Delta Airlines -1

[cesna250]

Southwest.
No assigned seating.
We flew Delta back from Vegas this past summer... I got first class, people I were with got the very last row on either side.

I second that! Its worth the couple extra bucks!

 

[IndyIN]

I declined the business class upgrade initially when I did online checkin but changed my mind when we got to the airport

Our preassigned seats were not together (bought them 4 months ago) and we had no option other than pay for a seat upgrade to sit together.

I'll be that guy...I'm guessing they could have probably done something if they wanted to, there is always a way. Take a little bit of the blame, though. You knew exactly what your situation was when you declined to upgrade during online check in.

Also, this pre-assigned seats were not together stuff... You have the option to pick your seats at booking, and all the way up to check in. At no point you thought it might be nice to sit with your wife? Did I misread your post, and you are saying at 4 months prior there were only single seats left? In that unlikely case, I would have been checking (or calling) at some point during the 4 months.


The only thing missing from your original post, was blaming Bush for the situation you inherited.

 

[hoosierdoc]

I did decline business upgrade initially, but why not offer full business class at any time if someone wanted to pay?

I saw no option for seats 4 months ago. You can choose seats when you book? I've always only seen an option when you check in

 

[MikeDVB]

I'm flying to Houston in just over 14 hours, but flying United. Had plenty of chances to pay for upgrades to my seat and I got the cheapest/most economical seats I could to begin with... Heck, I could even do it right now on my phone via their App... I could go to the "Economy Plus" or "First Class" if I wanted.

I actually wanted to take some photos/video out the window and when I booked and chose my seats - I didn't realize I picked over the wing. Opened up the App and swapped my seats within about 10 seconds - no longer over the wing .

Guess I'll make sure to avoid Delta ... shooting themselves in the foot I guess. They refuse to let you buy an upgrade to a seat that wasn't previously sold (i.e. refusing your money and getting nothing in return for not letting you do so)... No wonder the airline industry is having issues.

 

[stephen87]

I'll be that guy...I'm guessing they could have probably done something if they wanted to, there is always a way. Take a little bit of the blame, though. You knew exactly what your situation was when you declined to upgrade during online check in.

Also, this pre-assigned seats were not together stuff... You have the option to pick your seats at booking, and all the way up to check in. At no point you thought it might be nice to sit with your wife? Did I misread your post, and you are saying at 4 months prior there were only single seats left? In that unlikely case, I would have been checking (or calling) at some point during the 4 months.


The only thing missing from your original post, was blaming Bush for the situation you inherited.

When I flew to California with my ex, we booked about 4 months in advance and only "sat together" on one flight. The other 3 flights I talked to the stewardess and she told us "sit together and if anyone says anything I'll deal with them." One guy came up and the stewardess explained the situation and moved him to an empty seat in a doorway so he had more legroom. The only flight we were actually assigned next to each other was Delta, the other 3 were American Airlines.

/threadjack

 

[BravoMike]

I did decline business upgrade initially, but why not offer full business class at any time if someone wanted to pay?

I saw no option for seats 4 months ago. You can choose seats when you book? I've always only seen an option when you check in

Have you complained to Delta yet?

I'm guessing that you where inside of security because you where on a layover. If that was the case it sounds like it was a gate agent you where talking to and you where trying to make a last minute change.
1. Gate agents cannot accept cash. (I'm not sure if they can accept credit cards at the podium.)
2. Your ticket was not upgradable because you bought a "low fare" ticket and/or you are not a frequent flyer with many points and you were not elegible for a free upgrade.

There might have been others waiting for an upgrade ahead of you as well. Did first class eventually check in full? If you want to make a last minute change on a layover inside of security, you need to go to the customer service counter. You cannot make a last minute decision at the gate as the gate agent is handling many other things and trying to get that flight out on time. Yes, I can see how it can be confusing and frustrating for someone who does not fly often and I'm sorry you had a bad experience. If you want to get better explanation or have some rectification of this, I would suggest contacting Delta. IMO, out of the major airlines to choose from, Delta operationally runs the best and has some of the better customer service (not always but usually).

