With no family in town, my son has become quite comfortable traveling by airplane. It's a necessity, because 9 hours in the car with a 7 month old is not my idea of a good time...even when he is an absolute trooper. And it's free until he's 2 -- who wouldn't take advantage of that?
As a frequent business traveler and Delta Reserve Amex holder, being on the road does have it's privileges. Choice seats, boarding and baggage priority, and Sky Club membership -- all of which makes traveling with a baby that much easier.
Until yesterday. I booked a first class ticket -- as in I paid for it, did not get an upgrade -- for my husband and child to fly back from our upcoming trip this weekend. Last night, I called Delta to have the "Infant in Arms" added to his boarding pass, as I've done several times before after selecting infant appropriate seats and booking the flight online.
Here's how that went.
They made me change my seat on the outbound flight because I was in the second row window with a child -- not an aisle seat, not an emergency exit row, not a bulkhead. I'm still trying to figure out why, and then why it took 35 MINUTES for a supervisor to re-assign me a seat. Not next to my husband, I might add.
They then told me that I could not fly with an infant in arms in First Class. Really, Delta? Because we did on July 2nd, there isn't a damn thing on your website that states you can't, and this guy apparently did too. Oh, and I PAID for it. So after ANOTHER 20 minutes and some mysterious "supervisor" approval, my child is finally added to the ticket.
I will admit that maybe I didn't handle myself as respectfully as I could have with the phone agent after 45 minutes on hold. I might have dropped the f-bomb. I was frustrated. Beyond. And she only exasperated the situation by failing to explain to me the Infant in Arms policies (as in the super secret ones that aren't posted on Delta.com) that resulted in this debacle. Treat others as you would like to be treated I suppose.
Knowing I will be flying again with my child and likely on Delta as much as I would not like to, I took action to be an informed consumer (despite thinking, again, that their policies on the website would cover me). Having failed on the phone, I reached out to @DeltaAssist on Twitter for a straight answer. I'd like to thank them for also providing superior customer service...still waiting on that response.
Why Delta, why? I have been so loyal, spent millions with your airline and always choose to fly Delta even when it's more expensive than other options -- professionally and personally.
The happy consumer is a dying breed. But free drink tickets might make me feel better.
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