Delta's unethical (bait and switch) pricing practices
 

I booked a delta flight to London yesterday, and they quoted a price which looked fine. When I went to pick a seat, it said that I would be able to pick my seat after I purchased the ticket, because the flights to and from London are on Virgin Atlantic. They told me to go to "MyTrips" on the Delta site (after I bought the tickets) and pick my seats.

So when I bought the tickets, I went to "MyTrips" and they told me that I had to go to the Virgin site. When I went to the Virgin site, they were CHARGING for any seat that I wanted. In other words, there was an unannounced extra charge of at least $80 (round trip)--for the lowest cost seats.

I consider this a bait and switch-- and outrageous.

When I filed a complaint with Delta, i got a ridiculous form letter that did not address my issue.

It is VIRGIN that are charging you the $40 each way for advance seating NOT DELTA. Charging for advance seat assignment is a common practice with European Airlines. You CAN choose your seat for free 24 hours ahead of the flight or when you check in, but if you want to get a seat asignment before that then it costs you. Unfortunately you just got caught in the "code share" fiasco where you buy a ticket on one airline with one set of rules, then you find out the flight is actually "operated" by a totally different airline with a different set of rules. Advance seat assignments are free on DELTA but cost $25 -$40 on VIRGIN.