peterparker20

Hi there --- I fly a lot, but rarely do complicated connections + have been lucky.

My girlfriend has had some mishap with Delta, so I'm trying to figure out the right 'parlance' to set things right, if it's even possible.

Pertinent information that I currently know:
1. She booked a RT flight from Minneapolis MSP to Shanghai, China via Tokyo, Japan. ..... so MSP> TYO (forget) > Shangahi PVG, and PVG > TYO > MSP ---- ALL under Delta.
2. Delta flew the long legs (MSP>TYO) but technically Shanghai Airlines (I believe) did the TYO-China legs.

Way there is fine. Way back, problems.

3. Shanghai airlines flight from Shanghai to TYO. .... I believe it got massively delayed as it was right after Tokyo's airport disaster on the runway, and they were still backed up for days. She landed 5 hours late (oh and at an entirely different tokyo airport), the delta flight TYO > MSP was missed.
4. She called Delta to rebook something for her. They send her a confirmation email with new route. TYO > Seoul Korea > MSP via Korean Air.
5. There is confusion at the counter at Korean Air at Tokyo Airport at the given flight. They can't find her ticket or something, so she books one herself for $1000 in a panic (not sure I woulda done this, but okay) to get to Seoul. ... interesting, the second leg (Korea to MSP) is in the system, so ... ... ... malarky is happening obviously.

Now we get to present day. She wants Delta to pay up .... given ... they are still obligated to get her "From Shanghai to MSP" --- one way or another, right? The delay was not NECESSARILY delta's fault --- it was Japan's Runway Chaos --- and it seems Delta made a mistake in not "getting her to Korea" even though they sent her a confirmation email.

She talked to them once via email, although she's not good at this "technicality crap". They responded with a canned email that "weather delays are unavoidable, sorry" -- some canned response that is completely unrelated of course.

Obviously, I think she needs to call them, but lay out --- clearly and simply -- what's going on. .... Without adding too much confusion. Obviously airline CS is a lengthy maze of BS, and they are bad at handling complicated situations, but what are the right words to say exactly?

findark

So FM (Shanghai Airlines) and/or DL ultimately transported her to her final destination of MSP?

What is the particular complaint - having chosen to spend $1,000 to travel to SEL? Generically being upset about the travel interruption? What is the desired outcome?

firemandan9

Can't really qualify for a trip in vain credit because of one short hop not flown on the original ticket.

Best case you escalate again in writing about the cancelled Tokyo flight and they might throw you a goodwill gesture in the form of miles or future flight credit. I wouldn't expect either to be near the value of the ticket price paid in this case..

I'd suggest seeing if the credit card used for original ticket offers trip delay or interruption and attempt an insurance claim.

guv1976

Wouldn't the airline that flew her from Shanghai to Tokyo have been the one responsible to rebook her?

exwannabe

Somebody owes you the $1000 back., Just hard to know is going to cough it up.

Shanghai Airlines is part of China Easter which is a "core" DL partner. Korean Air is also a "core" DL partner. So nobody should be pointing fingers at their "core" partners. But they will.

I would focus on DL first as your life will be easier that way. If blocked there, try Korean. Trying to pry it out of China Eastern will cost you months of life pain. And trying to get it out of Shanghai Airlines will likely require leaning Mandarin.

The rest is just tough luck. There really was a legit event outside of the airlines control.

Edit: Findark, as I read the story she flew the rebooked ITN but was forced to pay $1000 on one leg.

DLHubber

Why?

Goodoldflyer

I would think this would automatically mean "expect delays". That she panicked and booked a different ticket flight seems to be more on her than any airline.

seattlebruce

But she didn't book a different flight; she bought a ticket for a flight that OP said DL "sent her a confirmation emal" for -- after Korean couldn't find the booking. If she really was confirmed (as opposed to, say, offered the option of choosing it), then the fact that she says Korean couldn't find the booking, and her proof that she paid for a new ticket on that flight, ought to get the new one refunded. Of course that doesn't answer OP's question of how to obtain that refund, but it addreses your point.

Goodoldflyer

What I meant was that she booked a different TICKET on the same flight, rather than getting the original ticket straightened out.

But maybe I'm being a bit hard on her, as it's understandable that it was probably a confusing situation. Not sure what differences there were between the two tickets.

