Questions re: Delta ticket changes

[StLouisCruisers]

Back in March I purchased two roundtrip Delta non-refundable economy tickets from ATL to FCO for a B2B fall cruise. Dates are Oct. 30 returning Dec. 1. In May, Princess cancelled the ports of Yalta and Odessa on the Black Sea cruise and Alexandria and Port Said on the Holy Land cruise substituting with Greek Isle ports. Since that time we've decided to cancel the Princess cruises and book Holland America since HAL substituted the Ukraine ports with other Black Sea ports. Then we plan on taking a Celebrity transatlantic back to Ft. Lauderdale. Problem is I have two tickets to/from the wrong cities on the wrong dates. I need tickets on Oct. 3 to Athens and a return ticket from anywhere since I am going to throw away the return portion.

 

Complicated enough?

 

I have a feeling when I go to my itinerary on Delta and click the CHANGE button to begin this process, they will offer up new flights to and from FCO on or around the same dates I had originally purchased. Then I guess I will have to call International booking to work something out. I am a little apprehensive about starting this whole process.

 

Would it be easier to just cancel the entire Delta ticket, get a voucher for some portion of the airfare, then just book my new itinerary on the Delta site using that voucher?

 

Oh, and I've read that in general you can only change the return flight of international tickets. In this case I want to change outbound and return, both cities, dates and flight numbers. Everything!

 

Advice or comments appreciated.

Edited June 21, 2014 by StLouisCruisers

[6rugrats]

I don't know what you are reading, but you can change both the outbound and return flight. This is not complicated.

 

I also don't know the terms and conditions of your ticket, so this is just a general answer for nonrefundable tickets. Usually, DL will charge a $300 change fee (again, read the T&C for your specific ticket).

 

You can change online or you can call. If you have to pay to call, I'd try online first. I am not a DL flyer, but for other airlines, you can go to your itinerary, click on "change flights" and then change to the cities and dates you want. Try that.

Edited June 21, 2014 by 6rugrats

[Globaliser]

Oh, and I've read that in general you can only change the return flight of international tickets.

It all depends on the precise rules of the fare which you bought, and without a lot more detail it's impossible for me to look them up.

 

However, a quick look at the most restrictive Delta fare rules for tickets bought on your existing route on a random date in March suggests that this probably isn't true for your ticket - on those rules, you would be able to change the routing and/or flight and/or date of your journey.

 

And indeed, if your ticket allows you to cancel but keep the value of the ticket, it makes no sense for the change rules to be any more restrictive than that, because cancelling and rebooking would always be possible so there's no point in restricting what types of change you can make.

[FlyerTalker]

This is best done with a couple of steps. Since you are going to be tossing the return (more on this later), do some research to find out what RETURN date and city (that you won't use) gives the cheapest price for the new outbound that you want. There's no reason for you to be paying for a higher priced return flight that you won't be using. Play around with ITA for a while and see what you find. Look for an inexpensive city to return from as an open jaw, since your price will be 1/2 of the ATL-ATH fare and 1/2 of the XXX-ATL fare. Might as well minimize the XXX-ATL portion. And don't worry, just about everywhere in Europe will qualify as an open jaw.

 

Now, knowing the flights you want to book.....contact DL directly. Don't mention throwing away the return, just say that your plans have changed and you want to make those to the ticket you have. DL will reticket you, applying the value of the ticket to the new itinerary, after deducting the change fee (which may be $300, but you should check yourself on the DL website). You would then pay any balance.

 

IMO, better to do it this way, since the DL website by default just wants to give you reroute options for the same cities. It can be forced, but it is not easy and often results in a burp. Better to save the hassle and just call DL.

 

Now, about that return. Since you are paying for it - have you considered using it for the return for another visit to Europe?? If you book a one-way to Europe on another airline (Aer Lingus or Icelandair come to mind), you could use the return that you've already paid for. Go for that long weekend in Paris. Or a visit to Madrid or Milan - cities you won't visit on a cruise. It's paid for - think about making it part of another vacation, long or short. Time to be creative!!

[StLouisCruisers]

First of all, thank you all for the remarks. Some things I want to note are that surprisingly, I had thought about the return city and picking one that is a cheaper fare. Last time I did that Milan was the cheapest. That is if we do a throw away ticket. And no, I would never mention on the phone that I was planning on doing that. They might not look too kindly on that little bit of information! So I will definitely re-check all the cities I can think of before calling about the ticket change since those darn prices seem to change every day or so.

 

And FlyerTalker, I have been considering trying to use the return ticket for another vacation, but I am limited in times that I can actually travel on this ticket. It was purchased in late March, so I would have to plan the new trip for a time before late March 2015. (At least that's the way I understand it). With the cruises this Oct. and Nov. and the 49 day S. America cruise I have booked for Jan. 31 to March 21, 2015, that leaves me with Dec. or January to take a little European vacation. I was on the computer most of yesterday looking at places, and checking Delta prices for those cities. I usually use ITA Software since Delta is not very user friendly for checking and rechecking itineraries and prices. They say my session is timed out if I go back and forth 3 or 4 times. So ITA Software has been a godsend!

 

So thank you all again for your help. Much appreciated!

[StLouisCruisers]

To update everyone, I decided not to extend the return flight into December for a mini vacation later. With another set of flights back over to Europe plus hotels and food and sightseeing, well I really didn't need all that extra expense this year!

 

So I called Delta and told them about the cancelled ports in the Ukraine and Egypt and a change in cruises. They asked what dates and flights I was interested in. I told them ATL to ATH and return from MXP (Milan) to ATL. I asked about waiving the change fees and she went to check with a supervisor. When she came back she said they would waive half of the $300 fee. I then asked to speak to the supervisor directly and he listened, then waived the entire $300 fee. As a result of a cheaper fare for this new itinerary, we were also each given a $60 voucher to use for future travel. So I was quite pleased with the outcome. And quite happy to have the chore DONE!

[alcpa1]

St. Louis Cruisers,

You have no idea how lucky you were.

I'm a Delta frequent flyer and wish I had the name of the supervisor you talked to!!!! Actually I have found their customer service very helpful and they were wonderful when we thought we were facing an Air France pilot's strike in May. They went above and beyond to change us to a Delta flight.

Kudos to Delta and you for having the vision to make things happen.

[StLouisCruisers]

St. Louis Cruisers,

You have no idea how lucky you were.

I'm a Delta frequent flyer and wish I had the name of the supervisor you talked to!!!! Actually I have found their customer service very helpful and they were wonderful when we thought we were facing an Air France pilot's strike in May. They went above and beyond to change us to a Delta flight.

Kudos to Delta and you for having the vision to make things happen.

 

My supervisor's name was Dave and he was in the Salt Lake City area. My friends who also cancelled the same cruises and needed to change their tickets as well, talked to a different supervisor and got the same $300 waiver. I think they felt bad about our Ukraine and Egypt cancellations.

 

But I do hope I never have to do something like this again. Too much worry!