What is the point of not permitting Basic Economy to be canceled?
#16
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NYC/Northern NJ
Programs: 1K - UAL, Platinum DL, Marriott, Hilton, SPG
Posts: 1,815
As many others said - keep your itin and remember the tail-winds typically arrives sooner so if you are front of aircraft should have more than enough time to transfer terminals and board before Final Call (if ontime). PHX is not traditionally an airport with delays (unless inbound aircraft is held up) so I think you have a perfect plan/go forward.
#17
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,409
OP should remember that he/she is likely to miss the early boarding groups on WN. Being late to the gate can mean a middle seat in the last row.
#18
Join Date: Aug 2007
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 1,079
#19
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: MCO
Programs: DL PM, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 4,316
The OP said that the "connection" time was 1 hour which should be more than enough time to make it to the gate by T-30 for boarding. I'm sure the OP can survive an hour in a middle seat as they already purchased a BE ticket on DL. I'd take a middle seat on WN before making the god awful drive down I-75 from GNV.
#20
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 629
#21
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
I see you don't fly WN much (well, I don't that much either). But in my C boarding experiences it was never the last row. Even towards the end there are usually middle seats open further up. I'm not sure about the psychology of the boarding process on WN, but I'm sure it must be written about somewhere.
#22
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
People will dispute this over and over, but I have been caught a number of times. Just did one where I had an award ticket to Paris and a paid ticket to Stockholm. Outbound dates were different. Got an email from Delta within about 3 hours of booking the paid ticket, cancelling that ticket.
#23
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: MCO
Programs: DL PM, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 4,316
I make the drive from the Orlando area to GNV quite often and I’d say about 50% of the time, there is a serious accident on I-75 between the Turnpike and Ocala. Simply put, I’d take a middle seat for a 1 hour flight over needing to drive 2 hours to my destination.
#24
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 629
Anecdotes don’t make the statement “god awful” true. So you admit you have no idea what goes on south of the turnpike on 75.
#25
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: HH Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 10,458
The main idea of Basic Economy is to sell a cheap, but highly restrictive ticket. They are competing with the ULCC's like Frontier, Spirit, and Allegiant (but not WN).
#26
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
In fact, it is generally against the passenger's interest to cancel as the flight might always be cancelled or substantially delayed, entitling the passenger to a full refund.
A simple cancellation function which brings up a clear warning that there is no refund of any kind should suffice and even eliminate the need to deal with an agent.
#29
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: Skymiles Gold
Posts: 643
I too drive GNV-ORL often, and the number of wrecks between GNV and the turnpike are uncountable. Sometimes, the drive to Disney is a breeze other times, 3-4 hours. I was once stuck on the Turnpike with no ability to turn around for 3 hours, with my car off, because of a wreck. But the stretch of 75 between the Turnpike and Gainesville is pretty bad too. There's no guarantee of good traffic, no matter the time of day.
#30
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 367
Sure, but even the ULCC's will sometimes offer a credit for cancelling your flight. Once I had a (very inexpensive) ticket on Spirit, and when I went to see about cancelling (when I couldn't make the trip work) they offered a $10 voucher. Not much, but enough of an incentive to cancel now versus just not cancelling it. It might make sense for Delta to offer something similar - maybe a $25 voucher or a freebie on their next flight.