My friend recently had her honeymoon flight canceled by DL, but DL made no attempt to contact her to notify her of this fact.

Quote: We booked our honeymoon, including flight last November. Apparently in December Delta made some changes to our flight as far as times goes. Then in February they cancelled it all together. Do you know how I found out about our cancelled flight? I was looking online last night to see if there was any first class availability for upgrades. They have two phone numbers, two addresses, AND an email address to contact us. No notification whatsoever. Naturally, I called the customer service line. The first person said we can get a refund or change to the next available flight. Our original flight was leaving on a Wednesday, the next available flight is SATURDAY. That will make us have to change our reservations at the resort. We got our rate at the resort because we booked so far in advance so that could cost us money to change. I asked for a supervisor who goes into a ten minute spiel about profitability and how that is their number one concern. Maybe if they took care of their customers, profitability would follow! Plus when we booked in November, our flight was already half full. They had the best options as far as getting to Antigua of any airline. I am sure they would have filled the flight if they would have left it. So today, I take my handy list of executive phone numbers and attempt to get a better response from them as to why we weren't notified of the change. I understand things change, but to not TELL us it changed, that's just ridiculous. And then when they are contacted to not offer us anything for our inconvenience? BAD BAD BAD Customer service. That person also went into the spiel about profitability, etc and said they are making so many changes, its just not possible to contact every customer about their flight changes. HELLO, have they heard of a mass email that can go to every person on a flight?? There is not doubt someone there is trying to get their employees to understand that concept of profitability, however it comes across as they don't give a rats ass about customer service in the meantime. After getting nowhere with them, I left a message for the CEO. Supposedly all calls are returned by his assistant within 48 hours....I'm not holding my breath. What really sucks is there are really no better options other than changing our flight to Saturday or choosing a different destination all together.

Discuss.

Delta keeps changing my flight to DEN and I am leaving in June. I booked the flight in December. I have had to call them at least 4 times to get our flight times straight. I have to check my reservation everyday to make sure that we do not miss our connection in ATL. They never did call us about changing our flights.

My dad has had DL schedule changes, nothing substantial, never got contacted.
I had a DL flight get dropped, booked at delta.com, also had to go into itinerary and realize the flight was gone and they had booked me onto an impossible itinerary.
I also had a 30 minute schedule change with DL once and actually got an e-mail about it, only time I think..
Why they didn't get auto-rebooked when the flight was gone is beyond me..

-A

When I went to PVR last year DL changed our flights twice without notifying us. Good thing I called in to confirm - they had us booked on flights that would eventually get us to Mexico City 2 hours after the PVR flight left. DL certainly lacks in some departments of customer service.

JetBluefan1

Is it really that hard to send an email?

Other airlines send flight status right to my BlackBerry.

[Edited 2007-03-26 23:25:06]

Did they book directly? I.e. at delta.com, by calling DL directly, or in person at a ticket counter? If not, their travel agent (whether it be a "bricks-and-mortar" agency or an online travel agency like Expedia or Travelocity) is responsible for alerting them to schedule changes and rebooking them if necessary. The agency, not the airline, is who the couple should deal with.

Not saying DL did or did not drop the ball here, just that there's not enough info to say one way or the other.

Where is she originating?

M

Let me preface this by saying this happens on ALL airline and it's not exclusive to Delta. It's a necessary evil of the industry.

Quoting Brons2 (Thread starter): I was looking online last night to see if there was any first class availability for upgrades.

Delta provides a service where you can look at your reservations. It was displayed on there that the flight was changed. She was notified.

Quoting Brons2 (Thread starter): They have two phone numbers, two addresses, AND an email address to contact us. No notification whatsoever.

Addresses dont mean anything. You have to sign up for email notification. Phone is the only way notification is guaranteed, and even then there's nothing saying they're going to get a hold of the passenger.

Quoting Brons2 (Thread starter): And then when they are contacted to not offer us anything for our inconvenience?

Airlines don't compensate for schedule changes. Schedule changes have to happen.

Quoting Brons2 (Thread starter): After getting nowhere with them, I left a message for the CEO. Supposedly all calls are returned by his assistant within 48 hours....I'm not holding my breath.

lol...no she didn't. Sorry, but I think Jerry has better things to do than to resolve peoples schedule change issues. There's a department for that. It's called corporate customer care. That's who she'll be talking to.

