Today I received a call from my daughter. She is stuck at JFK do to DELTA AIRLINES incompetence. She was headed from Boston to Dulles. She has been in NYC for more than 24 hours. As usual Delta has used every excuse in the book , but she is still there at JFK frustrated and fatigued. To make matters worse they refuse to return herb lugage. Her departure from Boston was at 8AM on 8/10/08 it is noe pst 9 pm on 8/11/08. She is a world traveller with frequent trips to Europe and Africa. She will never deal with DELTA again, neither should you if you have and options.

I recently reserved a round trip flight from Dallas to San Salvador., El Salvador The flight coming in was fine, the one coming back turned into a nightmare.

I arrived at the San Salvador airport approximately one hour before departure time. There had been torrential rains the night before and so there were some delays on the way to the airport. When I arrived at the check-in counter I was told by the rep the counter closes one hour before departure. After explaining my situation and I was told by the represetantive that a supervisor would only be available only until after the flight had departed and there was nothing I could do excpet change my departure date and pay an exhorbitant $283 fee.

I again explained there was still plenty of time to board the flight especially since I had one carry on luggage and I am frequent Delta customer. Additionally I had offered my seat seat up on a different flight with Delta and accomodated an overbooked flight. ( Needless to say like many on this board the voucher I was given was never honored and my letter to their customer care department about the matter was not even acknowledged!) All these things did not matter, no one budged. I was going to be prevented from boarding the flight and was going to have to pay the fee.

The supervisor appeared after the flight had left and I promised her I would not use Delta again. And so back to the Mexican stereotype I started with.

Luckily I had time to travel back to Dallas using first class tourbuses from El Salvador through Mexico. Apart from the obvious (a very long ride) the ride was very comfortable with fully reclinable seats and I made it back in 2 1/2 days. I travelled though Guatemala and Mexico and not one cent was paid in bribes. To top it off the customer service I experienced was beyond anything Delta could promise. For example a bus was rerouted to accomodate for an overbooked bus on the last leg of my journey. Delta you were out done my Omnnibus Mexicanos! No wonder bakruptcy is looming. My total cost coming back was $200.

I will be writing a letter to Delta’s customer care team only as a formality really. I will file a complaint with the BBB and consumer affairs and if this matter is ignored once again, I will be contacting media outlets here and in El Salvador to expose this unethical practice.