DELTA.COM/CHANGE

Archive for January, 2011

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How To: Rebook Your Travel Plans

Published January 7th, 2011 in Airport, Customer Care, delta.com, Operations, Planning & Booking | 29 Comments →

We know many of you are being affected by severe weather and hear your concerns. We’re doing our best to get you where you need to be, and recognize the questions many of you have been asking on our social media channels. To help address some of these common concerns and reach all of you at once, I’ve summarized your frequently asked questions here on the blog:

Q: What’s the best way to rebook a cancelled or delayed flight?

A: The fastest and easiest way to rebook is on delta.com. You can do that here: http://bit.ly/DL_Rebook.

If you’re traveling to, from or through Atlanta we’re enabling you to make changes to your itinerary due to severe weather for travel happening between Jan. 9 through Jan 11. Remember that tickets need to be reissued on or before and travel must occur no later then January 13.

If you purchased your ticket from a travel agency or online travel site, you may need to contact that agency or site for assistance. Alternatively, if you are a Delta SkyMiles member make sure your contact information is up-to-date so we can reach you with updated travel information if needed.

Q: I tried delta.com but couldn’t access the site. What now?

A: As a result of the high volume delta.com was running slower than usual at times, especially if you were trying to rebook. The issue has being addressed and the website has stabilized, but if you’re still having trouble you can call our reservations assistance line or reach out to us in Twitter.

Q: What’s the best phone number to call?

A: Our reservations assistance line is 1-800-221-1212.

Q: What if I can’t reach a customer service agent immediately by phone?

A: Because of the severe disruption the weather has caused, we’re experiencing an extremely high volume. While our call centers are fully staffed, you may still encounter a wait as we work to rebook customers and particularly those with travel plans occurring within the next 24 hours.

If you can’t get through to an agent right away please try back shortly. Because of the volume of calls it make take a few tries to get placed in line.

Q: If I want to get help through Twitter, what should I do?

A: Follow, tweet and direct message us at @DeltaAssist and an agent will follow up with you shortly. Please know that as with our other outlets, @DeltaAssist is also experiencing high volumes, so you may receive a response from a Delta Assist agent using @Delta.

Q: What else can I do to prepare for a possible delay or cancellation?

A: Check your flight status and weather advisories frequently (http://bit.ly/DL_advisory) and sign up for Delta Messenger to receive real-time alerts (http://bit.ly/DL_Messenger).

I hope this helps answer your questions about the rebooking process. Thanks for your continued patience and we look forward to helping in any way we can.

Jerry F.

Manager, Reservation Systems & Social Media

Got Time? Get Rewarded.

Published January 6th, 2011 in delta.com, Planning & Booking | 21 Comments →

Many of our experienced travelers have heard this announcement at the gate before: “Ladies and gentlemen, today’s flight is going to be very full. If you have flexible travel plans and would be willing to take another flight, please come see us at the desk.”

We know that soliciting volunteers to rebook to a later flight adds time for us at the gate and can lead to departing after the scheduled flight time, which we always try to avoid.

In November, we moved this announcement earlier in your travel process for U.S. domestic flights by allowing you to volunteer to take a later flight as soon as you check in (assuming you have flexible travel plans). This allows us to eliminate the “auction” process at the gate, lets you tell us how much value you place on changing your travel plans and gives our agents more time to rebook you and get the flight out on time.

Once you tell us you’re interested we’ll ask how much you’d like to receive in travel vouchers in exchange for your flexibility. The system allows you to enter any whole dollar based on typical values offered to customers during the volunteer process.

Your offer is forwarded electronically to the agents already at the departure gate for review, which allows our agents an early start on rebooking you on the next available flight while you’re en route to the gate area. This new technology is a great time saver for our flexible customers because it allows us to have your revised travel options ready to discuss with you when you arrive at the gate in the event we decide volunteer seats are needed.

Of course, if your travel plans are not flexible, there’s no need to volunteer. By soliciting volunteers early, our goal is to avoid inconveniencing anyone. If, however, an involuntary denied boarding occurs, our standard policies apply which provide up to $400 if you’re scheduled to arrive 1-2 hours later than your original arrival (1-4 hours later internationally) and up to $800 if you are scheduled to arrive more than 2 hours later than your original arrival (more than 4 hours later for international) should you be forced to take a later flight.

Over the last few years, we have made substantial improvements in reducing the number of customers asked to give up their seats involuntarily, in large part thanks to our customers who are flexible. For the first nine months of 2010, only about 0.04 percent of mainline Delta customers were asked to give up their seats involuntarily – the best rate among major U.S. airlines according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Across our system we’re continuing to innovate and find ways to put you in control of your travel options as early in the process as possible. From online and mobile check-in to accepting bag fees online and notifying you immediately of a potentially oversold flight, we want our technology to tell you as much about your travel as possible from your first click.

If you have seen or used these new options in your travels with us, we’d like to hear from you. How did it work? Did you like the new options?

Cheryl B.

Product Specialist

delta.com and Self Service

Red Coats Know It Best: Hear It From One of Our Own

Published January 6th, 2011 in Airport, Customer Care | 4 Comments →

We all know them. We see them in the airport donning that famous red blazer. They are Delta Red Coats and it’s their pleasure to serve you.

With the busy holiday travel season behind us, we wanted to build on the travel tips we’ve shared via social media the past few months and give you some insight on what you can expect from Delta in 2011. To that end, I sat down with one of our very own Red Coats for some insight into their world.

Delta: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Michelle. Shall we start off by sharing a little background on our Red Coat program?

Michelle: Sure! The program was revitalized in 2007 at our New York-JFK hub. Today there are about 800 of us in many large airports across the U.S.

Delta: What does a typical day look like for you?

Michelle: Every day I assist customers from all walks of life and from all over the world. I work at Delta’s Detroit hub, where we see customers from all over the U.S. and Canada as well as Asia, Europe and South America. I walk around the airport and see customers arriving from Brazil, returning to Paris or on their way to Japan.

Delta: Yes, our Red Coats are certainly famous for your ability to provide one-on-one help from anywhere in the airport. So how exactly do you assist customers without being behind a counter?

Michelle:  We’ve got new technology and the know-how to get what you need. We use hand-held devices to resolve problems on the spot and issue printed boarding passes, meal vouchers, Sky Club passes, travel passes and other coupons.

Delta: That’s great. And lastly, can you share any advice with our customers traveling in 2011?

Michelle: Of course. While we’re here in the airports to serve you, there are some tools customers can use to help themselves if they wish. We have kiosks that can help with flights and information as well as scan-and-go stations where a simple scan of your boarding pass can give you a new one in most situations if you need to be rebooked.

Liz G.

Delta Social Media

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