Walt Disney World Resort guests were among those recently affected by “fraudulent charges” after their Delta flights were canceled.
With Hurricane Idalia wreaking havoc on flight schedules two weeks ago, many guests found themselves stranded at Orlando International Airport (MCO) after sudden cancelations due to inclement weather. While canceling flights during a hurricane is the safe thing to do, the move snowballed into a much bigger mess that inconvenienced hundreds of tourists.
What are these “fraudulent charges” from Delta?
As shared by Inside the Magic, Delta reportedly refused to compensate guests for their travel disruption. Further, when flight schedules were disrupted, Delta also allegedly refused to give them food or water during the waiting period; this is, in fact, illegal.
It’s important to note this has not been confirmed by the airline, moreover, Delta has refused to comment on the issue. This said the complaint has seemingly arisen on multiple counts.
In addition to this, Inside the Magic also reported that multiple tourists who were flying Delta, including a notable number of Walt Disney World guests, were overcharged. When the outlet spoke with Delta concerning these charges, the airline denied that they made the charges and instead called them “fraudulent.”
Delta also advised passengers, including Disney Park guests, to take up the fraudulent charges with their banks; however, it appears all passenger claims regarding this extra charge have been denied. At the moment, the root of these charges is still unclear, and the situation doesn’t yet appear to have been rectified.
Why were Delta flights getting canceled?
When Hurricane Idalia made landfall, hundreds of flights were canceled. Per a report from the Economic Times, Southwest Airlines had to cancel almost 200 flights. At the same time, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines were forced to cancel 148 and 98 flights, respectively. In total, airlines had to cancel over 850 flights.
During this set of cancellations, as one can imagine, hordes of Delta customers were left stranded at the airport. While this is a difficult situation on its own, it was made worse because many of these people were denied refunds, not given hotels, and were forced to stay at the airport until flights resumed the next day.
What are guests owed when flights are canceled by airlines?
When it comes to a situation like this, the question of the hour is what do airlines have to help guests with when they encounter unforeseen flight delays?
Per the department of transportation:
- Cancelled Flight – A consumer is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel.
- Schedule Change/Significant Delay – A consumer is entitled to a refund if the airline made a significant schedule change and/or significantly delays a flight and the consumer chooses not to travel. [Subject to the definitions of “siginifcant delay.”]
- Non-refundable tickets – Consumers who purchase non-refundable tickets are not entitled to a refund unless the airline makes a promise to provide a refund or the airline cancels a flight or makes a significant schedule change.
In addition, different airlines also have other policies of compensation that they have to comply with in situations such as the one in question.
