The Most Awkward Airline Call Ever: ‘My Ex Was the Delta Agent—And My Wife Heard Everything!’

When my wife and I first started dating, we both lived in D.C. and she had a business trip to San Francisco. She had never flown first class. I rang up United and had her flight home upgraded.

  • She thought it was a little bit weird that I could call up an airline, without her confirmation number even, and just alter her trip.

  • But I did this to put her in first class.

We’re still together 23 years later because she decided that it was more cool than creepy, but I also suspect most people don’t realize how little security there is around airline reservations. If you know a passenger’s name and where they’re traveling from and to, it’s not hard to get their full travel details and even change their trip (even without knowing which flight exactly they’re on to begin with). And that’s a power that isn’t always used for good (like upgrading someone that you’re seeing).

Perhaps a decade ago, a reader of One Mile at a Time cancelled an upcoming international premium cabin flight reservation that site author Lucky had booked, and had rebooked him on a domestic trip instead. The itinerary fortunately was able to get reinstated! But it was a good reminder not to mention details of upcoming travels – to always write about the past.

This isn’t usually a problem because of the most important protection of all: security by obscurity. For most people, nobody cares enough to try to hack you – or to mess with your reservations.

But what if you call Delta customer service and the agent on the other end of the line is your ex? And she learns that you’re now married with a baby?

Received a callback from Delta [customer service], and immediately the voice on the other end was familiar. As we started talking, she confirmed some details about me and my trip and then in a sarcastic voice, “Wow, first class with the wife and baby, huh? Pretty fancy.”

We didn’t have a long catch up or anything. She sounded slightly jealous. We had a slightly terse, “Oh wow, I didn’t expect it to be you” kind of moment once we realized who the other was. She said she couldn’t help me with my issue and I quickly ended the conversation. Wife beside me was confused.

The passenger didn’t even give his ex a 5-star rating in the follow-on survey after the call, he says, because “she didn’t resolve my issue!”

I have to think that Delta has a policy that reservations agents can’t work on issues for people they know personally. The ex should have transferred him to another agent once she discovered who it was.

For years, frequent flyers have been calling an airline’s English-language foreign call centers to get around long hold times. That doesn’t work with Delta anymore, since they now just route those into their main queue. I still do it with American. But another thing that it gets you, it seems, is reduced likelihood that the call will be answered by your ex.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Sounds like a recent graduate from the School of Ed (I can’t help you and it’s not my fault). And, oh, this call never happened…

  2. Back in the 1980s, I had to fly up to SEA from SFO at the last minute to substitute as a judge for a wine competition for a friend who had double-booked himself and went off to judge at a different one. I called the airline to change or to book the reservation — I don’t remember which — and the Customer Service agent asked if it was business or pleasure. I told her I had to get to Puyallup for a wine competition. She started. giving me all this extra information, told me to ask for “Steve” at the Fair, and to call him if I needed anything. I thought this was really great customer service. As I thanked her, she assured me that Steve would do anything for me — after all, she was his ex, and he still wanted her back…

  3. We’re still together 23 years later because

    …of the net revenue generated by this blog.

    You don’t think you’re George Clooney, do you, Mr. Leff?

  4. @SFO/EWR – Is there a purpose to your comment besides trying to insult other people because if so you hid it pretty well?

    We all have our shortcomings. Is it necessary to throw shade at Gary for him sharing a personal anecdote? At least go after him for some professional shortcoming if you’re feeling spicy.

  5. @SFO/EWR – My wife and I were married long before there was a dollar of revenue from this blog. I wrote this blog for SIX YEARS before seeing even $750 from it. In fact, I was writing it for TEN years before there was anything notable from it at all. And I started the blog after we were already living together.

  6. Quite a while ago, a colleague and I were flying from NY to Sao Paolo on the now departed Varig. I had booked in F per my firm’s travel policy for my level and he had booked in J similarly. This was still the paper ticket era and when we checked in, I was told that my reservation in First had been cancelled and I was now in business. After much back and forth, it turned out that, unbeknown to me or my colleague, his secretary had decided that it wasn’t right for me to be in First when he was in business and called to change the reservation.

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