Delta Airlines is getting on my nerves

Delta airlines has changed my FF flights to Hawaii several times. When I check my itinerary on their site, they do not post my seat assignments when the flight has been changed. So yesterday, I called because 3 out of 4 of my flights were changed again. I was on hold at least 5 minutes. I spoke to the rep. who told me the seat assignments stayed the same. The seats are all first class. I asked her to email me a new itinerary with the seat asignments. What she emailed did not correspond to what the website was showing at all. So, I called back, on hold 5 minutes agian, and was told that the previous rep had emailed me a copy of my original ticket, and not the corrections. So, this second rep emailed my itinerary, with the seat assignments. Great! However, I went to the Delta website to see what the seating looked like for those flights. The diagram shows MY seats AVAILABLE! Could this just be a mistake on the diagram, or should I really call Delta back? I would not really care since 3 out of 4 first class seats are still available. However, on one flight, almost all of the window seats are gone.

Delta is rapidly becoming my least favorite airline to fly. We've been having the same problem with them the last couple of times we've used them and for our upcoming flight with them this June.

My wife is slightly claustrophobic so I usually book very early to get the better seat selection and get something towards the front of the plane. Delta, without fail, will move our seats without notice to the back of the plane. I'll change them back, they'll move them back again. This continues until I can no longer change the seating assignments and have to try to get the job done when checking in at the airport.

It's cost them little bit of money this time. Delta had flights at a price I was willing to pay for our December trip to FL but, instead of booking with Delta I waited until the other airlines adjusted their pricing to either match or get close to what Delta was charging. In the end I booked seats on American for the same price I would have paid Delta a couple of months ago. They lost my business for that flight because American's history has been less problematic than with Delta.

I fly enough to know that all airlines make equipemnt changes or seat assignment changes. It's just that for us Delta is worse about it than any of the other airlines we fly. If my wife didn't have an issue with where we sat it wouldn't make much difference to me. But since she does and since Delta seems to INSIST that we sit in the back of the plane, I now have an issue with Delta and how they book their flights. So much so that I will always be looking to the other carriers first and Delta has become my last choice for an airline to fly.

This is unusual for me as I generally consider all airlines to be about equal in how they treat/mistreat their customers. For an airline to get moved down to non-prefered on my list really takes some doing on their part.

Yes...Call back. Delta is a nightmare with the seat assignment thing. You can easily get seated seperately from your party, and once that happens if there are no seats availalable to be assigned, CS will be of NO help. No matter how much you jump up and down and cry foul, you will get nowhere.

No seat assignment means you are on stand-by (and don't let them tell you differently even if you booked months in advance. Which means you better get to the airport at least two hourss in advance to have a chance of getting on that flight. I know, I went through it. Perhaps it may work differently for First Class, but make sure everything is correct to your satisfaction and check your flights daily for MORE changes (they will be coming). Unfortunately, that is just the way Delta operates now.

I tried to book my Delta frequent flyer miles for a trip to Utah 331 day in advance at 15 minutes after midnight...no availability!

Keep in mind that Delta is in bankruptcy reorganization and is making a lot of internal changes to increase profitablity.

Until they emerge, expect to have issues and be very diligent.

Not condoning their poor service, more a warning to not assume anything with Delta at this point in time.

Delta seating assignments

We have used FF miles to Hawaii on Delta for the past number of years (We lived in Atlanta and I traveled on Delta all the time, lots of FF miles) and always had seat changes whether in first or coach.
I found that any time they changed the schedule as well as the equipment our seats no longer showed on the reservation, when we would call we were told that our seats were in the computer and were still the same as the original seats. When asked to add the seat assignments to our reservation they usually show up there correctly in a few days. We have had seats changed if there was an equipment change.
I have found that they will change seats whether the tickets are FF or paid.

johnmfaeth said:

Keep in mind that Delta is in bankruptcy reorganization and is making a lot of internal changes to increase profitablity.

Until they emerge, expect to have issues and be very diligent.

Not condoning their poor service, more a warning to not assume anything with Delta at this point in time.

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Like I've said, I have flown a lot of miles on several different carriers, including carriers like United and Amerca West that have been in bankruptcy when we've flown them and while they haven't always been the best (which airline is) but, I've never had the CS issues I'm experiencing with Delta.

Considering the issues I'm having with Delta with this flight right now and minor issues I've had with them the last couple of times I've flown them, they've moved to my last choice in a carrier. So much so that I'll pay a little extra just to NOT fly them.

