Delta Airlines. Anyone fly with them recently?

[MaxPower]

Sucky story, esp re: kiddos! I hear you re cancelled, switched flights had the same stuff happen. But if this was international travel during 2020 and early 2021 it was a complete shitshow everywhere because of COVID, esp with code shares, so I wouldn't totally blame Delta.

During Xmas 2020 my flight home was changed 22 times. But I'm chill, flex, rolled with the punches watching the changes. Then I called my nice Gold status number and once the flights finally settled down I picked out the exact ones I wanted with no change fees. The agent said it was all from covid craziness/short staffing.

Then I was flying Delta/Virgin to LHR as well Feb 2021 and worried about the same changes. Since I was making a connection the next day to Africa and couldn't miss that flight I kept monitoring flight statuses 4 weeks in advance and the flights would magically disappear and get rescheduled into something else that wasn't direct and layovers in Detroit. Again, called up the premier phone number and asked her what was up. She agreed, and thought my flight was going to get cancelled/disappear because she couldn't see it on her end anymore. So a month out I preemptively bought a BA flight, and when the Delta/Virgin flight rescheduled liked predicted I cancelled, full refund.

TLDR: during first 2 years of covid ALL the airlines sucked. I wouldn't swear them off for that one, it was a rough go till late 2021 I'd say until they got things sorted. But I'm also someone who checks the numerous flight options before/around/even after buying a ticket to always have backup options when I really need to get somewhere.

My experience happened March 2022, so definitely
not deep in the throes of Covid.

[G]

TLDR: during first 2 years of covid ALL the airlines sucked. I wouldn't swear them off for that one, it was a rough go till late 2021 I'd say until they got things sorted. But I'm also someone who checks the numerous flight options before/around/even after buying a ticket to always have backup options when I really need to get somewhere.

And then there is Southwest, which seems to suck worse than ever. Their price savings is balanced by the pretty good odds of needing to a) rebook on a real airline or b) pay for a one-way car rental.

[eyecandy]

Alaska is far and away the best airline, but they don’t fly everywhere.

I’ve sworn off Delta because of two terrible experiences the last two times we flew Delta. The first was a trip to London we took last year. Bought flights on Economy Plus and picked seats so our 11, 13, and 15 year old children could be seated next to me or my wife. About 6 weeks before we were supposed to leave, we got an email saying they had changed our flight to one that added a 24-hour layover at the beginning of our trip. I checked their website and there was other flights I could purchase through Delta that would have us arriving the same day as our original itinerary. Tried contacting Delta and they said they couldn’t help me. So I booked new tickets through Virgin (yes, I know Delta and Virgin are affiliates) with flights that were comparable to our original itinerary. Contacted Delta again and told them those flights didn’t work and they said they would cancel them and refund our money.

About 4 weeks before we were supposed to leave, get notification of a flight change. Now our seats aren’t anywhere together, and so my kids would be seated next to strangers on an overnight trans-Atlantic flight. Try contacting Virgin and wait on hold forever only to be told that it’s actually a Delta flight so I need to contact them. They are completely unhelpful and say they can’t move seats of other passengers, even though they had just done it to us and now my kids would be seated alone. They told me to ask at the gate and have them sort it out. I hate doing that, so I refused. A week later we get another notice saying our return flight itinerary had changed. They added a stop in Detroit, but the arrival time and our next flight departure time was 20 minutes apart, so obviously no way to land, get off plane, go through immigration, and catch the next flight. So I again had to contact Delta to get our flight switched.

tl;dr Delta sucks. Avoid at all costs if possible.

Sucky story, esp re: kiddos! I hear you re cancelled, switched flights had the same stuff happen. But if this was international travel during 2020 and early 2021 it was a complete shitshow everywhere because of COVID, esp with code shares, so I wouldn't totally blame Delta.

During Xmas 2020 my flight home was changed 22 times. But I'm chill, flex, rolled with the punches watching the changes. Then I called my nice Gold status number and once the flights finally settled down I picked out the exact ones I wanted with no change fees. The agent said it was all from covid craziness/short staffing.

Then I was flying Delta/Virgin to LHR as well Feb 2021 and worried about the same changes. Since I was making a connection the next day to Africa and couldn't miss that flight I kept monitoring flight statuses 4 weeks in advance and the flights would magically disappear and get rescheduled into something else that wasn't direct and layovers in Detroit. Again, called up the premier phone number and asked her what was up. She agreed, and thought my flight was going to get cancelled/disappear because she couldn't see it on her end anymore. So a month out I preemptively bought a BA flight, and when the Delta/Virgin flight rescheduled liked predicted I cancelled, full refund.

TLDR: during first 2 years of covid ALL the airlines sucked. I wouldn't swear them off for that one, it was a rough go till late 2021 I'd say until they got things sorted. But I'm also someone who checks the numerous flight options before/around/even after buying a ticket to always have backup options when I really need to get somewhere.

