[d_herring]

I’m done with Delta!

This recent trip I booked through Delta was the last straw. I have seen Delta’s service decline over the past 5 years to include your SkyMiles rewards program. I still stuck with them because I figured that my loyalty to Delta would always be reciprocated. Boy, was I wrong!

Here’s my story:

I booked a trip to the Philippines many months ago though Delta using one of their partners. All was fine and we planned the rest of our Philippine vacation knowing we had paper tickets in-hand.

My wife and I showed up at LAX on 6/16/08 at 10:00am for a scheduled 1:00pm flight with China Southern. We knew right away something was wrong when we did not see any China Southern agents at their designated ticket counter or passengers waiting to check-in. We called Delta to see if there was a schedule change. Delta told us there was no record of any changes. We hung up and waited another 30 minutes. By this time it was around 11:00am and still no one to be found. I called China Southern’s reservation desk, and after 45 minutes on hold, I was told they changed their flight schedule and that they had record that Delta was notified…

I called Delta back and was on the phone for well over 2 hours. During that two-hour period the Delta agent I spoke with (Kieran) confirmed a new horrible itinerary. We were now leaving LAX on 6/17/08 at 11:50pm. This got us into Guangzhou at 6:20am on 6/19/08. Our connecting flight to Manila, Philippines was not until 8:20pm on 6/20/08. THAT’S 36 hours!!!! China Southern offered to put us up in a hotel at their expense but we had to agree to the new itinerary right then and there. WHAT CHOICE DO WE HAVE? Of course we agreed. We then had to deal with the return flights. China Southern kept going back and forth on whether or not they still had a 7/11/08 service. In the end Kieran told me to call Delta back the following morning.

I called back per Delta’s request only to find out there was NO COMMENTS REGARDING FREE HOTEL in my pending file, I spoke with Steve, who is a Delta employee with Customer Server for Partner airlines. Steve was completely indifferent to our dilemma and we could tell he didn’t care to help get China Southern to offer at least the free hotel. In the end I just hung up on Steve and Delta…

The horrible trip has cost me hundreds of dollars out of my pocket and I have not even checked in yet. Because of the delays caused by these schedule changes we will not be able to get to our final destination in the Philippines in time for my wife to celebrate her father’s 70th birthday – which was the primary reason we went this time of year.

As I said in my opening comments: I’m done with Delta. I know they don’t care and I will not get a response back. I’ve maintained over 8 years of loyal patronage with Delta Airlines… No more... These guys are as bad as American Airlines and US Airways. I’m going back to United Airlines. At least with United I know they make the extra effort to help their high-value travelers.

Goodbye and good riddance.

Dave H
Platinum Member
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