In the summer of 2021, my niece was getting married near Minneapolis. I planned on bringing my family to the wedding. So in the spring of 2021, Covid looked like it was dying down (remember those days?) so I booked tickets for us.

Then the Delta variant of Covid (irony of the name not lost) started surging. And to make matters worse, my niece turned out to be an anti-vaxer. Her mother also refused vaccination. Given the heightened danger of the new Delta variant, I decided that I could not put my children, who were too young to be vaccinated, in danger during the flight, and I could not have them spend time in the same house as someone who refused to vaccinate in the middle of a covid surge that was more virulent that the original strain.

As I was vaccinated, the risk of serious illness was fairly low for me, so I decided to attend the wedding without my kids, which meant my wife would have to stay home with them. I called to cancel their tickets, and ask for a refund.

Delta would not offer a refund, but would offer some sort of voucher for a later flight. They said it was in the rules, and the surge of the Delta variant didn't change the fact that I agreed to their rules when I bought the ticket. That's a pretty douchey position to take, given that the federal government (aka you and I) bailed them out during this pandemic, but if they want to play that way, I guess I will consider this before booking a flight on Delta again. After all, (if I may sum up their argument...) them's the rules!

But then I noticed something. Before actually canceling the tickets, I looked at the original flight that I booked. And I looked at the flight that I was scheduled for. They were not the same.

They had canceled the return flight that I had booked and put me on another one. While the departure time was not vastly different from the other flight, it was, in fact a different flight. They probably canceled the first flight in order to change the type of aircraft. But make no mistake -- they canceled my original flight and replaced it with a different one. They did not simply change the departure time, as they could have. They actually canceled the flight and created another one.

This is important because the Department of Transportation issued a rule that if an airline cancels a flight for any reason, the airline MUST offer a refund to anyone who wants it.

Now, you may be thinking that this is not such a big deal, and that the airline could change the time of the original flight or cancel a flight and create a similar one, and what difference does it make? And isn't it a bit douchey to pull this distinction on them?

It doesn't really matter. What matters is: Them's the rules! They canceled the flight of their own accord. And since Delta said I have to follow their rules, even during a Covid surge, Delta has to follow the Department of Transportation's rules, especially during a Covid surge.

When I pointed this out to them, they were not helpful or cooperative. They were downright douchey.

Next: Part TWO