Welcome to a weekly feature on the Renés Points blog. Each week this series covers in a “rookie” way either a Delta or travel related theme and attempts to break down to a basic level each topic. You can read up on all the previous posts HERE. Now on to this week’s feature.
Those of us who fly Delta all the time know how to get help from Delta. We call the medallion line and a rep answers politely after 1 or 2 rings, greets us by name and says they have our account up and how can they help us. All we say is I am calling about my May trip from SBN to where ever and they say “sure I have that reservation up how may I help you” (it is very nice to be GM+ elite with Delta)!
But what if you are NOT a medallion, what do you do and what are some things to think about? Let me break it down for you and help take some of the stress out of the travel for you.
First, you can never have too much information when you travel. The phone app check-in is nice for road warriors, but I recommend against it for the casual traveler. I suggest at the 24 hr mark before travel you check-in on Delta.com and print your boarding pass to a PDF. You can load free software called PDF creator that will make a “virtual” printer to get this done. Now, you can print your boarding pass as many times as you want and also e-mail it to your phone so you have a digital copy of it there also.
Now that you have info at hand, how do you get help? I talked in this post HERE about how to sign up for Twitter and use @DeltaAssist. You need to do this. These folks are great and with info in hand they can help a ton. To use them the best, you should look at what flight options you want and then send them to them. If that cannot work, they will give you other ideas.
Next, phone numbers. Make sure you have Delta’s 800-323-2323 saved in your cell. This is simple but important. If you are any level of Medallion you can check your Skymiles card for another contact number or check the Delta APP and see the number there as well.
When to call? This is another thing most flyers never think about. Let’s say you are sitting on a jet and you have a delay and you have a tight connection. Why not pick up the phone and tweet or call Delta right away and try for a switch. Delta may have already made some changes to your reservation when they see a problem, but the change may not be what you want it to be. So, be proactive to get what you want.
What else? You have seen the little help stations and scanners in airports. Walk up to one and scan your current boarding pass and you may save a ton of time in a line waiting to talk to a rep. Again Delta may have already changed your connections and the unit will spit out a new set of flights and boarding passes. Sometimes, if you have to stay overnight, you may get a hotel voucher and food vouchers as well. All at a self service machine!
Next, there are help stations around airports, but the lines can be long some days. Why not go find a Skyclub, even if you do not have a pass, and walk in and say that you are not a member but the lines are forever long and you just need some help getting home and can they please help out a loyal Delta flyer. They may say no but often times they will help you out (you may even get a free visit to the club if you end up with a long layover).
Some final thoughts and ideas. Say your flight cancels and 50-100 are waiting in line at your gate, try to find another gate where the a rep could maybe help you (as long as they are not in the middle of getting another flight out). In some smaller airports it may be smart to acutely exit security and go to the front desk when everyone else is at the one or two open gates for help. If you just do not like the service you are getting, you may go to the final step to ask for a manager or a station manager to get help. Lastly, never ask your FA for help as this is not their job nor can they help you.
I hope you can see there are many ways to get help when you need it and being proactive can help you get where you want to go and reduce the stress when traveling. – Rene
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I disagree with many points in this article. Why print on a pdf?? If you want to email it you can do that when checking in. The app is just fine even for new users, and provides a lot of great features. For example if your flight is delayed they will auto rebook you. You can then change your seat on the app. If you are against the app just print off your boarding pass at a kiosk when you arrive. Downloading a pdf converter isn’t worth the hassle.
Second, the DL skyclub information is just incorrect. Most agents will say no immediately, and there is no chance they’ll simply let you in.
@tyj303 – as most of your comments that I have dumped on this site I almost dumped this one too but just edited it instead.
Your advice is bad. While I love the Delta phone app, there are many times you may not be able to pull the app up. If you have a PDF of all your info in your phone, even with NO cell signal, you are all set with info. I ALWAYS do this and it is sold great advice. BTW, to educate you a bit, you can not pick EC seats on the app. You must go to Delta.com for that so the app is not perfect in that rearguard.
Next, as to Skyclubs, I did not say it is automatic. If things are going very bad, and you are upfront and kind to the reps, there are times they can help. There are clearly other options to try first, but this is one of many to try if you need it.
Rene, I can’t get Delta to follow me so I can message them. What can I do? Thanks.
Their direct message should be open. If for some reason they’re not, tweet them with a simple message that you want them to please follow you back so you can DM them.
@Sam – not at all. Delta sells EC upgrades and depending on the flight it could be a good value to pay for the upgrade.
@Sam – oh I am 100% with ya there but as the same time I so try, even with older cpu users, to get them to use PDF creator as for example when doing a CC app or some other offer, being able to screen print to a PDF is so valuable if you ever need it (not just for flights). Txs – Rene
A Sky Club agent in ATL on Monday saved me a loooooong wait in line following a cancellation of my flight. I just got the Delta Gold Amex a few weeks ago and had bought a day pass to the club earlier in the morning so I could have some conference calls in peace and get some work done. Best $25 ever spent.
I love your advice. Every little tip helps, and when you add them all together – it makes for a lot of valuable information!
Another thought is if things are so messed up and lines are crazy then go into the sky club and buy the day pass and ask them to figure stuff out for you. Since you likely have time to kill you can then spend it in the sky club with a glass of wine after the agents have helped. Even if you have to pay for the full day pass it’s probably worth the hassle.
Then again I pay the sky cap if there is more than about 5 people in line inside at checkin/bag drop.
@Chris – great advice. Txs – rene
THANKS for nthis article. Points here and there can really dd up.
I like the “rookie” helps — for me just starting out on learning the ways to accumulate points and best ways to use them is a big help.
Rene, my family has had a trip booked to Cancun for about 8-9 months. I booked my wife, son and daughter with me in FC. Delta changed our trip dates yesterday and cut our trip short 2 days early. Is there anything I can do? We called and they said to call back on July 15th, reason being they said FC was full but I thought Delta was allowing families to fly together and sit beside each other in FC?
If you want to cancel and get a refund, Delta cutting your trip short by TWO DAYS(!) should do the trick. I’ve also seen that they’re trying to accommodate passengers traveling together.