HAL flight and Delta Comfort

[Nanner]

We are using HAL for the first time for our flights on our upcoming trip. Living in the Detroit area, Delta is the normal airline we use. For our flight back from Amsterdam, the PCC told us that he cannot put in for Delta Comfort seats (extra spacious). Has anyone out there had any luck getting upgraded at the gate, or arranging beforehand with the airline?

[cruisencrazy]

If you have a Skymiles account, your flights should be in there. That's where Delta will offer you a discounted rate to upgrade. If you don't have one, that's a lot of miles, get one. If you try to buy and upgrade at the gate, you will pay a lot more.

[*Miss G*]

If I remember correctly, Delta no longer allows upgrades to Comfort. You have to purchase them from the get-go.

[Reagan0712]

HAL got us on Delta, Venice to JFK to BWI for $284 next month. We then went directly to Delta and upgraded to Comfort seats for an additional $100 for first leg of trip.

You’ll need to check seating to see if the Comfort seats are available.

[cruisencrazy]

If I remember correctly, Delta no longer allows upgrades to Comfort. You have to purchase them from the get-go.

 

 

That is incorrect. No problem purchasing upgrades.

[bUU]

Upgrading is fare class specific as per this chart: http://www.cwsi.net/m/delta.htm

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[Vict0riann]

Hi, Nancy! When our PCC put us on Delta, we couldn't do anything (seat selection, etc.) until we reached 50 days out, I think it was, and the fare was paid for, along with our cruise. It seemed like HAL really just had a hold or something on seats, so we didn't have a proper reservation number. When is your cruise?

[bUU]

I'm not sure how the cruise line works but generally consolidators don't set specific passengers to specific slots in their allocation of seats until about 50 days prior to the flight.

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[*Miss G*]

That is incorrect. No problem purchasing upgrades.

 

This is a nice improvement. I was vehemently told it was not allowed the last time I tried to do this. Perhaps it has something to do with the ticket class at time of purchase.

[*Miss G*]

Ahh. I see bUU has confirmed this.

[boards]

When we purchased our flights through Hal flight ease, our PCC arranged our seats to be Delta comfort. We have them for our flight to Rome and our return flight from Fort Lauderdale to Detroit. For our flights last Sept., our PCC did the same thing for us at the time of purchase. We paid for when we made our final payment. All went well.

[vinonme2]

Last Sept. I flew to Amsterdam and purchased my Delta Comfort seats thru Hal, as I had done for 2 previous trips to Europe. Each trip I made my reservation - including my seat selection - months and months before the trip. I paid for the ticket with my final cruise payment. The price was excellent, much less than booking directly with Delta.

 

Last month I dealt with Hal and my travel agent, trying to get Delta Comfort seats for my R/T flight to the west coast (I live in the east). Only economy seats were being offered, and interestingly, at a few dollars more than the same flight on the Delta web site.

I ended up booking my flight directly with Delta and got the Comfort seating I wanted.

 

Seems that, like so much else, things keep changing, and often that depends on who you talk to at Hal. Have you checked directly with Delta for pricing? The way these planes are packed and often oversold, I wouldn't hold much hope of getting an upgrade at the gate.

[IslandThyme]

I just (two weeks ago) had my TA book Delta Economy Comfort with Flight Ease and it went through with no problems and a big savings over booking directly with Delta.

[bUU]

Ahh. I see bUU has confirmed this.

I think it is all about fare class 'E'. Folks look at the chart or look at generic information and don't realize that there is this one fare class that is very heavily restricted - and shocker of shockers, it's the fare class that is often used for tour groups, cruise air, etc.

 

When we purchased our flights through Hal flight ease, our PCC arranged our seats to be Delta comfort.

That's different from upgrading later by using miles or status, or by paying the upgrade surcharge. When you make the arrangement initially, the travel agent can put you into a more expensive fare class, eligible for the upgrade. Otherwise, if you get put into fare class 'E' that's when you have the problem. I love the way this guy puts it:

 

Fare Class E

How to Upgrade

Sorry bro, you’re stuck.

No upgrades.

http://destinationsunknown.com/2017/08/17/delta-airlines-fare-classes/#basiceconomy

Edited March 25, 2018 by bUU

[moorerf]

We booked thru flight ease for our upcoming med cruise, months ago. we got the Lufthansa flights we wanted but HAL said they could only book economy or business. I booked economy, paid for the flights a few months later, called Lufthansa and upgraded to premium economy for a low rate and with ease. My only glitch was I had to pay for the flights with HAL before my final cruise payment as Lufthansa would not upgrade until fare was paid and I had a fully paid, confirmed confirmation number. Not a big deal.

[vinonme2]

I just (two weeks ago) had my TA book Delta Economy Comfort with Flight Ease and it went through with no problems and a big savings over booking directly with Delta.

 

 

That's great! Just goes to prove that the only thing consistent about Holland America is their inconsistency!

[Paulinda]

So booking using Flight Ease is competitively priced? Better so than using airline websites?

[*Miss G*]

So booking using Flight Ease is competitively priced? Better so than using airline websites?

 

Some have been able to find good deals and some have not. I am in the have not camp.

[Vict0riann]

So booking using Flight Ease is competitively priced? Better so than using airline websites?

 

You need to do your research, but I have usually found HAL better for one-way flights, not always for round trips.

[ksmaxey]

So I have a different take. I can upgrade to comfort on the flight over because we are on a Delta plane. On the way back it is a Delta flight number but a partner airline. There is no option to upgrade at all on either Delta or Air France.

 

We also found that we couldn't upgrade seats when purchased through HAL until 50 days out and/or final payment of flights.

[sfocruiser]

For most airlines you can’t do much except select seats until the reservation is ticketed, which with Flightease is 6-8 weeks before departure. Then you can pay for better seats and or apply upgrades.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[igraf]

bUU,

 

Any chance of losing the signature tagline? It is getting to be repetitive and you don't have very many typographical errors (if at all).

 

I googled "This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors." and ended up seeing several references to your CC posts rather than general references to the text editor that you use. Is this a custom tag line?

 

igraf

 

 

 

Upgrading is fare class specific as per this chart: http://www.cwsi.net/m/delta.htm

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[liketraveling]

If you book Premium economy on flight ease you should be able to get Delta Comfort.

[bUU]

Any chance of losing the signature tagline? It is getting to be repetitive and you don't have very many typographical errors (if at all).

Sorry, but I don't feel comfortable doing that here.

 

Is this a custom tag line?

When I'm not home, I use the Cruise Critic app, that's what you're asking: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tapatalk.boardscruisecriticcom

[Nanner]

Interesting that some of you were able to book Delta Comfort as I was told up front that it was NOT possible. I just checked, we can upgrade to comfort for $230 each. Since the plane has the 2-4-2 seating configuration and we are on the left aisle, I figure we can easily swap seats or get up and walk around a bit. waiting to hear what DH thinks about paying that much for the change.

 

Still, interesting that some folks seem to have no issue with booking Delta Comfort using a PCC or FlightEase and my PCC just said no way, try at the gate. It is a Delta flight, not an affiliate. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

VictOriann, we head out on Bill's retirement celebration cruise next month on the Zuiderdam. Can't wait!