Whether youre trying to grab a few extra hours of sleep, extend a meeting, or getting home to loved ones earlier, the ability to change a flight is arguably one of the biggest perks that airlines offer to frequent flyers.
Continue reading: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Delta’s Same-Day Confirmed Flight Changes
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
There are a few things missing here.
It's not a published policy, but it *is* an official policy which every (Diamond line) phone agent should know that Diamond Medallions (only) can change co-terminals like JFK/LGA using same day change.
The fare class information is also a bit more nuanced. Yes, if the same price is available, you should be good, but even if it's not, you may still be good. If you bought a cheap ticket, your fare class may no longer be for sale because it might have a 1-week advance purchase requirement or whatever, but the fare class bucket may still be open on the flight. The only way to be sure is to call or to use ExpertFlyer.
Steph, on a more general note, I am genuinely curious as to why you are still loyal to Delta. Sure, their inflight experience (in all classes of service) is slightly better than United or American, but aren't SkyMiles the least valuable mileage currency of any of the big 3? Delta has taken revenue-based to an extreme with their new award pricing system (under which prices keep increasing and awards like ATL-JNB or LAX-SYD rarely go for less than 465,000 one-way in Delta One), yet they seem to get nowhere near as much bad publicity as, say, American does for their devaluations (which pale in comparison). If you are going to give that much loyalty to an airline, why not go for AA or UA and invest in much better and more valuable miles (even if availability on UA operated flights isn't significantly better, UA has many more partners - LH, OS, NH, SQ - to give a few examples, that make up for it)?
This is not a criticism, by the way, I just genuinely want to get the perspective of a Delta loyalist...
Also, if you use a regional/global certificate to upgrade and it clears, that is treated like a paid first class seat for the purposes of a same day change.
@ Matt -- Not to speak for Steph, but I've also shifted my domestic travel to Delta, and the value differential of the loyalty program doesn't bother me one iota.
I get great value out of my SkyMiles (and always have), but there are so many ways to rack up miles in other programs that it isn't even a factor for me anymore, considering the difference in experiences.
@ Tiffany
I'm not disagreeing with you, but isn't that a fascinating thing to write about what are supposed to be "loyalty" programmes?
@ The nice Paul -- I mean, it tracks with how Delta envisions SkyMiles, and how they've treated the program for years. They decided in like, 2013 that they wanted to focus on creating a product that people would be loyal to, rather than having to rely on a "coupon program" (an exact phrasing used by a Delta exec). They don't view SkyMiles as an asset in the same way as other programs do, and treat it accordingly.
No one should be choosing to fly (or not fly) Delta because of SkyMiles.
@The nice Paul -- isn't getting you where you're going on time, in reasonable comfort, with care by friendly employees, a pretty good way to engender loyalty?
"Now, notice I said “call,” and not “log into the app.” Sadly, this is one area where Delta lags behind United – you can only make same-day flight changes by calling in."
Um, I just did this yesterday. I don't recall if it was browser or app, but it most definitely did not involve a call.
And it got me home 8 hours earlier and also made the upgrade more likely (thanks Delta One, yes!)
@Matt - I fly almost exclusively Delta (and their partners Air France/KLM when flying to Europe) so I can give my two cents. Yes, their mileage redemptions - for international flights especially - are atrocious - but the level of service and in-flight experience is usually stellar, at least in my experience. I've flown both AA and United. My standout memories: an AA agent yelled at me because she couldn't pronounce my last name and so I didn't know I'd been called up to the podium, United lost my bags and couldn't even connect me to an agent on their phone line, and both make you pay for your overhead bin space. As someone who doesn't travel enough to make status (I'm usually only a few MQMs away), Delta gives me the most pleasant in-flight experience, and that matters. Plus, their domestic redemption rates aren't too bad - I recently flew PHL-LAX for about 12,000 miles. AA wants more than that to fly me from Philadelphia to Miami, for example.