Quoting Brons2 (Thread starter): What really sucks is there are really no better options other than changing our flight to Saturday or choosing a different destination all together.

Or a complete refund. Delta couldn't provide the service as promised, so that's the fairest thing to ask for.

So what does the honeymoon have anything to do with this? Did they notify DL that it was there honeymoon? They just threw that in there just to make DL seem like the big bad man whilst they are the innocent newlyweds... I have no sympathy. These are typical schedule changes.

AA changed an upcoming August flight of mine. I got an e-mail about it.. and an old fashioned letter in the mail a couple days later.

Just saying...

Quoting Evan767 (Reply 9): So what does the honeymoon have anything to do with this?

  

Of all the people who had their flight canceled, they probably have it the easiest. Tell them to get a hotel room. I'm sure they can find a way to pass the time.

I am not saying this is the case this time, but more times than not, airlines DO send out info in regards to major schedule changes....when the flight times change by +10 minutes, flight cancellations, etc. But that is only good if the passenger gives the correct contact information to the airline. I have seen it dozens of times...and it ends up being an incorrect email address or a phone number no longer in service. Or no one answers the phone. It could be any number of things. I generally don't have much sympathy for people who say they weren't notified of a schedule change.

Quoting JetBluefan1 (Reply 4): DL certainly lacks in some departments of customer service.

...And yet was still practically tied for first in JD Powers customer satisfaction survey. Hmmm wonder why that is?

I've had the same thing happen on a Jetblue flight. The never notified me that due to their schedule change, I was going to misconnect in JFK until I got to the airport the DAY OF departure. Then they expected me to wait around JFK until the next flight like 3 hours later. After having to cause a scene and speak to two supervisors, the finally put me on...you guessed it: Delta!

Quoting Brons2 (Reply 5): Is it really that hard to send an email?

As I said, a passenger has to request that service,

Quoting DL787932ER (Reply 6): their travel agent (whether it be a "bricks-and-mortar" agency or an online travel agency like Expedia or Travelocity) is responsible for alerting them to schedule changes and rebooking them if necessary. The agency, not the airline, is who the couple should deal with. Not saying DL did or did not drop the ball here, just that there's not enough info to say one way or the other.

Bingo.

Quoting ChiGB1973 (Reply 7): Where is she originating?

AUS.

AA is $100 cheaper but you have to fly AUS-DFW-SJO-ANU. Yuck.

DL has AUS-ATL-ANU, for about half the flight time. Except they don't offer it on the days in question.

Quoting Evan767 (Reply 9): So what does the honeymoon have anything to do with this? Did they notify DL that it was there honeymoon? They just threw that in there just to make DL seem like the big bad man whilst they are the innocent newlyweds... I have no sympathy. These are typical schedule changes.

The honeymoon aspect of this is not made up. You're telling me you have no sympathy whatsoever? You are a hard hearted person.

err, that should read, they NOW don't offer it on the days in question.

Quoting Brons2 (Reply 17): err, that should read, they NOW don't offer it on the days in question.

two questions: where did they book the ticket and did they check Delta.com for schedule changes? If so, and the change was listed, then they were, unforuntately not in the best way, notified...

I have had BMI call me on my mobile and VS call me about a change in departure time by just 30 minutes.

Don't think you can blame the airline for revising the schedule -it's unreasonable to expect them to run the flight just because there are newlyweds aboard.

On the other hand what is the point in asking customers for their e-mail addresses if they are nit going to use them?

Christmas 2005 I was going to FRA. UA from SLC-DEN, LH from DEN-FRA. UA's flight changed, actually just the flight number. I got a call like a week before telling me this. And the time's weren't even changed or anything. I'd be totally pissed off if I got a flight cancelled without notice to me. My God how stupid can airlines get these days?

Quoting Brons2 (Reply 16): The honeymoon aspect of this is not made up.

I realize that. They still could have "thrown in" that unnecessary fact, just for kicks.

Quoting Brons2 (Reply 16): You're telling me you have no sympathy whatsoever?

Meh, maybe a smudge....

Quoting Brons2 (Reply 16): You are a hard hearted person.

