[kirb20]

Please find below a detailed description of the series of delays and errors we encountered on our recent Honeymoon trip from Toronto, Canada to Valencia, Spain.

Our original itinerary was as follows:
Depart: 01:20 PM
Toronto, ON (YYZ)
Delta Air Lines
Arrive: 03:00 PM
New York, NY United States (JFK)
Flight 3948 operated by


PINNACLE DBA DELTA CONNECTION
(on Canadair Regional Jet)

Requested Seats: 3B, 3A
Total Travel Time: 1 hr 40 mins

For your boarding pass, use reference code DUHY01 for online or airport checkin.
Fri, Sep 3, 2010 New York J F Kennedy International Airport, (JFK) to Valencia, (VLC)
Depart: 04:25 PM
New York, NY United States (JFK)
Delta Air Lines
Arrive: 06:35 AM
Valencia Spain, Spain (VLC)
Flight 198
Next day

(on Boeing 757-200)

Requested Seats: 19C, 19B
Total Travel Time: 8 hrs 10 mins



We arrived at the Toronto Airport at approximately 7:45 am on September 3rd, we checked in with security and went to wait for the plane to take us to our Honeymoon destination. Our plane was an hour late to board with no explanation given.

Once on board the plane, we were told there was a weight issue, and that we were 300 pounds overweight so they had to reallocate some luggage. This took another 20 minutes to resolve. Once the weight issue was resolved we were taxied out to the runway where we proceeded to sit and wait.

After 20 minutes, the pilot came on and notified us that we were waiting for the okay to take off from the control tower, as there were “too many planes in New York” and that we would be updated within 45 minutes.

At this point, we were becoming concerned as we needed to make the connecting flight out of New York to Spain and had limited time to do so.

We continued to sit on the runway, each ‘update’ was another delay with another update coming. We were never given a clear explanation as to why this was happening or what was going on. Our flight attendant did complain about how we “should have never connected through New York” because “this always happens.” She told us we should book connections through Atlanta or Philadelphia, which we found very helpful. We called Delta from the plane and let them know the situation. The Phone agent told us “don’t worry, they know you are supposed to be on the flight to Spain, so they will hold it for you “, but she could do nothing to help us. After about 2 hours, we were told that we had to go back to the airport, as we were not allowed to sit on the airplane any longer due to federal laws.

We were then taxied back to the hanger and were told that if we have a connecting flight, to please speak to the desk agent. We went straight to the desk agent and let him know our situation. He looks for options and tells us “ I have no other flights to Valencia.” I ask what this means. He says “ I have no flights today and no flights tomorrow.” I ask what our options are and he says “I have no idea” and looked past us to try and help the next in line.

He then received a call to let him know that we are now cleared to take off. He tells us our best option is to go to New York and sort it out from there and rudely added “it’s only an hour flight if we’re delayed they’re for sure delayed.” We ask if he’s sure and he checks his system and tells us our flight from New York to Valencia has been delayed also, so we should still be able to make it in time, as it is now not slated to depart until 6:30 pm.

At this point, the desk agent informs all of the passengers who are waiting to reboard that we are unable to reboard because the entire flight crew, including the Captain and flight attendants, have left the plane and are nowhere to be found. He tells us this is “unbelievable,” and “not allowed” while he expresses shock and anger. They page the flight crew repeatedly but it takes them a good deal of time to return to the airplane, further delaying us.

We are finally able to reboard, where we wait again on the runway and eventually take off. We land in New York at 6:45 pm.

Once on the ground we are very anxious to get to the Delta desk and see what our status is but we taxi on the New York runway for almost an hour! We drove slowly in circles for 50 minutes before the plane finally stopped out on the runway where we were informed that a bus will take us to the gate. After all that waiting to take off and after landing, we are not even taken to the terminal. When we finally arrive at the gate we ran to the Delta desk. The time is now 7:45 pm.

We have missed our flight. It left on time. It was not delayed as the desk agent in Toronto had stated. The desk agent in New York also tells us there are no more flights today or tomorrow. She then rechecks her system and tells us we have two options. We can fly tonight to Paris, and then to Valencia, or we can fly tonight to London, and then to Valencia. She asks which we prefer. We let her know we have no preference, as long as we get there. She begins to book us in, and then realizes that both flights are sold out. Back to square one. She then finds another flight, leaving that night to Rome, with a connecting flight from Rome to Valencia the next day. This option will only get us to Valencia about 7 hours behind our original time, so we are quite happy with this.

She tells us that if we are going to make this flight, we will have to run, as it is leaving very shortly from another terminal. We say no problem! She prints out our tickets from New York to Rome, and from Rome to Valencia. At this point I ask “What about our luggage?” and she assures us she has transferred it to the new flight. I am skeptical, as I think, if we have to run, how will our luggage get to the plane in time? Regardless, off we run.

We arrive at the Alitalia terminal and check in and board the flight to Rome with no issues. We arrive in Rome the next morning and proceed to the Iberia desk, which is the airline that our tickets to Valencia are with.

