GagaPilot

I'm in the same boat. Just cancelled a reservation that I had for next week via the Plat Line and the rep said the credits should show up for the full amount in both my wallet and my husband's wallet. Checking both accounts the reservation has been cancelled, but nothing is showing up in either wallet. When I try to manually look up by e-credit/ticket number I get an error as well. Given the current situation I'm not terribly concerned. It would be nice if everything eventually shows up as it should (enabling online redemption of the e-credits) but more than likely I will have to call in to redeem. My ticket will be valid until August, so have some time yet.

As a data point: I called the Plat Line this afternoon and was quoted a 4 minute wait. I elected to wait and not receive the call back. Right at 4 minutes a very flustered, yet polite, agent answered. None of my account info came through and I had to manually give her my SM number. Her system then froze and she couldn't access any of my itineraries. She sounded so upset and kept apologizing. Even offered to take my info and write it down so she could cancel the reservation later. I thanked her for her time and told her I would just call back later. I waited a half hour or so and called back. This time quoted a 3 minute wait. It wasn't even a minute and I was connected to a different agent at the Plat Desk who promptly cancelled my reservation for next week and issued the credit. Very quick, efficient, and polite. No issues other than the "My Wallet" issue mentioned above. I'm waiting until closer to my future trips before I make any decisions on them.

So it does sound like wait times are majorly improving... especially for elites.

FullFare

Agree with Mr Tickets. Don't forget to save those ticket numbers! A good idea for any ticket purchased at any time for any airline. Has never failed me.
More important, though, is a conversation I had with a DL agent when I called the DM line. I told her I was intending to use 6 or 7 disrupted flight tickets on a big splurge trip to Europe. she said, "hate to tell you, but you will be allowed to use only ONE prior ticket wherein you were granted a waiver from the infamous $200 change fee---per ticket.

Now the year is ticking on and things will start to get very old in the summer. Not allowing the value of multiple postponed tickets to be used for a large fare for a big trip does not seem equitable. I wish DL would clarify this and let the pax know about this rule. Maybe their computer systems can't handle it, but they should work on this issue and not let this get in the way of the many flyers that will be affected by this.

Additionally, I think DL will not allow the application of more than (3) of the $200 vouchers that one can accumulate on the choice benefit program. My wife and I have been DM for years and accumulate a lot of choice benefits. We can almost never clear the regional or system upgrades at the time of ticketing, and we're too old to fly economy. So we buy mostly discounted F tickets, and the only use of the choice benefit program is to cash in the benefits for the $200 vouchers.
Limiting the $200 vouchers to only 3 per ticket is also a PITA.
And yadda.
Wonder if anyone else has checked this stuff out.

GagaPilot

Per the DL website:
Whether they're printed on paper or sent electronically, Certificates and eCredits give you a number of different ways to save big on your upcoming trips. You can use up to 3 eCredits per passenger. If your Unused eTicket is expiring in March 2020 or April 2020, then the expiration date of the Unused eTicket may be extended so that you can book and travel until December 31, 2020.

So it looks like to me one could use up to 3 e-credits to book a trip. Sadly not the 6 or 7 you mentioned to splurge on a trip to Europe (that would be awesome if they would allow that!) But I'm not seeing any mention limiting it to 1. I'm not seeing any fine print either limiting the number of credits applied that contained the change fee waiver related to the virus.

For me, depending on how long this plays out, I might end up taking a credit on a TATL D1 trip and combining it with a credit from a TPAC PS trip to rebook the whole TPAC trip in D1. But that's months off yet... hopefully conditions will improve and I can take all of my remaining reservations as planned. Fingers crossed!

acrophobia

I had an agent tell me the other day that my two $799 D1 upgrades were technically not refundable, but she submitted a full refund as an exception. When I got the initial receipt, it had the ominous message “Refund Estimate: Unable to Calculate Estimate.”

Today the credit posted to my AmEx, but the refunded amount came out to only $46.43 each. No idea how they came up with that amount.

ekozie

Taxes?

gitismatt

I got the same thing for a mileage upgrade on a trip I cancelled. it was a significant amount of miles which I think helped the agent want to make it right for me. I think if it was 25k she would have just said "no, it's nonrefundable" and I was fully prepared to hear that anyway

acrophobia

Possible, but why would the taxes be refundable but not the fare?

rkoechel

For another data point - I made a change resulting in a credit on 3/12 and have no credits showing in my wallet yet.

StayingHomeIsBetter

DL's normal policy on this is ridiculous. Under normal circumstances (i.e, no special "we'll do it as a favor, just this one time" handling), purchased upgrades are not refundable. Should be, but are not.

The safe practice is to purchase the coach ticket, then call in to have the agent handle the matter. I purchase the coach ticket and wait until I receive the email confirmation and receipt. Then I call and tell the agent that I want to buy up to FC, making certain that the ticket is reissued as an actual FC ticket. So, then, I have a coach fare receipt for invoicing the client, and I have by real FC ticket with the refundable FC buy-up.

If there are no extenuating circumstances (pandemics, blizzards, etc.), I may call in and let the agent take care of both transactions, but I make sure that I have received the coach receipt before proceeding with the FC transaction.

I would certainly like to hear how DL justifies the current, customer-hostile policy.

ekozie

I'm not attempting to guess rationale, but the back-of-envelope math puts that about where taxes would be. It could have just been a computer error that needs manual intervention, too.

Daitheflu84

You have to click the "open" tab at top right of the "credits and certificates" window. It will open a new window which will show all credits and RUC/GUCs after they load. I had this issue after making PM and wasnt able to view my RUCs. But this is now the only way I'm able to see them and any previous credits.

Xeno

I see more than one anomaly in My Wallet including no e-credit for a flight cancelled perhaps two weeks ago. I have screenshots as these issues surfaced before today.

I have wanted to follow the 72 hour rule, but in order to buy a ticket for next week I want to use the e-credit that will expire first.

GregInMN

Right, I aware of the open tab but it doesn't exist only: Oh no! We're sorry. We can't show your Credits and Certificates right now. Please try again later.

captaink

Why would calling in to re-fare be refundable (short of re-faring all the way to refundable first)? The buy-up offers are (almost?) never for refundable first, you're just paying the difference between a refundable Y/B/M/H fare and a non-refundable Z/I fare to move up to a better cabin. If you want the better seat AND maintain the refundability your client is presumably reimbursing you for, you need to cough up more cash...

StayingHomeIsBetter

I am contrasting two different situations:

a) You are holding a coach ticket. You go to the seat assignment page or the check-in page and are offered an UG for $xx. You purchase the UG, and the incremental fee in non-refundable. If you decide to change to a flight where FC is not available, you lose the amount that you paid for the UG. It is not transferable to another ticket.

b) You are purchasing, or have just purchased, a coach fare. You are still within the 24 hour change period.** You call DL and, pay the difference between coach and FC, and make sure that the ticket is re-ticketed as a true FC ticket. The increment that you paid to get a FC seat is now part of a genuine FC fare and is handled per more sensible rules. It may end up as a credit in your account, but you won't lose the incremental costs, as was the case in a).

To be clear, I am talking about ensuring that the increment you paid for the FC UG is not lost to you. I am not talking about somehow transforming the ticket into a fully non-nonrefundable fare.

As I interpret the OP's concern, it focused on losing the incremental cost he paid for the UG.

In a just world, the increment paid in a) would be refundable. But, DL management does not see it that way. I am still willing to listen to an argument for why that policy is equitable.


** Some folks have reported luck in getting the change fee waived outside of the 24-hr protection period when they were buying up from coach to FC.