My Delta SkyMiles Wish List And Delta In Flight Certificate Give Away

by The Weekly Flyer

Our site may contain affiliate links. Read Advertiser Disclosure policy here.


A fellow Boarding Area blogger, Marshal Jackson, got me thinking about what I’d like to see improved in Delta’s SkyMiles program. I created my list and we share one idea to improve Delta’s SkyMiles program. So here are my wishes for Delta. How do my wishes compare to yours?

Delta SkyMiles Wish List

1) Fix the award booking tool at Delta.com

I wish that Delta would finally fix its broken award booking engine. C’mon Delta!

Delta’s broken award booking engine is well documented. There are numerous work arounds reported. Earlier this year I shared my approach to book an award trip to French Polynesia and work around their award pricing errors.

2) Complimentary In Flight Wifi For Diamond Elite members

I wish Delta would provide top tier elite members with access to free wifi.

In 2009 Hyatt started providing Diamond members with free wifi during stays. Soon after other hotels including Starwood Preferred Guest followed to provide free wifi to elite members.

I suspect this will only impact a portion of Delta Diamond Elite members. Most major companies have expense policies that include the use of in flight wifi, as long as it is for a valid business need.

3) Stop The Ridiculous Targeted Elite Promotion Offers

I wish Delta would stop devaluing their award tiers by getting rid of the ridiculous targeted elite status offers.

In 2011 we saw targeted offers to achieve Delta Gold status after only 2 domestic flights or 1 international flight. It didn’t stop at Gold. You could earn Delta Platinum after only 3 domestic flights or 2 international flights.

These promotions make me feel gullible for flying over 125,000 miles on Delta to earn Diamond status. Granted I do live in a Delta hub. But this approach makes me want to switch all of my flights over to Star Alliance and “virtually move” to another market.

Bottom Line

The first wish is just asking for a functioning award booking system, not a lot to ask. The second wish may be a tall order for Delta. With the revenue that wifi brings in and the amount of Diamond Elites, this may not work for them. But it would be great. The third wish is reasonable but unlikely in my opinion.

In Flight Certificate Give Away

I’m interested in how they compare to yours. Share your wish in the comments for Delta’s SkyMiles program to improve in 2012. On Sunday (12/11), I’ll randomly select a winner to receive 2 in flight Delta certificates.

Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or suggestions expressed on this site are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed.

About The Weekly Flyer

The Weekly Flyer writes about travel from a business traveler perspective. He travels the world every week accumulating points and miles along the way.

Sign up for Email || Twitter || Facebook || Tips & Tricks
Hotel Offers || Airline Offers || Bank Offers || Cash Back Offers

Comments

  2. Delta should stop devaluing the silver medallion tier. The silvers work hard for their status, and it is a mistake 4 delta to carve away the recognition and privileges they previously extended to silvers

  3. How do “they” work hard to attain silver? That’s like saying you work hard to make minimum wage. Makes no sense.

  4. I agree that free wifi in flight would be the most helpful perk. But it also irks me that even after finally achieving Gold status, I can’t use the SkyClub Lounge without paying a pretty high fee.
    If I had to pick one wish, though, I think I would wish that Gold members could change a ticket without paying the $150 fee. Maybe just forgive the fee on one or two changed tickets per year, so people don’t take advantage of it? This would really help me out.

  5. I vote for the broken award ticket engine. I feel as if Delta doesn’t even listen to any complaints or suggestions on this matter.

  7. For me the top items are # 3( I feel like a 2nd class flyer when I earn my Plat. status flying and then compete with someone who only had to fly 3 times ) and # 1 has to be fixed. I can understand why # 2 is important to Diamonds because they can work on business while flying which would otherwise be down time.
    Montana also has a good point, maybe allow 2 changes for Gold per year. 50,000 miles in a seat should be worth something.

  8. I would love to learn more about how to redeem delta skymiles. I am planning to fly my parents via delta using skymiles I buy with 100% transfer bonuses.

    I would love to have the gift certificates.

  9. Don’t fly Delta much, but I’ve had 25k miles sitting in my acct for quite some time. Can’t really use it because of the booking engine (or lack thereof). Would be nice to use up these points in my lifetime.

  10. My wish is for upgrade status to actually mean something for other elite members other than diamond

  11. The targeted promos should be more widespread. Delta has a chance to build loyalty away from AA and they can’t do that by being so selective.

  15. Agree with your #1 — FIX the booking/award engine. It is broken to the point of hilarity. I’ve seen it price out C awards at 725000 mi!

