[eeichleay]

last november, i suffered a seizure (my first) and was hospitalized for several days, including the day that my international flight was scheduled to take off.

my husband secured travel vouchers (good for one year) that we tried to redeem on september 8... at which time we were told that they'd expired. APPARENTLY they were only good for a year from the time of booking - not the time of travel, something we'd NEVER been told. (EVEN SO, we were only three days late, as we'd originally booked the tickets on september 5, 2008.)

when we called to inquire if there was anything we could do, we were repeatedly told by the customer service representatives to FAX our medical papers to a different number, and that a supervisor would be able to help us. we REPEATEDLY requested to be contacted VIA telephone in those faxes. NOT ONLY were we repeatedly denied our vouchers, but we were consistently denied the opportunity to speak to a human being.

further, the faxes we received back from customer service got increasingly snarky, including phrases such as: "I am genuinely sorry it was necessary for you to write again" and "I apologize for your continued dissatisfaction with my response."

i don't understand why the airlines feel it necessary to act like petulant children - refusing to talk to, and sending rude form letters, to customers.

it was NOT my choice to spend my days in a hospital bed instead of having fun in europe. they've already collected my money, and it costs them NOTHING but two seats and a little compassion to let us redeem our vouchers. but i guess that's what air travel's become...

i will NEVER fly delta again. and i will do my best to make sure no one i know does either...

[The_Judge]

If I remember right, tickets are NOW supposed to be valid for one year from first date of travel. That was changed awhile ago from 1 year from date of booking. So, if you booked Sept 5th and first travel was Oct 1st, the tickets would expire that date.

However, vouchers are different. They do expire 1 year from date of issue. It was out of the ordinary for an airline to issue vouchers on the spot for this event and I am quite surprised they did this without a fuss.

You may want to try to get someone on the phone, AFTER investigating what I said above about the ticket time limits, and suggest to them that even though the vouchers expired, had you not had a medical issue, your ticket would still have been valid. You lost around 2 months of validity by being issued a voucher. Not saying it will help but it's worth a shot since you've already been denied.

Jim.....over to you...............

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by The_Judge

If I remember right, tickets are NOW supposed to be valid for one year from first date of travel. That was changed awhile ago from 1 year from date of booking. So, if you booked Sept 5th and first travel was Oct 1st, the tickets would expire that date.

However, vouchers are different. They do expire 1 year from date of issue. It was out of the ordinary for an airline to issue vouchers on the spot for this event and I am quite surprised they did this without a fuss.

You may want to try to get someone on the phone, AFTER investigating what I said above about the ticket time limits, and suggest to them that even though the vouchers expired, had you not had a medical issue, your ticket would still have been valid. You lost around 2 months of validity by being issued a voucher. Not saying it will help but it's worth a shot since you've already been denied.

Jim.....over to you...............

Delta tickets, like most others, are valid one year from original date of issue, not travel. I know Alaska is in the minority because their tickets are valid one year from original date of travel and they even give you an automatic 30 day grave period so it's really 11 months. Delta vouchers also expire one year from date of issuance but you can book travel beyond that date. I recently had two DL vouchers that were about to expire. I waited until the last day they were good and booked a fully refundable/changeable without penalty fare for an amount very close the value of my vouchers and for dates as far out as DL's website would let me book. This effectively extended those vouchers for another year.

It sounds like you were told one thing - that your tickets were being converted into vouchers - but something entirely different happened - they remained as tickets with the original expiry date. You've already tried faxes and e-mails to no avail so I suggest you write a concise letter and include copies of any relevant documentation you have thus far. Send it certified mail/return receipt to Delta customer relations in Atlanta.

I will also mention that travel insurance would have certainly helped in your situation.

[The_Judge]

Delta tickets, like most others, are valid one year from original date of issue, not travel.

PHX........do you have that in writing somewhere?? I worked for NWA and this was changed to 1 year from date of travel some years ago.

[The_Judge]

Nevermind.......found it. I could have sworn that changed but apparently not. OP, you might be out of luck then. If you've been told a couple times already, no, most likely they aren't gonna change but you could try sending in hospital documents and doctor's letters but honestly doubt DL will see it your way.

[jimworcs]

It's Delta.. give up and bad mouth them to all and sundry. Don't fly with them again.

It is the only solution.. Delta does not need to please customers to stay in business. They operate monopolies in fortress hubs, hide behind bankruptcy to rip off suppliers, employees and customers and emerge larger and stronger than before by bribing politicians. Customers do not figure in their thinking..

They also have a remarkable ability to hire employees of the lowest intelligence, worst attitude and with underlying anger problems... writing, calling or emailing them will make not a jot of difference.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

It's Delta.. give up and bad mouth them to all and sundry. Don't fly with them again.

It is the only solution.. Delta does not need to please customers to stay in business. They operate monopolies in fortress hubs, hide behind bankruptcy to rip off suppliers, employees and customers and emerge larger and stronger than before by bribing politicians. Customers do not figure in their thinking..