Thank you. I like to come off that way, I am no pansy!

It shouldn't be the customer's responsibilty to confirm schedule changes. If the airlines changes the schedule, then they have the responsibility of notifying everyone confirmed on that flight. Thats the simplest form of customer service. You can't argue with that. Just like if I change a meeting schedule, then I should notify the attendees so they don't show up to a meeting that has been re-scheduled. Its the same principle.

I think Delta is notorious for this. I flew to Ohio last summer. I had a 7:40 AM flight out of GSO to ATL then a two layover in ATL before continuing to DAY. Well, around 10:00 that night (I was just about to shut down my computer, had already sent the "well, I'm signing off now. See you tomorrow at the airport" IM to the family member who was going to be picking me up) and I decided to check delta.com one last time, and to my "surprise" (sarcasm), I found my flight had been cancelled and I was switched to the 10:45 AM flight to ATL.

I proceeded to call Delta Customer Service. At least in my situation, they were helpful at this point. I was rebooked on the 6:00 AM through CVG. However, upon arriving at the airport at 4:30 in the morning, I again find that that flight too was cancelled and I was again rescheduled on the 10:45 through ATL.

Quoting MDorBust (Reply 10): AA changed an upcoming August flight of mine. I got an e-mail about it.. and an old fashioned letter in the mail a couple days later.

Yea, I flew AirTran home over Spring Break. I received about three notifications or so for schedule changes between January when I booked the ticket and the other day when I finally flew home, and these changes were for mere minutes difference in the arrival times.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 15): Quoting Brons2 (Reply 5): Is it really that hard to send an email? As I said, a passenger has to request that service,

Why? I didn't have to request it from AirTran, so we have one area where sadly AirTran has DL beat. Seems like reprogramming the system to generate an automatic email saying "Hey, you've had a schedule change. Go to delta.com to find out or call 1-800-221-1212 if you need to reschedule or speak to someone in customer service," wouldn't be all that hard, and probably not all that expensive.

Do schedule changes happen? You bet. Do I have a problem with that? No. Should the airline notify me rather than try to hide the problem and hope I don't find out? You bet. In the long run, I'd rather deal with a schedule change a few days or weeks in advance then find out when I show up at the damn airport for something that was switched a long time ago.

Quoting DfwRevolution (Reply 11): Of all the people who had their flight canceled, they probably have it the easiest. Tell them to get a hotel room. I'm sure they can find a way to pass the time.

THIS is the most ridiculous thing I've read in this thread. You're telling someone "well, you can just deal with missing three days of your honeymoon. Get over it." But you don't know what their job is. People have to save up vacation time for these sort of things. And at many companies, it's not a lot of time, especially for those just entering the work force (who happen to be close in the same age group to those getting married and going on their honeymoon.)
Think before you post such things.

In addition to finding out where they actually booked the ticket, you should probably also tell us how far out the flights are. If the flight is months away, DL may just not have notified anyone yet, because they haven't decided how to handle the passengers. They may be planning to reinstate the flight once they have the aircraft routing or other operational details worked out, and until that decision is made there's no reason to worry the passengers.

Quoting ArcrftLvr (Reply 23): If the airlines changes the schedule, then they have the responsibility of notifying everyone confirmed on that flight.

And they (more times than not) make that effort. But the airlines can't control if no one is home and if the people don't have answering machines. There are plenty of ways for the customers not receive the information, and it's not always the airlines' fault, although the airlines generally are the easy ones to blame...after all, personal responsibility is a rare thing these days.

I've booked online with UA, LH and AQ and have always received email and regular mail notification of changes from those carriers.

This seems more than just a simple schedule change. Cancelling a ticketed passenger requires reprotection, let alone notification. It sounds like DL went immediately on the defensive when contacted, and didn't want to admit that the booking might have fallen through the cracks. Blathering on about profitability only pours salt on the wound, and isn't a particularly wise customer service response.

Mistakes do happen, however if passenger contacts were in the pnr , and the pnr was booked directly with DL and not via a travel agency, the service desk and/or automatic programs should have had ample opportunity to contact all affected passengers. IMHO, the supervisor should have looked into this a bit more thoroughly, bit the bullet and come up with a more reasonable offer to reprotect the passengers.