Steph - thanks for a great post! I've also had success getting Delta to waive the change fee for my parents' vacation, and it wasn't even because of a medical emergency. It's a really long story involving Delta screwing up, but in short, it went like this: "hi, I want you to change my parents' flights and waive all fees." agent: "why?" me: *provides explanation* agent: makes change without argument.
Great post, Stephanie! I'm based in NYC and even though the big 3 (plus Jetblue) have a big presence here I still choose to fly Delta when I can! As far as Skymiles go, I've gotten some really good redemptions from JFK to Florida or Mexico for only 5,000-7500 skymiles each way (sure it was economy but for 2-4 hours I don't mind.) I've come to learn their sales are quite nice!!!
I think United is the best because they allow me to change flights (international/domestic) on the same day - even I can change my flight on the next day within 24 hours. While delta doesn’t!
One of the most important benefits of same day confirmed for first class tickets is that you can get it as long as a seat is available in ANY booking class (as oposed to same booking class for economy tickets). This includes first class to Delta one changes that many times including myself took advantage of in the pasy. There are some nits about nonstops vs connection which I do not remember. The topic is covered extensively on flyertalk, so I am surprised that there are not enough details in this article.
You can't make co-terminal changes under SDC? News to me, I've done that about 20 times this year without any pushback.
Thanks Steph,
A great informative post.
And I agree with others, like Tiffany, who point out the travel experience is so much better with delta for any level of traveler.
@Bgriff - Thanks for the input! (I figured other nuances would come into play in the comments but I try to exercise some level of restraint when I hit 2,000+ words on a single policy for a single airline 😉 ) And I didn't know about the unofficial co-terminal changes on the Diamond line - that's great to know!
@Matt - Great, thoughtful question, and one that will probably a merit a post of its own in due time. I'll try to give the short (ish) answer here. When it comes to domestic travel and domestic loyalty, there are almost two separate questions: how am I accruing miles, and where am I spending my time?
With regards to the former, there are plenty of options out there for collecting miles *including*, but not limited, to flying, and I've certainly shifted my cc spending strategy more than once over the past years (and even months). However, given that at least 70% of my flying these days is paid travel for business, I'm going to prioritize the in-flight experience on the almost weekly flights I take, over the higher-value earning potential for the 1-2 aspirational mileage redemptions that I take per year.
I've been through the revolving door of domestic loyalty over the past decade, and I've found that, of the big three, Delta consistently comes out ahead on the following:
- On-time performance
- Hub cities (I genuinely like connecting through DTW and MSP)
- Customer service, in the air, on the ground, and over the phone
- Overall baggage handling (because yes, I'm still "that guy" checking bags)
- IFE
So I hope that answers the question, at least somewhat. Stay tuned for more...:)
@Mark - Curious if your flight was delayed at all? I know that their app has a solid interface for changing flights (even co-terminal changes, if you know where to look) when there's a flight delay.
In any event, congrats on figuring out a hack and, more importantly, getting home 8 hours earlier!
I'm not sure if I'm misinterpreting this post, but I've been able to make changes to my itinerary to catch an earlier or later flight from 24 hours right up to the departure time on UA for a long time. This certainly doesn't seem like a feature unique to DL. I also did not need to have status with UA to redeem this benefit.
@Emily - Definitely not unique to Delta, but each airline has some nuances that are pretty specific, so United's version of this feature would probably merit a separate post. I'll do another post (at some point) that hits all of the U.S.-based airlines' change policies.
I am Plat on Delta and used SDC with my girlfriend (no status) last month. They charged me the full fee for her even after I HUCA. I've done it three other times over the last year without being charged the fee when traveling with her. So it seems to vary or I just got two unknowledgeable agents.
I’m DL PLAT and fly SFO-LAX about 6x a month. I always book Econ or Econ+ seats and frequently use SDC to change between SFO or OAK depending on schedule, fog, delays, etc. I’ve never been told that I cannot switch airports. Sometimes the seats are available, sometimes not.
I find United's policy the best - you can change within 24 hours - even if it is different calendar day.