[jimworcs]

Jetliner:
Sadly, I have been lied to so many times by airlines employees, that at some point we just have to face up to facts. Many airline employees and their managers are utterly unethical.

In this case, there is the sneaking suspicion of "switch and bait" in which a direct flight is offered, but at the last minute an indirect flight is sustituted with a "take or leave it" choice, with a refund. By then, at Christmas, there would be few choices available and most of them are likely to be unaffordable.

I would never choose Delta at a critical time for travel, as my experience of them is that they are arrogant and more interested in executive bonuses than customer care and abuse their monopoly.