Quoting DL787932ER (Reply 25): They may be planning to reinstate the flight once they have the aircraft routing or other operational details worked out, and until that decision is made there's no reason to worry the passengers.

Then they shouldn't have posted it as 'cancelled'. If they want to cease booking, so no other passengers booked until they got the logistics sorted out, then they can just take it off the reservations screen.

No airlines guarantees anything, including the schedule.

It's all in the fine print.

It's HORRIBLE customer service to pull the rug from under someone's trip, regardless of whether it's a honeymoon or a trip to seal a deal. Everyone's trip is important to them.

It is an unfortunate reality that today's airline industry has been so traumatized financially over the past six years that saving the business is the ONLY focus. Customer service is not.

I feel bad for the folks.

Quoting MSYtristar (Reply 26): And they (more times than not) make that effort. But the airlines can't control if no one is home and if the people don't have answering machines. There are plenty of ways for the customers not receive the information, and it's not always the airlines' fault, although the airlines generally are the easy ones to blame...after all, personal responsibility is a rare thing these days.

Agreed. My response was generated with the understanding that no attempt was truly made. If an attempt was made via phone, email, letter, etc. and the passenger just didn't receive the information for whatever reason, then I say that DL did their job. I would hope that the poster and/or the affected passenger would have this understanding, as well.

Brons,

It happens with almost every airline out there from AA, DL, NW, to B6. I don't know what good it does, but some airlines, especially with FF programs, give you the option to sign up online for e-mail or mobile text updates for flight status.

Personally, I call the airline frequently to check the status being that I don't rely on the above with any airline.

Cheers,
Jeremy Carlisle

I'll be interested to hear the outcome on this one. We have the same issue on the agency side - sometiimes Delta does NOT send through a message or it gets hung up by the automation systems.

I can tell you that in our agency we notify clients within 48 hours of any schedule changes received. If they are minor we just e-mail e.g. less than 15 mintues difference, if more so we e-mail and call the client.

In addition, we ALWAYS mail at 30 days - after we have reconfirmed flights, seat assignments, frequent flyer, and land arrangements etc. This is usually when we do catch scary stuff that might not have been advised by the air carrier.

Delta should NEVER bring up the profitability issue - that is THEIR problem and issue - you are a customer and should be treated as such is my humble opinion.

Sorry that you have experienced this on what is to be a very special occassion trip.

Good luck!

And herein lies the problem ... customer service has taken a back seat ... how unfortunate:

Quoting Jetdeltamsy (Reply 29): traumatized financially over the past six years that saving the business is the ONLY focus. Customer service is not.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 8): Let me preface this by saying this happens on ALL airline and it's not exclusive to Delta. It's a necessary evil of the industry.

Schedule changes or notification of schedule changes? Because I once had an AA flight changed from something like 6:23 PM to 6:29 PM and I got an e-mail.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 8): Delta provides a service where you can look at your reservations. It was displayed on there that the flight was changed. She was notified.

So you have to check to make sure Delta doesn't just randomly cancel your flight? So I guess these people should have called Delta, along with their hotel, car rental and various tour agencies twice a week to make sure everything was still operating?

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 8): Addresses dont mean anything. You have to sign up for email notification. Phone is the only way notification is guaranteed, and even then there's nothing saying they're going to get a hold of the passenger.

If they call a few times and send an e-mail or two, then yes, its not their problem anymore. To not tell anyone at all? That's their problem.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 8): Airlines don't compensate for schedule changes. Schedule changes have to happen.

That's not the point. The point is if Delta told them last month, they still could have either rescheduled the hotel, changed their destination, flew out on a different day, got a refund and flown on someone else, etc.

The thing is, it costs almost nothing to notify someone. How much does sending out a hundred e-mails cost? Or even just having an automated recording call people, especially when its just a schedule change of a few hours and most people won't mind.

AAndrew

Delta cancelled my SEA-SLC-ABQ ticket, and tried to reissue it at $100 more, my CC co called and I told them to not allow the transaction.

I was bummed because I like Delta and wanted them to have my business, but the new fare was double what Frontier wanted, so I rerouted thru DEN for half the price.

Sorry Delta, but I was willing to pay 25% more for you to have my business, but not 100% more.

