ATLflyer2017

My family is flying to BWI for Christmas. One member on the reservation will be coming in from Spain on the same day we leave Atlanta, however they will be arriving into JFK. The plan from there is to take Amtrak down to Baltimore (thats the most cost effective). He does plan on returning to Atlanta with us. Is it possible for Delta to split the reservation so that he can do that? If he misses the outbound leg, will they cancel his return ticket? Thanks

KRUXED

wrp96

Once you miss any legs, all legs after that are cancelled.

ATLflyer2017

I understand that. What is the solution? Is there any value in calling Delta and explaining the situation?

flyerCO

Plus if want to reinstate the fights will have to book at current rates for those flights.

HWGeeks

The solution is to book a different ticket for him from the point in which he will be with you forward.

BenA

Yes. Delta will be able to split the reservation. That means one passenger can keep their original booking with no extra fees, no problem.

The other passenger who needs to originate in a different city can have their ticket repriced. A change fee of ~$250 will be due, as well as any fare difference caused from the new originating city. If the ticket is basic economy, though, no changes will be possible and the second passenger will need to buy a brand new ticket.

Alternatives would be to book a one way positioning flight JFK-ATL that allows the second passenger to connect to the original itinerary, which may or may not be cheaper than rebooking the ticket. You can also wait and hope for a schedule change of one hour or more that would allow you to cancel the second passenger's ticket without charge, but then you're gambling that you'll be able to rebook the same flights you have now in the future at an affordable price, which is often pretty unlikely.

It never hurts to be honest with the agent explaining the situation so they can get creative, and if the other passenger's Spain-New York flight is on Delta, that is possibly worth mentioning as well so they have the full picture and can brainstorm options with you. But I wouldn't expect a fee waiver.

Often1

The fact that these tickets may be booked into one reservation (PNR) is a red herring. DL requires that all segments of a ticket be flown in the order issued. Thus, when the guy coming from MAD no shows for the ATL-BWI segment, that segment and any remaining segments will be cancelled and will retain whatever value they have under the fare rules for the ticket. That will generally be $0, but only a review of the fare rules will give him an answer.

What he should now do is price two options:
1. Purchase a new ticket MAD-BWI-ATL and forget about the existing ticket.
2. Determine the cost of changing the existing ATL-BWI-ATL to MAD-BWI-ATL. This may be significantly more expensive than #1 .

Or, if he already has his MAD-JFK ticket, simply price out a new one-way BWI-ATL.

As others note, he can always explain the situation, but he should not expect anything as this is a common situation and it is why DL offers refundable / flexible fares (at a higher cost).

ATLflyer2017

I have had very good luck having Delta change things like this before...so I will call and explain and HUCA. JFK-MAD-JFK is on Delta so that should be a plus.
Worst case scenario, he'll have to go ahead and buy a BWI-ATL ticket now, which will be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than if we waited until it got canceled. I'll see what we can figure things out.
Thanks for all y'all's input!

flyerCO

Also DL protects across tickets when both are DL. Thus if buying JFK-ATL OW is cheaper then changing ticket theres no worry there.

Exec_Plat

One thought.... if they do make a significant schedule change it MAY allow him to change without penalty.

if huca and pleading doesnt work, Id just pick up a cheap JFK to ATL ticket. And when they ask for volunteers @ xmas, he can offer to give up a seat in exchange for just dropping that leg.

MSPeconomist

exwannabe

I agree with your tentative decision to handle it now. I do not know what he paid for that first ATL-BMI RT, but anything over $200 on that applies to the new one way ticket, which is about $250.

So likely we are talking all in about $170 or so to handle it now. Vs roll the dice and see hows this plays out in the holiday season.

BTW, I also once had a leg dropped. I think the most important point when begging is to convince them that is not a "change" but a screwed up travel plan that was not an attermpt to save cash. Focus on the TATL fare and wanting the domestic to line up with friends,

ATLflyer2017

Ok, thank you! We used Skymiles so I'm not sure how that would be different but I plan to call once all this weather is gone and wait times are more reasonable.

MSPeconomist