It Takes Nerve
 

The planning is over the trip begins. Today.
Backup to yesterday. 2:00PM. 24 hours before takeoff.

As we wend ourselves through retirement we've started to pamper ourselves more and more. And that goes for flying as well.
To make sure we got what we wanted we booked many months prior to the trip.

At 2:00PM I check-in and had no trouble printing our boarding passes.
Then at 3:55PM I received a text from Delta. We apologize, due to a change in aircraft your seats have changed. You are now in Main Cabin (for the flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt!).

I was livid. We had booked our tickets months in advance to make sure we got what we wanted. So 22 hours prior to take off (and well past any chance of making other arrangements) we were blind-sided.

I immediately call Delta. This is an outrage. Why were we "chosen" to be pushed down. This is unacceptable. Etc. We were told the selection is automated and nothing can be done.

Some yelling followed. It was then the clerk suggested that maybe we could reroute. The first possibility was through JFK but there was barely enough time time get from one gate to the other. We're seniors. And the first flight was way earlier. We booked well in advance to get what we want.

There was another possibility. Through Detroit. The long overnight flight was identical to our original plane and our original seats were available. The time of the flight from FLL to DTW (a little tight but acceptable) and DTW to FRA were even ok. However, we're a little strange. We like to sit beside each other and I like to sit on the aisle. After all, we booked months ahead. Our seals on the FLL - DTW leg are 4 rows apart and on different sides of the plane. . Maybe I should be compensated somehow. The clerk said we would only be compensated if our seats were a lower class than what we paid for. What about aggravation, time spent and convenience? Too bad.

I asked to speak with a supervisor and was put on hold and we were promptly disconnected.I called back.
In the end were were told a note would be put in the file asking the gate clerk to try and move one of the people beside us.

Oh, and we were sent two $400 vouchers for a future trip.

Aggravation takes it's toll and is very tiring.

I don't think it's realistic to expect compensation for changed seats. I think you were very lucky to get $800 in vouchers for a seat change in the same class!

Relax and count your blessings that you are healthy and prosperous enough to travel. In life you choose how to deal with things and you chose to be "livid, yell, and to be aggravated. No, it's not an "outrage". Maybe the original plane had to be changed because a problem was found and lives were saved.

Apologies if you were after understanding and compassion but sometimes you need to call things out as you see them.

At the time I booked my tickets both planes had many available seats.

I realize things happen.

How about first come first serve?

And I forgot to mention. It wasn't until we were well over 5 minutes into the conversation that the possibility of rerouting was suggested.
The text was short and to the point except for the first two word that were "We apologize".

The suggestion in the text was to go to their web site to see our new seats. Nothing about calling to see how we might be accommodated.

You are behaving as if they give a s@@t. They don't, they have computers and no one is responsible.

Move on, enjoy your holiday and work on something important like climate change. :-)

Oh heck,I'll give you a little sympathy. We're very working class; I've saved all year for the tickets I want to book today. It will be 9 or 10 months until we take the trip. At least a dozen machinations to accumulate points went into these business saver tickets. Picking the dates and cities that suit us both took time and compromise. We aren't young and we don't have that many more chances to do this.

I'm on your side. If your life is like mine, you cheerfully take it on the chin for the sake of family. A trip is the way I reward myself and I put time and effort into getting flights I'm comfortable with. You've got a friend in me.

It could have been resolved very easily and amicably if the conversation turned to rerouting close to the start.

Clearly it was their hope that I would accept what they gave me.

walkinaround is right. This is no big deal. It happens all the time. Equipment changes happen all the time, especially when a flight is booked months out. My guess is that it changes more often than not. I know when I check on my vacation flights, booked with points. When I click on "My Trips", I almost always have an alert that indicates that there's been some change. I glance at it to make sure they haven't switched times that would create a problem with a connection, but don't worry too much because there will probably be another change before the flight. On my last one, I did have to change a seat back. I carefully chose a seat with no seat in front of me so I would have extra leg room. They moved me to a Comfort Plus seat, but a middle seat. I moved it back.

Re - first come, first serve - the computer takes that in account, but it's not based ONLY the date the flight is booked. It takes a computer because they also have to reflect the fare code (how much you paid for your ticket) and your status with the airline. There's no way to do it on a date only "first come, first served" method. Another tip - call an agent in the wee hours of the morning if you have a complex situation. Phone agents are timed and if other calls are waiting (passengers trying to get a problem resolved in real time), a phone agent really don't have time to deal with a flight many months out. Call at 2 am and they will chat and tell you their life's story (slightly exaggerating) becaue they had TIME to talk to you. If they have 20 calls waiting, they are going to offer you the simplest most straightfoward solution. As they should, because there are 20 other people whose flight was just cancelled or modified and need to get home that night.

