Airline policy changes (United made another big one)

[sayhello]

I would totally try it. Be annoying when you call them and make it seem like this is an unacceptable inconvenience for you.

FWIW I've heard Delta has given authority to their agents to make on the spot decisions over the phone, unlike United.

Thanks for the info. The only thing holding me back is the fear that if I don't get a satisfactory answer, and choose to wait & see if the international flights get cancelled, that they might flag my ticket as "She intends to cancel, so wait it out" or something like that. It would be very nice to just have it over with.

Sayhello

 

[DLgal]

Thanks for the info. The only thing holding me back is the fear that if I don't get a satisfactory answer, and choose to wait & see if the international flights get cancelled, that they might flag my ticket as "She intends to cancel, so wait it out" or something like that. It would be very nice to just have it over with.

Sayhello

The changes in your first leg are enough to qualify for a refund on the entire round trip ticket. I believe any change more than 90 minutes with Delta qualifies for a refund, so it sounds like your first leg is enough.

 

[DLgal]

Just wanted to point out something that I'm not seeing anyone consider when taking a flight credit. There is NO guarantee that any individual airline will still be operating 1 or 2 years from now. There is a very real possibility that some airlines won't make it through this OR they will declare bankruptcy. If either scenario takes place, your flight credits are useless.

Worth thinking about when deciding taking a credit over a refund is "good enough."

No US airlines are too big to fail.

 

[lovetotravel]

Thanks for the info. The only thing holding me back is the fear that if I don't get a satisfactory answer, and choose to wait & see if the international flights get cancelled, that they might flag my ticket as "She intends to cancel, so wait it out" or something like that. It would be very nice to just have it over with.

Sayhello

Yes this is enough. Cancel it.

Per Delta:
In order for a customer to qualify for a complimentary change due to a schedule change, the schedule change has to meet one of the following guidelines:

An arrival delay of 90 minutes or more

A change in the routing of a scheduled Delta flight which adds one or more stops to the original itinerary

A change in equipment from Delta Mainline to Delta Connection carrier

Any change that causes a misconnect

 

[sayhello]

Yes this is enough. Cancel it.

Per Delta:
In order for a customer to qualify for a complimentary change due to a schedule change, the schedule change has to meet one of the following guidelines:

An arrival delay of 90 minutes or more

A change in the routing of a scheduled Delta flight which adds one or more stops to the original itinerary

A change in equipment from Delta Mainline to Delta Connection carrier

Any change that causes a misconnect

Thanks. But this says "to qualify for a complimentary change". I'm looking to get a refund. I guess I'll continue scouring their website.

Where did you find this on their site? Maybe the cancellation policy is nearby.

The changes in your first leg are enough to qualify for a refund on the entire round trip ticket. I believe any change more than 90 minutes with Delta qualifies for a refund, so it sounds like your first leg is enough.

Is it a change or a delay of more than 90 minutes? Because there's no delay. It just starts like 4 hours earlier.
Thanks,
Sayhello

 

[lovetotravel]

Thanks. But this says "to qualify for a complimentary change". I'm looking to get a refund. I guess I'll continue scouring their website.

Where did you find this on their site? Maybe the cancellation policy is nearby.
Is it a change or a delay of more than 90 minutes? Because there's no delay. It just starts like 4 hours earlier.
Thanks,
Sayhello

 

[lovetotravel]

You can cancel it. I’ve done it myself for a trip in July on Delta. If the agent won’t cancel it. Call back until you find an agent that will cancel it.

I’ll post the link.

 

[TXTransplant]

Thanks. But this says "to qualify for a complimentary change". I'm looking to get a refund. I guess I'll continue scouring their website.

Where did you find this on their site? Maybe the cancellation policy is nearby.
Is it a change or a delay of more than 90 minutes? Because there's no delay. It just starts like 4 hours earlier.
Thanks,
Sayhello

I JUST got an email saying our flight from Seattle to Anchorage on Delta has been delayed by almost 4 hours. I'm hoping this gets me a refund. I'll try calling Chase this week to find out. I was planning to cancel the Seattle leg of our trip, anyway, and rebook a flight straight from Houston to Anchorage, if our trip still manages to go.

I did book this flight on Chase points, though. Maybe this will get me my Chase points back!

 

[lovetotravel]

Thanks. But this says "to qualify for a complimentary change". I'm looking to get a refund. I guess I'll continue scouring their website.

