No refund or redeposit for award tickets <72 hours - change in applied policy?
 

I've been 360 for the past couple of years, so maybe things have changed. As a DM before then and since, I never had an issue canceling an award ticket close in and getting a refund. The rules have always said no refunds or redeposits within 72 hours of the flight, but the rules have never been applied. Is this a change in applying the policy, or just a HUCA situation?

It’s possible that if you’ve abused the policy too many times a notation was written into your account.
or just HUCA

The policy is the policy. Being 360 likely let you bend the rules even more than usual. As a lowly DM they are more judicious on when they hand out policy waivers.

For the most part I don't see an issue with this policy. How frequent do you not know whether or not a leisure trip is happening less than 72 hours before departure?

Unless you have a reason, they're not going to. However for just about any half decent reason they usually will.

At ~300 days/year on the road, it's more often than I would like. This only happens a few times a year, and it's usually because something fell through at the last minute, and often while booking or having just booked an alternate trip. Ideally, this wouldn't happen - I understand they need to protect their inventory, and that there should be respect of that inventory on my part.

In the 2-3 times I have had to do this in the past since this policy was created, I have never had an issue with a valid waiver such as illness, family situation, etc.

I've also found the 24 hour risk free cancellation policy seems to trump the 72 hour rule. I had an award ticket recently that I booked and cancelled within 24 hours all without issue. Was even able to cancel online. Just a data point in case it helps!

Thats because the 24 hour rule is a law, while the 72 hour rule is a Delta policy. Laws trump rules

I have had very accommodating agents in my experience who have told me that they have flexibility with the T-72 rule on award tickets. One technique I have used within T-72 is to change the flights to any dummy date far in the future that has the same price in miles (I research this first) due to a family or work issue. This is a softer landing for the agent in terms of waivers and favors. Then I subsequently call in to cancel it.

Frequently. Plus, a huge competitive disadvantage to AA - who allows their EPs no redeposit fee, to redeposit anytime within the ticket validity period.

No reason DL couldn’t do the same.

So you’d rather tell two white lies instead of one?

But seriously - how is that a softer landing? To ask them to change the dates but keep the fare the same? RM would basically see that as fraud as you could be asking them to waive the entire set of fare rules.

Seems - at the minimum, a same ask, if not an easier lift - to simply waive the cancellation ‘penalty’ and just ask for the redeposit in the first place.

Actually, the "law" only requires the 24 hour rule be applied to tickets booked at least 7 days out. DL is going beyond what is required by the law with it's 24 hour policy.

And you don't think Delta is tracking this? I think Delta still looks at a change as a redeposit (you can check your account and see that the miles are put back in and then taken out again). Exactly the type of thing that could make Delta review procedures and close loop holes.

I have had hundreds of awards and redeposits for my family of 5 often double and triple booking combinations of one way trips of many permutations and combinations for each of us. As long as a booking is not impossible/conflicting it is within the rules and I have never been told otherwise. No different than frequently buying the cheapest F and doing SDC to a more expensive F same-day booking.

None of this has anything to do with OP's situation.

It isn't as though individual analysts at DL are placing notes in profiles. It is simply that big data metrics let DL spot trends and then have the "offending" accounts annotate accounts appropriately.

From a customer service perspective, the good balance is to occasionally help top customers out, but not let things go entirely such that people begin to think that they are exempt from the rules. Alternatively, if DL is going to grant a waiver of a rule, better to let it be known and then derive the brand enhancement it creates.

I

sorry for asking, but what is a 360?