YVR Cockroach

I'm wondering if the OP's GF was at the wrong airport (HND instead of NRT or v-v) for the reaccommodated flight and didn't specify this to DL (or did but did not notice) which is why KE agents couldn't find her reservation. More details needed.

cvision

Assuming she showed them her reservation, that would have been an easy thing to figure out for someone having access to their airline's computers. I'm sorry, this is not the time of only paper printouts for everything anymore.
Besides, if she was at the wrong airport and then flew "on her own" to Seoul, she would have been a no-show for the flights leaving from the other airport. So either whoever did the rebooking didn't actually ticket the TYO-ICN, which is hard to believe, if ICN-MSP was, or they did not ticket anything at all, and KE may have dropped the unticketed TYO-ICN leg.

Remember, there are requirements when e.g. DL is going to ticket a KE itinerary on 006 stock (just like any other airline's) as in that the ticket must be issued by XYZ. If DL makes a reservation with only DL codeshares it may be different but this is certainly the case when they make a reservation on another carrier's flight numbers.

I would not go on a merry-go-round for too long. Try calling once or twice, then a formal email / letter, with a deadline, then her credit card company to inquire about a chargeback for the differential (1k) of her original ticket, then small claims court.
If and when it comes to the latter (or the believable threat) you'll usually get some movement, even into the most lethargic of airlines.

Firstboss

I would make the explanation precise around the $1K problem and the desired outcome.

The storyline: After the delay Delta has arranged the flight via Korean Air. The check-in agent of Korean Air failed to handle Delta reservation properly and suggested purchasing the ticket for the first flight (is this far from the truth or not?)

Desired outcome - Delta contacts Korean Air (it's core partner) and requests a refund of the credit card transaction to be processed by Korean Air.

flyerCO

Either the booked a KE flight from the wrong TYO airport, or they booked it but didn't wait for KE to confirm the sale.

I am betting the latter is what happened. DL agent booked KE TYO-ICN and DL ICN-MSP. DL of course had no need to confirm its own flight. However agent didn't wait/check and see if KE confirmed reservation for TYO-ICN. Agent issued ticket, emailed GF and all seemed well. However between that and checkin KE came back and refused the sale. Thus GF only had a reservation ICN-MSP.

Now GF really messed up in paying for a new ticket. No one, even DL can force KE (or whomever she flew) to refund that ticket. Also DL isn't liable for it. (Shanghai is as they flew her PVG-TYO) A simple stop at the DL (or more appropriately Shanghai Airlines) desk in TYO or a call back to DL would've gotten thus straightened out.

Before people think this is a DL or KE issue, this can happen on any airline. I've had this happen with KE. Late KE flight they rebooked me onto KE ICN-LAS and AA LAS-PHX. They issued tickets, printed bew bag tags to retag my bags upon landing at ICN, and even issued a BP for both flights. AA refused the sale of LAS-PHX. Luckily I saw when checking during taxi into gate at ICN that AA LAS-PHX had dropped from reservation. KE agents kept insisting I was checked in and all was good. I finally had agent willing to look and saw I was correct. I then had a DL agent at ICN handle rebooking me to DL metal next day.

I've had the same happen QR with AC and lastly UA with LH.

This is why when rebooking to another carrier (even a close partner) at the airport, the GA will call the GA of the other carrier and ask if they can take passenger. They don't simply book you onto the other carrier flight. Otherwise the computer may refuse the sale. Airlines don't want to be paying to VDB/IDB passengers just because another carrier booked one of their passengers on a flight. (Airlines have discounted contract rates with each other for IRROP rebookings)

Aliquot

The mistake was paying for a new ticket, instead of straighting up the original one. I understand how desperately wanting the ordeal to be over would lead to a lack of patience, which would have been required to work with the airlines involved to fix the issue, but it would have eventually been worked out.

You may get very lucky, but getting the $1,000 back seems unlikely. It was not paid to DL,.and the ticket was actually used.

peterparker20

Thanks guys. That's a good idea -- look into credit card policy -- she may have booked on an Amex platinum -- hopefully, but not certain.

Hmm. Yeah I'm not sure how that works .... yeah Shanghai Airlines was "late" -- no fault of theirs.

My thinking was like ....

I thought if you booked a flight A>B>C under one ticket, at least SOMEONE was responsible for either getting you to destination C, or giving you your money back.

But maybe not. Connections are worse than I thought.

I advised in the future for her to always take the "long leg" first .... seems to be a LOT less BS that way.