They also have a remarkable ability to hire employees of the lowest intelligence, worst attitude and with underlying anger problems... writing, calling or emailing them will make not a jot of difference.

On the whole my experiences while flying Delta have been good and at times excellent. In all I can only remember one minor incident where I had to fight for a hotel room in Atlanta when I was stranded due to a mechanical delay but in the end it worked out and I got a room for the night. The agent in ATL was a bit gruff and didn't appear to want to help me but it was late and he obviously had a rough day. You do have a point, however, since Delta seems to get many complaints at the DOT. I believe it's management, not front line employees, needs a major overhaul. Delta seems to micro-manage every aspect of it's operation and employees are no longer empowered to make decisions even if they are the right ones. If the management were more trusting of their judgment and there was positive reinforcement of good decisions as well as constructive crticsm of bad ones they would do a whole lot better.

[cargorat]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer

On the whole my experiences while flying Delta have been good and at times excellent. In all I can only remember one minor incident where I had to fight for a hotel room in Atlanta when I was stranded due to a mechanical delay but in the end it worked out and I got a room for the night. The agent in ATL was a bit gruff and didn't appear to want to help me but it was late and he obviously had a rough day. You do have a point, however, since Delta seems to get many complaints at the DOT. I believe it's management, not front line employees, needs a major overhaul. Delta seems to micro-manage every aspect of it's operation and employees are no longer empowered to make decisions even if they are the right ones. If the management were more trusting of their judgment and there was positive reinforcement of good decisions as well as constructive crticsm of bad ones they would do a whole lot better.

ok now i'm thinking that for some strange reason you are either making things up OR YOU have had some strange luck in your life to have positive things to say. i know that during my employment with delta has been filled with nothing but abuse from all walks of delta managment. i hope that if it's because of luck that you go out and buy a lotto ticket. best of luck

[jimworcs]

LOL... from the horses mouth Phx!!

[wkharris2001]

it depends on if the ticket was an international ticket or a domestic ticket. an international ticket is valid for one year from the date of travel. however a domestic ticket is good for one year from the date of purchase. it is not delta's policy to issue you a travel voucher for your ticket, instead you keep your ticket, and reissue the ticket at a future date. this is confusing to many customers as they think it is a travel voucher, when in fact it is just their ticket that they are getting credit for

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by wkharris2001

it depends on if the ticket was an international ticket or a domestic ticket. an international ticket is valid for one year from the date of travel. however a domestic ticket is good for one year from the date of purchase. it is not delta's policy to issue you a travel voucher for your ticket, instead you keep your ticket, and reissue the ticket at a future date. this is confusing to many customers as they think it is a travel voucher, when in fact it is just their ticket that they are getting credit for

It doesn't matter. Domestic or international the same ticket expiry applies. One year from issue date no matter what. I've flown DL enough to know that. Also DL holds on to the original issue date of the ticket unlike Continental. If you reissue a CO ticket the expiry date renews from the most recent date. DL tickets hold the original one year from when it was issued.

[The_Judge]

This is off topic but I had to redeem myself. Been thinking about this and I wanted to double check. Working so long I should have the right info and I did. DL may be different but NWA (the airline I worked for) shows this in their contract of carriage. Online for anyone to see...........

TICKET VALIDITY AND CANCELLATION
PERIOD OF VALIDITY – 71
A) PERIOD OF VALIDITY
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN THE APPLICABLE FARE RULE,
EXTENSION OF VALIDITY, AND SPECIAL FARE PROVISIONS
PARAGRAPHS BELOW, A TICKET WILL BE VALID FOR
TRANSPORTATION FOR ONE YEAR FROM THE ORIGINAL OUTBOUND
DATE DESIGNATED ON THE TICKET.

Whew......that's the last time I let a non-employee tell me the rules.

[The_Judge]

Also, out of curiousity, I went to DL's COC and there indeed is a difference in domestic and intl ticket validity. Domestic tkts are valid for one year from date of issue and Intl tkts are valid for one year from date of original travel. I learn something new everyday.

[wkharris2001]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer

It doesn't matter. Domestic or international the same ticket expiry applies. One year from issue date no matter what. I've flown DL enough to know that. Also DL holds on to the original issue date of the ticket unlike Continental. If you reissue a CO ticket the expiry date renews from the most recent date. DL tickets hold the original one year from when it was issued.

sorry PHXFlyer I beg to differ, seeing as how I work at Delta and have worked in Reservations and at the airport. and as the judge has also stated. there is a difference between international tickets and domestic tickets. international tickets remain valid for one year past the date of original travel. and domestic tickets remain valid for one year past the original issue date. as far as the expiry date renewing it depends on if the ticket reissues using the automation DL has in place. if it does there is a new expiration date for the ticket if it turns out it has to be manually reissued there is not a way to manually place a new date on the ticket so it keeps the original expiration date.