Delta Air Lines served over 200 million customers in 2024, and the company indicates it was recognized as number one in premium economy passenger satisfaction by J.D. Power.
Unfortunately, not all customers have a satisfactory experience.
In fact, a number of passengers have recently reported that Delta Air Lines is now strictly enforcing some fine print in its contracts. Sadly, this has left some Americans stranded overseas or faced with paying thousands for alternate flights home.
Here’s what passengers have said about their recent problems with Delta Air Lines.
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Delta Air Lines is enforcing a rule that leaves passengers stuck
Herb Weisbaum, The ConsumerMan, wrote on Consumers’ Checkbook about his recent problems with Delta Air Lines.
Weisbaum went to Heathrow Airport and tried to check in for his Delta flight, but unfortunately, when he tried to use the kiosk to print boarding passes for himself and his wife, he was unable to do so without swiping the credit card used to purchase the tickets. That card had been left at home.
A gate agent provided no help, either, with Weisbaum indicating the airline wouldn’t let them on the planes if they couldn’t produce the card.
While the rule was presented as being necessary for identity verification, Weisbaum and his wife had passports and other ID. Unfortunately, none of that was good enough, and the supervisor was unable to bypass the security system to let the couple board.
He explained:
My wife and I were directed to a Delta supervisor, who explained that without presenting the credit card used to purchase the tickets, she could not issue our boarding passes.
Delta Air Lines: Produce your credit card, or your options are limited
Weisbaum explained that the options available to him were very limited, and none of them were good. Here’s what he was told by Delta:
“The manager explained that our options were to stay in London (forever?!), use a different card to buy two new one-way tickets (about $6,000, nearly three times the price of our original round-trip tickets), find a way to get a picture of the original credit card texted to me, or have someone take the card to the Delta ticket counter at the airport back in Seattle.”
Related: Americans face strict new requirements to enter over 25 countries
Ultimately, Weisbaum was able to wake a neighbor at 3 a.m., get the neighbor into his home, and get a picture of the card. But not everyone will be able to do that, and unfortunately, this is a repeated problem.
“The Delta agent, who was very nice and only following company policy, informed us that this was a recurring issue, especially for children traveling from London on tickets purchased by their parents,” Weisbaum said.
Other Delta passengers have been stranded due to forgotten credit cards
Weisbaum’s experience is not an isolated one.
View from the Wing reported on this problem, indicating that the policy is found in Delta’s fine print, and highlighted many examples of other passengers sharing similar stories, including this one:
“I bought a ticket for my parents and my child. They told me the agent refused to check them in because they didn’t have my credit card (which was used to book the flight) with them. Now Delta wants me to reschedule the flight for $4,000 extra. I’m disgusted. How is this even a thing?”
In another instance, someone who booked a flight for their daughter’s fiancé also found that the fiancé was unable to board.
Delta Air Lines’ written policy said this is the rule
While the rule may seem ridiculous, the fact is that this is Delta’s written policy, with the company website stating:
To safeguard against credit/debit card fraud, the purchaser may have to show us the credit/debit card along with a valid photo ID. The time varies based on the billing address of the credit/debit card or the country of travel.
If the purchaser is not traveling, they can show us their credit/debit card and ID at an airport ticket counter or another ticket office location, whichever is most convenient.
How can you avoid being stranded due to Delta Air Lines policy?
If you are flying with Delta Air Lines, make certain to bring the credit card that you used to book your tickets.
This is the best and only way to ensure that your policy won’t leave you alone in a foreign airport frantically calling a neighbor to break into your house to get your card – or shelling out thousands for extra tickets you don’t really need.
Related: TSA warns against flying with item used by over 60% of Americans
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