Delta Air Lines is no longer charging customers to buy a ticket by phone or in person.
The airline had been charging $25 per ticket bought over the phone and $35 per ticket bought in person at airports and other ticket office locations. But Delta announced on its website Thursday that it will no longer charge those fees except for tickets bought in person at “select European locations.”
Buying tickets online or on the Fly Delta app remains free.
Delta’s incoming president, Glen Hauenstein, explains in the announcement:
“It is much simpler for our customers to not have to worry if they will pay a fee for ticketing with Delta.”
Fortune reports that Delta started experimenting with reservation fees in 1999, when it charged a $2 fee for any ticket that wasn’t bought on its website.
In 2005, the company added fees for tickets bought by phone and at airports. Those fees, respectively, increased from $5 to $25 and from $10 to $35 by 2012.
Other airlines charge similar fees for “offline” reservations.
Delta’s latest fee change follows a controversial change in how Delta and two of the other largest airlines, American and United, allow customers to book multi-city tickets. To learn more about that, check out “Why Your Next Multi-City Trip May Cost More.”
What’s your take on this news? Will Delta’s elimination of these fees affect your next flight booking? Let us know what you think in a comments below or over on Facebook.
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