We’ve been getting questions from customers about discrepancies in flight search results on delta.com and I’d like to take some space here to explain.
First – and most importantly – please know that delta.com did not sell the same flight itinerary to different people for different prices. That very idea goes against the grain of how Delta treats its customers. And based on the way we file our fares it’s actually not technically possible. In fact, Delta’s fares are consistent in all channels.
To step back for a moment, hopefully you’ve noticed that we’re making some improvements to the delta.com experience. Some of those changes – like tweaks to the home page design and layout of the full fare display – are readily apparent. However this is a long process and some of the changes we’re working on are less obvious. But of course, all of the changes we’re making are aimed at improving the search and shopping experience.
In late April we began testing a new search functionality as part of these enhancements. We phased the installation, to first offer the new search function to customers who weren’t logged in because we wanted to be particularly careful not to disrupt the booking experience for our best customers. As a result, over a period of about 19 days, logged-in customers were seeing different flight search results than customers who chose not to log in.
For example, if during this test period Sandi and Heather searched for the same flight at the same time (and Sandi was logged in), the results returned for Sandi might have been different for what appeared to be the exact same itinerary. But once Heather and Sandi went on to the next screen to select their return flight, they’d see that their return flight times were different – and Sandi’s more preferred 9 a.m. return was more expensive than Heather’s 11 p.m. return. By the same token, flight search results for Sandi could have returned a lower fare option.
We realize this is not an ideal experience and that tweaks need to be made to the new search. So for now, every customer on delta.com is getting the same search engine, and we’re making changes to the new search functionality to offer more search results and to provide customers with the right balance between quality and price in those results.
We’ll plug in a new, improved search function sometime later this year – and we’ll plug it in for everyone at the same time.
Tech talk aside, the bottom line is that you can continue to book on delta.com with confidence that you’ll will get the best combination of fare and travel experience.
If you’re someone who logged onto delta.com and bought a ticket between April 20 and May 9 and you have a question about the fare you paid, please feel free to contact us. Our reservations and customer care teams are up to speed on this and will be happy to talk through it with you.
Thanks a lot,
Bob
Bob Kupbens
Vice President, eCommerce
May 19th, 2012 at 1:19 am
Bob – why the same issue for redeeming SkyMiles? And why didn’t you just use the great website that NWA had?
May 21st, 2012 at 9:01 am
[...] Delta’s vice president of ecommerce, Bob Kupbens, blogged about the incident. First of all, he wrote, “Delta.com did not sell the same flight itinerary to different people [...]
May 21st, 2012 at 4:59 pm
During that period, I tried searching for a coach ticket from Madison to Hanoi. The only results returned were for full priced business class (>$10,000). When I would call the Diamond Line, I would be told that there were plenty of coach class seats available for the routing but that the search engine was failing to find them for some reason. It took six calls to the Diamond Line (and their calls to [I think] inventory and pricing) before anybody was able to come up with the ability to sell me a ticket. I was trying to book an M-class fare that I could upgrade using SystemWide upgrades. They never were able to come up with an M-class fare but did deliver a B-class fare for about $1400 more than what I paid a few months ago for M-class on the exact same route. This was for a trip for August/September.
Was this kind of glitch also caused by the trial that you mentioned? If so, did I over pay because of your trial?
Thanks.
May 23rd, 2012 at 10:18 am
Thank you for this post. Please don’t try to decide my itinerary for me by limiting the flights that I can see when I’m going through the booking process on Delta.com. Don’t take that flexibility from me. This has caused me countless hours of frustration — when I’m trying to book the same itinerary as a colleague but am unable to reproduce the same itinerary (and yes, that includes using the “search by schedule” option). The new system has only made this more complicated and more challenging.
I also don’t understand why this so-called enhancement wouldn’t enable me to see all the available flight combinations on the route I’m searching for, along with an associated price by segment? I can do this on US Airways, and even though I prefer Delta, the struggles I’ve had with booking on Delta.com over the past month have made me start flying them again — simply because I couldn’t find flights on Delta that I know existed.
And lastly, when I’m searching by “schedule” rather than “best price,” why can’t I see the price for the flight segments that appear in the search results? Why do I have to wait until I’ve built the entire itinerary to see it? Other airlines have successfully tackled this challenge in the past — why hasn’t Delta? I’m certain I’m not your only business customers who occasionally must balance both schedule AND price, not just one or the other.
May 25th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
[...] two businessmen who found a $300 discrepancy when booking the same flight at the same time. In a statement on their website, Delta made it clear that customers were not sold the same flight itinerary at [...]
