Mar 15, 2020, 10:29 am
Last edit by: Maestro Ramen
FARE RULES:
I pulled down the DL fare rules (these are BUD-SEA but they all appeared nearly identical). I posted them on a share. We can easily grab the AF and KL variants if others need those.
Q: This is a fully flexible fare with free changes. Does that mean I can change the flight dates as I want without paying anything extra?
A: No. The airline simply doesn't charge a change fee. But depending on the fare rules, you will still need to pay the difference to the new price.
Q: But I read that some people could change their flights for free...?
A: The rules for this fare (linked to above) specify that historical pricing shall be used if either at least one flight from the ticket has been taken or the outbound remains the same. In other words, in order to be able to change your flights for free, you must have flown at least one flight from your booking. Otherwise, you can only change the inbound. The outbound has to remain the same or you will be charged the fare difference.
Q: Can I change the rest of the itinerary after flying the first segment without any other charges or additional fare differences?
A: Yes this is possible according to the fare rules where after completing the first segment, you can change the rest of the flights for free (with the condition that the same fare class is available- I-class - in this case. According to the fare rules, after flying the FIRST segment (in the case here BUD-XXX) the historical fare is used. Possible to use the first stopover at AMS or CDG (see post #830).
Q: But some people could change their outbound flights for free!
A: They got lucky. It was probably a bug on the website/in the app. When no flight from the ticket has been flown, the fare rules do not allow changing the outbound without repricing.
Q: Ok, ok, so I can only change the inbound for free. How do I do that?
A: You search for availability for alternative flights on ITA Matrix using "F ..I2FFHU" in the extension codes. You must search for round trip flights as this is a round trip fare. Then you ignore the outbound result (as long as you haven't flown at least one flight from your ticket) and just try to rebook your inbound on the website/app.
Q: I have found availability on ITA Matrix, but the app/website doesn't show me those flights!
A: Keep trying. Sometimes you may have to serach in a different way (split up the searches, e.g. HNL-LAX and LAX-BUD), sometimes you just have to repeat the search several times. But that's no guarantee the desired results will turn up (and without repricing).
Q: It doesn't work. Can I just call the airline to make the changes?
A: Please don't unless you need to. Calling can increase the risk for all of us that they'll change their mind and disallow all further changes, or simply cancel everyone's tickets. However, as this fare has now been running for months and has seen many calls made about it, it is reasonable to expect that calling will not cause issues at this stage. As best practice, avoid attracting attention on the low price paid, and avoid making additional demands or tempting your luck. Remember you get to fly a J ticket for the cost of a Y fare.
Q: How many times can I make changes?
A: In theory, as often as you like, but you can't make more than two changes online/in the app. After that, you'd have to call, which we are trying to avoid.
Q: I've changed my mind. Can I get a refund?
A: Yes, the fare was fully refundable. Just contact the airline or fill out a refund form online.
Q: Due to Coronavirus, I need to extend my travel plan beyond the original expiry date. What can I do?
A: For Delta tickets (starting with 006) you can travel at any point until December 2022. Changes to flights within a 10 month window can be done at any point on the app, following the rules above. If you want to fly later than 10 months from now, you can call Delta and ask them to "park" your ticket. You will receive a ticket number that ties to an eCredit which can be used later to buy tickets. As long as you keep the original itinerary, or if you have flown at least a segment, you will not be charged a fare difference. Bear in mind that the eCredit may only be refundable if your original flight was cancelled (which is very likely in those day and times). Note that only Delta in the US are able to do this so do not call the EU numbers (use Skype to save money on international calls). According to user feedback: iMessage agents seem to also be able to do this, but twitter agents not.
I pulled down the DL fare rules (these are BUD-SEA but they all appeared nearly identical). I posted them on a share. We can easily grab the AF and KL variants if others need those.
Q: This is a fully flexible fare with free changes. Does that mean I can change the flight dates as I want without paying anything extra?
A: No. The airline simply doesn't charge a change fee. But depending on the fare rules, you will still need to pay the difference to the new price.
Q: But I read that some people could change their flights for free...?
A: The rules for this fare (linked to above) specify that historical pricing shall be used if either at least one flight from the ticket has been taken or the outbound remains the same. In other words, in order to be able to change your flights for free, you must have flown at least one flight from your booking. Otherwise, you can only change the inbound. The outbound has to remain the same or you will be charged the fare difference.
Q: Can I change the rest of the itinerary after flying the first segment without any other charges or additional fare differences?
A: Yes this is possible according to the fare rules where after completing the first segment, you can change the rest of the flights for free (with the condition that the same fare class is available- I-class - in this case. According to the fare rules, after flying the FIRST segment (in the case here BUD-XXX) the historical fare is used. Possible to use the first stopover at AMS or CDG (see post #830).
Q: But some people could change their outbound flights for free!
A: They got lucky. It was probably a bug on the website/in the app. When no flight from the ticket has been flown, the fare rules do not allow changing the outbound without repricing.
