I want to share an experience I had earlier this week with Delta Airlines. I needed to book one-way fares in the US for my parents. They were traveling from Miami to Atlanta following a Georgetown, Guyana to Miami flight. The desired flight was scheduled for 7 p.m. (EST) on November 14, 2015.
I want to share an experience I had earlier this week with Delta Airlines. I needed to book one-way fares in the US for my parents. They were traveling from Miami to Atlanta following a Georgetown, Guyana to Miami flight. The desired flight was scheduled for 7 p.m. (EST) on November 14, 2015.
On the first of what would be three attempts to book the flight while in Guyana, I used my cell phone – something I do all the time. Using the Delta website the flight came up at $89.10 per person. I entered the credit card information and selected pay. What I got back was the following message:
"The fare quoted earlier of $89.10 (USD) has changed. The new fare for this itinerary is $361.10 (USD). To continue your purchase click Continue. Otherwise click Start Over to return to the Reservation input screen and select different dates and times. After accepting the fare change, you may need to re-select your seats."
I was surprised but thought I would try again but this time on a laptop. The same flight just 2 minutes later, now showed at $113.10. Since my parents had already secured their flight from Guyana to Miami, we had no choice and so once again I entered details and the credit card number and selected pay. The result, the following message:
"The fare quoted earlier of $113.10 (USD) has changed. The new fare for this itinerary is $361.10 (USD). To continue your purchase click Continue. Otherwise click Start Over to return to the Reservation input screen and select different dates and times. After accepting the fare change, you may need to re-select your seats."
Frustration now mounting I tried yet one more time – the third time to be precise – and as before an initial flight cost of $113.10 was increased to $361.10 upon submission of credit card information.
I then contacted a family member in the US and asked them to check on the flight and see what their experience would be. So that person entered the details and a fare of $113.10 appeared. The next step of course is to enter the credit card number and pay. This was done and to my surprise the purchase was completed with no special messages and most importantly no increase in fare.
I can’t say exactly why this happened. I reached out to Delta when I had made my first three attempts from an IP address in Guyana, and kept receiving the bait and switch messages (one fare posted, a significant increase presented when attempting to pay). Delta did not respond.
I have not heard about this happening to anyone else, and in the absence of a response from Delta I could put my experience down as an anomaly. But, my experience feels like a bait and switch and so as the saying goes caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).
