You should be able to call reservations and get SkyMiles credit for your original itinerary. Be sure to have your locator number and it might be good to have your actual ticket number as well.

Yes, but if you are going to try and handle it by phone as RobertS975 suggested, call ASAP!

Sometimes due to irrops you might actually get more mileage than normal. One time my LGA-PBI in L class was canceled and I was rerouted to MCO in Y class and ended up getting about 400 miles more than I would've with the original itinerary, even though my new one was shorter! (due to the mileage bonus) Check to make sure you weren't rebooked into Full fare coach.

Actually Dominoes is a strong argument to my point. If Dominoes is unreasonably late then they waive the cost of the pizza! This is because as you have noted there is real competition in pizza delivery and I can always choose another provider.

Quite often airlines dont have real competition on their routes, so there is no alternative provider. The airlines also clearly collude to have similar policies and practices and avoid real competition on important aspects of service. The quasi monopoly the airlines enjoy makes the decision to switch carriers a false choice.

Again, this merely proves my point. Amtrak is a government protected monopoly (much like the airline industry is a government protected industry), so there is no pressure for them deliver good service or offer compensation for delays resulting from bad management and its consequence, mechanical difficulty.

If my limo gets a flat tire and is late, the car service would immediately dispatch another car/driver. Again this likely due to the fact that it is a competitive industry. There is also always the option to decline to tip the driver if he is generally incompetent.

The comparison of Amtrak versus my limo driver clearly illuminates the problem with the airline industry. The airline industry, like Amtrak, enjoys significant government protection and is therefore able to avoid true competition. The result is poor service, failure to adequately compensate customer for failure to deliver services paid for and a general disregard for customers.

Huh? Me thinks you need a new dealer because your current dealer evidently sold you some bad crack. :rolleyes:

What finally happened
 

Wow, I got alot more out of this than I expected.
I e-mailed Delta and got this response a week later.


Thank you for your e-mail describing the problem you experienced.

Your time is valuable, and operating on schedule is equally important
to
us. However, when a mechanical problem is found, we must restore the
aircraft to company and federal airworthiness standards. Safety is the
number one consideration in the operation of our flights. We regret the
inconvenience you experienced.

As a goodwill gesture, we will mail our $75.00 Transportation Credits
for each passenger which may be used toward future Delta travel and
some
travel-related services. Vouchers are valid for one year from the date
of issue and may not be combined. They may be redeemed at any Delta
ticketing facility or authorized travel agency; however, they are not
currently redeemable online. Please refer to the terms and conditions
for additional information.

We value the relationship you have with Delta Air Lines and would be
delighted to have another chance to restore your trust and confidence
in
our service.

Sincerely,

Hazel M. Burns

I think allowing the airlines to get away with everything is Depressing. If the EU was able to set up guidelines by which the Passengers MUST be Compensated so should be it be so in the US as well.

A 4 1/2 delay is Not a little Inconvience !! 15 mins would be.

Again what is good for the goose should be good for the gander. The Airlines want Us to live by a set of rules they set up thats stacked in their favor then they too should have to live by them.

Compensation for Mechanical Delays
 

Hi,

My itinerary was SAN-ATL-EWR and the first flight was delayed 7.5 hours due to a mechanical problem. This caused me to miss my connection and forced an 'overnight' stay in ATL. I put that in quotations because we got into ATL around 4:15.

After waiting on the plane for 3 hours, I waited in a line to talk to one of 2 GAs for an hour. There the GA rebooked my connection to a 7:09am departure, gave me a $7 meal voucher, and told me that I would receive a hotel voucher upon arrival in ATL.

I got into ATL with less than 3 hours before my connection, and we came out in Concourse A. I was interested still, at this point, in receiving a hotel voucher. It would have been nice to catch an hour or two of sleep. However, I saw the line at the gate where we came out - longer than the line in SAN, and moving slower because there was only 1 GA there.

I didn't want to wait in line for an hour to go to a hotel for a half hour nap, so I tried to find a second GA. I called SMS to ask where I could find a GA, after telling them I was at the empty help desk in Concourse A. SMS put me on hold and I walked to Concourse T, finding its help desk also empty. Then SMS told me there were help desks in Concourses A and T. :D

I found an off-duty GA in ATL who kindly checked me in and printed my boarding pass for me (I'm not sure why this wasn't done in SAN), but I didn't want to press him about my options since he wasn't on the job. If I had been able to talk to an on-duty GA, I would have liked to have been put on a later flight out of ATL. That would have let me go to my free hotel and get a few hours of sleep rather than a few minutes.