 

[hooky]

Doc, I've never booked where I didn't have the option to choose my seats. I've had instances where I've tried to choose and then got a message saying sorry, seat choice isn't available at this time. What site did you use to book?

 

[IndyIN]

I did decline business upgrade initially, but why not offer full business class at any time if someone wanted to pay?

I saw no option for seats 4 months ago. You can choose seats when you book? I've always only seen an option when you check in

How are you booking your flight, through one of the discount sites? Even if booking through a discount site, you can go to the carrier site and adjust seating.

I've found over the years (and lots of travel) that the discount sites really don't save you much, if any, money. If you see a price on Travelocity, you can get the same price at the airline site. The discount travel sites also lock you in to a class of ticket, that limits what you can do. If you are ever unlucky enough to be stuck in a big delay, those discount class tickets mean you are a second class citizen.

 

[BravoMike]

How are you booking your flight, through one of the discount sites? Even if booking through a discount site, you can go to the carrier site and adjust seating.

I've found over the years (and lots of travel) that the discount sites really don't save you much, if any, money. If you see a price on Travelocity, you can get the same price at the airline site. The discount travel sites also lock you in to a class of ticket, that limits what you can do. If you are ever unlucky enough to be stuck in a big delay, those discount class tickets mean you are a second class citizen.

I have found this to also be true for rental car companies.

 

[vitamink]

Delta airlines was the only job i had been fired from...funny true story if anyone wants to hear it.

 

[jsharmon7]

Delta airlines was the only job i had been fired from...funny true story if anyone wants to hear it.

Do tell...

 

[hoosierdoc]

Just checked in for flight home. Our connection for the flight home we don't have assigned seats and the only available are a $19 upgrade each. This is a changed flight from when we booked as they cancelled our original flight. I'm not paying an upgrade fee to get a seat on a flight they switched on me. Really tired of delta.

 

[hornadylnl]

Must be newlyweds. You still want to sit next to her.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Hah, not newlyweds but she is nervous about flying. I like to read my fiction book for the trip. I usually try to finish one before we reach our destination but she didn't sleep enough this time.

It's our last night tonight. Boooo

 

[vitamink]

Do tell...

Ok i was 17 at the time and i was the "wand guy"

The wands are used to communicate with the plane and tell the pilot what to do. When all else fails, there is a patch cable near the nose of the plane that i can connect to and talk to the pilot directly (i.e. Hey we just brewed a pot of coffee if u want some before you gotta leave) or talk to the entire plane before boarding (i.e. we're gonna need 3 more kosher meals).

The life of the wand guy is pretty boring as there are about 100 signals and honestly you only ever use 3 maybe 4... go, turn, and stop. Everyday it was the same thing over and over. Turn left, go forward, stop. One day as i was turning the plane the engine made this odd noise and belched out a fireball that caught the engine on fire. My eyes were the size of saucers. There is a signal that i'll never forget, but didn't know at the time, where you hold up 1 finger and make a sweeping motion with your wand to let the pilot know that engine 1 is on fire and you may want to pull the extinguisher.

I looked down from my "wand guy perch" and said, "hey man, what's the signal for 'the planes on fire?'" he replied, "how the hell should i know? you're the wand guy." My only option now was to plug my headset into the patch cable on the nose of the plane to tell the pilot what was up. I quickly parked the plane, jumped off of my perch, ran over to the thing and plugged in without paying too much attention to where i was plugging in.

In the middle of the captain's "welcome to indy" speech I overrode his signal that went across the entire plane and it sounded something like this...

"I'd like to be the first to welcome you to indianapolis, the weather is a dry 70 degrees and...HOLY **** THE PLANES ON FIRE!!!"

...And that was strike one. Strike 2 and 3 came later if you're interested.

 

[hooky]

Ok i was 17 at the time and i was the "wand guy"

The wands are used to communicate with the plane and tell the pilot what to do. When all else fails, there is a patch cable near the nose of the plane that i can connect to and talk to the pilot directly (i.e. Hey we just brewed a pot of coffee if u want some before you gotta leave) or talk to the entire plane before boarding (i.e. we're gonna need 3 more kosher meals).