Where did you find this on their site? Maybe the cancellation policy is nearby.
Is it a change or a delay of more than 90 minutes? Because there's no delay. It just starts like 4 hours earlier.
Thanks,
Sayhello

Here is the contract of carriage for Delta that explains the policy:
RULE 19: FLIGHT DELAYS/CANCELLATIONS

A. Delta’s Liability in the Event of Schedule Changes, Delays and Flight Cancellations

If there is a flight cancellation, diversion, delay of greater than 90 minutes, or that will cause a passenger to miss connections, Delta will (at passenger’s request) cancel the remaining ticket and refund the unused portion of the ticket and unused ancillary fees in the original form of payment in accordance with Rule 22, Go to footer note. If the passenger does not request cancellation and refund of the remaining portion of the ticket, Delta will transport the passenger to the destination on Delta’s next flight on which seats are available in the class of service originally purchased. At Delta’s sole discretion and if acceptable to the passenger, Delta may arrange for the passenger to travel on another Carrier or via ground transportation. If acceptable to the passenger, Delta may provide transportation in a lower class of service, in which case the passenger may be entitled to a partial refund. If space on the next available flight is available only in a higher class of service than purchased, Delta will transport the passenger on the flight, although Delta reserves the right to upgrade other passengers on the flight according to its upgrade priority policy to make space in the class of service originally purchased. Delta will not be liable under any circumstances for any special, incidental or consequential damages arising from the foregoing.

https://www.delta.com/us/en/legal/contract-of-carriage-dgr#19fl

 

[sayhello]

Here is the contract of carriage for Delta that explains the policy:
RULE 19: FLIGHT DELAYS/CANCELLATIONS

A. Delta’s Liability in the Event of Schedule Changes, Delays and Flight Cancellations

If there is a flight cancellation, diversion, delay of greater than 90 minutes, or that will cause a passenger to miss connections, Delta will (at passenger’s request) cancel the remaining ticket and refund the unused portion of the ticket and unused ancillary fees in the original form of payment in accordance with Rule 22, Go to footer note. If the passenger does not request cancellation and refund of the remaining portion of the ticket, Delta will transport the passenger to the destination on Delta’s next flight on which seats are available in the class of service originally purchased. At Delta’s sole discretion and if acceptable to the passenger, Delta may arrange for the passenger to travel on another Carrier or via ground transportation. If acceptable to the passenger, Delta may provide transportation in a lower class of service, in which case the passenger may be entitled to a partial refund. If space on the next available flight is available only in a higher class of service than purchased, Delta will transport the passenger on the flight, although Delta reserves the right to upgrade other passengers on the flight according to its upgrade priority policy to make space in the class of service originally purchased. Delta will not be liable under any circumstances for any special, incidental or consequential damages arising from the foregoing.

https://www.delta.com/us/en/legal/contract-of-carriage-dgr#19fl

YAY!! You were correct, and Delta are processing a refund for me! Thanks so much! No argument or anything. I just said there was a change to my ticket that I believed, according to the DOT and your contract of carriage, entitled me to a refund. And the rep said "Give me a minute to review" and she came back and said yes, she could process a refund. She put me on hold (not for that long) and came back and said it was processed, and to expect a refund to my credit card in 7 - 10 business days. I won't really expect it that quickly, but I am SO RELIEVED to have that over with!

Now to figure out where the heck I can find/track this, because my reservation seems to have gone into the ether for now.

Thanks again, @lovetotravel and everyone else who gave me advice! ♥♥♥♥

Sayhello

 

[RSM]

We just ended up cancelling our trip to the Dolomites scheduled for late June. Cancellations haven't gone too bad. Right Path Adventures refunded our full deposit (we didn't have to PIF until 30 days before the trip). Cancelled our flights to Venice on United. We got the e-certificate that was valued at the full fare of what we paid, and it is good for 2 years from today (it says April 13, 2022 on it). Able to cancel hotels we booked on our own. Only out of pocket was 1 of the 2 insurance policies we got. We got a straight forward travel insurance policy from World Nomads that is non-cancellable and won't cover anything. We also got an emergency rescue and evacuation insurance policy for $199 from Global Rescue in the (hopefully unlikely ) event we would have needed an emergency rescue off the mountain. The policy was effective from June 24, so they refunded. Would have loved the cash back from United, but I wasn't going to play chicken and wait for them to possibly cancel the flight, and if they didn't run the risk of having to use ~$4K in flight credit by December of this year. I am assuming they hold to allowing 24 months only if you cancel prior to April 30. So, cancelling and only being $300 out of pocket is a win at this point.

 

[lovetotravel]

YAY!! You were correct, and Delta are processing a refund for me! Thanks so much! No argument or anything. I just said there was a change to my ticket that I believed, according to the DOT and your contract of carriage, entitled me to a refund. And the rep said "Give me a minute to review" and she came back and said yes, she could process a refund. She put me on hold (not for that long) and came back and said it was processed, and to expect a refund to my credit card in 7 - 10 business days. I won't really expect it that quickly, but I am SO RELIEVED to have that over with!

