Redeposit 1/2 of an award ticket
Sep 5, 2019, 10:40 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Dallas, TX
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Redeposit 1/2 of an award ticket
We booked tickets to Canada using points. Flew the outbound yesterday 9/4/19, returning on 9/10/19. My partner can't take the return flight, has to fly to another city for work. He is PM. Can they redeposit the miles for the rest of the ticket?
Sep 5, 2019, 11:53 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,050
In theory yes. Worth calling and asking anyway. Now that Delta has variable pricing for roundtrip awards (one-way award price + other-way award price does not always equal the roundtrip award price), it's less clear how the residual value is calculated. If you were making this change prior to departure I think they would have repriced it as whatever the prevailing one-way award price would be, which might have been more than what you originally paid for the roundtrip. Making the change after departure they can't do that any more so it might actually work out in your favor.
Sep 5, 2019, 12:28 pm
#4
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Sep 5, 2019, 2:24 pm
#5
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Delta has said no - the trip has already started, no refund. We might try one more time with another agent. Just was wondering if anyone had success doing this.
Sep 5, 2019, 4:11 pm
#6
Join Date: Sep 2009
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This shows why it's always best to book two one ways -- as long as you are PM or DM and don't get hit with the $150 redeposit fee (and sometimes may be even with it).
Sep 5, 2019, 4:19 pm
#7
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On international trips, the total taxes and fees paid on two OW award tickets aren't necessarily the same as the taxes and fees on a RT award ticket.
Sep 5, 2019, 4:40 pm
#8
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 4,677
I just discovered this, I'm probably late to the party. IIRC, taxes/fees on 2 one ways for me was ~$275 vs $60 on a RT itinerary. I have to buy 4 tickets, so that adds up!
Sep 5, 2019, 4:42 pm
#9
Join Date: Sep 2009
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The other exception is that now RT pricing is not necessarily the sum of two one-ways, esp. if DL flights are involved.
Sep 5, 2019, 5:21 pm
#10
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Sep 5, 2019, 7:18 pm
#11
Join Date: Aug 2007
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I’ve had luck getting a refund of the return leg after mentioning that the reason was that I had bought an alternate ticket (on Delta) do to changing commitments which resulted in me not being able to take the return portion of the first ticket. It wasn’t a slam dunk but it worked in the end.
Sep 5, 2019, 8:34 pm
#12
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Yes, that is true, so there are some exceptions to the rule of booking one-ways. I think that is only for ex-EU flights though where there are the crazy high YQ fees if booked as OW vs as RT, isn't it?
The other exception is that now RT pricing is not necessarily the sum of two one-ways, esp. if DL flights are involved.
The other exception is that now RT pricing is not necessarily the sum of two one-ways, esp. if DL flights are involved.
It can make a difference for Latin America too. I've also discovered cases where the taxes and fees on two OWs are cheaper than for one RT, so one should always check.
Sep 5, 2019, 11:23 pm
#14
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AFAIK a RT can be changed to an OJ, but an OJ ticket cannot be changed to a double open jaw. There are also rules about the "gap" (presumably from the destination to the starting point for the return) cannot be longer than the two flown fare components. I' not sure whether there would be additional restrictions on changing continents/regions.
Sep 5, 2019, 11:58 pm
#15
Join Date: Feb 2016
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I’ve had luck getting a refund of the return leg after mentioning that the reason was that I had bought an alternate ticket (on Delta) do to changing commitments which resulted in me not being able to take the return portion of the first ticket. It wasn’t a slam dunk but it worked in the end.
So, they definitely can do it - but a regular agent can't, and be really nice to them when requesting it.
Ding ding ding. You should be able to push the return out awhile and then call and redeposit it later for free. If the aforementioned doesn't work.