Complaints about frequent flier programs are nothing new. In general the number of miles for an award with most programs seems to continually go up, along with fees and restrictions on these awards.
But Delta’s latest change seems particularly egregious and likely to engender a lot more bad will than revenue.
No, this isn’t the new $150 reissue fee for changes or $150 fee to redeposit miles for an unused ticket. Although those are annoying enough they are in line with standard domestic change fees. And Delta is eliminating their fee for last minute bookings.
What is changing, however, for last-minute bookings, is a new minimum stay rule. All award travel booked within 21 days of departure will require a Friday or Saturday night stay.
There are some exemptions, for the highest-tier frequent fliers, and for awards using double miles. But for the lowest category, 25,000 miles for a domestic trip, even Silver Medallion members are out of luck on this one.
It seems likely that what Delta is trying to do here is to keep business travelers from using an an award ticket for a last minute business trip, or at least that’s the only logical explanation that occurs to me.
Are they that sure that they will get the revenue anyway, or will business travelers in that situation book a lower-priced carrier? Plus, be that much less likely to book Delta in future.
In addition, not all travelers who want to return before the weekend are traveling for business. For one example, most parents who have children playing sports have had to cut trips short for games. Ditto college visits often must be scheduled on weekdays.
With telecommuting and flexible hours, more and more people might be inclined to take a leisure trip during the week.
But here’s the really silly thing — the only flights that are open for the lowest award redemption levels have plenty of seats still available. If we’re talking last minute bookings, then those seats have a real chance of going unsold.
So from an airline perspective, better to give away a seat that is likely to be empty, than to give one away for a flight months in advance that could well fill up.
Moreover, it’s easy goodwill, because many people book last-minute trips with mileage that they couldn’t afford any other way.
Now, Delta will say that they are still letting frequent fliers travel at the last minute, as long as they stay over the Friday or Saturday night. But what’s the point of that?
If travelers actually want to stay that long and there is space available, great. But if they want to come back midweek, it doesn’t cost the airline a thing. In addition, if using the airlines “peak” surcharges as a yardstick, weekend flights are more valuable, because they have higher surcharges.
Now, as most frequent fliers know, not all mileage program changes are permanent. Since this mandatory weekend stay rule doesn’t affect Delta’s most elite fliers, maybe they won’t get enough complaints from valued travelers to rescind it.
On the other hand, common sense might eventually prevail. It has been known, albeit rarely, to happen.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
