Ticket Cancellation Mess
 

We have 2 round trip tickets for TLH-PVD for mid January. Going to a conference. My husband has hurt his back so we can't go. Delta says we have to reschedule before the now scheduled date with the $100 loss. Tickets are $261 each. Obviously we can't reschedule TLH-PVD trip since conference would be over. Only other trip planned is to Spokane in August & that is $750. He will use frequent flyer on that. So gang, any ideas? Looks like we just have to eat them.

<BR>Use a little butter---makes them easier to swallow

If I'm not mistaken, Delta is changing that $100 thing. Not sure what the details are but I'd keep checking. You may get a break with a MD's excuse.

Delta is eliminating the planned $100 fee to standby for a different flight on the day you are scheduled to fly.You can still standby,with no fee.The $100 fee to change your reservations will remain in tact.<BR>For $261 a ticket, best call it dinner.You have to change the reservations and reissue the tickets before midnite of the date you are originally ticketed for.If you dont have a date,you have to pick one.Then when you have a definite date,another $100 to change it AGAIN.<BR>New rule is Book It-BuyIt-OwnIt.

Im sorry &quot;x&quot;, but you are completely wrong. Delta is changing their policy regarding stand by travel, but not the policy regarding non-refundable tickets. And no airline is going to take a doctor's note, they honestly do not care. Trust me I deal with this on a daily basis. The airlines are not our friends, they are only out to screw us. Unfortunately unless you book another flight, you will be out the money.

Your best solution is to go to the conference and leave your husband at home. That will cut your loss to $261.

I should think with a doctors note you could resolve all of this without a fee. Don't count on the help line being helpful. They often don't have all the info at their disposal. I would go to Delta's office to rectify this problem.<BR><BR>Good Luck <BR>

Being that this is a business conference, why did you buy non-refundable restricted tickets instead of totally refundable ones?

Doctors excuses went out years ago.It will NOT help you.Delta's &quot;help line&quot; is busy with real problems.Delta has no &quot;office&quot; for you to go to.The CTO's were closed immediately after 9-11.The airports are way too busy.<BR>Refundable tickets are easily 10 times the cost of a non-refundable ticket.Yes, it is very unfortunate.With the &quot;old&quot; system,at least you had a year to use your tickets.Now,you are most likely SOL.

jane,<BR><BR>I fly quite a bit, but your shorthand on the TLH-PVD gives me no clue as to where it is without looking it up.<BR><BR>Sounds to me like you are SOL (hope you know what this is).<BR><BR>Duh

I just had the same problem on United going to Hawaii (my husband had business there). The ticket cost was around $300. His ticket was refundable or his company just ate the cost, but mine was out of our pockets. Since he travels a decent amount for work, I just booked the cheapest short flight with him to SFO at about $60 and once I did that they gave me a credit voucher for the rest. <BR>SO, BOTTOM LINE, if you can't use it at all right now, find the cheapest flight out of your city and book it (just don't show). Then you'll get credit vouchers for the rest of the money that you can use for future travel.<BR>Hope you can make this work for you!

I think Delta changed the $100 fee to $25 recently.

People, PLEASE get your facts and information correct. Delta has NOT changed it's $100 nonrefundable exchange fee. The $25 fee is to change 3 hours prior on day of travel for a different flight only. The suggestion of buying the cheapest ticket possible is a good one, you would get the rest of the money back in a MCO. Your ticket is only worth $161 after the exchange fee, so if you could find a cheap fare (like out of detroit to chicago is usually about $70) then you could get some money back and it wouldn't be a total loss. PLEASE though make sure you have all the facts straight. Too many people on here are trying to play travel agent and have no idea what they are talking about.

Lisa; Breath In. Breath Out. <BR><BR>Relax, this isn't a life or death situation.

Thanks for all the info &amp; well intentioned mis-info. I am not sure about LISA's plan. There really is nowhere to go from Tallahassee for less than $150. I don't understand why they would give me vouchers if I don't use the second ticket. Wouldn't it just be the same as not using my current one.

I thought the point of this forum was to play travel agent.<BR><BR>crack up z

In response to your question about the vouchers, it's an MCO (misc. charge order). What happens is say you bought a new ticket for $105, you would apply the old ticket which was $261 to the new ticket, plus the exchange fee of $100. That would leave you with a credit of $56. Instead of losing that money the airline will issue an MCO for future travel. If there are no fares under $150, then it's not worth it. And the reason I brought up about getting you facts straight is that a lot of people on this forum believe everything that is written! You can go ahead and play travel agent all you want, but dont end up hurting someone else in the process. Guess I'll go back to my travel agent hole now - thought I was just helping out, guess it's true that there is lots of nastiness and negativity on here!

Lisa, who is being negative? X just told you to relax. You have to admit you were a little uptight in your post.

Get your husband to a better doctor. A back can be good as new in less than 2 weeks.

Lisa does have a point. It's frustrating to watch ill-informed (though trying to be helpful,) idiots steer people wrong. If you're stupid, and trying to do well, just think good thoughts. Or qualify your post. (&quot;Gee, Jane, I think....maybe you should check with...&quot;)

Will your husband not be able to travel anywhere soon with his back? Are you sure the conference is out? I would not buy a 750 ticket to Spokane as you know the price will go down.<BR><BR>Why not plan a little weekend trip to N on Delta sometime APril/May? I would rather do that than lose $522. (Why not try for New Orleans, Albuquerque, Nashville..heck even Vegas!!)<BR><BR>If all else fails, won't Delta give you a voucher for future use minus the $100.00? Call again and ask for a supervisor.<BR><BR>Good luck!

Lisa<BR><BR>If the airlines are just 'out to screw us' then you'd think that some of them (other than SouthWest) would be making some money. If they are all greedily after us then they are all also incompetent malefactors.

In response to Father's post--Delta is the LAST airline on the planet to make any kind of &quot;exception to the rule&quot;.Since 1995,the 5 top dogs/execs at DL are NOT airline people.They come from manufacturing,nuts and bolts.They do not care about customer service.They care about the bottom line.PERIOD.Yes, you will find caring loving courteous employess,professionals in their own right.But in general, the airlines are realizing that maybe even that type of philospohy isnt gonna cut the mustard.The &quot;BookIt-BuyIt-OwnIt&quot; policy stinks all the way around.I'm quickly becoming a cnvert to SouthWest where I can get a freebie after just 4 roundtrips and when I have to change my planes,all I pay is the difference in fare,no penalty fee at all.

Lisa: I think your responses have been great...just my two cents...

We had to cancal 2 rd trip tickets on Continental airlines. Same story. We had to re-book before the flight day, and were charged $100 per ticket. In addition to the change in flight fees due to the timing. This was to Puerto Rico. We were going to a wedding and the couple decided not to get married. So basically we were out of luck as well. We did re-schedule, but from $470 rd trip the tickets are now total of $800.00. There isn't much you can do. Either pay it or lose it altogether. We were told me could use the tickets anywhere Continental flew we were not confined to PR. I didn't want to lose the $470.00 so we have opted to go on a cruise out of PR. Good luck.