Your opinion on Delta compensation

Please let me know what you think.

Recently flew RT from JFK to LAS on Delta. I used 90K miles each way for Business class. A coach ticket for the same flights was 50K miles per ticket less. It was booked 6 months in advance and the assigned seats were reconfirmed one day before departure each way.

The outbound flight.
While getting towed out of the gate there was a loud bang and the plane shook and came to an abrupt stop. The pin connecting the tow to the plane broke and hit the landing gear. We were on the plane for an hour before they let us off and we ended up taking off 3 1/2 hours late.
Since we had business class seats our luggage was supposed to be Priority and come off the plane first. That didnt happen. Our luggage actually was last off the plane, so late we started to think it was lost.

The return flight.
Upon check in our seats had been changed to the last row of Business class next to the bathroom and these seats had limited recline. I purposely booked well in advance to avoid something like this and reconfirmed my seat assignments the day before. Being 6'6 I need all the room I can get and paid a large amount of miles for that reason. The Delta rep had no explanation on why the seats were changed but they had nothing else in Business Class. It was not because of an equipment change.

At the gate our flight was delayed over 3 hours, again for a mechanical problems. Delta offered passengers at the gate a bowl of Jolly Rancher candies and bottles of water. Very impressive. The candy was actually better than the Business Class food on Delta, which was by far the worst of any premium cabin food we have had.

So here's my question. Having used 90K miles each for two tickets, 180K total miles, what would you expect as compensation for the two delays, luggage issue and the seat change with no explanation ?

Hope that you used all your miles and find another airline.

gmarine said:

So here's my question. Having used 90K miles each for two tickets, 180K total miles, what would you expect as compensation for the two delays, luggage issue and the seat change with no explanation?

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Answer: I would expect no compensation at all. That does not mean I don't think something should be offered as a customer relations gesture, but that seldom happens with the airlines any longer, except occasionally for high level elites.

I wouldn't expect any compensation either, but if you call them and complain enough, you may get something out of it. Is it worth the trouble?

Driving Every Loyal Traveler Away

If you do go to customer service, have a compensation in mind. They can't go back and give you better seats, quicker luggage, fry the guy in oil who damaged the landing gear. But if you ask, for instance, for a refund of miles, somewhere between the amount of your business class tix and what coach cost, or some lounge passes, they might just go for it as a gesture to keep you loyal. Those things don't actually cost the CS agent ANYTHING, so they don't have to answer to the bean counters.

Jim

Had you paid cash, instead of miles, would you have been owed any compensation?

Here are the "Passenger Bill of Rights" that you can refer to when dealing with compensation: ttp://travelsort.com/blog/airline-passenger-bill-of-rights-what-are-flyers-rights

1) Delayed or Canceled Flight

"As with routing and schedule changes, your main option in the face of any kind of significant delay is usually to get a refund of the unused portion of your ticket. You need to check the contract of carriage for your airline."

You actually used the ticket, and didn't miss a connection, so this wouldn't apply.

"If the delay or cancellation requires an overnight stay, airlines will typically provide overnight accommodation if the delay was within the airline’s control, such as a mechanical issue. If the delay is due to a “force majeure” event, however, such as weather, the contract of carriage usually does not require the airline to provide anything, so vouchers, etc. are at the airline’s discretion."

You didn't need to stay overnight, so that's off the table. However, 3- 3.5 hours delay? That seems worthy of a few thousand miles in compensation if you ask nicely and they're feeling nice, especially if you missed part of a significant event.

2) Luggage Handling

They didn't lose your luggage, nor did they overcharge you. Not sure what you expect here. Personally, I think that "my luggage was the last off the plane" is a really petty complaint and you shouldn't even mention it when you contact Delta because it makes you seem unreasonable.

3) Seat Selection

"If you pre-selected an aisle in the bulkhead are you owed compensation if the airline changes it to a middle seat in the back of the aircraft? The answer is no—seat assignments aren’t part of the contract of carriage, so unfortunately there’s no remedy or compensation owed if the airline puts you in a different seat. Of course, if you are forced out of your first class seat into a coach seat, you should be able to get the fare difference (or miles, if an award) back from the airline, given the different class of service."

Again, sucks but them's the breaks. I've had my seat reassigned just about every time I've flown.

Contact Delta anyway. A friend who flies with me very often, uses the wheelchair service. Any time we have had a problem with that service, or for any other complaint, Delta has posted compensation/bonus miles into our Skymiles accounts. They have even called me at home to inquire as to what took place during our travel. You should request to have the miles used for travel placed back into your account. They might even throw in a few vouchers. I have received vouchers to use toward future travel that do not expire for one year. Nothing beats a failure, but a try.

I know that many travelers complain all the time about Delta, but since I live in an area where Delta is the main airline, I use them all the time. I have no problem using my ff miles for free travel or towards a discounted ticket. Even when my luggage was delayed once, I got a voucher. Last year, my new cooler bag was damaged while using Delta. They paid me for the bag.

Delta is giving me 20K miles for each account so it was worth the call.

I want to clarify my position on the luggage complaint. If I was flying coach obviously there would be no issue. However, one of the perks of flying Business class is that your luggage is tagged Priority and is first off the plane. Delta touts this as part of their premium service. This was the part of my complaint that Delta was most interested in which surprises me.

Thank you for the responses.

I have status on both American and United. They are no better on priority baggage handling. Generally a nice to have but not guaranteed perk. I think the baggage handlers don't give a s*@t, so they whatever they want. Most don't work directly for the airline, they are contracted labor.

gmarine said:

Delta is giving me 20K miles for each account so it was worth the call.

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Congrats! That's better than I thought you'd get, but...those biz domestic seats are simply overpriced anyway...

Sandy VDH said:

I have status on both American and United. They are no better on priority baggage handling. Generally a nice to have but not guaranteed perk. I think the baggage handlers don't give a s*@t, so they whatever they want. Most don't work directly for the airline, they are contracted labor.

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I also have status on both American (Lifetime Platinum) and United (Silver). I agree the priority baggage is a "nice to have" type benefit, but not guaranteed. The only thing in your post that I disagree with, with based on my own experience, is that I do think American is better than Delta and United when it comes to priority baggage handling. I seldom have a problem except when there has been a flight change or change of aircraft or something like that. Then I never expect the priority baggage handling to actually happen, and in fact it seldom does.