Usually the notification sign ups for flights are so they call you day of and let you know it's status (on-time, delayed, canceled, gate, etc.). I know on AA.com you can get a notification on a flight up to 24 hours before departure (I think).

Now about Delta. My wife and I booked a trip for OAK-ATL-MCO roundtrip for last Oct. (Redy-eye out of OAK). I happened to look one day (looking at how full the flight was and better seats) and saw there was a small time change on the outbound and return but thought no big deal, still plenty of connection time in ATL for both legs. Few weeks later, checked back and the OAK-ATL redeye was canceled. pulled the online reservation and they proceeded to reroute us OAK-SLC-ATL-MCO, not to mention departed 4 hours earlier than planned. Then I saw the return flight, the ATL-OAK leg changed to 3 hours earlier (Supposed to leave at 8:50 pm, now leaving at 5:30 pm). But it gets even better, they kept us on our original MCO-ATL flight that was leaving at 5:45 pm. Hmmm, how are we going to make our connection in ATL if we are still in MCO? I So I naturally called Delta Customer Service and talked to a very pleasent and helpful agent. She said that since the flights were a ways out (this was July when I called) that that is why we probably haven't been contacted yet. Ended up she was able to rebook us for SFO-ATL-MCO leaving the same day and time and on the return, we left about the same time but went MCO-SLC-OAK. Bottom line, if I had not kept checking for better seats and F/C availibility, I would have never figured it out.

Yes, I think the airlines should in some way try to contact the customer. But I also think, and don't shoot me, that the customer should also call or go online to confirm and double check the reservation. Just my $0.02.

Quoting FlyDeltaJets87 (Reply 24): Think before you post such things.

Try again. Those who can't think, probably shouldn't instruct others to      

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 35): Schedule changes or notification of schedule changes? Because I once had an AA flight changed from something like 6:23 PM to 6:29 PM and I got an e-mail.

Uh huh. And there's people on AA who don't get notified either. It happens.

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 35): So you have to check to make sure Delta doesn't just randomly cancel your flight?

No, you don't HAVE to, but Delta makes that an option. So does every other airline.

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 35): If they call a few times and send an e-mail or two, then yes, its not their problem anymore. To not tell anyone at all? That's their problem.

You don't know that they didn't make an attempt. Or maybe they haven't gotten to them yet. You just don't know.

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 35): That's not the point.

Sure it is. She asked for compensation. I directly answered that premise.

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 35): The thing is, it costs almost nothing to notify someone. How much does sending out a hundred e-mails cost? Or even just having an automated recording call people, especially when its just a schedule change of a few hours and most people won't mind.

Just because they may not have in this instance, doesn't mean they don't. A vast majority of the time people get notified, and it's a non issue. Nothing is perfect. Not DL, not AA...no airline.

DL is notorious for schedule changes especially when you book months in advance. Last year I took DL to AUA, booked SEA-ATL-AUA-ATL-SEA, which was an easy red-eye followed by an early morning connection on the way to AUA, and an easy 2-hour stop in ATL on the return.

The itinerary changed so much that I probably wouldn't consider DL again for flights to the Caribbean, even though they have the best connections from SEA. First, they axed the SEA-ATL redeye for the day in question, so they put us on an evening flight to SLC and a redeye from there. Sucks, but whatever. Then, they shortened the connection in ATL on the return to 30 minutes, so they forced an overnight in ATL on the return. I was pretty unhappy at this point, but it was too expensive to try to find another carrier at that point so I just sucked it up. Then, the SEA-ATL redeye just magically appeared again, with our same assigned seats (2 weeks after the flight went away). We still had to overnight in ATL on the return.

I usually book trips several months in advance, and there are usually small changes here or there on just about every carrier I fly. However, DL is notoriously bad in this area. Even when I do review my itinerary, the whole thing is a mess of changed flights and it seems that I don't actually know when I'm leaving until the day before when I check-in online. They really need to sort these kinds of issues out.

Quoting Clickhappy (Reply 36): Delta cancelled my SEA-SLC-ABQ ticket, and tried to reissue it at $100 more, my CC co called and I told them to not allow the transaction.

Um, no I don't think so. You're not giving the whole story there.

