[aylasowner]

In May I booked 4 tickets from ME to GA. Atlanta closed their airport for several hours due to severe weather causing us to miss the last flight of the night from Atl to Columbus, GA. I understand they don't control the weather, but we had to rent a car one way for an outrageous price of $219 for one day and drove to Col. I contacted Delta about the missed flight and they refunded me $14.32 for each ticket. Can anyone say they have ever even boarded a plane for that price! I asked them to please explain how they got that price for an used ticket and it was the biggest bunch of gibberish and non answers ever. Unfortunately flying out of ME doesn't leave many choice unless I want to drive 2 1/2 hours to a bigger airport. We're flying again in July and hope we have better luck.

[richjoe]

Just remmeber that weather delays are an act of god. The airlines are in the same situation that a traveler is. If the airlines paid out on every act of god; then they would not be in business. Plan an alternative in the future in the event a weather delay occurs.

[jimworcs]

If the airlines paid out on every act of god; then they would not be in business.

Really? Do you have any evidence of this? If European Airlines cancel a flight due to weather, they have to refund the money. They are all in business and in the last 10 years, European airlines in the aggregate have been considerably more profitable than US based airlines.

[AKA]

G O D S acts does not apply to European airlines!

[justme]

OP... the way they got the refund price was to price a ticket from ME to ATL and refunded you the difference between that and what you paid for your ticket from ME to CSG. Apparently the fare difference was only 14 bucks. Being that it was weather related, I'd say take what you can get, it's not usually done that way. Thanks for flying Delta, and remember, in July, it's summer, and ATL gets a lot of afternoon thunderstorms. My suggestion would be to fly earlier in the morning to avoid them.

[aylasowner]

Thanks for the info justme, at least you somewhat explained the procedure. I still don't see how on a $564 ticket it cost $14 to fly one leg. But as you say I know the airlines don't control the weather, but sometimes flight times are not optional especially when flying into or out of smaller airports with limited flights.

[jimworcs]

You can bet that Delta will have made that calculation to their best advantage. Surely, fairness dictates that they should take the cost of a direct flight to ATL which is what you got, compared to the cost of a flight to Colombus, GA on the same day that you bought your ticket. You should then be refunded that difference.

Delta doesn't control the weather, but they do control their schedule. Perhaps they should consider advising customers on their website that ATL is subject to summer t-storms and recommend they book an earlier flight... at least then, forewarned is forearmed.

[justme]

ayla and jim... just to make sure I am helping you understand how it works, and not confusing you further, I want to explain it again using a generic example.

Customer ayla buys a ticket from BGE to CSG via ATL for $564 for travel on 18JUN. The customer makes it to ATL, then unable to make it to CSG due to weather. Delta calculates the price for a ticket from BGE to ATL on 18JUN (using the same exact software and algorithms the the first ticket price was issued with) and finds that it costs $550. Therefor the difference in fare is $14. That is what they refunded, although they didn't have to. Ayla, as for WHY the fare difference was on $14, you guess is as good as mine. The way they determine ticket prices is very intricate and complicated, and I do not know all the ins and outs of it. And Jim, I think posting an advisory on our website about afternoon thunderstorms is a pretty good idea. I'm sending an email now with your suggestion.

[aylasowner]

Justme, thanks again for the insight to the creative accounting the airlines do. I do appreciate your insight, just seems like crazy math, doesn't it? We are flying Delta again this summer, this time I've booked the 5:40AM flight so if we have any problems, maybe we can make our connections. For our return flight I chose the one longer layover and passed up the cheaper flight with 2 shorter layovers, figuring if I missed one of those flights I'd be in the same situation. Still, it's hard when you have to travel from an airport with limited flights and the airlines overbooking every flight. Someday, I'll join the beautiful people and have my own plane & pilot so I can fly wherever, whenever I want

[jimworcs]

I am impressed Justme that you are forwarding one of my suggestions for incorporating onto the website, especially given it is about time we have agreed about anything!!

We are flying Delta again this summer

ayla... that is what I call a glutton for punishment!!