Delta Air Lines Takes Out Change Fees

Delta Air Lines takes out the change fees for basic economy trips for the entire year. Delta decided to take out change fees as their phone lines were swamped by calls. Travelers struggled to reach agents now that travel demand spiked up. Travelers have to deal with long wait times as Delta dealt with “unprecedented” level of questions from travel policies to schedule changes according to Delta CEO Ed Bastian. Delta announced that it is hiring more than 5,000 people to alleviate their call volume problems.

The airline already eliminated the ticket change fees last year. However, their new policy excluded the no-frills basic economy tickets. This is the cheapest ticket available for Delta.

No Change Fees for Basic Econoomy Tickets

Starting Wednesday, travelers who bought Delta’s basic economy tickets can change flights through December 31. According to the Delta temporary 2021 Basic Economy Changeability Waiver, travelers can change the date, time, or location of their trip using both Delta.com and the Fly Delta app.

To make change your flight, you can select “My Trips”. From there, click on “Modify Flight” and select “Start Flight Change”. This will let travelers make the changes on their current flight.

Travelers will also have the chance to cancel a flight and get credit for the same value of their unused ticket. The credit will be valid until December 31, 2022. To cancel a flight, the traveler must go to “My Trips” and select “Modify Flight”. From there, choose “Start Flight Cancellation”. The tickets bought on or before April 30, 2021, can be canceled before departure. On the other hand, basic economy tickets bought after April 30 are going to be final.

In case you are going to use your flight credit, there is a chance that the traveler will have to pay more. If the new flight costs more than the credit or the original flight, the traveler will have to pay for the difference. However, they can also get credit for the difference if the flight is less expensive.

However, according to the site, Basic Economy Flights in 2022 will remain non-refundable and non-changeable.