June 7th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
Well this finally is an explanation. I have asked numerous people what changed with Delta site because what once was a well organized, well navigated, simple but functional site has become screwy, even as recent as yesterday. I’m putting in SAV-AUS flight with flexible days and the “grid” says $593 for a certain day. Clicking on that leads me to a listing of the SAV-AUS flights except the ONLY flight at $593 is an SAV-ATL routing…no connection. How about requesting a CHS-AUS routing with “pricing” as preference. My lowest flight was out of CHS in the afternoon for 360.00. morning flights if available were in the $800 range. The itinerary I normally fly 630A (CHS) thru ATL arriving at 1008A in AUS was not even listed. So I went and confirmed that the individual segments did exist and were avaialble (which they were). So I went back to find SAV-AUS but used “schedule” as the preference. Low and behold, there was my usual routing….for $360.60. With everyone that I travel and work with, the secret we have found is if you want to see the most flights and see the cheapest fares, use “schedule” as a preference. “Price” is totally irrelevant (even for one-ways).
My favorite of the last month is a whole day of +$900 economy fares, yet $560 first class fares on the same flight. I’ve never seen that before. Why not keep the economy fare at $560 and the first class at +$900. Or is this a new marketing ploy. Guess I was just concerned since I had paid a $700 fare two weeks earlier for the same flights and hoped to get an upgrade. Hmmmmmmmm, guess I don’t understand how yield management works.
June 18th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
BEST PRICE SEARCH IS STILL NOT A BEST PRICE SEARCH!!! I just tried to book tickets using Delta’s best price search from CVG to CHS on 7/8/12 with a return on 7/13/12. I did not like any of the itineraries so I decided to do a schedule search. The most convenient flight for my schedule was priced $179 LESS THAN THE BEST PRICE SEARCH. SO THIS IS STILL A PROBLEM. Do not advertise the search as a best price search when it is NOT a best price search. This is false advertising! Now I guess I have to try every combination to compare price fares. I wonder how many times we have chosen a more expensive fare by using the best price search tool. This is wrong.
July 9th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
I’ve tried to book travel online for the last several days and have been unable to complete the online reservation. The system fails at the end of the booking process and indicates to call a phone number. Upon calling the contact, I’ve been given conflcting fares, none which match those I found and tried to complete online. Delta representatives have even stated to me that Delta doesn’t have different fares online and via phone reservations. Duhhh, do they think we’re idiots. Someone needs to find out whats going on. It’s either corporate policy to manipulate, fraud, or inept programming on someones part. OK DELTA, get your *&)% together. I’m one unhappy customer.
July 27th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
As I tried to secure flights for my family on two separate transactions because one family member required a different itinerary than the other three, I found that the price went up almost 3x. In addition, I utilized the Delta SkyMiles AMEX application to try to save $50 only to be given the runaround at utilizing the new AMEX instantly approved account. Now, I’m stuck with a much higher fee, at least 2 hours of phone calls to customer support groups for both Delta and AMEX and still haven’t yet booked our separate family members flight due these issues. After sending an email to customer support at Delta, I was given numbers to call for both Delta and AMEX and tried one more time, only to be told that they can’t help me. Why offer the AMEX online option with a $50 discount if you can’t actually use it? And then to have the airfare go up almost immediately after I book the first three members of our family is ridiculous. Horrible customer service by both Delta and AMEX. Don’t use this airlines! They are not customer focused!
August 28th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
I purchased a round-trip ticket a few weeks ago with my Delta Sky Miles and received an email a few days indicating the travel times for my itinerary had changed. Due to this, I asked Delta Customer Service Representatives on the phone to cancel my reservation (GAF7TL), but have been told they want $150 to do so and re-deposit the miles into my account.
I have been a life-long loyal customer to Delta…but when I purchase a specific round-trip flight and the airline changes the itinerary and flight times, I feel as though I should be able to cancel and receive a sky-miles refund without a hassle or without Delta profiting from their schedule change.
After speaking with your Sky-miles customer service department today, I filed complaints with the BBB & Internet Crime Complaint Center. I hope someone at Delta is able to look past the fine print and do the right thing for their customer. Today marks the new ‘worst customer service experience’ I’ve ever had…thanks Delta!
May 1st, 2013 at 12:08 pm
[...] returned some very different results. Again, the discrepancy became a very big story, prompting an explanation from a Delta vice president who opined that now everyone’s on the same search engine and ultimately all will get the [...]
May 7th, 2013 at 7:42 am
[...] Another example was Delta Air Lines who carried out tests with two different pricing engines. They performed experiments for both frequent flyers who were logged-in and less-frequent fliers who were not logged-in. The two engines returned some very different results. The discrepancy became a large story requiring Delta’s VP to provide an explanation. [...]