The life of the wand guy is pretty boring as there are about 100 signals and honestly you only ever use 3 maybe 4... go, turn, and stop. Everyday it was the same thing over and over. Turn left, go forward, stop. One day as i was turning the plane the engine made this odd noise and belched out a fireball that caught the engine on fire. My eyes were the size of saucers. There is a signal that i'll never forget, but didn't know at the time, where you hold up 1 finger and make a sweeping motion with your wand to let the pilot know that engine 1 is on fire and you may want to pull the extinguisher.

I looked down from my "wand guy perch" and said, "hey man, what's the signal for 'the planes on fire?'" he replied, "how the hell should i know? you're the wand guy." My only option now was to plug my headset into the patch cable on the nose of the plane to tell the pilot what was up. I quickly parked the plane, jumped off of my perch, ran over to the thing and plugged in without paying too much attention to where i was plugging in.

In the middle of the captain's "welcome to indy" speech I overrode his signal that went across the entire plane and it sounded something like this...

"I'd like to be the first to welcome you to indianapolis, the weather is a dry 70 degrees and...HOLY **** THE PLANES ON FIRE!!!"

...And that was strike one. Strike 2 and 3 came later if you're interested.

I am...

 

[hoosierdoc]

Well Delta did not provide the requested wheelchair in ATL and my reading light was burned out on the night flight, but we're back in Indy! Fortunately I had my trusty LED high lumen light from the last 1500.

And so ends my rambling rant thread.

 

[vtxrecruiter]

I am an Aircraft Structural Tech at a local MRO, and I have a set of rules for flying:
1. Stay off of Air Kevorkian (SWA)
2. Do not get on any airplane with so many doublers it looks like it is wearing a suit of armor (doublers are essentially a "patch" of a crack, trimout of a hole, or some other structural FLAW) (see rule 1 about SWA, they have an A/C affectionately called "The Armadillo"
3. Sit at the overwing exit if at all possible. This can be achieved by showing my FAA A&P license and telling the ticket counter that I "volunteer" to be at the overwing exit and know how it operates intimately. Doing so does 2 things- First, I get more leg room on 737-800 series and similar A/C due to regs about aisle size at an emergency exit. Second, the "wing box" is where all the strength of the A/C is, think about it, the wings hold up the entire A/C, and the wing box is where all the HEAVY DUTY structure is. By the time you get to the front of the A/C, Boeing "stringers" (like the "bones" of the A/C) are less than .050 of an inch thick and can be twisted and torqued by hand. First class is not the place to be in a crash.
4. NEVER tell anyone you work on planes, every rattle and noise inspires a question by the person next to you.
5. Travel light, baggage monkeys love to toss and mutilate bags. Carry it on or leave it home, OR UPS it to yourself where you are going if it is a long trip- it is actually CHEAPER than getting a bag added and paying for it. Plan ahead though and get the stuff out in time to be there when you arrive at the destination point.
6. Plan for TSA morons and leave all change at home and likewise leave all jewelry in the aforementioned carry on. No metal on your body.
7. Wear cotton clothes and carry a light cotton hoodie with you. A/C can get coolish at cruise alt. and the lower air pressure makes you tired, toss on the hoodie and snooze. COTTON IS A MUST. If the A/C DOES wad up on the ground and you survive the "incident" the possible fire will melt synthetic fibers to your skin (OUCH). Likewise wear LEATHER shoes for the same reason (preferably leather sneekers so there is no steel shank beeping the TSA Airport Ninjas wand)
8. NO ALCOHOL. "Pressurized" cabins are NOT at 14.7 PSI (ground pressure), the structure cannot handle the high differential, so the pressure is lower than ground level, this is one of the MAJOR causes of jetlag, and alcohol turns up the jet lag knob to 10

Hope this may help someone in the future.

 

[old shoe]

my wife an i fly a lot all air lines treat you same today not like years back