Q: Ok, ok, so I can only change the inbound for free. How do I do that?
A: You search for availability for alternative flights on ITA Matrix using "F ..I2FFHU" in the extension codes. You must search for round trip flights as this is a round trip fare. Then you ignore the outbound result (as long as you haven't flown at least one flight from your ticket) and just try to rebook your inbound on the website/app.
Q: I have found availability on ITA Matrix, but the app/website doesn't show me those flights!
A: Keep trying. Sometimes you may have to serach in a different way (split up the searches, e.g. HNL-LAX and LAX-BUD), sometimes you just have to repeat the search several times. But that's no guarantee the desired results will turn up (and without repricing).
Q: It doesn't work. Can I just call the airline to make the changes?
A: Please don't unless you need to. Calling can increase the risk for all of us that they'll change their mind and disallow all further changes, or simply cancel everyone's tickets. However, as this fare has now been running for months and has seen many calls made about it, it is reasonable to expect that calling will not cause issues at this stage. As best practice, avoid attracting attention on the low price paid, and avoid making additional demands or tempting your luck. Remember you get to fly a J ticket for the cost of a Y fare.
Q: How many times can I make changes?
A: In theory, as often as you like, but you can't make more than two changes online/in the app. After that, you'd have to call, which we are trying to avoid.
Q: I've changed my mind. Can I get a refund?
A: Yes, the fare was fully refundable. Just contact the airline or fill out a refund form online.
Q: Due to Coronavirus, I need to extend my travel plan beyond the original expiry date. What can I do?
A: For Delta tickets (starting with 006) you can travel at any point until December 2022. Changes to flights within a 10 month window can be done at any point on the app, following the rules above. If you want to fly later than 10 months from now, you can call Delta and ask them to "park" your ticket. You will receive a ticket number that ties to an eCredit which can be used later to buy tickets. As long as you keep the original itinerary, or if you have flown at least a segment, you will not be charged a fare difference. Bear in mind that the eCredit may only be refundable if your original flight was cancelled (which is very likely in those day and times). Note that only Delta in the US are able to do this so do not call the EU numbers (use Skype to save money on international calls). According to user feedback: iMessage agents seem to also be able to do this, but twitter agents not.
{prem fare gone}: AF/KL/DL/VS: BUD-US from $750 R/T
Apr 3, 2020, 5:24 am
#631
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,485
That said, I just tried to change the final AMS-BUD segment and got a no reprice option - so something seems to have changed. It still fails if I try to change more than two flight elements though.
Apr 3, 2020, 5:27 am
#632
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: 10^7 mm from Ȱ
Programs: Hyatt D/HHonors D/ SPG P/ Marriott P/ IHG P/ UA 1K/ AA EXP/ DL D
Posts: 1,976
My ticket change experience is quite...umm...interesting and would like to share with you folks. I have a booking of three people, including myself, 006 stock, BUD-CDG-LAX//LAX-MSP//MSP-AMS//AMS-BUD, with "//" = stopover (>24 hrs) or destination, fwiw. I made all my changes on DL app, no agent/human intervention.
Round 1: extended my vacation at AMS by pushing AMS-BUD to next day, even exchange, no charge;
Round 2: moved BUD-CDG-LAX one day ahead to extend my LAX vacation, also switch from AF 388 to AF 77R, even exchange, no charge;
Round 3: changed the date of MSP-AMS and also the equipment from DL 333 to DL 359 suites, even exchange, no charge;
After Round 3 I was no longer able to find the "promotional price" for my BUD-CDG-LAX on any other dates/flights except the one I am on; basically I got stuck at my TATL option, which is fine;
Round 4: checked BUD-CDG-LAX on the same date I had changed to, and realized price quoted was HUF3300 lower than my purchased price for each pax, resulting a total refund of HUF9900. Worried this may mess up my ticket status and therefore opted out the change process;
Round 5 (this Monday, 5 days ago): checked again for my BUD-CDG-LAX portion, and this time the price quoted on DL app was HUF11000 lower than my purchased price for each pax; went through the change process, ticket reissued and two days later, HUF33000 was refunded to my credit card.
Since Round 5, no luck to make any further changes. Every time tried to modify and search, DL app error-ed me out.
Round 1: extended my vacation at AMS by pushing AMS-BUD to next day, even exchange, no charge;
Round 2: moved BUD-CDG-LAX one day ahead to extend my LAX vacation, also switch from AF 388 to AF 77R, even exchange, no charge;
Round 3: changed the date of MSP-AMS and also the equipment from DL 333 to DL 359 suites, even exchange, no charge;
After Round 3 I was no longer able to find the "promotional price" for my BUD-CDG-LAX on any other dates/flights except the one I am on; basically I got stuck at my TATL option, which is fine;
Round 4: checked BUD-CDG-LAX on the same date I had changed to, and realized price quoted was HUF3300 lower than my purchased price for each pax, resulting a total refund of HUF9900. Worried this may mess up my ticket status and therefore opted out the change process;
Round 5 (this Monday, 5 days ago): checked again for my BUD-CDG-LAX portion, and this time the price quoted on DL app was HUF11000 lower than my purchased price for each pax; went through the change process, ticket reissued and two days later, HUF33000 was refunded to my credit card.
