Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with them"

[ivanhoe]

If you're thinking of flying with V Australia to the US and then connecting to their 'partner' airline Delta for US domestic connection, I'd advise you think again.

After checking in with V Australia in Sydney last month, and then connecting with Delta in LA, no frequent flyer points subsequently appeared for the Delta leg.

So, wanting to avoid having to ring up Velocity Rewards to rectify the omission again (with e-ticket, boarding pass, etc.), I asked the check-in agent in Atlanta to ensure the our Velocity Rewards numbers were added to the booking.

First attempt, response was: "what is that airline? - never heard of them"

Second attempt, response was: "they don't have an agreement with us" - without even checking.

Third attempt: After assuring the agent and her colleague (who was also sure no such agreement existed between V Australia / Virgin Blue and Delta), she went off to ask the "Red Coat". When she came back, no apology - just tried again to enter the numbers I gave her into her system.

Fourth attempt, response was: "your name on the ticket does not match the number you provided - I can't add to the booking", which was a blatant lie. Delta agents (in Atlanta, at least) clearly have no knowledge of the partnership and are further unable (unwilling?) to help get it right in your booking.

So, if you're looking to collect FFs while travelling across US, suggest you use American (QF partner), as I've never any problem with them recognising QF Frequent Flyer program.

 

[markis10]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

I think some of the Delta people are still getting used to being Delta people after being NW for so long, it may take a little while for things to settle and arrangements like this to become known.

 

[dajop]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Oh well, stuff happens. Nearly as bad as when my partner checked in at JFK for connecting flight back to Sydney on DL and was asked to see a visa to enter Australia ...... travelling on an Australian passport.... the agent had to check with another agent .....

 

[ric_melb]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

I would agree that it is still early days for the Virgin/Delta partnership.
I would not avoid a Virgin/Delta fare just on this issue alone.

As to how Delta handled it in Atlanta my experience with service in the United States is it varies from the best to the worst. Stuff happens.

 

[Flying Fox]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Very bad for V Australia. Clearly going to lose business if this keep happening.

 

[browski]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Yes, it's a pain, but not a new problem.

Anytime I check into a Malaysian Airlines flight in India, Dubai or KL, I have to assure the check-in staff that Virgin Blue is a partner. If you do not specify the DJ prefix, they will try to input VS by default.

Even with the staff inputting the Velocity Number, I still have 7 Malaysian Airlines flights that I've had to apply for a retroactive points claim.

Funnily enough, Emirates flights are quickly credited to Velocity, not sure what the MH issue is.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Atlanta was Delta territory, so shouldn't be anything to do with previously being North West Airlines.

Delta are almost as bad as other US airlines, they don't care and it shows.

 

[anat0l]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Even with the staff inputting the Velocity Number, I still have 7 Malaysian Airlines flights that I've had to apply for a retroactive points claim.

Funnily enough, Emirates flights are quickly credited to Velocity, not sure what the MH issue is.

MH have a pretty sh**ty back office. My Mum is enrolled in Enrich (though she has no status and flies MH perhaps once per year for her annual holiday back to Malaysia); every time a retrospective claim for points has to be lodged she needs to send in original BPs. The crediting process sometimes takes up to six weeks.

Their call centre in Australia keeps you on a leash for a long time. I thought QF non-premium was bad; nup.

 

[markis10]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Atlanta was Delta territory, so shouldn't be anything to do with previously being North West Airlines.

Delta are almost as bad as other US airlines, they don't care and it shows.

Delta did not get rid of the NW crew at Atlanta after the merger, its entirely possible the OP was served by ex NWA employee, in fact NWA had a crew base at Atlanta with over 385 flight crew based there, its possible some have ceased flying duties and moved to a desk, which would go some way to explaining the confusion, then again it could just be plain old american service

 

[drron]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Delta did not get rid of the NW crew at Atlanta after the merger, its entirely possible the OP was served by ex NWA employee, in fact NWA had a crew base at Atlanta with over 385 flight crew based there, its possible some have ceased flying duties and moved to a desk, which would go some way to explaining the confusion, then again it could just be plain old american service

Yes but ATL has been Delta's headquarters for many years and pre merger over 50% of Pax using ATL flew Delta.The Delta employees would seriously outnumber former NWA staff and with at least 3 employees approached by OP the chance of all being ex-TWA would be remote.
Also a word of caution connecting from V-Aust to AA.Just last heard from a colleague who was doing just that.V-aust changed the flight times so the AA LAX-MIA sector no longer connected.AA would not change.V-Aust said they were not even allowed to contact AA but did eventually solve the problem by putting on the previous days flight.

 

[markis10]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Yes but ATL has been Delta's headquarters for many years and pre merger over 50% of Pax using ATL flew Delta.The Delta employees would seriously outnumber former NWA staff and with at least 3 employees approached by OP the chance of all being ex-TWA would be remote.

I agree that the likelihood of getting a number of ex NWA employees is low but it is not out of the realm of possibilities, especially as the layoffs at ATL were very small owing to the considerable union presence, it may explain the lack of knowledge and should be taken into consideration.

Front line customer relation staff are not always the most senior nor the most knowledgeable in the company regardless of their origin, "taking a world view" is not something many Americans are known for!

 

[odysseus]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

To be fair, I had similar issues with check-in and service agents in LAN at Santiago (their primary airport), with trying to ensure a QF number was registered. Of course, after numerous attempts I checked when I got back and it still wasn't processed.

The point is that our airlines are not so well known in bigger countries and QF is bigger and more established than V, but still has partners unfamiliar with it (I've also had issues with other partners before too).

 

[NYCguy]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

I experienced this problem when I was an Ansett *G when an LH agent at FRA was not only unconvinced that AN was a member of *A, they weren't even sure that AN was an airline at all!

Suffice to say, a quick conversation with the senior on duty sorted out the problem.

These sort of things will happen, especially since many Americans are unaware that Australia even exists, let alone knowing about a relatively new Australian carrier that their company has forged an alliance with.

 

[drron]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

These sort of things will happen, especially since many Americans are unaware that Australia even exists, let alone knowing about a relatively new Australian carrier that their company has forged an alliance with.

A lot of them think the world is only America!Certainly watching the major US networks you could be excused for thinking that.
Over the years I have met folks in the US who thought I lived in Austria,Europe somewhere but the best was a Dollar agent in N'orleans who didnt have a clue where I lived until i produced my drivers licence and then remarked-"Oh!Why didn't you tell me you lived in Wales":shock: I did live in NSW at the time.

 

[markis10]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

I have mentioned this before but I one was sitting net to a NY travel agent who was on his way to Sydney for a holiday to find out more about Australia, it took me 14 hours to convince him that you could not rent a car and do Alice/Ularu in one day ex Sydney.

 

[mannej]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

I have mentioned this before but I one was sitting net to a NY travel agent who was on his way to Sydney for a holiday to find out more about Australia, it took me 14 hours to convince him that you could not rent a car and do Alice/Ularu in one day ex Sydney.

I have had a taxi driver ask me where in America is Australia...


LOL!

 

[Voyages]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

I have had a taxi driver ask me where in America is Australia...


LOL!

Someone from Florida I met a little while ago at a conference was pretty sure that Adelaide was in the north of Australia... Turned out he looked @ Australia down from the northern hemisphere.

 

[straitman]

Re: Delta Agent: "V Australia? never heard of them, we don't have an agreement with t

Remember we are talking about people from LOTFAP here so anything is possible.