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Three boarding passes, for the THREE tickets they had purchased.
One for mom, holding the one-year old. One for dad, who had planned originally to hold the two-year-old. One for the teen-aged son. They decided to send the teen-aged son back earlier, and use the originally booked seat for the teen-aged son for the two-year-old son. They discussed this with Delta ahead of time. When they got to the airport, the agent told them that ideally they should cancel the teen-aged son's ticket and get it re-issued in the two-year-old's name, but then the agent said it would be okay as is, and the agent gave them three boarding passes. They got on the plane, where the flight crew discovered the discrepancy in names. There were passengers on standby to take any extra seats, and the flight crew decided the two-year-old's seat should be made available. The flight crew then lied to the family about FAA rules, and tried to coerce them. The man argued with them. The flight crew decided to eject the family. The family was not offered any compensation for the seat by the flight crew, nor were they given any assistance after being de-boarded after midnight.
Massively mishandled by the airline.
Something about this just doesn't make sense - especially why the airline thought that seat was vacant and reissued another ticket. Playing out what was said here, isn't this how it would have gone down? Father goes to check-in for flight, tells agent that the toddler will be flying in older sons seat, despite it being not policy, agent issues a boarding pass in older sons name. Family goes through security, I'm assuming telling TSA that the toddler is sitting in his lap, so he doesnt show the older sons boarding pass to that agent as the ID would not have matched. Time to board the plane. Since ID isn't required upon boarding a domestic flight, why wouldn't he have given the older sons boarding pass for the agent to scan as the ticket for the toddler? If that were the case, then the airline wouldn't have thought that seat was a no show and issued a ticket to another person. If the father isn't bs'ing here, the mistake would have been that he didnt scan that boarding pass. And why put the son on an earlier flight? I smell bs. However, this was VERY poorly managed from a customer service perspective by that flight attendant.
Putting kids in car seats on planes always cracked me up. The chances are so slim that something were to happen.
People have to lug their car seats with them on planes because of car seat laws in the state you are going to visit. It's not because you're worried the plane is going to crash...lol
If you are going to visit grandma in another state and grandma doesn't have a car seat because you don't see her very often, then you have to bring your own car seat with you. It's a total pain.
Some people are very cheap and choose not to buy a ticket for their infants/toddlers. In that case they are "lap riders" and must sit on the parents lap for the whole flight. If I go to the expense of purchasing a ticket for my child to have their own seat -- I should get that seat.
Flying is awful these days and I avoid it whenever I can.
Because that's part of why non-refundable tickets are cheap. They know a certain number of people will not show up for their flights and they can sell the seats again at a much higher price to a standby passenger. That's exactly what happened here. The 18-year-old didn't show up for the flight so they sold the seat to a standby.
But the family did show up the industry however saw an opportunity to double dip and seized the family's ticket to get an extra fare
But the family did show up the industry however saw an opportunity to double dip and seized the family's ticket to get an extra fare
The ticketed passenger- the 18 year old- was a no show. It wasn't a seizure of his ticket, it was a voluntary surrender of it under the Contract of Carriage of the airline. If they notify the airline in advance, they can get most of the back in most conditions as a credit toward future flights minus a change fee.
And there's no evidence that it was double dipping by the airline. Delta has said the flight in question was not oversold. They were clearing the standby list, and there are many reasons why standby lists are a good idea. What if the person who was trying to standby was trying to change their ticket because of a family emergency back home, and the people who arrogantly thought they could just reuse a voided ticket for their lap infant were keeping that person from seeing a loved one for the last time?
But the family did show up the industry however saw an opportunity to double dip and seized the family's ticket to get an extra fare
No, the passenger didn't show up. The family did, not the ticketed passenger. That is the key to this issue. It is truly a ridiculous regulation in this instance, but it is the regulation.
Something needs to be done to change flying. The airlines keep pushing more and more onto passengers who don't have a lot of choices and you are stuck dealing with it.
Airlines are incredibly rigid and don't bend the rules. My father was dying last year and I was traveling. I wanted to change the destination of my ticket from home to visit my father. The regulations allowed me to do it for a small fee, of almost $700. It was cheaper to buy a one way ticket.
They used to be all about customer service and realized they can nickel and dime us and we have to put up with it. More and more people fly now whether it is for work, family visits or vacations. Airlines take advantage any way they can. The 'feel good' stories are so few from airlines it's insane.
Something about this just doesn't make sense - especially why the airline thought that seat was vacant and reissued another ticket. Playing out what was said here, isn't this how it would have gone down? Father goes to check-in for flight, tells agent that the toddler will be flying in older sons seat, despite it being not policy, agent issues a boarding pass in older sons name. Family goes through security, I'm assuming telling TSA that the toddler is sitting in his lap, so he doesnt show the older sons boarding pass to that agent as the ID would not have matched. Time to board the plane. Since ID isn't required upon boarding a domestic flight, why wouldn't he have given the older sons boarding pass for the agent to scan as the ticket for the toddler? If that were the case, then the airline wouldn't have thought that seat was a no show and issued a ticket to another person. If the father isn't bs'ing here, the mistake would have been that he didnt scan that boarding pass. And why put the son on an earlier flight? I smell bs. However, this was VERY poorly managed from a customer service perspective by that flight attendant.
That is a good point. If, as the father says, he was told it was no big problem and that he could just use the 18 year old's ticket, then why did they not issue him a boarding pass? Problem solved. His statement has always been questionable to me - for many reasons.
To that I'll add that not once during the eight minute video does either parent mention having a conversation with any Delta employees about swapping the ticket and receiving approval from Delta to do so. Not once. This happened two weeks ago and other then retelling the story with the added claim that "Delta said it was ok" there has been no proof offered.
What worked out in this family's favor was the idiotic Delta employee who did a lousy job explaining the specifics of why that seat was being revoked and instead trying bullsh*tting the family into some non-existent regulation about kids in car seats. In the end it was the words of that employee that forced Delta into damage control mode.
As far as I'm concerned the family came out ahead. I doubt this will escalate any further as a result.
That is a good point. If, as the father says, he was told it was no big problem and that he could just use the 18 year old's ticket, then why did they not issue him a boarding pass? Problem solved. His statement has always been questionable to me - for many reasons.
Father had three boarding passes. One in the name of the older son. And Delta had agreed both by phone and at check in that he could use it. Delta just screwed up.
Father had three boarding passes. One in the name of the older son. And Delta had agreed both by phone and at check in that he could use it. Delta just screwed up.
I smell a lawsuit then. I say that these settlements are eventually going to raise prices more so than ending over booking policies would.
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