Since Round 5, no luck to make any further changes. Every time tried to modify and search, DL app error-ed me out.
Apr 3, 2020, 11:23 am
#635
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,485
Just tried to go through with changes, and neither the website nor the app will swallow payment details - guess I'll be calling/FB chatting to Delta. Suspect it would have been easier if the exchange rate shift hadn't meant a refund, tbh.
BTW: how do they deal with payment on FB? [Though a refund ought to be possible without new card details!]
BTW: how do they deal with payment on FB? [Though a refund ought to be possible without new card details!]
Apr 3, 2020, 11:46 am
#636
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 21
Missed the time to get the promotion from BUD to HNL return tickets, so managed to get my second choice to SFO in Jan. 2021 under Air France stock. Have tried to change my reservation since then on Delta/KLM/AIR FRANCE apps but all came to fare difference from HUF 438,000. I guess because the fare class quoted for new reservations is Z.
But today, I found out there is no fare difference required even though the fare difference still shows during the process with Air France app.
My original route is BUD-CDG-SFO//SFO-DTW-AMS-BUD.
So my route is changed to BUD-AMS-SFO//SFO-DTW-AMS-BUD w/o paying any fare difference. And then I still play for some more possibilities and to my surprise, my route is changed to BUD-CDG-LAX-HNL//SFO-DTW-AMS-BUD for free. But a pity that it is not free to start my return flights also from HNL!
After my second change, I can't change my reservation any more either with KLM nor Delta apps. But it shows a message with KLM app that if I would like to change my reservation, I should talk to the reservation center.
My guess, base on other flyers' and my own experience, is that the ticket is allowed to change twice on apps or websites. But after two times, you have to call the reservation center.
But today, I found out there is no fare difference required even though the fare difference still shows during the process with Air France app.
My original route is BUD-CDG-SFO//SFO-DTW-AMS-BUD.
So my route is changed to BUD-AMS-SFO//SFO-DTW-AMS-BUD w/o paying any fare difference. And then I still play for some more possibilities and to my surprise, my route is changed to BUD-CDG-LAX-HNL//SFO-DTW-AMS-BUD for free. But a pity that it is not free to start my return flights also from HNL!
After my second change, I can't change my reservation any more either with KLM nor Delta apps. But it shows a message with KLM app that if I would like to change my reservation, I should talk to the reservation center.
My guess, base on other flyers' and my own experience, is that the ticket is allowed to change twice on apps or websites. But after two times, you have to call the reservation center.
Last edited by raychen4183; Apr 3, 2020 at 11:54 am
Apr 3, 2020, 1:28 pm
#637
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: LAX/SFO
Programs: Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, Fortune Wings Club Gold
Posts: 358
I just changed the first leg BUD-AMS-LAX on 5/31 to BUD-AMS-MSP-LAX on 9/30 on Delta.com (booked via Delta.com originally too). I class. Did to maximize TP and to get Delta One Suite product (1-2-1) instead of KLM (2-2-2), and to ensure a short connection in AMS wouldn't cause issues.
Apr 4, 2020, 2:22 am
#640
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Prague
Posts: 46
I just changed the first leg BUD-AMS-LAX on 5/31 to BUD-AMS-MSP-LAX on 9/30 on Delta.com (booked via Delta.com originally too). I class. Did to maximize TP and to get Delta One Suite product (1-2-1) instead of KLM (2-2-2), and to ensure a short connection in AMS wouldn't cause issues.
Apr 4, 2020, 4:12 am
#642
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: AMS
Programs: KL PFL; BA Gold; A3 Silver; EY Silver; SU Silver
Posts: 2,488
Apr 4, 2020, 4:14 am
#643
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: AMS
Programs: KL PFL; BA Gold; A3 Silver; EY Silver; SU Silver
Posts: 2,488
If segments are 'missing' you can just add what you need via 'add flights' (the segments do not show up on DL.com if they are booked via an agent and do not contain any DL operated or marketed flight, for example a return portion fully coded marketed by AF without DL metal). Without adding those segments the system will only be able to price the segments seen on DL.com, ie price one way journeys or similar - not something we are looking for (covered by our promo fares).
Apr 4, 2020, 5:01 am
#644
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 28
Sincere thanks to all contributors for information on this great deal. I was the lucky one to book Hawaii yesterday. I wanted to optimise the routing a little bit today and change one leg. DL site allows me to search an alternative flight and quotes this leg even slightly cheaper than the original one (I should receive some HUF back as e-credit). However I need to go through payment page, provide my CC details (for reimbursement probably). when I am clicking 'complete' I see error message that the payment may not be processed (error 9002A). I don't need any refund, I just want to change the flight. Any ideas how to proceed? Or changes will not work after the fare is gone? I purchased the ticket directly on Delta, so 006 stock. Many thanks