Yesterday my Delta Platinum Medallion package arrived in the mail. Of course I was excited especially when I read the outside of the envelope. The envelope was smartly labeled with, “Give your bag some shiny new style. Platinum Medallion Credentials Are Here.” Honestly, well marketed.
Delta Platinum Package Arrived; What’s Inside
The next thing I read once I opened the envelope was, “#BRAGTAG” wanting me to tweet my status update. Included in my package was the following:
- 3Â Platinum Medallion bag tags
- 4 drink certificates good through 12/31/16 – “Your second favorite part of this package.”
- 2 employee recognition certificates – “Want to tag us back?’
But what I found most disappointing is that Delta only provided 2, yes just 2 employee recognize Orion certificates. It seems like Delta is not only devaluing Delta Sky Miles but also the customer employee recognition program. In the past I’ve received way more than 2 and have always looked forward to putting them to good use. I LOVE interacting with great Delta employees and being able to give a small token of appreciation for better than average customer service. Do you think this is short sided on Delta’s part? Maybe this is a way to increase the value of these employee recognition certificates?
Bottom Line
Overall, after all the hard work to get to Platinum Medallion, I wish there was more! The status is the real prize and I guess that is their point, but maybe throw some more certificates in.  I will say that the marketing was well done and kept me excited but, in the end the actual offering, other than the status itself was a little underwelming.
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The Weekly Flyer writes about travel from a business traveler perspective. He travels the world every week accumulating points and miles along the way.
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My guess is that many people don’t use the employee recognition certs (I do, and I got 4 when I made DM) and so they cut back to reflect average usage. You can always e-mail DL with the names of an employee and particulars (I do that too) and they do get some recognition from that.
Over a year ago I did a status match to Turkish Airways just so I would have Star Alliance Sapphire status on my infrequent United flights. I have never spent a dime on a Turkish flight. This week I received a nice package with a soft landing Silver card and new baggage tags, all bound in a relatively high-cost binder. All a very nice surprise.
I made Delta Platinum early December 2014 after actually flying over 75,000 miles, and STILL have not received ANY hardware from Delta. It’s a minor thing, but just one more nail in the coffin of America’s airline industry loyalty programs.
Got my PM kit yesterday as well. Only wish they’d included those indestructible clear plastic loops.
As a matter of preference. I regularly praise great service on Twitter on #DeltaAssist. Although I do not know how that compliment gets forwarded and hopefully rewarded, I know that Delta monitors tweets like a hawk and will reply very quickly. They get your complaint out of the public forum and into private discussion so that their brand doesn’t get trashed but the multitudes. The upside to my process is when I do have a legitimate problem, I am getting a better resolution to it than the average Joe due to more balanced feedback.
I wonder when the free drinks will stop since they will now be offered as an amenity in economy comfort.