pat

My daughter just flew from Reno, to Buffalo on Delta. She has a bad knee so they decided to fly first class. It was a day flight from reno to Atlanta to Buffalo (she wanted to see Niagara Falls), but there real destination was Albany. First Delta changed all their flights to night time and added an extra stop in LAX. They weren`t happy but airfares had gone up so much, they decided to stick with it. They flew to LAX, where they were told that their pilot had been called into active duty, and there was no pilot, so they had to find one. Wouldn`t they have known that at least a day in advance? By the time they left LAX,it was late. The first class seats they had, had broken equipment, like the monitor screen didn`t work. The only food they got served were some crackers. By the time they got to Atlanta, of course they had missed their connection and had to be re routed. By the time they got to Buffalo, they were hungry and neither one had slept a wink. They got to the car rental place, and the agent refused to honor their reservation, since they were so late. The agent hardly spoke English and wanted to charge them a walk up rate. After fighting with the manager, they got the car, but they had to put down they took the car when they were supposed to. Thank goodness they didn`t get reservations for the Maid of the Mist, since they were so late. They did get to do it, and last I heard, they were driving to Utica, to collapse and sleep. And we wonder why people don`t want to fly anymore!

LT

Not really sure what your point is here. ALL airlines (especially in these times) are capable of dropping the ball. From what I can gather, you and your daughter must not fly much. This is for several reasons. First, it sounds like Delta made a schedule change well prior to the day of departure. Whenever this happens (and it's happening more and more these days), they automatically reschedule you. If you are unhappy with your new itinerary, you can call the airline and request a better one. Every time this has happened, I actually ended up with better flights than the ones I initially booked -- for NO additional cost.

Next, it sounds like the flight crew might have been past the federally-mandated work limits, and they would have been precluded by law from continuing to work. This often happens when weather causes delays, and it happens again, to all airlines.

First Class is just not what it used to be. I took Northwest from Detroit to Palm Springs in First Class and didn't get anything. And while you should have had a working video screen, again, I've been on other airlines where everything from the overhead light to the audio in my seat was out of order. Am not making excuses for Delta, but it's just unfortunately not that uncommon anymore.

As far as the rental car, again, if your daughter traveled much, she would have known to reconfirm her rental car while they were on the ground in L.A.

Yes, flying isn't what it used to be. And, with oil at over $140/barrel, it's unlikely to improve anytime soon. But, many of the things that happened to your daughter can also be chocked up to "buyer (or, in this case, traveler) beware."

pat

This wasn`t really a complaint, just saying I can see why people don`t want to fly anymore. She did call from the ground to tell the rental car company they would be late. I did explain that they decided to accept the schedule change because fares had gone up so much. As for the federally mandated work limits, that isn`t what they said. Delta said the pilot had been called for active duty. I only fly once a year or so, and she flies less than that. Just disappointed in their experience.

dutyfree

Couple things.....
Everytime I have ever rented a car I have been told that if I am late,etc. the original reservation is always held for 24 hours.

I am pretty sure that on a flight from LAX to ATl there was some type of food for sale-exotic sandwiches,salads,fruit,etc. that can be purchased with cash or a credit card. The free snacks were probably sun chips,cheese and crackers,cookies or peanuts in unlimited amounts.Also, it sometimes depends on what time of the day you are traveling to decide when the airlines serve meals especially if there is little competition?You mention NIGHT TIME departure so perhaps that was the reason?
Nowadays on ALL airlines, one must plan for your eating needs-BEFORE,DURING and IN BETWEEN connections.

Their pilot might have been scheduled for the flight but have been pulled (as previous poster suggested) for another flight due to weather,hours,etc. and scheduling had then called another pilot on reserve to take your daughter's as it might have been scheduled later than the first.

bettyk

pat, I sympathize with what your daughter had to go through. Traveling by air these days is never fun, it's grueling. I guess you need to be prepared for anything and everything to go wrong. Then, if it doesn't, at least you will be pleasantly surprised.

Unfortunately, Delta is probably no worse than any of the other US airlines. That's not saying much.