Reservation change penalty and fare difference
May 4, 2005, 7:10 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 179
Reservation change penalty and fare difference
Hello,
Sorry if this has been asked, or if the answer is well known. Assuming I have a reservation (not Y, but not the cheapest either) on a flight which "appears" to be oversold. For my convenience, I would consider taking a different flight, the same day, which "appears" to be emptier than the original flight. If indeed this information is accurate, why would DL not waive the $200 change penalty? The risk for DL of having to pay someone some sort of compensation is that small?
Thanks
Sorry if this has been asked, or if the answer is well known. Assuming I have a reservation (not Y, but not the cheapest either) on a flight which "appears" to be oversold. For my convenience, I would consider taking a different flight, the same day, which "appears" to be emptier than the original flight. If indeed this information is accurate, why would DL not waive the $200 change penalty? The risk for DL of having to pay someone some sort of compensation is that small?
Thanks
May 4, 2005, 7:12 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: east coast USA
Programs: Skyteam/Delta Silver Medallion, Starwood Gold Preferred
Posts: 403
$200 change fee? I thought change fees were only $50 (Simplifares) or cheaper (Song).
May 4, 2005, 7:27 pm
#3
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They normally would not waive any change fees. Delta and all airlines routinely oversell planes that never depart full. Just because it shows oversold doesn't mean that anyone that wants on that plane won't be on that plane. In fact, Delta is banking on that.
As the flight gets closer to departure, it might appear more and more likely that it will indeed not have enough seats, or not. If it does, and you find the right agent, you might be able to get it changed. Or, you could just be at the gate and take the compensation and get on the flight that you wanted anyway. Of course, you would have to be at the airport and that might defeat the purpose to start with.
As the flight gets closer to departure, it might appear more and more likely that it will indeed not have enough seats, or not. If it does, and you find the right agent, you might be able to get it changed. Or, you could just be at the gate and take the compensation and get on the flight that you wanted anyway. Of course, you would have to be at the airport and that might defeat the purpose to start with.
May 4, 2005, 7:53 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SDF
Posts: 3,302
Originally Posted by MuAT
$200 change fee? I thought change fees were only $50 (Simplifares) or cheaper (Song).
May 4, 2005, 8:07 pm
#5
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
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On top of that. They rather get $200 cash from you and give out a voucher to something who volunteers.
May 4, 2005, 9:06 pm
#6
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Agree - DL would rather take their chances they will not have to pay out. In fact, with Murphy's law in effect, the flight you might want to switch too may somehow be oversold itself due to flight changes.
May 4, 2005, 9:53 pm
#7
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I asked a similar question a few days ago.. if the change fee is just $50 i'm going to pay it + the fare difference to change my flights this coming friday, oversold or not, I have something to do with my friends.
May 4, 2005, 10:20 pm
#8
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Originally Posted by seawolf
On top of that. They rather get $200 cash from you and give out a voucher to something who volunteers.
May 5, 2005, 12:26 am
#9
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I just changed the tix.. instead of having my friends wait on me to see if I get a bump, and more likely not getting bumped but instead getting a middle seat, I just said screw it and paid the change fee + the fare difference.
problem is, this MR i'm taking is working out to be more like .05/mile instead of the .025 it was originally
problem is, this MR i'm taking is working out to be more like .05/mile instead of the .025 it was originally