Were you downgraded on the transatlantic section? You refer to now being in Main cabin.
What were you before? Plane changes happen. They told you in advance, not at the gate.
Getting mad seldoms helps, politeness can work wonnders.
You were probably chosen by the compuuter because others had more points/priveledges than you. It sucks but it's life.
You have done very nicely out of your seat change it seems. Most people would (quite rightly) just suck it up.

Enjoy your holiday.

I'm not saying it's great but there's a difference between being disappointed and turning "livid" and yelling. You say your opportunities to do this are limited so why waste them away by choosing to be livid and yelling?

Anyway, travel can be a series of challenges and problems that you need to deal with. Uncertainties, delays, missed trains, didn't get the view you wanted in the room, overcharged for things, restaurant is booked solid, convention in town so everything is crowded, football match is on and everyone is drunk and loud, weather is bad, delayed luggage, etc, etc, etc. It's about how you react to it and frankly if the OP gets 'livid' and yells and thinks changed seats with $800 in vouchers is an outrage then perhaps travel is not for them!

800 dollars compensation for being given different seats? I'd be happy with that!

Anyway, Myer, if you want outrage, follow PalenQ's advice on what to do in Vondelpark on a Sunday in Amsterdam (see your other thread).
Though it's more likely the locals will be outraged ;-)

>>800 dollars compensation for being given different seats? I'd be happy with that!<<

Thats does seem extremely generous IME. It was nice of Delta considering how myer apparently confronted them.

Myer - you stated the 'months in advance' several times. That has nothing to do with anything much at all. When you book a ticket doesn't change your status. But really, screaming and yelling and outrage and being 'livid' over . . . an equipment change?? How do you react when there is a real crisis?

I agree with janisj.

I can't believe Delta awarded the bad behavior with vouchers. That is amazing and amazingly generous.

I wonder how the heck you think you have earned the right to yell at people.

So, this is quite an aggravating situation. It was downright unfair right from the start. After you are sure everything is going according to plan, you now have such disarming news, that's just sad ( I really hate when this happens to me so I can totally relate). Glad a compromise was reached at the end and the compensation should pacify a little. Hope you still get to enjoy your trip krrespeirres of the rocky start

I feel your pain Myer, I truly do. All those months of planning, trying to get just what you want, then being let down at the last minute. It's frustrating, I get it. It's happened to us more times than I can count. And unfortunately, the airlines have all the power.

On more than on occasion, we've selected aisle seats months in advance (international flights), and then, on the whim on the airline (no equipment change involved) been seated in middle seats, rows apart. It's enough to piss off the pope. And we supposedly have "status". Ha.

Do I understand correctly that this was all about seats, or were you initially downgraded from an upper class to coach? The 'main cabin' bit throws me.

If it was just an issue about seats, seems a lot of trouble to go through, re-routing, etc. If you were downgraded from an upper class to lower, well that's a different animal.

Don't get me wrong -- I know it is really frustrating. But this sort of thing happens every single day, and your self-described (so putting the best possible slant on things) reactions seem completely over the top.

Totally. It's borderline offensive for a mature person to classify this as an 'outrage'. Watch the global news and you see plenty of real 'outrage'. I know this is not a troll post but that thought first crossed my mind when I saw someone describing their airline seats as an outrage and yelling lividly, scoring $800 in vouchers and still thinking they are entitled. And trashing the airline online after they gave you a much more than fair deal. Unbelievably childish and shameful behaviour from a mature adult.

On my last flight from London to SFO (approx 12 hours), my aisle seat selected through a codeshare partner was changed to a middle seat by the operating airline. I was not very happy for about 5 minutes and then I just dealt with it peacefully. I came away actually enjoying my flight because of the hardworking and positive people of the airline. Didn't even complain to the airline or say anything at all because these things are just part of life.

While I don't condone yelling at customer service reps (I've been there), I really think it's awful that something bought and paid for can be changed at the whim of the airlines.
I would expect compensation and I'm glad you got it. "It happens all the time" is not a good enough reason to treat customers badly, and we as customers should not lay down and accept it.
Here in Canada there are new rules for air passenger compensation, but I don't think changing seats is covered. If you paid extra for original seat selection there should definitely be some compensation.