Markbr

Question about compensation for involuntary bumping. We had a confirmed reservation to fly on Delta from Cape Town to Atlanta for my family of 5 (two minors). 3.5 hours before the flight we had not checked in and going online to check in, we noticed we had been involuntarily rebooked on the next nights flight. We were never notified. At the airport Delta said that we were bumped because the flight had been diverted to MIA then ATL and our seats were given to additional crew members even though there was no change in equipment. We asked several times to be put back on the original flight (any seat) and were denied. We were offered no compensation even for taxi or lodging. We don’t even know if Delta asked for volunteers- we were just left to find someplace to sleep.
On our original flight we had paid to upgrade from main cabin to Comfort Plus and had 5 nice seats together. On our new flight (16 hours) all five of us were given middle seats in main cabin Not together at all. This is probably the most frustrating part. The only compensation we’ve been given is a refund of the Comfort Plus upgrade which they said was sold out and we could not get on our new flight.
I was wondering if anyone has guidance on the best way to get compensation both for the expenses incurred plus the inconvenience of a 24 hour delay and horrible seat arrangements. Just for background, I don’t have silver medallion status - I have 800k lifetime miles flown and a gold and a platinum Amex Delta credit card.
Thank you for your help dealing with this customer service problem.

steveholt

If what you're saying is accurate, I believe you should be owed IDB compensation of 200% of your fare plus quite a few Skymiles. You should also have your taxi and lodging expenses reimbursed. It might be worth filing a DOT complaint to get DL to take this request seriously or to avoid an auto-reply.

sydneyracquelle

File DOT complaint then submit a copy of it to Delta in online complaint submission .

obscure2k

Welcome to Flyertalk Markbr

rylan

Too bad this wasn't departing the US, since then the DoT regulations apply and it would be 400%.

Anyway, this is from DL's CofC for international:
So they were supposed to provide hotel vouchers. You should save your receipts for hotel, food and any other incidentals and submit them to DL for reimbursement.

Also from the CofC for invol boarding comp:
That is the compulsory compensation per their contract of carriage, but each of you should also be given some goodwill compensation for the troubles and especially for being left to fend for yourselves for lodging and being moved from C+ to Y- middle seats spread apart.

renfield90

File a DOT complaint - it's way easier than it sounds and it makes the airline very responsive.

seattlebruce

I don't understand this. Was the incoming aircraft diverted or was the flight you were booked on rerouted in advance through MIA and ATL? What does the route have to do with additional crew members?

RobOnLI

Not entirely sure why DL25 on 04Jan diverted to Miami. FlightAware is showing it landed at 6am and then took off again at 845am for ATL. Got to the gate in ATL at 1040am. I'm assuming this was a fuel stop similar to what UA just had to do in SJU on their JNB-EWR flight.

Still doesn't explain why OP's family was bumped to get more crew on the flight. Wouldn't extra crew who were needed to fly the plane displace J pax anyway?

That's very interesting to read that DL caps the involuntary comp at 200% of the cost of the flight "up to" $675. Of course that's complete BS as almost all flights cost more than $337 these days.

-RM

flyerCO

Wrong direction. This was departing CPT.


DL25 CPT-ATL was forced to make a stop in MIA and then continue onward to ATL. Due to this they would've required crew be onboard in D1 seats to be able to operate the MIA-ATL leg. (If the issue was as reported crew)

RRROOO

I was thinking maybe it was your check in time..but Delta has a 3 hour check in time at International Airports. Is there no other comfort plus seats..even with a connection on a Partner airline..to get you back? 16 hours in main cabin *not fun*.

Jeff767

A crew would have been deadheaded from ATL to MIA to pick the flight up. It appears the operating crew from JNB was then given seats in the back for the MIA to ATL leg. There is no requirement at Delta for crew to be given D1 seats on a domestic leg.

rylan

Yes I understand that, was a typo in my post. Corrected it.

exwannabe

Yeah, kind of hard to understand why a crew issue would have effected the CTP-MIA leg. And if that was not an issue, fly OP to MIA in original seats. if the MIA ATL leg had an issue I think there would have been some options for that.

P.S., did check the flight. Assuming it was Tuesday it took off a bit late and landed in MIA earlier than the planned ATL arrival. So I would think no crew timeout or rest issues.

Jeff767

If you are doing a flag fuel stop you can’t deplane passengers. If you do the aircraft must clear customs. If everyone stays on you just gas and go. That includes crew hence why they need seats for the MIA-ATL leg. They are seeing unusual headwinds in excess of 150 knots over the Atlanta on the route.

rylan

Unfortunately the tech fuel stop is just an example of the ongoing issues with DL using the A350 which is really stretching the capability for the route and was even worse with flying JNB-ATL. The 777LR rarely if ever had these issues.