  17. This may be ridiculous, but I wish first class stopped wasting so much. They provide small tiny water bottles to everyone (Dasani, which is disgusting) and when I am bumped to first class and then ask for them to fill my water bottle (which I bring to be green), they hand me a Dasani water bottle. It defeats the purpose! I guess that has nothing to do with SkyMiles. Maybe give SkyMiles for paying extra for carbon offsets…?

  18. Here is my wish list: 1) Fix award calender, 2) Stop the promo’s to get status for little or nothing, and 3) Lower the fare classes to use SWU’s.

  19. My wishlist 1) increase the sign up bonus from the amex skymile credit card. 2) increase the flexibility of changing dates for booked tickets and reduce the fee.

  20. I wish Delta would increase the value of their miles. The entire industry is devaluing their frequent flier programs. I think Delta could engender a lot of goodwill if they decided to buck the trend.

  21. Let secondary Delta Amex cardholders (i.e., spouses) check bags for free.

    Because the card is in my name, when my wife travels alone, she has to pay for a bag. Insane! Granted, this has only happened once, and Amex was kind enough to give a one-time courtesy refund for the bag fees. Next time around though, she’ll sign up for her own card, collect the fat SkyMiles sign-up bonus, and never use the card again… just to get a free checked bag. Clearly this is Delta/Amex’s loss.

  24. @Joel – Hopefully the award engine will fix seeing award availability

    @Kathy – I concur. Entice customer loyalty with benefits, then be loyal to your customers by honoring those benefits

    @Sean – You’d be surprised, there are a lot of readers that don’t travel every week or go on mileage runs. It’s crazy I know:)

    @Montana – You can change within a 24 hour window. Most airlines would say buy a refundable ticket to avoid the change fee. Gold members get a $100 discount or 20,000 mileage discount for Sky Club membership. You can see the Sky Club pricing through this link: http://www.delta.com/traveling_checkin/airport_information/delta_sky_club/member_enrollment_fees/index.jsp

    @Denise – Fixing the award engine is my #1 wish as well. I’m going to tweet Delta once this promotion is closed. Hopefully we’ll get some more comments before the end of day tomorrow. We’ll see if they respond, not likely, but worth a shot.

    @Brian – Don’t we all. Keep an eye out for airline fare wars and your wish may come true.

    @Jim – I agree, the best loyalty programs work both ways. By giving platinum away for 3 domestic flights, I’m not sure what they are accomplishing

    @Ketelone – I’ve written a few posts on redeeming Delta Skymiles to the Seychelles and French Polynesia. If you have any questions, just ask.

    @goheerow – There are a number of work around ways to find availability. Just ask if you have questions.

    @cyndi – I’ve been on flights with a heavy number of diamond members. As a Diamond, I’ve even surprised when I’m number 20 on a list. Sometimes it not always about status though, if you get a certain Delta credit card you can increase your upgrade % within your status level

    @george – I’m keeping an eye out for which markets they will target. Once the target promotion is sent out, its hard to get in on the offer. May want to think about where you “live” relative to Delta’s target market this coming year

    @philgold – Choose your flights wisely if you want an upgrade as a silver. Non-business travel days and times are best if you can manage

    @abby – not likely just for Sky Miles members, but Delta does give more mileage bonus for the top tier Sky Miles members. See this link for full details: http://www.delta.com/skymiles/ways_to_get_miles/earning_miles_delta/index.jsp

    @stephanie – I think award availability is there in most cases, but not always. There is also more availability the higher at the elite status levels

    @aleks – 725000 is pretty high for a coach ticket. I wonder if Delta is hoping people will just pay that price or if they even know it is broken?

    @as – One way awards would be a great addition to the program

    @danielle – Delta already has a recycling program. You can learn more here: http://www.delta.com/about_delta/global_good/environment/index.jsp

    @harry – agree with all of your wishes. The SWU eligable fare debate will continue. It would be great if Delta shows a little flexibility on these SWU’s. They aren’t really useful when you have to book with a full fare coach ticket internationally

    @jerry – We saw 100k AA and BA credit card offers this year. Wouldn’t it be great if we saw one for Delta?

    @nathan – Agree with you that Delta miles aren’t worth as much as other programs. Although we will see the option to redeem on AirSeychelles go away, there is still good value to be found with redemption options.

    @deltaplat – I wonder if you add her as an approved user for the card if that would help, have you tried that yet?

    @mike – 72 hour award ticket change is a valid wish

    @anna – Fixing the award booking engine would likely solve both of these problems

    Thanks for all of your comments. Keep them coming and I’ll randomly select a winner Sunday evening (7PM EST) to receive 2 in flight certificates good through 12/31/12

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *