Airline Hold Times

[USGrant1962]

>2 hours hold time, AYFKM?

We have a trip at the end of October to Turks and Caicos on Delta. Over the last couple of months they have twice changed our return flight itinerary. So our booked 2:45 layover is now 5 hours, and we ultimately get home at about 2 in the morning after a 5 hour layover in ATL (in masks). We're in the DC area so can use IAD, DCA, or BWI. BWI now has a much better connection, getting us home before midnight. I log on to Delta's website and while I can "change" the flight, I cannot change the airports. So I have to call Delta reservations.

I called this afternoon and gave up after 1.5 hours on hold. Then I tried their chat function in the Delta app. They texted me back after an hour and a half and asked if I still wanted to wait for them to get back to me. I declined.

I just called Delta again - 11:00 pm Eastern, and they told me they had a 2 hour 10 minute wait (which was good since they told me nothing this afternoon). I'm going to try again tomorrow, hoping weekdays are better than weekends.

I was a frequent flyer for a long time and would call the reservations number with flight disruptions, it was always much faster than waiting in line at the the airport customer service desk. Not any more I guess?

Have others seen this and does anyone have a workaround?

 

[RunningBum]

If you booked your flight now, would you get the same or lower airfare as before? If so, cancel the old flight and book the new. I believe you can do this online on your own and you will be able to pay for the new flight from credit on the old but verify for yourself and don't take my word on any of this.

 

[USGrant1962]

If you booked your flight now, would you get the same or lower airfare as before? If so, cancel the old flight and book the new. I believe you can do this online on your own and you will be able to pay for the new flight from credit on the old but verify for yourself and don't take my word on any of this.

Yea, I thought of that. But the current flight was already on an eCredit from a flight that was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid, and it is listed as no refund. So cancel and rebook might be messy or might not work. All of which could easily be clarified if Delta would answer the freakin phone.

 

[ivinsfan]

Nothing I'm seeing makes me want to go jump on an airplane anytime soon

 

[njhowie]

One workaround is to go to a Delta ticket counter at any airport. If you have a smaller regional airport which Delta serves near you that would likely be the easiest and quickest as opposed to trekking to one of the major airports and dealing with the crowds.

It will take a little time out of your day, however, it will get resolved for certain and without having to sit on hold or be waiting around for a return phone call.

The major airlines all used to have ticket offices in major cities. However, over time, they've been shut down for the most part.

 

[braumeister]

I have great luck using the Delta app on my phone, so maybe try that?

They are also good about responding to Twitter.

 

[Bamaman]

I remember when Delta had city sales desks in storefronts.

But that was when Delta was a big, happy family of employees. We're now dealing with a completely different group of people and a different company.

And to think that Delta is one of the better airlines in the U.S. To be put on eternal hold is not good business.

We're flying on Delta Wednesday connecting through Atlanta. In the Southeast, it's said if you die and go to Heaven, you have to go through Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

 

[FIYes]

This summer I was booking a flight. I wanted to use Delta. Found the flight I wanted. However, each time when I tried to complete the booking I was told the flight was unavailable. (this was all online…no human contact). I tried calling. Wait times were very long and I opted for a call back. I finally got called back 11 hours later at 12:30 in the morning! By that time I had given up and booked with another airline.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

If you have free or cheap international phone rates, I recommend you try calling their number in another country.

When we lived in Germany, we plugged the Ooma in so we had a US phone number, in addition to our European cell phones. Had an issue with one of the US carriers that required a phone call. The US # put me on hold for a long time, so simultaneously I called one of their European numbers and talked to a live person immediately.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I had a similar issue with AA and it's annoying for sure. I have former flyer buddies that fly for AA and Delta and overwhelmingly, the Delta folks are much happier than the AA folks. Guess that doesn't apply in the CSR world, though.

 

[USGrant1962]

I finally got it sorted. Since yesterday they added a wait time estimate and callback option to their phone tree - it definitely wasn't there yesterday afternoon. This morning I called and they estimated 30 mins wait and offered a callback, so I did that. An hour and 40 mins later they finally called back.

All good in the end, they didn't even upcharge me (online the new flight was $100 more) because Delta had pushed my original flight back so far.