Options For Improving Feeder-Connection on US->EUR Flight
Mar 3, 2020, 1:16 pm
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Idaho, USA
Programs: AS MVPG, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 147
Good news - we got moved to the earlier flight.
Some weirdness in advance: We had a schedule change on our initial outbound flight from GEG to SEA a few days ago, which actually gave us a few minutes longer in Seattle. We only had 36-minutes originally, but that bumped it up to 41. I had the general green "There was a schedule change, you may be eligible for a no-fee rebooking" message in my profile yesterday.
Then, today when I logged in to look before calling, it'd changed to a RED notice that said: "There has been a change affecting your trip. Your itinerary has been updated, but it may cause you to miss at least one connecting flight during your trip. Please call your local reservation office for assistance. You may be eligible to change your flight(s) at no extra cost. (Conditions Apply) " and then in-between the GEG-SEA and SEA-CDG legs, another notice that said, "With a schedule change, you may miss your connecting flight. Please review your scheduled itinerary."
As far as I could tell - there had been no further changes to our outbound flights to prompt that message.
I called and talked to two agents, first whoever answers the phone at the reservation line, then I was transferred to (IIRC) the International desk because it required a manual reticketing.
They were both charming and very helpful. They also both remarked that it was weird to get that notice after the layover got a few minutes longer, but commented that it totally made sense to get us on the earlier flight, especially since both feeder flights were essentially empty (except for our reservations). They also both commented that there was a distinct possibility of more schedule changes between now and our trip, but this would at least give us a bigger buffer.
It took some doing - my total time on the phone was over 45-minutes, but in the end they were all reissued without, well, issue. Or fees. One of the agents even "linked" the reservations between the award and paid pax, so that we'd be kept together in the event of future issues.
If you're looking for some clever strategy to replicate my success I'd just say; be nice, polite and grateful for the agent's going out of their way to help you. They certainly could have said "no", and didn't have any obligation to make the change. The international agent even told me stories about being yelled at by passengers who were angry that they couldn't get a Coronavirus refund for a flight between Tampa and Houston. I can't imagine the patience that job takes.
I don't fly DL more than a couple times a year, but every time I've had an interaction with a customer service rep it's been personable, reasonable and helpful. Hopefully our recent $142.5 million airport expansion at PUW will lure them here so I can fly DL more often.
Thanks again to everyone who gave their feedback.
Some weirdness in advance: We had a schedule change on our initial outbound flight from GEG to SEA a few days ago, which actually gave us a few minutes longer in Seattle. We only had 36-minutes originally, but that bumped it up to 41. I had the general green "There was a schedule change, you may be eligible for a no-fee rebooking" message in my profile yesterday.
Then, today when I logged in to look before calling, it'd changed to a RED notice that said: "There has been a change affecting your trip. Your itinerary has been updated, but it may cause you to miss at least one connecting flight during your trip. Please call your local reservation office for assistance. You may be eligible to change your flight(s) at no extra cost. (Conditions Apply) " and then in-between the GEG-SEA and SEA-CDG legs, another notice that said, "With a schedule change, you may miss your connecting flight. Please review your scheduled itinerary."
As far as I could tell - there had been no further changes to our outbound flights to prompt that message.
I called and talked to two agents, first whoever answers the phone at the reservation line, then I was transferred to (IIRC) the International desk because it required a manual reticketing.
They were both charming and very helpful. They also both remarked that it was weird to get that notice after the layover got a few minutes longer, but commented that it totally made sense to get us on the earlier flight, especially since both feeder flights were essentially empty (except for our reservations). They also both commented that there was a distinct possibility of more schedule changes between now and our trip, but this would at least give us a bigger buffer.
It took some doing - my total time on the phone was over 45-minutes, but in the end they were all reissued without, well, issue. Or fees. One of the agents even "linked" the reservations between the award and paid pax, so that we'd be kept together in the event of future issues.
If you're looking for some clever strategy to replicate my success I'd just say; be nice, polite and grateful for the agent's going out of their way to help you. They certainly could have said "no", and didn't have any obligation to make the change. The international agent even told me stories about being yelled at by passengers who were angry that they couldn't get a Coronavirus refund for a flight between Tampa and Houston. I can't imagine the patience that job takes.
I don't fly DL more than a couple times a year, but every time I've had an interaction with a customer service rep it's been personable, reasonable and helpful. Hopefully our recent $142.5 million airport expansion at PUW will lure them here so I can fly DL more often.
Thanks again to everyone who gave their feedback.
Last edited by atourgates; Mar 3, 2020 at 1:29 pm
Mar 3, 2020, 1:22 pm
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,042
Beware, linking will NOT ensure passengers are kept together. Linking simply results in a notation that may or may not be read by an agent doing rebookings. The automatic systems won't know you want to be kept together.
Mar 3, 2020, 2:46 pm
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Idaho, USA
Programs: AS MVPG, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 147
AS flew a total of 138,239 pax in/out of PUW in 2019, up about 6% from the year previous. LWS (Delta's closest airport about 45-minutes away) hasn't released data for passengers since AS pulled out in 2018, but even before that they were in the range of 90K/yr between DL and AS both serving that airport. I'm sure they're down significantly.
In addition, we now have the $145+ million airport improvement that makes it easier to land in poorer conditions at PUW, so we should see fewer weather-related cancellations, and a terminal improvement project slated for the next few years. Moscow/Pullman's population has also grown so that now there are about 65K people up here compared to ~48K in the valley. And I suspect that the universities keep our airports busier they would be with other comparably sized towns.
All that said, it'd be a huge blow to LWS if they lost DL and had no commercial service. But I'd love to see DL come to PUW, especially if they started offering direct flights to SLC.
Though, if we're making highly-unlikely wishes, I might as well wish for the good old days of the AS/DL partnership.
Anyway, I've gotten totally OT, thanks again for all the advice.