Delta Reneges On Best Fare Guarantee
 

After finding the identical Delta flight from LAX-Indianapolis being offered by MidwestAirlines.com for $60 less, I called Delta and asked to speak to a manager about the difference in fares with Delta.com. Upon confirming the difference on Midwest, the manager assured me that if I proceeded with the purchase at Delta.com (I was using a certificate), I could then file a claim for the difference and the promised $100 voucher. I said I would prefer just to get the same price being offered to Midwest customers, but she insisted that protocol was protocol. So, I did as instructed--and received an email after the purchase informing me that the guarantee only applied to fares offered by travel agencies. My protests regarding the manager's assurances have fallen on deaf ears.

A waste of an hour on the phone and $60 lost. This is how Delta treats its loyal frequent fliers.

dupe posting

Not only did the reservation agent give not tell you that you had to purchase the original ticket through an online travel agent, they also didn't inform you that the cheaper ticket also had to be purchased on Delta, not another carrier, (the carrier you were purchasing from was a codeshare flight and not allowed under Delta's ridiculous rules) unless I'm reading it wrong. So, they've given you or rather haven't given you correct infomation twice.

Here is the link that I found the rules under.......

Delta's low price guarantee

TO the OP:

The Judge is a highly respected member on this forum and he is very experienced and versed in Delta's rules, but I would like to add that while what happened is unfortunate, Delta's rules for its low price guarantee are clearly stated on its website, and it is trite law that no one working for a company can orally override a written stated policy that is available to you.

This is what the website says:

"For eligible tickets, if you discover the same Delta itinerary (yes, that means the same flight, day, time, cabin, booking class, etc.) for a lower fare on Expedia, Travelocity or another online travel agency, we’ll refund your money or give you the difference in fare and a $100 travel voucher."



In future if you deal with a manager or supervisor who is telling you something other than what the writing says, try to get it in writing. One way would have been to email them and get an emailed reply instead of relying on a telephone conversation.

The dictionary defines a travel agency as a business that sells travel products to the public. Midwest Air sets up an online business to sell identical Delta airline seats--not Midwest Air seats--to the public at a discount. Perhaps I am a dupe, but I fail to see an essential difference between such an airline enterprise and an online travel agency. Bottom line, if loyal frequent fliers cannot rely on the assurances of Delta's managers and yet continue to do business with Delta, then I guess we're all just dupes.

Yes Lintalee, I don't know why he called you a dupe. Dupe means a fool or one who is easily deceived. He is like that, but he means well, although his words probably meant "fool posting". He makes up for his brashness in his sheer wisdom in travel matters.

With regard to the real issue, it is only $60, but there is an important point of law here. The question is whether Midwest acted as an agent. I don't know much law myself, but my mentor on this site, one Mr Jerkero who is an experienced Attorney and also in the airline catering business says that if Delta authorised Midwest to sell its tickets for a commission Midwest would be an agent for Delta, but if it was there was something of a joint venture with respect to the marketing of tickets and a sharing of the profits with regard to those tickets, then there would be no agency. I agree that you should be able to rely on the assurance of a manager and she should at least be willing to honor her word.

He meant duplicate posting, as in he accidentally posted twice. I don't think he was calling anyone a dupe.

What they are doing is called codesharing. It's common among airlines and it makes them money. They couldn't care less if it's confusing or restrictive to the passenger as long as it's profitable for them. They use deceptive tactics to lure you and then quote their policies and COC when it helps them. They don't quote it when it helps the customer. In this case though, it seems to me they have covered themselves and you are probably out the price difference and won't receive the 100usd voucher.

Another Best Fare Guarantee Rip Off
 

I purchased 2 tickets to London today on Delta.com. I had already scoped out a fare $85 cheaper for the exact same itinerary - dates, flight numbers etc., same class on Orbitz. I also had a $100 credit from a previous Delta problem so I needed to use Delta.com. After purchasing the tickets I filed the claim for the fare guarantee (this was this morning around 10.30am.) I received an email response 10 minutes later saying they couldn't find the cheaper fare on Orbitz so they were rejecting my claim. I do understand that fares change frequently so I went back to Orbitz and - low and behold, there was the cheaper fare, still available. We emailed back and forth and every time they just said that they couldn't find it. I printed the screen to pdf and emailed it to them. They didn't reference it, just said they were rejecting my claim. It's now the same day and at 3.30pm I can STILL get on Orbitz and find the cheaper fare. Obviously it's just a rip off. If I hadn't had the credit I would definitely have cancelled my itinerary and bought tickets elsewhere. It's a small amount, but it's the principal of the thing, and false advertising.

I have flown to London 4 times on Delta this year (I used to like Northwest and just stayed with the route when Delta bought them out). Never again.