ND76

On my most recent trip I got rerouted on very short notice (due to bad weather in NYC) from CLE-JFK-AMS-BHX to CLE-ATL-AMS-BHX, arriving at BHX about 4 hours later than I had originally scheduled. I was on a cheap coach bucket (T, I think). When I got rerouted, the fare bucket on the ATL-AMS-BHX was upgraded to Y by Delta (in fact, the Delta uniformed GA at gate F3 in ATL working the KLM flight apologized to me that he couldn't UG me but told me he had gotten me an economy comfort seat with the middle seat blocked out.

Over the years Delta has been good about letting me pick the new flight of my choice when they make schedule changes and not charging me for it.

tardyturtle

I’ve ran into the same issue of uninformed agents insisting that there must be availability in the same fare class. That’s simply not the case.

You can tell them to refer to policy, and if they don’t oblige, ask them to connect you to Global Ticketing Support.

While schedule changes are a pain, I’ve learned to use them to my advantage. When booking far out, book the cheapest ticket you can find, and when the inevitable schedule change occurs, re-book to your preferred flight at no additional cost!

sydneyracquelle

Online I’ve been able to make free changes due to schedule changes of even one minute. However when online doesn’t work (around 30% of the time I get an error message) and I call in the agent won’t let me make an even exchange for schedule changes less than 90 minutes.

1kprem

To all: Success! Finally got an agent who knows the rules and she changed the flight so I have a shorter connection at JFK now. They used C class in place of Z and it was no additional charge.

Many thanks to all who responded.

DCAproducer

This is how it's supposed to work. When DL forces the schedule change the fare class no longer matters. I have found, in recent years, some CS agents don't know what they're doing. We just had an IROPS incident a couple of weeks ago where the agent didn't properly re-ticket a paid F itinerary and DL thought we had paid for Y. It took some back and forth with a more experienced CS agent, but we ended up getting it fixed and compensated for the hassle. DL used to be really good at these situations.

1kprem

I am happy for the outcome here. What bothers me about this type of situation is it's a core element of their business. Schedule changes happen and if they worked harder to make it a seamless and frictionless experience it would be a good thing.

I mean, it is the airlines who are all talking about "modern airline retailing" and yet they are sorely lacking when it comes to helping passengers manage their bookings online. Some airlines have the capability to facilitate changes online within policy parameters quite well, so it is not for lack of the tech piece. But some are just more interested in investing their money in developing new ways to sell more ancillary products. It's best to get the core part of the business working smoothly.

sydneyracquelle

Online a schedule change of one minute gives you the right to any same-cabin change within +/- 2 days. On the phone the agents I have dealt with have dug in their heels on 90-minute minimums. IROPS is different and agents will do whatever you want to get you where you need to go.

halls120

I learned years ago that no matter what airline I’m flying, that I need to check my reservation weekly, and as we get closer to the flight, daily.

While I have been notified of more schedule changes in advance than I’ve missed, I don’t trust their systems to keep me informed. At any airline.