Delta Does It Again

** If you haven't already, scroll down and read "Dela Airlines - Bah" first **

Delta couldn’t possibly screw up again could they? Well, at least I have 2 days before going back to work so if I get delayed or sent to another state, I have time.

Kerry (who lives in Atlanta) and I found an earlier flight out of Key West on Saturday. Not that we wanted to leave at all, however, Key West airport isn’t all that fun to sit around for 4 hours. So, we call Delta and the agent was very friendly, very helpful and changes us to the new earlier flight. Flight changes should be very simple, very basic travel agent 101 type of stuff.

I get to the airport and I look at my boarding pass and baggage claim. Hmmm....my bags are only going to Atlanta. That’s odd. I’m connecting to Phoenix. OK, maybe because my flight is 5 hours after I get to Atlanta I have to recheck. Doesn’t seem normal, but I’m in island mode. Let’s call Delta while killing time and see if I can bump up my Phoenix flight.

Delta Agent, Mya. She sounds bored with her job. I tell her I want to change flight 486 to Phoenix to an earlier flight. I have to explain where I am and what I’m doing twice before she asks what flight I want. Well, I say, you have your schedule in front of you, I don’t – you tell me what’s available. (OK, I’m already getting annoyed with her as she’s the 2nd person on this call I had to talk to). There are 3 flights available, which one would I like and on what day, she asks. What day?? Oh boy, I’m getting scared now. I say – first, tell me what time I arrive from Key West then book me on a flight after that. She asks again what day and do I just need one way. I tell her I live in Phoenix and I want to change flight 486 to an earlier flight. She doesn’t show me on flight 486. WHAT???!!!! It seems the first agent changed my Key West flight and proceeded to cancel my Phoenix connection. Travel Agent 101 – always reconfirm a passenger’s itinerary when making a change. I tell Mya to check the history of the PNR (my record) and find the flight, and then re-book me on ANY of the Phoenix flights. Now she gets it. She puts me on hold for 35 minutes before successfully getting me on a Phoenix flight. She can’t reissue the ticket as I’m in a checked in status in Key West. No problem, I have to get my bag anyway. After a 45 minute phone call (good thing my minutes are free on the weekend) I am now on flight 952 leaving Atlanta at 5:49pm EDT.

I get to Atlanta. Stand in line for 30 minutes and get to talk to a person (wow!) at the counter, Jimmy Z. He starts to look at my record and I explain what’s happened. I also mention I’m starving because I haven’t eaten yet. He starts to look, then looks harder, then talks to another agent, then looks again. He tells me they really screwed up my reservation (go figure) and he’s just making sure everything links together. I tell him some of their agents need to go back to training. He takes 20 minutes and successfully gets me a boarding pass and my record all linked properly so no fees showed up (I already paid the change fee the first time). Jimmy Z was very helpful and even gave me a $7 voucher for food because I was hungry. Now, that’s customer service. First class would’ve been nice, but he gave me what was in his power to give.

I think instead of writing a letter to Delta I’ll just send them a link to this blog!