[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by spgib

My 13-year-old daughter was trying to fly from Norfolk to San Diego. The flight was booked well in advance and things were set. My ex-wife showed up to Norfolk international an hour and fifteen minutes ahead of time (5:00 AM) and for that airport that is usually adequate. Because she was putting a minor on the plane she had to wait in line and secure an escort ($100 fee). There was one person at the counter handling three flights that were very close to each other in takeoff time (5:45, 6:00 & 6:15); the line was a one-hour wait! When they got to the counter at about 6:00 am, the lady would not even try to check them in. My ex said they should try and she cut her off telling her it is already closed, and that she could not help her. She asked her to move back from the counter & that she would have to reschedule. My ex asked her if there would be fees and she said tell them it was due to long lines. She immediately went to the back of the airport and called the 'hotline'; 800-221-1212. My ex was told there was a 3:52 pm Flight #1587, and that she would be on it and given a confirmation number
then transferred to finalize. Then she was told due to the skymiles used (by me and my wife in San Diego), that there would be about a $280 total charge, but if she called back within a 3 hr window, she would only be charged $50! My ex told her it was unfair that she would be charged because they did not miss the flight due to negligence but due to one ticket agent checking in three flights! They left the airport with nothing else to do. She called Delta around 12:00 pm and spoke with Rene (sp) to check on flight 1587. She said it was full and nothing available for Saturday, Sunday or Monday. She asked her about the ticket and the cost and she said it would be a $100 fee to re-deposit the miles.
This is where my wife and I came in to the picture; my wife rescheduled the flight for the very next day with no problem & paid the $100 transfer fee. She accomplished what Delta agents could not or want to. The only glitch was that I had to drive to LAX to pick her up. No drama! Right? The flight arrived on time, but no baggage! That showed up two hours later on another flight! My daughter & I had to burn two hours in LA to wait for the baggage.
After all was said and done I suggested to my ex that she e-mail Delta Customer Care and complain. She did & received a lame excuse and a $25 dollar Delta voucher that can only be redeemed at Norfolk Airport. I submitted an e-mail to Customer Care with hers attached conveying my displeasure with Delta over the whole thing and received another lame reply insinuating I was after more money and they mistook me for my ex!!! Had they actually read the e-mail they would have instantly noticed it was a different person. Maddening!

Delta doesn't get it...look Southwest Delta and you will find the answer. I will never use Delta again!

Angry in SD.

It doesn't surprise me that the telephone agents didn't get creative with the routing and determine that they could get your daughter to LAX sooner than SAN. At least Delta no longer uses contract call centers in India but now have agents in Montego Bay, Jamaica and South Africa. The latter are usually better but I doubt either knows that LAX is a good alternative to SAN and the former never go above and beyond or think "out of the box" to solve a problem.

Although I personally don't travel Southwest a great deal I think in your case they would be a great match for your future travel needs. They are especially good at handling unaccompanied minors. There was one incident which was caught on the TV show "Airline" in which a brother and sister traveling alone were sent out on the wrong flight but when they realized their mistake they got them turned around on the very next flight and off to their destination all the while keeping the parents notified every step of the way.