[MaxPower]

Then go with the carrier that connects in the best airport. I suspect that would be SLC for you?

As Bovie said, when you get status beyond the basic level, you will be handled well when the inevitable hiccups come along.

Maxpower, that is a lousy string of experiences, I'd probably write off DL too based upon that. I assume you don't have status?

I think people are a little over-exuberant in expectations...similar to healthcare, your comfort comes at the expense of the CEO's bonus.

Well, we are currently Silver Medallion, so yeah, basically no status.

[G]

My issues are that our regional airports have very few flights to choose from. Delta, SW, AA, and United are it. Delta and SW only fly a few flights a week. Nearest hubs are 5+ hrs drive one way over mountain passes. Not easy to plan in the winter. Geographic boundaries are real in my world. Don’t have a lot of options.

Then go with the carrier that connects in the best airport. I suspect that would be SLC for you?

As Bovie said, when you get status beyond the basic level, you will be handled well when the inevitable hiccups come along.

Maxpower, that is a lousy string of experiences, I'd probably write off DL too based upon that. I assume you don't have status?

I think people are a little over-exuberant in expectations...similar to healthcare, your comfort comes at the expense of the CEO's bonus.

[ShredtheGnar]

My issues are that our regional airports have very few flights to choose from. Delta, SW, AA, and United are it. Delta and SW only fly a few flights a week. Nearest hubs are 5+ hrs drive one way over mountain passes. Not easy to plan in the winter. Geographic boundaries are real in my world. Don’t have a lot of options.

[JB14]

I live in Minneapolis, so Delta is the preferred airline here. I came from 10+ years of living in United based hubs (SFO/ORD) and BOS before living here. I have 1 million mile status on UA (Gold for life for me and my wife). That being said, I prefer Delta slightly more than UA. Part of it is that we are a hub for DL, so we have a ton of great options for non stop flights. But I do think they are a touch better in every little aspect of flying. Also, the Amex/Delta partnership is strong, and the Platinum card brings a lot of value as a Delta flier.

[JB14]

That was from Katie's status; Gold doesn't process upgrades until 72 hours prior to departure.

Platinum is where things begin to get noticeably better overall, but Diamond is probably the only one I'd consider true "status" in that the upgrades are reliably frequent and the perks are across the board.

I'm surprised you wouldn't want an exit row, that's almost always the way to go with twice as much extra leg room compared to Comfort+. Can't think of a reason I'd want Comfort+ instead, unless perhaps I had a really tight connection.

Lounges are best accessed via credit card programs.

Free beverages that contain ethanol is the reason for Comfort +>Exit row.

[JB14]

Sounds like OP got an upgrade and DW didn't. It happens. And when it happens to me, as the one who has the status and flies way more than she does, DW gets that seat

[bovie]

Bigger question is why would one have premium economy and one regular economy?

Can tell you right now that putting myself in premium and my wife in main cabin would not fly!

[GasFIRE]

Bigger question is why would one have premium economy and one regular economy?

Agreed. Wife in the back doesn’t sound like a good plan. Just sayin.

[MaxPower]

Why would you even bring this up to the flight attendant? Just switch.

Bigger question is why would one have premium economy and one regular economy?

[Tim]

Why would you even bring this up to the flight attendant? Just switch.

Actually might have been an observant flight attendant.
Something to do with accurate flight manifests that flight kept by seat. One advantage of SW, they don’t care where you sit.

[GasFIRE]

Most recent was a trip to Hawaii. I had sworn off Delra after the London fiasco but we had credits from a flight that was canceled during Covid that were going to expire so has to use them. We show up at our local airport and they tell us that a flight attendant hadn’t shown up so they were working on an alternative. Just then a young woman showed up dressed in civilian clothes but carrying a Delta lanyard. Turns out she is a Delta flight attendant who had come into town for a bachelorette party and was flying home (to a completely different airport than the one we were flying to). The desk agent starts talking to her about the situation trying to convince her to cover the flight. She goes off to make some phone calls—I can hear her calling family or roommate/friend and then bargaining with some Delta person about pay and how she’s going to get home. Meanwhile, the desk agent is announcing over the intercom that she just got off the phone with the flight attendant and she’s almost there (total lie). The unscheduled flight attendant comes back and there’s more bargaining/discussion and she takes another call and walks off. Desk agent then announces that she just got off the phone with the flight attendant who is parking and walking in momentarily. Over 20 minutes pass and eventually the other flight attendant comes back and says she’ll do it. She has to go change, and by the time we board and get going, it’s clear we are going to miss our connection. So instead of a night in Hawaii we spent a night in some LAX airport hotel. Delta sucks.

This sounds like my former group trying to decide who will cover the 4pm case expected to last 3 hours. “Can’t you get the on-call guy to do this case?” Lot of negotiating for those cases between 3-6pm.

[bovie]

I miss the mad dogs

Yes!

The A32x is heads and tails better than that 737 POS.

Also yes.