Option 2: DON'T FLY WITH DELTA!
I had heard of travel nightmares others experienced, and recently encountered it myself when Joan of Delta Airlines in Atlanta ruined our family vacation. Our family was scheduled to travel from Baltimore (BWI) via Atlanta to Johannesburg.
When we checked in, we were told that South Africa has a law requiring children under 18 to travel with birth certificates in addition to their passports. This was not the law, but no one would listen to us – Delta agents insisted they knew better than we did. Although we had time to go home to get the birth certificates, they reviewed the multiple forms of identification we had with us, coupled with photos of the birth certificates on our phones, and the Delta ticket agent deemed our identification sufficient and stamped our tickets with “DOCS OK”.
We traveled from Baltimore with no problems, but when we prepared to board the second leg in Atlanta, we were told that our passports and other identifications were insufficient for travel to South Africa. Again, Delta refused to listen when we said that it’s not true, and they refused to check the airline policies to make sure they were right. Instead, we were talked down to and treated with disrespect by Delta staffer Joan, in a manner that raised our concern for anti-Semitic behavior towards us, as we were outwardly Jewish. After horrific bureaucratic treatment (which I will not go into detail) during which Delta took no responsibility for the “Docs ok” stamp and approval we received from their own team at BWI, we were forced to make arrangements to get our original birth certificates from Baltimore to New York, and we had to fly to JFK airport to get them.
We made arrangements to fly straight from New York to South Africa, while we were all tired, hungry, and upset. As we waited for our original birth certificates to arrive at JFK, agents from South African Air reviewed the passports, identifications, and photos of the birth certificates, and informed us that we did not need the originals, and we were allowed to board the plane.
When we landed in South Africa, we weren't asked for neither the originals nor pictures of the children's birth certificates. We learned that the old law requiring such had changed. Because of Delta’s lack of familiarity with travel laws, and unprofessional treatment, we lost valuable vacation time in delays, we lost money, and we arrived in South Africa extremely hungry (as the changed travel arrangements meant we did not have our pre-ordered kosher meals on a 16 hour flight). We were run ragged for no reason.
It took us days to recover because of the incompetence and anti-Semitic behavior we experienced. And after filing a complaint, Delta offered $250 towards our next flight with their airline that had to be used within a certain time frame, little compensation for ruining a vacation that cost over $10,000.
Flyers be warned: don’t travel with Delta.