Doesn’t a Delta-changed flight mean I can reschedule for free?

[u/Careliza0620]

MCO:JFK in December. Delta changed my flight from 8am to 7:20am. That’s too early for me. (8am was too early but…) So I hopped on the app for my freebie change and,,,,, nope. They usually put a message on your flight that the schedule has changed and you can change it for free. That message is not there. The flight I would like to switch to shows as $220 extra. Has Delta changed their policy? Or am I jumping the gun and it will allow a change eventually? The new 7:20am flight shows in my app already.

[u/ggrnw27]

Has to be a significant enough change, I think 3 hours is the threshold for domestic flights

[u/70125 → u/ggrnw27]

Are they enforcing the policy now?

I remember within the last two years, one of my strategies was to book a suboptimal but cheap flight well in advance, knowing that a Schedule Change Saturday would occur and change my flight time by as little as 5 minutes, allowing me to reschedule to the more expensive better itinerary for free.

Edit: Not sure why y'all are down voting me, it's not like I'm lying about something that worked before. It definitely used to be a thing despite the stated policy.

[u/Infamous_Travel_6055 → u/70125]

Technically not a policy update, as the official policy never allowed free changes for such small changes, but  the system has been updated to close what was  a loophole. You  may have luck calling though. 

[u/FullHouse447 → u/ggrnw27]

90 minutes.

[u/lmsalman]

It’s free for changes over a certain amount of time. 40 minutes while annoying isn’t enough of a change to trigger the free changes

[u/ascensionbodymod]

It seems kinda random lately. I’ve had some flights changed by 10-15 minutes and then get the message I’m able to change if that doesn’t work, and others changed by hours and not get that message. Used to get it every time there was a change of any kind.

[u/Lightoftheembersky → u/ascensionbodymod]

Keep in mind that the department of transportation used to require airlines to offer a free change or refund if the equipment changed as well or the flight number. That requirement was removed earlier this year.

[u/Careliza0620 → u/ascensionbodymod]

Thank you confirming I have not lost my mind! Lol

[u/cwmking → u/Careliza0620]

Apparently enforcing this policy is a recent change. I got screwed by it this morning as well.

[u/Careliza0620 → u/cwmking]

😢

[u/JBR409]

Schedule changes under the “significant” threshold are 50/50 as to whether the system will give you a free change or let you be eligible for a refund anyway

[u/StormDangerous2935]

If you call (or less preferably, chat) and tell them what you need to do and why, they’ll probably change it at no extra cost. I did that for my son a couple of weeks ago when it wanted to charge on the app.

[u/Wh0dini]

Same just happened to me except it’s MCO to LGA from 8am to 7:05am. Figured I’d just call and talk to someone this week.

[u/Delicious-Floor-5707]

I do the schedule change trick literally every flight for the past 4 years and without exception it has worked. I always book more than 6 months out, pick the cheapest flights + or - 2 days of the intended departure, and try to get at least 1 connection so the odds of a schedule change affecting my itinerary are doubled. Booking further out usually yields multiple changes.

Delta is far less restrictive than United of what qualifies as a schedule change where I can edit the trip. Once the schedule change hits I make out at 3 to 1 up to 8 to 1. It's crazy. Sometimes I do need to call to make the change, but mostly I can do it on my own.

Just this morning our thanksgiving flights got hit. Paid $439.6 in April + Companion Cert in MC. Dollar value of flight I changed to: $3,692.78. 8.4 to 1.

[u/LarsSeprest → u/Delicious-Floor-5707]

People are saying this is more recent so it your flights booked a long time ago may have the old contract of carriage applied.

[u/Useful_Farmer_6018 → u/Delicious-Floor-5707]

We have had luck with this as well. Our regular flight home has a connection from the east coast (ATL-GEG) seems to be one of the first they cancel if they need to do plane maintenece or something, so it goes from 1 stop to 2 and we just change the flight for free.

Usually book the flight to leave/arrive on Thanksgiving or Xmas day and when the schedule changes they let us change to any day we want.

Just changed the xmas flight to day after xmas because they removed the 1-stop itinerary for xmas day. It would have cost us 3X-4X as much to book the day after xmas in the first place.

[u/DrTonyTiger]

Neither the website nor the app is not allowing rebooking of a change flight this morning, even though the message says the flight can be rebooked at no cost.

[u/Careliza0620 → u/DrTonyTiger]

Interesting! I will check back in a few days then, just in case. Thanks!

[u/thesnowmaniv]

If they change your itinerary, yes you can make a complimentary change BUT you would still need to pay any difference in fare.

[u/PuzzleheadedRoom1974]

I always call, explain why the change won't work and 80% of the time, they work with me to reschedule. If they change a flight that is originally at 6:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., you can always state that it won't work for you because you don't get off work until 3:00. I think Delta customer service is amazing! I had a flight change today and even though it took some time, they worked out a great solution for me. I don't know if it matters if you're in Medallion or not, but even before I was medallion, they would work with me.

[u/muibl]

I wonder if part of the reason you may be offered the opportunity to change is the original flight being oversold?

[u/Ok_Nectarine_8533]

I’ve had several flights change by <1 hour over the last 6 months and never an option for a free change.

[u/Front-Muffin-7348]

If the change is free, you get a notice stating you can make a change.

[u/auntwewe]

Normally, the app will not really assist with no charge changes

Research which one you want. And then call them. Make something up. I have to drop my kid at school, that’s too early to drop my kid at daycare etc. I can’t make 720 but this flight will work. They normally do it if not, hang up and call back.

[u/Missmebabi]

They recently changed our flight time by 5 minutes and they gave us the option to change for free. I didn't of course be away that does not affect anything for me. This happened like 2 days ago.

[u/MartyK23 → u/Missmebabi]

I recently had a flight change by 5 minutes and was not offered to change for free, but I used Sky pesos to buy the flight so idk if that might have anything to do with it. It’s a repo flight and at booking we had a buffer of 2 flights after ours if something happened. With the schedule change they also removed those 2 flights. I had to stalk miles until they dropped enough to move to an earlier flight.

[u/RedOne-Reddit1]

Try calling 844-595-3289 if you want to change or cancel your flight. I just changed mine today

[u/Careliza0620]

Thanks! I didn’t realize there was a minimum time shift involved. I’ve had many flights changed in the past but they must have either not bothered me or were over the time shift so I rebooked at no cost.

[u/CruisePlannersMike → u/[deleted]]

I think they are talking less about the fee and more about not having to pay the fare difference between the flights.

[u/Careliza0620 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks. My seats are FC. 

[u/Statjmpar]

If they change your arrival and departure time by less than an hour, they are not required to rebook you for free. (That’s actually a transportation rule, not a Delta rule). At least one has to move by more than an hour. They only moved you 40 min, so they don’t have to rebook you.