It really is a tough thing to get me to take a stance like that. I know that all airlines are going to give me trouble some time but not usually all the time. One bad flight, delay or seating issue won't get me to stop flying a carrier. When it happens on to regular of a basis, then I look for someone else.

Once you've got your new itinerary, you can just change the seat assignments yourself on their website.

tashamen said:

Once you've got your new itinerary, you can just change the seat assignments yourself on their website.

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I wish it were that easy. I've been trying for the last couple of days to change my seating assignment back to something close to what it was. I change it, it shows it's changed but when I check the next day it's still the same old seats in the back of the plane. Nothing get's changed. At least not for me.

We have been flying to Hawaii for the past few years via Delta, using our FF miles. We always see equipment, and flight time changes when booking 331 days out. That is why I always check our FF reservations at least twice a week. When I see a change I give them a call, and they fix any conflicts or problems.

ajsmithtx said:

We have been flying to Hawaii for the past few years via Delta, using our FF miles. We always see equipment, and flight time changes when booking 331 days out. That is why I always check our FF reservations at least twice a week. When I see a change I give them a call, and they fix any conflicts or problems.

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I had this happen to me this past year with United. I booked as early as possible and they changed our layover city, time and seats. I called and after some arguing, had it changed back.

The trip home is a whole other story.

Airlines are getting too independent, but is there a "good" airline anymore?

Courts said:

Airlines are getting too independent, but is there a "good" airline anymore?

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Nope, just lessor degrees of bad.

ajsmithtx said:

We have been flying to Hawaii for the past few years via Delta, using our FF miles. We always see equipment, and flight time changes when booking 331 days out. That is why I always check our FF reservations at least twice a week. When I see a change I give them a call, and they fix any conflicts or problems.

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I don't understand why you don't wait and start checking say a month before you are leaving. I must be missing something important. I'm asking because I just booked with Delta for this upcoming Christmas and I want to make sure I have control over the seating. I have a son who may be very upset if all of our seats ended up separate because of a change they made. Thanks for your help.

Iwant2gonow said:

I don't understand why you don't wait and start checking say a month before you are leaving. I must be missing something important. I'm asking because I just booked with Delta for this upcoming Christmas and I want to make sure I have control over the seating. I have a son who may be very upset if all of our seats ended up separate because of a change they made. Thanks for your help.

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No problem. I have found that because we book our FF miles 331 days out that Delta and I am assuming (sp) other airlines, will change the flight times a few times before our departure. This may be because, there is an aircraft change, a change in the schedule, maint., etc.. I find that it is easier for me to log into the website, and check for any changes on a regular basis, than wait until it is too late. Two weeks ago I found out that our departure from Alabama was changed so that we would not land in Atlanta until after our connecting flight left for Honolulu. We don't leave till mid June, but that would have been been news if I had not checked. I called after I saw the change and the Delta rep immediately fixed the error. This was the second major change that I caught since booking the FF 331 days from departure.
My thought is that these changes are computer generated, which is why we do not get notification so far out from the departure date.

Iwant2gonow said:

I don't understand why you don't wait and start checking say a month before you are leaving. I must be missing something important. I'm asking because I just booked with Delta for this upcoming Christmas and I want to make sure I have control over the seating. I have a son who may be very upset if all of our seats ended up separate because of a change they made. Thanks for your help.

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If you wait until a month before leaving, the flight may be booked up and you may not be able to move your seats back to your desired spot.

What I don't understand is why they keep moving us to the back of the plane when we have always booked towards the front of the plane. With FF miles and a business based on service, you'd THINK they could follow trends and preferences. Even the grocery stores can manage to do that.

We'll, Delta has changed our flights yet again. Not that they all don't do this but Delta seems to be really bad about this. Never much, a few minutes one way or the other but enough to have my flight change notification sent out.

The one good thing about this is after the change, I could suddenly change our seat location from the very back of the plane to something more in the middle of the plane. Now if we can only KEEP those seats. Every time I check this one particular flight fills up a little more and there are fewer seats to choose from towards the front of the plane.

Coming home may end up being a nightmare on this trip. Both flights appear to be essentially empty at this point. With the flights being less than 60 days out I could see flight cancelations and rebooking to consolidate flights happening. This won't be great if it gets us in to late as I have a 3 hour drive post flight to get home. If it gets to late into the evening then I'll need to be thinking last minute hotel reservations as I don't like to drive when I'm tired.