I’ve been Platinum/Diamond for about 10 years and recently ran into something I haven’t experienced before.
I typically book First Class specifically to keep Same-Day Change (SDC) flexibility, especially when I want access to the last available seats.
On my most recent trip, I had a paid First Class ticket and tried to make a same-day change. I was told I would need to pay a fare difference because the “same fare class” was not available, even though there were still multiple First Class seats open on the new flight.
I spoke with three different agents, including a supervisor after escalating. All of them gave the same answer: I had to pay the difference. The supervisor said she could not escalate further.
I ended up paying the difference and later submitted a customer service request, and Delta did refund it as a one-time exception. However, the explanation still does not make sense to me. I was also told there is now a $75 fee for changes when the same “fare classification” is not available.
The only complicating factor I can think of is that I was changing from a direct flight to a connection, but my understanding was that this should still be allowed under SDC rules (with the reverse being restricted).
It feels like there may be inconsistencies in how SDC rules are being applied or communicated, and I am curious if anyone else has run into this recently.
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