To Fly Delta or Not to Fly Delta, That is the Question!

[Lunar Snow]

Flying between the USA and Canada can be way more expensive than it should be (some of the prices of the flights we looked up from Vancouver to Kansas City, including layovers, were much more than all-inclusive vacations to popular destinations, like Hawaii and Mexico).

We were thrilled to find a flight that was $200 cheaper and in Canadian funds through Delta airlines. Actually, here is another travel tip: we found a seat sale through Expedia.ca! So, my tip for that is that if you are paying in American funds (he was paying for my trip), it often serves to look at the Canadian equivalent of the travel website.

On the plane, the staff were friendly and the pilots were very confident and compitent. The pro was the deal we got, I suppose.

Now, with these flights from Delta, my flights were delayed on EVERY leg of the journey. Finally, on the way back, that culminated in a 6 hours delay at the first airport and then a 5 hour delay at the next, where they inexplicably cancelled my flight and some of the ground staff were rude...which led to an overnight in an unknown city and many other unexpected inconveniences and problems. It was the worst set of delays and travel dilemmas I have ever experienced and there was all this horrible stuff about not even having a place to stay or a way to get there over night, etc. and throngs of people from all these different Delta flights being stuck in Minneapolis (a hub city), where the cab driver's are used to ferrying them back and forth all day from cancelled Delta flights. It's quite the story, but I am trying to be brief. I overheard several of the staff saying that it was because Delta had overbooked their flights and had too many flights going for an ageing fleet of airplanes! Yikes!

Anyway, just wanted to point out that you can find some fabulous deals out there and that Delta is okay to fly with. However, travel delays suck as it is, let alone when you are excited to be with your SO for a limited period of time that is slipping away because of the delay, or you are leaving your SO to go back home and are already feeling emotional and raw and may or may not have missed work, etc. with the delays.

[Silviar]

Were the delays something they could control? Or something out of their hands like weather?

[threecheers9980]

I flew Delta a long time ago, going from California to Florida. The first leg of our flight wasn't terrible. We had to switch planes at Dallas/Fort Worth and that's when we were delayed for a couple hours because of mechanical issues. Once the flight took off though, it was okay. They gave everyone complimentary earphones to watch the in-flight movie.

[pytsip]

I have never flown delta, however, I would warn against Continental and would strongly suggest United. Why? I went to Phoenix AZ last march, I flew United the whole way there, one stop both ways. In Washington DC, our flight was delayed about an hour and a half on the runway, not United's problem it was air traffic control's problem. However, once in the air, the pilot assured us that we would still make time, we landed in Phoenix 30 minutes earlier than our arrival time. On the way back, we made great time again, landed in Chicago an hour before the said arrival time, and arrived in Pittsburgh 30 minutes early again. However, while in Phoenix, Continental was boarding across from us, their flight was delayed, the boarding staff was rude to everyone, people were complaining about everything. I don't know if it was just that time or if this is a normal thing, but I refuse to fly Continental because of it. I find it interesting that situations like that are huge Public Relations problems that airlines probably don't even think of.

[XX, Lexi]

I flew Delta a loooong time ago and I didn't have any problems with it. However, for me, I usually go for cost when I fly up to see Luke and I always like Allegiant Air and Northwest. The times I've flown with either airline, I haven't had any issues.
I'm usually against flying the big business airlines [Delta, AA, United, etc] because of the cost and because of the reputation I've read for them being late. But, that's just me XD

[paulawriteslove]

I've never flown Delta, but American Airlines is one of my favorites!

[farrahjean]

I hate Delta.. I flew from north carolina to oregon the first plane was an hour late... the connecting flight was cancelled and moved to a different plane which took half an hour.. and I was late commin home buy close too two hours so an 8 hr flight took 10 ... ohh yeah and it was my first time flying and I was scared shitless and by myself ... I dont travel well by myself ...I havent flown since .. and my SO is in New Zealand.. what a long flight that will be..

[Thad]

I have had a horrible customer service experience with Delta. I posted a thread about it on the original LFAD website. Basically, they let me get through check-in no questions asked about what ended up being considered third carry-on, and then moments before departing as I was one of the last to board, they refused to let me board unless I paid and extra $50 fee. While I was on the phone trying to get the money, the plane left. They then charged me another $50 to rebook the flight because "I chose to rebook it." Anyway, long story short, I got home several hours later. I ended up getting the money back as I told the bank the charges were not authorized -- Delta had no signature or PIN number so the bank cancelled the charges. This was a frequent flier reward flight. I had been a regular customer for several years prior to this, but I have refused to fly Delta since.

