Delta customers lost time, money after major tech outage. How to file claims, complaints

Delta Air Lines customers who faced massive delays and cancellations at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and elsewhere after a July 19 global tech outage triggered all sorts of havoc for days must do one thing after their nightmare ends. File a complaint — and get some money back.

Maybe, you think you can't do anything about it. Maybe, you think submitting a complaint is a waste of even more time. A friend shared one comment on social media where a frustrated traveler stated: "Glad we have zero consumer protection laws on the books to help everyone being psychologically abused by @Delta."

But it's not true. Actually, consumers do have many air travel rights now. Unfortunately, consumers are going to need to file for reimbursements to get what they are owed. And if they're not satisfied, they're going to need to go a step further and file complaints with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

On Wednesday morning, Delta CEO Ed Bastian posted a letter to customers on the airline's website as the company continued to recover from the impact of last week's CrowdStrike outage. Delta upgraded its reimbursement efforts, too.

Bastian apologized but also noted Wednesday that "the worst impacts of the CrowdStrike-caused outage are clearly behind us." Thursday, he said, is expected to be a normal day.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, 16% of Delta flights were delayed and 1% were canceled, according to FlightAware data.

Delta, he said, remains "committed to taking care of those whose flights may still be impacted, with meals, hotel accommodations and ground transportation offered through vouchers and reimbursements. We’re also providing impacted customers with Delta SkyMiles and travel vouchers as a further gesture of apology."

Delta also noted online Wednesday that it is taking steps to reimburse out of pocket expenses. "We know many customers have incurred unplanned travel expenses, including purchasing tickets on other airlines, rental cars, train tickets and more," the airline said on its site.

"Delta will cover reasonable costs for additional categories of expenses incurred during the duration of the travel waiver (which currently applies for flights between July 19 and July 28)."

Another key point: "Delta is permitting customers with Delta travel booked from July 19-28 who no longer wish to travel to cancel and request a refund of the unflown portion of their trip — regardless of whether their flight has been canceled or significantly delayed."

Delta has been offering waivers, which according to Delta, allow customers hurt by the troubles to make a one-time change to their itinerary, or to cancel and receive a refund for the unused portion of their ticket upon request. The waiver applies for customers with travel scheduled for July 19-28. The fare difference for customers will be waived when rebooked travel occurs on or before Aug. 4, in the same cabin of service as originally booked.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced an investigation into Delta Air Lines. He noted that the Transportation Department is making sure "the law is followed and that Delta is 'taking care of its passengers' as the disruptions continue."

In this case, experts say DOT rules require Delta to refund unused flights for those who choose not to travel on alternate flights if their original itinerary was canceled for any reason, even if the original tickets were nonrefundable. That's true as long as you didn’t get on a rebooked flight at no cost to you, experts say. Some people think they can do both — fly and get a refund — but that's not the case.

More:Stuck at the airport after Microsoft outage? What to know about airline refunds, policies

More:Flight delayed for hours? How to figure out when you get can a refund or rebooked.

The CrowdStrike software glitch Friday led to headaches for all sorts of businesses in Michigan and across the globe — airlines, banks, hospitals, community colleges and more.

We've seen plenty of travel horror stories, and some of the worst involving travelers dealing with Delta, on social media lately. Delta's crew scheduling software apparently made the situation even worse for that airline.

Jane McNamara, of Royal Oak, was to fly out of Detroit on Delta on Friday heading to Newark to see her sons in New Jersey. She had heard of the CrowdStrike software incident that impacted Microsoft's Windows Operating System earlier on Friday. But she had no alerts from Delta via the app or email to tell her the Friday flight was canceled.

"I drove to the airport hoping I might have a flight," she said. "Once there, after parking in the out lot and making my way to McNamara terminal, I learned it was canceled."

She was shocked by the massive lines and chaos. "You couldn't get near the (Delta) counter, it was just slammed."

She ended up acting quickly and booked a flight on United Airlines on Saturday. She paid $306 and she had no trouble getting out of Detroit on United the next day.

She kept the return ticket for Tuesday on Delta. "I thought by Tuesday, everything should be fine."

For a while, it seemed like it would be. She checked in Monday and had a boarding pass, the whole thing.

Then, about 6 a.m. Tuesday she got an alert that her Delta flight out of Newark that day was now canceled.

She spotted one seat on another Delta flight, but it was quickly gone. Other flights on other airlines that day had fares that were $800 and higher. Some of those flights had layovers from three hours to five hours. Nothing seemed to be doable.

Oh, she could sit in New Jersey until Thursday since Delta had rebooked her on another flight on Thursday morning. "I couldn't hang out there" that long, she said. "My only option was to rent a car."

McNamara, who owns Jazzercise Royal Oak, needed to get back to work and ended up renting a car for $152.

"I literally just had to do a car," she said. Driving alone, she left the area about 11 a.m. and got home after 10 p.m. Most of the driving was fine, she said, until she hit the intense storm in metro Detroit. She's now reviewing how to get reimbursed for her expenses.

Even as travel gets back to normal, the shakeout for Delta could be intense in the weeks ahead.

