Hello, i'm a longtime Gold Medallion, and am currently in Honolulu, on a WAW-HNL-WAW roundtrip that i purchased on Orbitz for $800 some months ago. I also paid for Economy Comfort on the segments that i needed to, and got comped for the others. I decided i wanted to extend my trip 2-4 weeks, no specific dates, and expected to pay $250 +/- the fare difference (as i had done many times before). Imagine my surprise when i was told i could not under any circumstance. I was told that my fare does not allow ANY changes, at ANY price, and i would need to cancel the flight and buy a one-way. For ..... and giggles, i checked prices of one way flights (for Feb 18, my ideal change date). One way to WAW was $3400. Round trip on the other hand on the same date came to $1050. Wowza. I spoke with two agents to no avail, and i fired off the following e-mail.
Quote:
Originally Posted by My Email
I feel i have been screwed over by Delta and the Skymiles program for years, and today i hit the last straw:
1. I have maintained Gold Elite status for years, going out of my way with unnecessary overnight stays in WAW, and paying a premium to fly with SkyTeam
2. I have maintained by Platinum Delta American Express, with its $150 yearly fee and 3% international transaction fees, to get a companion ticket that i could never use being based in Hawaii.
3. I could never use my status to upgrade my seat when flying from Hawaii, because you don't let us.
4. I use Skymiles shopping deals whenever i can, and when in Honolulu use the Delta dining offers.
And TODAY: I decided that i would like to extend my vacation before returning to WAW. Having changed flights before, i expected the standard $250 +/- fare difference per person. I was unable to change online, and was instructed to call. Two representatives both told me that my ticket cannot be changed under ANY circumstances, i must fly. If i don't i would need to lose the ticket, and buy a one-way. I have for years bought tickets through Orbitz, specifically flying Delta, getting status, using Skymiles shopping deals, using your credit card despite fees, and THIS is what all that effort has amounted to: Fly or go f*ck yourself.
And for the bonus kick in the nuts, a one-way ticket costs $3400!!! But a round trip from the same date costs $1072. Do you hate your customers? Or just me? I've been a loyal Delta customer for years, but unless something is done to remedy this i cannot justify flying Delta any more.
I want my flight scheduled for Jan 22 to Warsaw to be unlocked, so i can change my flight as i please, incurring the itself already quite high $250 change fee per person. (That's nearly 33% of my original ticket price after all). Otherwise Star Alliance, and their much better connections to and between KRK, WAW and the US with HNL are going to receive my attention. This is absolutely unacceptable, i feel wronged and cheated.
|
I forgot to add the ever-diluted value of Skymiles, but i'm sure they've heard quite a bit of it anyway. Regardless, they did not bother to even respond to my e-mail. I understand that Delta has a new 'Basic' fare and this time the Orbitz ticket i booked fell into that? (My assumption, i've changed Orbitz bought cheapest-tickets and could always change)
Today i called once again, and asked for a supervisor immediately. The supervisor told me that not being able to change is nothing new, and that there's nothing she can do. After complaining further, she said she would ask what the cost would be to 'upgrade' my ticket to a fare that could then allow for a change. She came back with: $250 ticket change fee (standard), $270 to upgrade it to a changeable fare, and $50 to take the ticket from Orbitz. And this included the waiving of the price difference. Fantastic. $570 to change an $800 flight, AFTER receiving a 'discount'? I told them i was upset, and again pointed out the effort i go through to stay on SkyTeam. No avail. The agent told me she couldn't do anything (read: wouldn't).
United/Lufthansa/Lot here i come. I can fly in and out of KRK, avoid WAW hotels and hopefully wont need to sit in Seattle for 7 hours when i fly any more. Just what do i use my 350,000 miles on?