Shortly after Northwest filed for bankruptcy, I had booked a flight to HNL. As such, they were constantly tinkering with flight times and the aircraft used between DTW and my home airport. Saturdays, I would usually open up my e-mail to see another e-mail, Schedule Change Notification, from nwa.com. Finally, they called me at home to offload me onto an earlier flight.

Recently, CO moved up a flight I had booked by 45 minutes, but I had to pull up my reservation to find out, and then click the "agree" box to find out what happened. I'm fine with it but I did think there should be more options presented.

Not sure which part of the story I have left out, I was as surprised as you to get that call from Mastercard. Has never happened to me before.

But, no need to worry, Frontier got my business, which is okay, they have a better product. I was only flying Delta to ride a MD-90. Maybe next time.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 39): Uh huh. And there's people on AA who don't get notified either. It happens.

Probably. But it seems more people here have reported problems with Delta.

Also, wouldn't this be computerized. If a computer just "watched" schedules a spit out e-mails or phone calls whenever a schedule changed, the notification rate would probably be, what, 99% (assuming correct e-mail addresses)?

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 39): No, you don't HAVE to, but Delta makes that an option. So does every other airline.

Its nice for changing seats or getting flight information for relatives, but its reasonable to expect at least an e-mail when your schedule changes.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 39): You don't know that they didn't make an attempt. Or maybe they haven't gotten to them yet. You just don't know.

No, I don't. I (just like pretty much everyone else on the thread) am assuming that these people are telling the truth. And since they provided an email, two phone numbers and an address, I find it hard to believe that they "missed" the notification.

Why didn't they send out a regular snail mail letter? The company has the billing address, just send out a regular letter with a phone number to sort the issue out.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 39): Sure it is. She asked for compensation. I directly answered that premise.

What I'm saying is that its fine Delta changed the flight. What isn't fine

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 39): Just because they may not have in this instance, doesn't mean they don't. A vast majority of the time people get notified, and it's a non issue. Nothing is perfect. Not DL, not AA...no airline.

Of course not. But a good way to judge a company is when things go wrong. They didn't get notified, it happens. Being told to delay a vacation for three days - that's unacceptable.

AAndrew

Quoting Clickhappy (Reply 43): Not sure which part of the story I have left out, I was as surprised as you to get that call from Mastercard. Has never happened to me before.

Well, for starters, you can't just bill a credit card again with the same approval code.

Second, airlines just don't cancel flight and make you pay more. If they have a schedule change or flight cancellation, there's no additional cost to the customer.

Bottomline: There's really no way to do what you said they did. Something is being left out, or you're misunderstanding something

Quoting Clickhappy (Reply 43): Frontier got my business, which is okay, they have a better product.

Fact or your opinion? Also...

Quoting Clickhappy (Reply 43): I was only flying Delta to ride a MD-90.

Quoting Clickhappy (Reply 36): I was bummed because I like Delta and wanted them to have my business,

Hmmm...

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 15): I've had the same thing happen on a Jetblue flight. The never notified me that due to their schedule change, I was going to misconnect in JFK until I got to the airport the DAY OF departure. Then they expected me to wait around JFK until the next flight like 3 hours later. After having to cause a scene and speak to two supervisors, the finally put me on...you guessed it: Delta!

Cool. I've flown JetBlue over 20 times and have never had a schedule change. I flew Delta only twice and had a schedule change twice in just one itinerary.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 15): ...And yet was still practically tied for first in JD Powers customer satisfaction survey. Hmmm wonder why that is?

If this were a discussion talking about JetBlue winning the JD Powers customer satisfaction survey, the majority of the members would be claiming that JetBlue bought the rights to the award and that it was unfair...

All said and done, I still like Delta, and I will still fly them in the future. What I don't like is having my schedule changed on me (twice) without even being notified.

JetBluefan1

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 44): Probably. But it seems more people here have reported problems with Delta.

Because this is a thread about Delta!  

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 44): Also, wouldn't this be computerized. If a computer just "watched" schedules a spit out e-mails or phone calls whenever a schedule changed, the notification rate would probably be, what, 99% (assuming correct e-mail addresses)?

You'd like to think that wouldn't you?

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 44): No, I don't. I (just like pretty much everyone else on the thread) am assuming that these people are telling the truth.

