Beware of Delta's IT system when changing tickets

Delta and other big US airlines made big fanfare when they eliminated change fees in 2020.

But Delta takes the cake when it comes to implementing that change. I had the misfortune of making such a change where I changed a domestic US ticket to an international one, specifically a SEA-LAX ticket to a SEA-DEL during a sale.

I made the change in October 2021. The change looked good as I was able to see the new itinerary online and in app, and could download the trip details from Delta's site. Further, I kept getting regular emails from the airline for every 5 minute change to my itinerary, all through to my travel date in April 2022.

Finally, I got the email to checkin online for my flight. I was able to select my seats but my checkin did not complete online with a prompt to complete the checkin at the airport. For international flights, I had rarely been able to complete my checkin online so this wasn't major issue for me. I still reached out to Delta support via text to confirm that everything was in order with my flight. The Delta agent looked at the flight and confirmed everything was in order and that my international flight via Amsterdam was scheduled to run as expected and my seats selection was ok as well.

The shock came when I reached the airport and the checkin agent said my checkin could not be completed because my ticket still showed the original SEA-LAX route. I was quite taken aback, but all my efforts to share the downloaded ticket and the previous Delta agent's promises did not yield a seat. To add insult to injury, the checkin agents are so powerless that they themselves had to call in to Delta service center to make any changes to my ticket. 

That took a good hour of my time and by that time I was the only passenger left checking in for that flight. When the checkin agent did reach somebody on the phone, the only solution presented to me was to book a new flight and it would cost me $2200 ... more! I had originally booked my flight for around $700 so this was quite a sticker shock for me. And, I was given 5 minutes to make a decision. And then after 3 minutes, I was told that even that option is now gone because even though the flight was running late by an hour today, the computer still considered the old scheduled time for closing checkin. The new option was to book a flight via Denver and London and it would leave later that night, and it would be $2600 more now.

After all that, I was pretty much done with Delta for the day. I was pretty sure I would be able to get a better deal than arguing with agents at the counter and making snap decisions on which ticket to purchase. And that's what happened. On my way home, Aeroplan showed me a business class seat via Vancouver that could be booked with 85000 aeroplan points and some fees. This was a bargain compared to what the Delta checkin agent's phone agent was offering me and I was able to book it after some effort.

All in all, I did learn a valuable lesson from this. If you wish to avoid Delta change hell, then always download the receipt for your ticket after a change and make sure it matches your itinerary. Who would have thought, but hey its Delta!