Fine Print Friday is a weekly column where I examine and analyze Contracts that affect many of us in our daily lives. Each installment will point out a few interesting provisions the average reader may not have noticed.
Fine Print Friday Tuesday: Delta Airline Tickets
The last Fine Print Friday looked at what a person agrees to when purchasing airline tickets through Travelocity. This week, I will go through the agreements a customer makes when buying an airline ticket from Delta. Because the main bulk of the rules is 57 pages long, I will only be going over the shorter contracts and customer commitments. But if you want to see the full 57-page document, you can get it here: Delta Contract of Carriage – Domestic. (PDF)
The contract any customer enters into when purchasing a ticket with Delta is defined succinctly on their Contract of Carriage page. It states that the contract consists of: Your ticket, Any tariffs that apply, and the applicable Conditions of Carriage (of which the document linked to above is one type). This is potentially confusing given that the terms of the contract are smattered all over the place, instead of in one comprehensive document.
Hopefully, the following highlights will give you a sense of some of what you are agreeing to when purchasing tickets for air travel with Delta.
1. Validity of Ticket: The ticket is good for one year from the date of purchase (so don’t buy a ticket more than a year in advance, Olympics fans). Additionally, between the time you purchase your ticket and the time of the flight, Delta may change the price of the fare and require you to pay any additional amount in order for you to board the plane. There is no discussion of what happens if the airfare goes down after you have purchased the ticket. (Conditions of Contract (COC), paragraph 8 )
2. Carriers & Timing of Flights: Times on the ticket are not guaranteed, nor are stops, layovers, or carriers (i.e., Delta can substitute other airlines for a flight). Delta can change the schedule of the flight for which you purchased a ticket without letting you know about it. (COC, 9) However, the Delta Customer Commitment (DCC) states that Delta will provide full and timely information on the status of delayed and canceled flights. And although they will even call you to notify you of cancellations if known at least two hours before the scheduled flight, there is nothing there describing what will occur if the schedule is just changed–particularly if it is changed to an earlier time. The lesson? Check your flight the day before to ensure you will be on time. (DCC 8 )
3. Price Comparison and Ticket Refund: To provide time for ample price comparison between your Delta ticket and competing airlines, Delta will allow you to cancel your ticket and receive a full refund for it, so long as it is canceled by midnight on the day following the day you purchased it (unless it is purchased on the day of travel, in which case you have until midnight that day to cancel for a full refund–there is no discussion of whether you can fly first and then ask for the refund, although that is not likely necessary). (DCC, paragraph 2. The DCC is incorporated into the COC, and as such is a binding part of the contract, not just a wishy-washy, non-binding policy statement. It is only applicable to domestic flights.)
4. On-board Delays: Delta guarantees that if there is an extreme delay in deplaning after landing, they will provide essential needs such as food, water, restroom, and medical attention. The points at which on-board delays are escalated to senior management (to attempt to resolve the situation and get people off the plane) are one hour for arriving flights, and two hours for departing flights. If these time periods are exceeded, passengers will be allowed to use cell phones and laptops and move freely about the airplane’s cabin. Delta will provide snacks and beverages, make timely announcements on the status of the situation, and offer free in-flight entertainment, among other things. (DCC 9)
5. Lost or Damaged Luggage: Delta attempts to return lost bags within 24 hours. All baggage not claimed after 5 days is sent to their headquarters in Atlanta. Delta has a per-passenger (not per-bag) limitation of liability on luggage of $3,000. (DCC 10 & 11)
6. Accuracy of Information: As with any website, Delta’s has a Terms of Use (TOU) provides that any information on the website may not be accurate and is subject to change at any time. This is understandable in light of changing airfares (although the argument could be made that an advertised airfare is an offer that should be honored if accepted by a customer), but since much of the contract that has been outlined so far is also on the website, it’s possible Delta could argue that the contract language on the website isn’t correct once they are called on to abide by it. I expect this would not be a huge risk, but if you doubt Delta’s willingness to hold to their agreements, get official, printed copies of these policies when purchasing your ticket. (TOU, paragraph 2)
Final Thoughts
I was surprised by just how transparent and respectful to the passengers Delta’s contracts are. I was expecting much more hidden language and unattainable conditions for customer-friendly provisions. Of course, I did not go through the full 57-page contract that defines all Delta’s policies. I did glance through some of that document, though, and found that it looks generally consistent with the shorter statements on their website that were examined for this post.
As with any major purchase, you should consider the contractual provisions and guarantees in light of what is most important to you, and then compare those to offers from other providers. Given the current standards for air travel, however, nothing in Delta’s policies actually strikes me as dangerous or deceptive. I found Travelocity’s policies to be much more questionable.
For further information on Delta policies and resources, please see the following:
- Involuntary Boarding Denial (being “bumped”)
- Delayed, Damaged, or Lost Baggage
Thanks for reading Fine Print Friday! It will be back on schedule this week. If you have suggestions or requests for upcoming topics, or questions about today’s topic, please leave them in the comments and I will get back to you about it.
Related posts:
Graham Martin is a solo practitioner focusing on Contract law (including drafting, review, and litigation). He operates Martin Legal Services, LLC in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
{ 1 trackback }