And that's where you're making your mistake...lol

Not saying they're flat out lying (although any airline employee will tell you it's at epidemic levels) but they don't know either. Without a reservation number, which I would suggest the OP never give out, there's no way of knowing if an attempt was made, or will be made.

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 44): Being told to delay a vacation for three days - that's unacceptable.

When it's only a 3X weekly flight anyway, it's totally acceptable. That's why the refunds are offered. This happens on similar AA flights too, trust me.

If the change happens more than 60 days prior, DL is not obligated to contact you about the schedule change. I had my recent flights ATL-LAS and LAS-ATL changed several times prior to the 60 days (I booked the flight in November for travel in March). One change was an equipment change (which led to me changing my flights) and there was 2 or 3 minor schedule changes.

When I booked on FL for last year's LAS Meet, they did a schedule change and contacted me, as the flight I was booked on was axed and replaced with an earlier flight.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 15): And yet was still practically tied for first in JD Powers customer satisfaction survey. Hmmm wonder why that is?

Perhaps they didn't get the overseas employees DL now uses. DL lost one of my bags the other day and after over 24 hours of calling the number (the call center was in India) I finally got an employee there who actually took the time to actually get some additional info from me just in case the bag had gotten damaged. I personally think my bag (along with the bags of about 6-8 other passengers) was lost because someone was in a hurry looking for a can and failed to notice that there were already bags in it. It honestly should not have taken over 36 hours after it was reported lost for me to get my bag.

I also saw firsthand why some folks avoid flying into ATL, because the DL gate agents for my flight were incompetent to say the least. The a/c for the flight was a 764 in the reconfigured BusinessElite setup and they changed my seating assignment after I had already checked in but failed to tell me until the moment I was getting on the a/c. I had been in the gate area for well over an hour prior to boarding but did they even make an effort to tell me I had been reassigned? No. Considering how much I spend for that seat in first class, I was a bit irked that they didn't tell me about the new seat.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 47): You'd like to think that wouldn't you?

About two months ago, I ordered a few things from Neiman Marcus, which were indicated in-stock. A few days later, I got a letter in the mail saying that their supplier was behind and it might be a while before they get more in-stock. The whole thing was sorted out in five minutes after I got the letter.

Is that impossible for Delta to do? I'm sure if they made a quick call over to Neiman Marcus they could get the name of their system.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 47): And that's where you're making your mistake...lol Not saying they're flat out lying (although any airline employee will tell you it's at epidemic levels) but they don't know either. Without a reservation number, which I would suggest the OP never give out, there's no way of knowing if an attempt was made, or will be made.

Of course, if they didn't give contact information (you have to give an e-mail and phone number anyway), they were notified way back when, etc, its not Delta's fault. However, the story is plausible and, if it happened in the way described, should have been handled differently.

Quoting B777-700 (Reply 47): When it's only a 3X weekly flight anyway, it's totally acceptable. That's why the refunds are offered. This happens on similar AA flights too, trust me.

I'm necessarily not saying AA is the epitome of service standards. And a refund isn't going to do these people much good now, since the tickets would now probably be several times what they originally paid.

And I don't really care how often the flights run, I know when mine is scheduled to leave. If you cancel it, call me ASAP with a refund. If you cancel it and I find out a few days in advance, it would be a nice gesture for DL to book them on another airline, wouldn't it be?

Quoting Aa757first (Reply 44): Also, wouldn't this be computerized. If a computer just "watched" schedules a spit out e-mails or phone calls whenever a schedule changed, the notification rate would probably be, what, 99% (assuming correct e-mail addresses)?

United's Easy Update works this way. Last year we booked a September flight several months in advance, and we recieved e-mails notifying us of two separate schedule changes as soon as they occured.

I wouldn't think of making a long lead time reservation with a carrier that didn't offer this service.

I think it's clear what DL needs to do - they either need to set a system in place to make these sorts of notifications immediately when schedule changes happen, or they need to stop selling tickets more than 3-4 months in advance, similar to WN. It is simply unacceptible to sell a ticket months in advance, let their customers book hotels and other things that are probably not-refundable, and then cancel on them (leaving them stuck with an expensive hotel that they can't get to). And regarding schedule changes, it can be easily programmed in to their system that they won't notify more than once for small 5-10 minute changes or flight number changes.