As my signature suggests, I prefer Southwest. I don't think they have any code shares with Canadian airlines anymore, but maybe you cold consider Amtrak to Seattle and fly from there? But I would definitely avoid Delta at all costs.

[Flora]

I am flying with Delta a quite long time ago and from Europe to US and back (with 3 connecting flights) and also in the states too and I have never ever missed my connection flight or lost my baggage (and I travelled more than 25.000 miles with them at the last year) and for me this is the cheapest way too. They are not the best but I didn't expect more for this price.

[BlueCat]

I've flown Delta many times and had never had any real trouble with them. My flights have been on time, no issues of rude staff etc. But maybe I've just been lucky.

I've only ever had one issue on my international travels, and that was on my return flight last time (which I think was delta, but I could be wrong, could be american airlines). I had booked my flights about 2 months before I left, but I was staying for 6 months, so my return flights were approximately 8 months away. Because of this, my first flight had been cancelled/replaced (that's the risk you take with booking so far in advance I guess). It didn't end up being a big deal, we got to the airport, they looked at my itinerary and simply put me on the next flight with no extra charge. I only wish, that they had a phone service you could call to sort those things out. Because I checked my flight online before I left and it obviously didn't turn up in the searches, so I called the airline, but because everything is automated, you can't actually talk to anyone about it. So we simply had to go to the airport to be ready for the time my flight was supposed to be, but then I had to wait longer for the next flight. So in that regard, it would have been nice to be able to confirm it over the phone so we wouldn't have had to spend so long waiting at the airport. But they were very nice about it and sorted it out without any trouble.

In terms of how I choose my flights. I search expedia, day after day, waiting for a good price, and then I just pick the most suitable flight-times from those prices, fairly regardless of airline. <3 expedia. Though for some reason, flights seem to be unreasonably more expensive this time round, hoping they drop a bit. Qantas has had some issues somewhat recently, and V-Australia was amazing last time when I flew with them, but if Qantas is going to end up being cheaper than V-Australia this time round, I'll gladly take it.

[snow_girl]

Have you looked in to flying with westjet? I think whoever you decide to fly with you have to weigh your options. You could pay a little extra and get a better service or find the cheapest flight possible that includes stop overs and possible flight delays. For my saving a few hundred dollars is worth the hassle.

[13000km]

I have only flown Delta from Singapore to Oregon via Tokyo and will be flying Delta again in June because it's the only airline that gets me there with only one stopover. All of my flights departed and arrived on time. I had to pay 50 USD for overweight baggage when coming home, but I expected that from how much I packed. /: The only issue I had with it was that on the flight from Tokyo to Oregon and Oregon to Tokyo there wasn't an in-flight entertainment system and it was a 10 hour long flight! I was getting so restless I thought I was going to kick the nice japanese man next to me. /:

[kteire]

Expedia is fantastic. My SO was booking his flight from Dublin-Montreal, and by switching to the Canadian expedia page, we saved $180 on his flight!

But as far as Delta goes - I have flown with them a dozen times, and I've always had excellent service, and the only time I ever had a delayed flight was in Philadelphia over Christmas 2009, when that guy lit up a fire onboard a plane over the US, and they upped airport security! US Airways, however, I will never fly again, no matter how much I have to pay for a different company.

[Élan]

I think Delta is horrid. I tried to change one leg of my flight with them and they told me it would cost $2100 to change to the date I wanted. Instead, I canceled my flight and booked the SAME FLIGHT on Orbitz for $1200. I'm still not looking foward to it, though: although it's a 14-hour flight, Delta won't have any personal tv screens and the meals are far worse than any Asian airlines' meals. I think Delta will slowly price themselves out of business. They have gotten so big and have definitely upped their prices. Unfortunately, they have not upped their customer service.

[screammaayday]

I've never flown Delta, but my friends have. They swear up and down if they could fly any other airline then they would. Delta is a lot more expensive than some of the other airlines. My SO and I have always flown Southwest. They're very good with customer service and there's no change fees for your flights, even if you buy the cheapest fare. Granted, if you buy the cheapest one, you don't get your money back if something comes up, but rather a voucher with them for the amount you spent on the fare to use another time.