Anyway, wah wah wah, how much should I ask for from Delta for this, and how much are they obligated to give me?

As a side note, seeing Zone 2 board on the ATL-EWR flight, which was >80% medallions made me laugh pretty hard.

There is a thread on this, try a search! "compensation mechanical"

In the mean time I will see if I can find it for you.

You really should just try google. I punched in those two words and received numerous information about your particular situation. Here is the official answer:

http://www.delta.com/care/faq/travel..._faq/index.jsp

Thanks for the advice - I did find a helpful thread from 2007. I had limited my searches to within the past year before posting this thread, since Delta changes its policies frequently and information from 2002 is no longer relevant.

Here are the top 10 search results from Google for a seach on compensation mechanical:

1)POWERMILL 9 2D Cutter Compensation Mechanical Engineering Tv ...
2)2005 executive compensation-mechanical contracting*.(Around THE ...
3)2005 executive compensation-mechanical contracting*. (01-MAR-06 ...
4)2005 Executive Compensation — Mechanical Contracting* - Industry ...
5)Thomas J. Marusak Profile - Forbes.com
6)Mechanical Engineering Salaries: Vault Salary & Compensation Surveys
7)Neural compensation for mechanical loading of the hand during ...
8)Compensation for Mechanical Delays - FlyerTalk Forums(*)
9)Automatic Tube Compensation During Weaning From Mechanical ...
10)Hydraulic Lash Compensation Device With Mechanical Lift Loss ...

(*) Links to this thread


Your link does not work. Maybe we're on different internets.

This link indicates that they will provide a voucher for future travel, but does not specify an amount.

Appropriate Compensation for a Mechanical?
 

I can't seem to find any explicit rules on this. Here are the salient facts. Wife and I were returning from our trip June 20. Last leg was DL 5202, scheduled to depart ATL for SDF at 2:40 pm. When preparing to pull from gate, pilots discovered a mechanical problem. Short story was we deplaned and waited in gate area for about an hour at GA's request, but after a bit more than an hour, the flight was canceled.

When the mechanical problem was first announced, I immediately called the Medallion desk from the plane. The CSR said the best she coud do was to protect us on DL 5196 departing at 8:15 pm, which she did. Soon as 5202 was canceled, we went directly to a CSR station where we checked in and printed boarding passes for 5196. I then asked the CSR for dinner vouchers ($7 each promptly printed) and additional compensation. After she confirmed that the delay was indeed a mechanical, she began to make various offers beginning with 1000 FF miles each. Eventually we agreed to $100 electronic vouchers for each of us.

My question centers on what is appropriate for the circumstances I have described. Are there written Contract of Carriage regulations that specify compensation under various circumstances? Or are we expected to negotiate individually for the best deal we can get? Should I have asked for $200? Maybe $300 and a Lexus?

A final point never mentioned. We purchased A fares for this trip and were originally in First on this final trip leg. Alas, that was lost twixt ticket purchase and flight thanks to an equipment change as part of DL's ongoing effort to downsize itself out of existence. Should I have .....ed about that too? Your advice please!

lex

The only DOT rules regarding compensation have to do with overbooking, so in the case of delays for whatever reason, you are pretty much on your own. I haven't read the COC to see what it says, but since DL writes it, I wouldn't count on it giving away the farm.

I think that is about the going rate, maybe a Chevy depending on your fare code.

As unfair is it really is, they probably won't do too much for you here, at least in regard to refunding any fare difference. You might be able to get some more vouchers if you raise enough heck. I would probably give it a try in your shoes.

Compensation for mechanical delay
 

So today my wife was scheduled to leave Vegas at 0630...they have boarded and deplaned twice and now have a scheduled departure of 1030. This causes her to mis her connection obviously and no other flights to any of the three close airports (within 100 nm) of where we live today. The SMS agent i spoke to said that DL is obligated to provide either a rental car or hotel stay for mechanical delays. My question is, should she ask for a delta dollars voucher as well since this was 100% mechanical and she has to drive 4 hours now just to get home so she doesn't miss work tomorrow?