We check in at the Iberia desk with the tickets that Delta had issued to us. We are told by the Iberia agents that the tickets are not valid, as they accept only e-tickets, not paper tickets. They tell us we must go speak to the Delta agent in Terminal 5, and they will have to change our paper tickets to e-tickets.

We hurry off to find Terminal 5 which ends up being very far removed from the rest of the airport. We take a shuttle and arrive at the terminal. We enter and the entire terminal is vacant. All counters are closed, there is no Delta staff, no one is there. We are now very concerned as we do not have a lot of time before we need to check in.

I search all the way to the back of the Terminal, and am able find a cleaning crew. They do not speak English, but I am able to convey that I am looking to speak to someone from Delta. They go into the employee area and find one Delta employee who was just leaving. He comes back to the desk to assist us.

We explain that Iberia has said we need to have our tickets changed to e-tickets. The agent checks the tickets and proceeds to tell us the tickets are invalid. We express confusion and ask “what do you mean?”. He tells us that while the tickets say Iberia, they are actually for a flight with an Iberia affiliate, Welling. He says that Welling does not accept Delta vouchers, and therefore our tickets are no good. He says that the Delta computer system shows the flight as an Iberia flight, but that if the agent in New York had “looked closely enough” she would have known that they actually were not.

We are in utter disbelief as we stand there, exhausted and holding hard tickets to this flight that we are being told we cannot board.

The agent now says the best he can do is get us on a flight to Madrid the next day, then an 8 hour layover in Madrid, getting into Valencia at 9 the next night. This will now mean we have lost 2 full days of our honeymoon.

We ask if there is any way at all they can get us on the (Welling) flight that afternoon that we have tickets for. He says no. When we ask for the number to call Delta to see if we can get anywhere with them he rudely tells us that he “speaks for Delta” and, “which do we want, for him to book the flight as he described it or do we want to call Delta?” We sense a breakdown in his limited helpfulness and begrudgingly ask that he complete the connection through Madrid and we will find the Delta number and call after we’re done with him. We beg one more time him to put us on the Welling flight, asking that Delta pay for the tickets to make up for all the mistakes we’ve been subjected to and help us get our Honeymoon underway. He says Delta has no way to pay for the tickets and the best he can do is give us a hotel for the night, with breakfast, lunch and dinner vouchers, which he says “will end up costing Delta more than it would have to get you on that flight”. He instructs us that there is a shuttle to and from the airport to the hotel. He then tells us we have to leave because the Terminal is closed, and locks it behind us.

We head back to the main terminal and phone Delta International at which time I speak with an agent over the phone. He looks up our file and tells us the tickets we have are valid. I explain that both Iberia and Delta in Rome have told us they are not. He says “Well then I don’t understand. You will have to go back and tell the Delta agent they are valid.” However, the Delta agent has now gone home and the terminal is locked. I explain this to him and he says there is nothing they can do.

We then proceed to try to pick up our luggage. Our luggage did not arrive. We check with the Alitalia desk to try to find out where it is, but no one knows.

We head to the shuttle to the hotel. When we arrive at the hotel, we are appalled. The hotel is old, dirty and absolutely the worst we have stayed in. There is no alarm clock in the room, the tv does not work, the bed is dirty and sinks in the middle.

We are too late for the lunch vouchers as lunch is now over, and we have to leave before breakfast starts, so we do not get any use out of either of these. The dinner buffet (which consisted of Salsbury steak and stale rolls) was so unappealing we ended up having to eat something else afterwards.

Our flight the next day is an early one and we get up and get ready to go. We are then informed that the shuttle does not run that early, so then we have to take a cab to the airport which costs us 34 euros.

We check in for our first flight and arrive in Madrid on time. We wait for 8 hours in the Madrid airport, before finally boarding a flight to Valencia. We arrive in Valencia late on Sunday night.

Our luggage does not arrive until Tuesday night, so we have no clothes, belongings or toiletries. As per law, however, this now falls on Alitalia and we are currently dealing with them on this issue, even though the bags were misplaced by Delta in New York.

We have now lost two full days of our vacation. We had pre-booked our accommodations in Valencia that has been paid for, so we had now paid for this time period for nothing. We’ve had minimal sleep over the 48 hour nightmare and are completely exhausted but the thing that was the hardest to accept was that no one at any time attempted to apologize or help us. There was a lot of shoulder shrugging and saying “nothing we can do.”

The entire sequence of events was a series of errors and miscommunications on Delta’s behalf. None of your branches seem to be communicating with the others, and no one is willing to offer any help or even the slightest bit of sympathy.

We are completely dissatisfied with our experience, and are looking for compensation for damages incurred over the course of this series of events. It has ruined one of the most important and highly anticipated vacations of our lives. A honeymoon is supposed to be peaceful and fun. This was anything but. Our tickets were contracted to get us from Toronto to Valencia by 6:45 am on September 4th. We would like a refund of the ticket price for this trip, as Delta fell far, far short of getting us where we were supposed to go within the timelines we were supposed to get there in.

We look forward to your reply, and appreciate you handling our complaint.

Much appreciated,