[never]

My husband's plane was scheduled 5:54 AM when he arrived at the check-in counter at 4:45. there was three lines of passengers for the same flight. He took the shortest line waiting to be checked-in. When it was his turn, the agent told him that he needed an online transit visa for passing by the U.S. My husband took out his laptop to do it and was suggested to do it "sit over there to complete it" and "will get back to you". He did it in a couple of minutes and then sit there waiting someone to get back to him. amazingly, right in front of his eyes, the lines all finished checking in and the counter was closed.

He ran for help. and a lady talked to him and was told that the flight was overbooked, now, the seats were all gone and thus, no need for agents to wait at the counter.

If this was what happened, I would not come here for complaint. Maybe some overbooked passenger was desperately in need of this seat, maybe it was just that the agent made a mistake to give out his seat. But what happened next was outrageous.

With the help of an agent of a neighbor counter who kindly called Delta, an agent and a supposedly supervisor appeared. my husband told the agent of what happened (at that time, it was still not yet the boarding time) and asked agent whether she could arrange a rebook. The agent was kind enough to check for next flight etc, and the supervisor cut in and said no. "because it was your fault! You should be here at least 2 hours before departure".

True, if my husband could have come earlier, it might be easier for both sides. But, the case is, our city is a very small town with only a few flights to the U.S. Everyday, and U.S. Departure has a separate security check which is not crowded as regular security check. So. almost no one comes 2 hours before the departure. that is why when my husband arrived at the airport, he found three lines of passenger checking in for the same flight. So, the issue here is not that he came in at that time or not, the issue is, he listened to the agent to wait for his turn while the agent gave his seat to a standby overbooked passenger.

This is not the worst situation here. when we called the ticketing agent to complain and seeking other possibilities. We found that the airline canceled the whole package: not only the part my husband missed by the check-in counter, but also the returning flights. so, even if we purchase a one-way ticket, we are still not able to use the returning part of our previous bought ticket. the booking agent connected us to the delta complaint center, and the agent, a very nice, polite lady told me because that ticket was non-concealable, she was unable to help. i double checked the ticket, there was no print (not even fine print) saying this ticket was non-concealable. the airline canceled my husband's ticket right in front of his eyes and gave the seat to an overbooked passenger, and now they tell us that his ticket is non-concealable! what a joke.

Because of this trip was so important, we had to pay an extra $2300 to get a complete new ticket. but this time, we fly with Lufthansa.

My friend told me that sometimes, airlines make easy money. but i never expect that delta made such an easy one: for the service they mis-provided, and for the service they canceled. If an airline does not stop such unprofessional activities as overbooking flights, giving seat to overbooked passengers at the presence of the original seat holder, and closing counter before cut-off time, I would suggest everyone to avoid this airline.

(by the way, anyone has trouble posting complaints, i did so many times yesterday, and luckily, got on today. ^_^)

[jimworcs]

This complaint needs a little more detail to determine if you have any rights under EU law.

Where did the flight originate and what was the destination?
Did your husband get seen by the check in clerk more than one hour before the flight departed or less?

[never]

It was about 70 minutes before departure. Also, there were a whole bunch of other passengers in other lines.

[never]

also, i have a general comment here: when the print on the ticket says " you should reach the airport 1 hour before departure". what do they mean by "airport"? do they mean "seen by the check-in clerk"? or "stand in the check-in line"?

If airlines insist that they mean "seen by the check-in clerk", why don't they print it literally on the ticket? do they deliberately make it vague so that they can take advantage of both explanations?

[Musician4ever]

Well, it sucks that this happened to you, but I've never seen a ticket or anything say that you only need to be at the airport 1 hour ahead. I've always seen, at least 2 hours for Domestic flights and 3 hours for international flights. I think this issue wouldn't have been an issue, if he arrived to the airport more than 70 minutes.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter how "small" the airport is, you should always arrive early, cause you never know what will happen.

I always fly out of Rapid City Airport and it's a "small" airport and I'm always 2 hours early. I don't care if I'm sitting at the airport for 90 minutes, at least I had plenty of time to get things fixed, if a problem happened.

Better safe, than sorry. They could have helped him out and got him going for another flight, but I advise that next time you arrive 2 hours before the flight, no matter how small your airport is.

[never]

thanks for the advice. my solution to this issue is, i will never fly with delta.

People waiting in line takes time, that is why i was unhappy that the airline did not elaborate whether you should be right in front of the counter or in the airport at the-required-hours ahead. my husband was on time if he was counted at the time when he arrived the airport, but about 10 minutes short of time if counted by the time he saw the agent.

what is more, the issue here is that there were other people still in line checking in and when it was his turn, the agent did not say it, but acted as: "here is the cut-off point, you are too late!" are you happy with such a treatment? particularly, you are well ahead of boarding time. now, are you curious why they cutoff a continuous line at an arbitrary point? a rational answer will be: it is because at this point, all the seats are gone! then, you ask yourself a question: one of the seat holders is still here, why all seats are gone? the person who held my husband's seat must have an over-sold stand-by ticket! you said you came in 2 hours ahead of time, what's if this stand-by person came in 3 hours ahead of time and took your seat?

I am not arguing with anyone here, i am just suggesting that if you can fly with some other airlines what care more, go ahead.

[NewJerseyDevils]

I'm not sure if it's just a problem with Delta. I know Ryanair checks because they got my friend for not doing the Non EU passport check.

[azstar]

I think every airline, including Delta, has a "two hour rule". That means they will rebook you on the next flight without additional charge as long as you arrive at the airport within two hours of your original departure. It is certainly within the DL agents authority to do that, and a supervisor certainly could have/should have done it.

[never]

thanks for letting me know this. this actually explains a little detail in my hubby's case: he argued with the check-in agent, and at first, the agent said she was going to rebook without charge, she checked the availability and found no seat. Then, things started to deteriorate at that time. by the end of the day, they claimed no seat, need to buy a new ticket.

If I had known this 2 hour rule, I might have argued with them. but since they were so authoritative, we had to give up. but then, I realized there was something wrong in the sense that why it was us to be the cut-off point in the check-in line? if no seat and bad luck, we were flexible and ready to accept rebook. but they changed such an offer after finding out all later flights of the same day were overbooked (no seat).

If this 2 hour rule applies to Delta, then, our experience just shows a perfect example of how this airline does not care about its customers by completely ignoring this rule and using the information asymmetry to cheat us, and making us to believe that it was our mistake to be the cut-off passenger.