[chriscolombo]

"Except that there are extenuating circumstances. It is the lack of any discretion which rankles. In this case, the passenger had travelled early as the baby was premature. Having done so, I fail to see why Delta, or any other airline, can't exercise some common sense discretion for extenuating circumstances."

This is unfortunately the chance you take when purchasing a non-refundable fare. The price is greatly reduced in exchange for the condition of a ticket that can only be used on the date and flight specified. The airline is counting on the fact that a certain percentage of people will not be able to travel due to extenuating circumstances. This is precisely why airlines overbook. They can literally sell two tickets for the same seat when someone does not show. The profits enable competitive pricing. The extenuating circumstances may not be your fault, but they are likewise not the fault of Delta. That's simply common sense. They are not going to compensate anyone a passenger because a baby was born prematurely, someone died, or you are to sick to travel. A line must be drawn somewhere, and if every airline accommodated every passenger due to their individual circumstances, ticket prices would be higher. Accordingly, when you purchase a greatly reduced excursion fare, you do so under the condition that it is non-refundable. If you fail to travel, the airline keeps the money. If you show up, the airline must provide transportation, or compensate you if you are denied boarding. Of course, severe weather precludes the airline, and most passengers, from traveling at all. In such cases, the airline must refund your ticket to its original form of payment, or re-schedule you on the next available flight without penalty. This may be days in the case of a snow storm. Such "acts of God" effect not an individual, but the masses.


"After 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, may airlines waived their normal rules to assist people. Why is that ok, but not ok to do it for individual circumstances."


Natural disasters and terrorist attacks effect the masses, and therefore are not individual personal circumstances. During 9/11, the entire air system was shut down for days. Tens of thousands of people were effected. Passengers who did not travel did receive full refunds, and those who still wanted to travel were re-accommodated on the next available flight. During Katrina, the entire city was flooded, and MSY was closed. Again, common sense indicates the disaster displaced the masses, and was not an isolated circumstance of an individual.

"They can be limited to genuine medical cases and could even stipulate that there must be no monetary loss to the airline. In this case, there would be no loss whatsoever to Delta. They were simply trying to extort higher sums of money out of their passengers misfortune."

What exactly is a "genuine medical case?" How do you authenticate a medical case? Are psychiatric cases medical? Why stop at medical cases? What about if your house catches fire, you are the victim of theft, or you were in an accident on the way to the airport? The manifestation of such incidents all result in the inability to travel, but the essences vary. Where do you draw the line? Moreover, have you considered how opportunistic people are, and how they would scam the system. In effect, anyone and everyone could weasel their way out of a non-refundable ticket, and receive the same service as someone who is paying considerably more for a fully refundable/changeable ticket. In such cases, the passenger is extorting the airline, not the other way around. In short, you get what you pay for. If you want a low fare, please realize there is a chance you may loose your ticket entirely if you get sick, have a fire, are in an accident, or any other unfortunate personal circumstance which prevents you from flying. If you can not assume that kind of risk, then purchase a fully refundable ticket. It will cost you more, but if something goes wrong, you can receive a full refund. Enough said!