spongenotbob

Given all the many unknowns for this summer I am considering booking a “Plan A” and “Plan B” on Delta. These would both be revenue bookings for approximately the same travel dates. Very different destinations.

Should I expect Delta to cancel one of these or will they let it slide?

(I would cancel one of the bookings within a month of travel)

Mr. Tickets

You will get all sorts of answers on this. Same flights on same dates will get caught. I also know of people that had different flights but overlapping flight times and they were caught by Delta. Leaving out your SkyMiles number doesn't necessarily help as they can also track by birthdates, which you have to include in your booking.

Get out the popcorn.

JPG3392

Doing this would violate Delta's policies. It's impossible to know if the conflicting bookings will be detected, but if they are Delta may cancel either or both of the flights involved.

LondonElite

And if they do, you may not get a refund for either. Risky.

sydneyracquelle

DL called me and asked if I wanted to keep flight A or B.

Jay00848

I have two flights going to Maui over the holidays, one from NYC and one from Chicago, I have no way to know which one I will take because of everything with covid. I booked them both on the phone with agent, no issues. Used upgrade certs on both flights, have had many schedule changes and spoke with various agents on these flights, no concerns from anyone.

DLASflyer

It does bring up an interesting point with everything else in the industry changing. There are plenty of legitimate reasons for someone considering options to have multiple bookings. I do it all the time with rental cars. I understand why Delta doesn't allow it but maybe they should consider a policy where you can have x number of overlapping bookings until x days before departure. Especially for Medallion members who likely will end up using one of the possible bookings. Now is the time for airlines to rethink everything.

Mr. Tickets

Well, if nothing else, thanks for hogging up space for someone else. And as was mentioned, it is against Delta policy.

Intl359Widget

I’ve had same day tickets audited and received calls from LH/LX asking which itinerary I would like to travel on. I hadn’t realized that United failed to cancel an old award itinerary when I called to issue a new one.

Justin026

Have done it during delays or when the website pricing is odd or to meet a deadline. I call when I have the chance and the agent cleans it up. But trying to game the upgrade availability or to maintain flexibility by holding two less-flexible fares? This type of thinking is what propelled international business award and upgrade availability into the toilet, as over time Delta closed the loopholes. Also the ever-tightening rules for higher status, the 72 hour no-cancel rule for award travel, etc.

writerguyfl

In many ways, airlines are bureaucracies. Just people low-level allowed you to violate the Contract of Carriage doesn't mean other departments of the airline will let it slide.

In case anyone wants the official policy, here it is from the Contract of Carriage:

Rule 16
E) Duplicate, Fictitious and impossible/illogical bookings

Delta prohibits duplicate, impossible, or fictitious bookings, including but not limited to multiple conflicting itineraries for the same passenger on the same day or bookings with connections that depart before the arrival of the inbound flight. Delta reserves the right to cancel any such booking which has not been ticketed, and to cancel and refund any such booking which is ticketed at a refundable fare.
https://www.delta.com/us/en/legal/co...f-carriage-dgr

spongenotbob

Ok, appreciate the collective wisdom here. Delta gets the long-haul international option, WN gets the domestic.

Thanks FT!!

Lomapaseo

It's amazing what kind of programs can be loaded into a computer to do a scan every now and then for conflicts that flash on and off on somebody's screen. Doesn't mean they will act on it except where it uses up high value seats.

I've had some similar experience some years back where I purchased separate tickets on a different operator between my originating city and a high value longhaul in first. In another case the longhaul operator called me a week before the flight and asked how I was getting to his gateway and if I wanted to keep his flight.

In another case I showed up at an European first class club after arriving on a separate ticket on another airline. The club wouldn't let me in until they confirmed my space was still available as they had written me off as a likely no-show..

flyerCO

Im confused. Why would the first airline think you needed to fly from a different city? Are you sure they simply weren't reconfirming the flight. People book tickets for travel from other cities all the time. Airline has no clue that you don't reside or work there.

As for the next one, again, how would they know you were likely to no-show?

MarkCron

I had these same questions