"There will be hell to pay," predicted Teresa Murray, who directs the Consumer Watchdog office for U.S. PIRG, a nonprofit advocacy group that has advocated for more passenger protections.

The major IT-systems outage disrupted the operations of several major airlines, triggering extensive delays and cancellations at U.S. airports.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said it has determined that the delays and cancellations resulting from the CrowdStrike-related system outage are “controllable" — which means the flight cancellation or delay is one that is attributable to the airline.

Murray said Delta's response in individual situations seems to have been all over the map. Some consumers, she said, complained about only being offered frequent flier miles when they needed more help getting where they needed to go in a timely manner. One young man she knows, who happens to be a magician from Michigan, had to rent a car to drive to Philadelphia to be on time for his show. Her advice: Make sure to send the bill to Delta.

Daniel Martin, a global touring magician who lives in Jackson, told me his horrific tale that involved two Delta flights vanishing.

One flight ended up being canceled on Friday when he was trying to leave Hartford, Connecticut, to fly to Detroit to do a show in Michigan; and a second flight was canceled when he needed to fly from Detroit to Philadelphia on Monday to do another show.

He said the Delta employees he encountered were really trying to help but it was out of their control.

Martin, who has a summer tour as a magician, had a show last week in New Hampshire and he had planned on driving to the Bradley International Airport in Hartford to catch that flight to Detroit. He travels a great deal but all the regular steps, like going on Delta.com, didn't work Friday for rebooking a flight. "You couldn't even get on their site to figure out options."

Trying to call, even as a preferred customer meant a six-hour wait. He quickly booked a Friday night flight on Southwest Airlines as a hedge. Then, he headed to the airport and got in line at Delta. After turning down many bad options, he ultimately was able to get on another Delta flight, which sat on the tarmac. That flight faced so many delays that he figured he should hop on Southwest. Ultimately, he was able to get off that flight with help of Delta employees to rush to grab the backup Southwest flight.

As for his luggage? Well, it was on the Delta flight. He faced a four-hour delay in Detroit at baggage claim to get his magic equipment. "It was like the zombie apocalypse," Martin said.

Ultimately, he got home to Jackson at 5 a.m. Saturday, but he had missed his magic show in Michigan on Friday.

Monday morning, another Delta flight delay, this time out of Detroit to Philadelphia. He made that show but only by spending $250 to rent a car.

Overall, Martin estimates he lost more than 35 hours in delays and some $600 or so in expenses. That's not including the thousands of dollars lost when he missed the show in Michigan.

One headache after another, and, frankly, travelers will need to take their time figuring out what to do next to recoup some of their extra costs.

In general, PIRG's Murray said, she would not recommend that people accept vouchers or credits or miles as compensation for their hotel, meal, ground transportation, and other expenses.

But the amount might matter. "If someone is looking at a refund of $200, but Delta is offering miles or vouchers worth $1,000 to the traveler, then the voucher or credit might make sense, as long as there aren’t restrictions on how or when or where it can be used," she said.

Because the IT debacle is being viewed by the Transportation Department as a controllable cancellation or delay, Murray said, consumers should try to get a hotel and meal and ground transportation accommodations taken care of by the airline. "They can’t just go out and book a hotel at a 5-star hotel or something."

But in many cases, travelers couldn't even get Delta on the phone. In those circumstances, Murray said her advice would be to "spend what is reasonable, to take care of yourself and your family, and submit those expenses for reimbursement later."

How do you submit a claim?

Check with your airline, but typically you'd submit claims online, not by mail.

Where to go: Delta has an online process. See Delta.com/reimbursement for the form and some instructions.

What to do: Before you do submit a claim, take time gathering your paperwork and records. Make sure when you file for reimbursement with Delta or another airline that you have receipts, records and all you need to back up a claim. File everything at once, Murray said. Take screen shots off your phone, if that can help document how long you were on hold with the airline. Find the names of people you talked with at the airline. Recall what was said during a conversation. Give details about how lines were backed up and you couldn't get to an airline representative.

Think about what expenses you faced: Did you need to rent a car to get where you were going? Back up the cost with receipts, make sure to add receipts for the gas you bought to get home or elsewhere.

Delta states online that it "does not reimburse prepaid expenses, including but not limited to hotel reservations at the customer’s destination, vacation experiences, lost wages, concerts or other tickets."

But Murray said she would suggest that some consumers consider submitting even such legitimate claims, given the extreme circumstances surrounding the lengthy tech upheaval. It might not hurt to ask.

File a complaint and a claim: Murray recommends that people file a complaint with Delta, as well as filing for reimbursement. See the Help Center on Delta.com to file complaints. You want some details to be fresh in your mind, like how long you waited online for help.

If you're not satisfied: First go through the airline when you have any issues. But if the problem isn't resolved, file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation. See transportation.gov/airconsumers for the "File a Consumer Complaint" option. Complaints can be related to things like flight delays and cancellations, overbooking, disability, tarmac delays, baggage, discrimination, refunds, ticketing practices, family seating, frequent flyer programs, charter flights, privacy and air ambulance service.

Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) @tompor.