Now to figure out where the heck I can find/track this, because my reservation seems to have gone into the ether for now.

Thanks again, @lovetotravel and everyone else who gave me advice! ♥♥♥♥

Sayhello

@sayhello Yay! So glad it worked out for you. Delta is the best. You should be able to get the ticket number on your credit card statement when you originally purchased the ticket.

 

[sayhello]

@sayhello Yay! So glad it worked out for you. Delta is the best. You should be able to get the ticket number on your credit card statement when you originally purchased the ticket.

Thanks! Actually, it turned out the issue was that when I had to re-do 90% of the trip back in December because Delta messed up my flights, they apparently re-issued the ticket with a new ticket number (same reservation number). That one worked, whereas the original one did not. So I'm all good!

Sayhello

 

[zmom]

Just a FYI on Virgin Atlantic- I have flights booked for a DCL British Isles cruise in September that my extended family is wanting to postpone. Initially Virgin had all these rules about when you bought your ticket, when your trip was, whether your flights were cancelled or not...... it was frustrating. All those rules have gone away and you can click a link on their site to hold your ticket open through May 2022. I filled out the form on the link and had confirmation within minutes that my ticket is now open. I will have to pay the difference in airfare when we book for next September but I am perfectly fine with that- it was the only part of postponing my trip I was worried about.

 

[neurosx1983]

We just ended up cancelling our trip to the Dolomites scheduled for late June. Cancellations haven't gone too bad. Right Path Adventures refunded our full deposit (we didn't have to PIF until 30 days before the trip). Cancelled our flights to Venice on United. We got the e-certificate that was valued at the full fare of what we paid, and it is good for 2 years from today (it says April 13, 2022 on it). Able to cancel hotels we booked on our own. Only out of pocket was 1 of the 2 insurance policies we got. We got a straight forward travel insurance policy from World Nomads that is non-cancellable and won't cover anything. We also got an emergency rescue and evacuation insurance policy for $199 from Global Rescue in the (hopefully unlikely ) event we would have needed an emergency rescue off the mountain. The policy was effective from June 24, so they refunded. Would have loved the cash back from United, but I wasn't going to play chicken and wait for them to possibly cancel the flight, and if they didn't run the risk of having to use ~$4K in flight credit by December of this year. I am assuming they hold to allowing 24 months only if you cancel prior to April 30. So, cancelling and only being $300 out of pocket is a win at this point.

This is another reason I'm honestly thinking of switching loyalty to Delta from United...even though its inconvenient living so close to their hub Newark

 

[sayhello]

This is another reason I'm honestly thinking of switching loyalty to Delta from United...even though its inconvenient living so close to their hub Newark

It's funny to me, because I always hated Delta because they *constantly* change my flights once I've purchased them, time changes, equipment changes, flight number changes, I lose my seats or get moved to seats I don't want, changing non-stops to layovers, etc. I only booked with them if there were no other flights that worked, or I hated the other airline more (I'm looking at you, Air Canada). But now they're the best ones at customer service. Doesn't say much for the other domestic airlines!

Sayhello

 

[TXTransplant]

I'm on hold with Chase now trying to get my refund for my rescheduled Delta flight. I was connected to a rep right away (after going through their ridiculous and repetitive menu), but I've been on the phone for over 30 minutes and have spoken with three different Chase reps. The one I'm talking to now is trying to connect with a Delta rep to "confirm" that I am actually entitled to a refund. This has got to be the most inefficient process imaginable, but if I get my points refunded, it will be worth it.

And OMG, I was just disconnected...arghhh!

They called me back...phew!

 

[TXTransplant]

Also just cancelled the United flight that I booked myself (not through Chase). Below is what I copied and pasted from my cancellation screen (bold is my addition).

• Apply value to an electronic travel certificate
• Select this option and you’ll receive a travel certificate by email which can be used for travel on United and United Express operated flights. Can be applied to book a new ticket up to 24 months from today.

The expiration date on the e-certificate I received via email is also today's date (4/14/20).

 

[TXTransplant]

So, I'm getting my points back. But, I was just told that a refund that normally takes 15-30 min to appear on my account may take up to 30 days or 2 billing cycles! Total time on the phone was about an hour.

Edited to add - the points are showing in my account!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Also just cancelled the United flight that I booked myself (not through Chase). Below is what I copied and pasted from my cancellation screen (bold is my addition).

• Apply value to an electronic travel certificate
• Select this option and you’ll receive a travel certificate by email which can be used for travel on United and United Express operated flights. Can be applied to book a new ticket up to 24 months from today.

The expiration date on the e-certificate I received via email is also today's date (4/14/20).

Thanks, this helps. We'll wait a little closer to our flight in May to cancel it.