays the same (dates, fights, destination, etc) no change fee.
It actually is a written policy, as cited above. There are specific differences for domestic (+Can/Mex/Islands) and international. It used to be an "unwritten" policy, but it was formalized several years ago. Here's the link again: https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...e-policy-.html
Mar 3, 2019, 10:40 am
#12
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It actually is a written policy, as cited above. There are specific differences for domestic (+Can/Mex/Islands) and international. It used to be an "unwritten" policy, but it was formalized several years ago. Here's the link again: https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...e-policy-.html
Mar 3, 2019, 4:38 pm
#14
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Posts: 100,368
Just a follow up post to hopefully serve as a datapoint to others:
In summary I called DL today and they happily upgraded me to F with no change fee. I called and simply asked the agent for a price quote to upgrade our two tickets to First Class, roundtrip. I did not mention I had attempted to do the same online and the system wanted to charge a change fee. She quickly came up with a number that matched the fare difference as I had viewed online exactly. I then told her I was definitely wanting to make the upgrade and just wanted to verify no change fee on top of the quoted fare difference (I then told her I had attempted online). She said that the website will always try and assess one, but they have an unwritten policy to not charge change fees on tickets where the only thing being modified is moving to a higher class of service. If everything else stays the same (dates, fights, destination, etc) no change fee.
Overall I was happy with the result. My original booked fare code was (X,V,V,X) and now booked into (Z,Z,Z,Z). The fare difference for both of us totaled around $1100.... had I done the change online it would've been $1100 + $400 change fee = $1500 total.
In summary I called DL today and they happily upgraded me to F with no change fee. I called and simply asked the agent for a price quote to upgrade our two tickets to First Class, roundtrip. I did not mention I had attempted to do the same online and the system wanted to charge a change fee. She quickly came up with a number that matched the fare difference as I had viewed online exactly. I then told her I was definitely wanting to make the upgrade and just wanted to verify no change fee on top of the quoted fare difference (I then told her I had attempted online). She said that the website will always try and assess one, but they have an unwritten policy to not charge change fees on tickets where the only thing being modified is moving to a higher class of service. If everything else stays the same (dates, fights, destination, etc) no change fee.
Overall I was happy with the result. My original booked fare code was (X,V,V,X) and now booked into (Z,Z,Z,Z). The fare difference for both of us totaled around $1100.... had I done the change online it would've been $1100 + $400 change fee = $1500 total.
It actually is a written policy, as cited above. There are specific differences for domestic (+Can/Mex/Islands) and international. It used to be an "unwritten" policy, but it was formalized several years ago. Here's the link again: https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...e-policy-.html
Mar 3, 2019, 5:22 pm
#15
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,414
The policy is written for outside professional travel agents. One could imagine a policy that policies for travel agents selling and upfaring tickets aren't the same as the policies for DL agents upfaring tickets that have been purchased directly from DL (or corporate travel agent tickets where the customer has paid a fee to have DL take over the ticket).
