Platinum bind: Elite stragglers get a reprieve from ailing airlines

You’ve probably heard about the extraordinary mileage promotions being offered by many legacy airlines in the United States. Earlier this week, for example, Delta Air Lines offered up to triple flown miles toward elite status on select fares purchased for travel through the summer. But that isn’t the only way in which air carriers are being more generous with their frequent fliers.

Some customers who can’t quite make elite status this year are also being allowed to squeak by. That’s what happened to Glenn Chapin, who found himself about 3,000 miles shy of qualifying for Platinum status on Delta recently.

The airline took a hard line when he asked for mercy. It sent him the following cut-and-paste rejection letter:

Please know Delta appreciates your loyalty, and we’re honored that you have chosen to fly with us so frequently over the years and we welcome your continued support.

Elite status is based on Medallion Qualification Miles flown within a calendar year. Your year to date MQM balance was 70,534.

We strive to provide equal consideration to all of our members with similar circumstances, and we receive many inquiries from customers who are unable to reach the required qualifying mileage. In fact, this year,

Delta did make an exception for members who were close to the next Medallion threshold and lowered the amount of miles for Platinum Medallion to 73,500 Medallion Qualification Miles, instead of the required 75,000 MQMs. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer an exception to this exception.

Your selection of Delta is appreciated, and we will always do our best to merit your confidence and support.

For the record, I think this would be a fair response during normal times.

But these aren’t normal times. The airline industry needs all the elites it can get, so an “exception to an exception” might make some business sense. In fact, the reason Chapin didn’t fly the miles needed for Platinum status is that he was, as he delicately puts it, “between opportunities” for three months.

So he appealed directly to Delta’s chief executive, Richard Anderson. I list all of the known executive contacts on my site, although Delta’s remain elusive (in fact, Delta rarely responds to queries from me — but that’s another story).

And guess what? Delta changed course.

Thank you for your recent e-mail to our Chief Executive Officer, Richard Anderson. I’ve been asked to respond on his behalf.

We work hard at Delta to provide you top-notch customer service and we thank you for taking the time to share your kind comments with us!

Our Elite Team Desk has granted you complimentary Platinum Medallion status that has been extended through February, 2010, as a one-time exception. You should receive your updated Platinum credentials by mail within 4-6 weeks.

We appreciate your business and trust your future flights will be enjoyable. We hope you will continue to make Delta your airline of choice.

I have a feeling he will.

I think there’s a lesson in here for all of us. At a time like this, it may not be entirely unreasonable to ask for something that under normal circumstances would be totally unreasonable. The free roundtrip ticket. The first class upgrade. A bump in elite status.

Airlines are in a generous mood. Why not be on the receiving end of their generosity?

  • http://www.ffocus.org Art Pushkin

    As Chairman of FFOCUS, a frequent flyer advocacy organization with over 1000 members, I applaud DL for realizing that frequent travelers are their bread and butter, and for bending the rules under certain circumstances. CO also comes to mind as a well run airline who realizes where its priorities lie and recognizes the value of loyal frequent travelers.

    On the other side of the equation you have US Airways, which considers its most loyal customers a liability. Of late, we have seen comments from a VP of customer service, who, in commenting on elite perks and special services, said that their information was that was not what the customer wants….did they bother to ask?

    Then you have Doug Parker, who truly does not understand loyalty programs at all. If it’s not on a spreadsheet he doesn’t get it. He said at US Media Day yesterday that he doesn’t understand a program designed to give the product away. Loyalty programs are VERY important to the business traveler, but again, he just sees the free tickets as a liability, not a tool to retain your most valuable customers. This philosophy is a good reason why so many elite level travelers have left US in the dust.

  • Carver

    I think Delta made the only reasonable choice. Although I wouldn’t chalk it up to generosity but rather “motivated self interest”, i.e. a good business decision. 70,000 miles is a lot of travel, a lot of time to be away from home and family. Frequent travelers have long realized that if we are to be traveling that much, the perks of a high tier of a frequent flyer/loyalty program can really make travel less onerous if not downright pleasant on vacation.

    However, as travel become more of a commodity, the frequent flyer program serves to differentiate the products based on each person’s needs. However, someone like Glenn who has been “loyal” to Delta, is very likely to switch carrier’s if he feels like Delta is not bring response to his needs and circumstances and past business.

    Given the huge downturn in the economy, many loyalty programs have extended the status of select members who didn’t requalify the normal way. A few people felt that was unfair, but this was overwhelmingly received by most frequent travelers as a good thing.

    In my own case, I stayed at Marriott for about 69 nights, just shy of the 75 nights needed to requalify for platinum. By extending my platinum status, Marriott remains my top program along with Starwood. Had they chosen not to extend my status, I would have been faced with the reality of my next 75 nights with Marriott as a mid-tiered member, for lack of 6 nights,. At that point, I would begin looking at Hilton and Hyatt more closely to see if either program is more aligned with my travel habits, potentially depriving Marriott of about 15k annually.

  • http://www.alaskatravelgram.com Scott McMurren

    I keep waiting for Alaska Airlines to get on the bandwagon with double-qualifying-miles, etc.

    As a rule, airline people develop some hard bark, particularly when talking to their customers in non-competitive markets about why fares are so high.

    But with the double EQM promotions, airlines can maintain the charade of pricing integrity, while rewarding their most-frequent travelers, IMHO.

  • Joe Farrell

    The opposite is true for both Carver and Mr. Chapin – you have to deliver now. If a business makes an exception to its rules for its perceived best customers, those customers also need to fly or stay at the company preferentially to others – even in a down travel environment – many many business now have frozen business travel. As a travel company, if they asked my opinion, which they never do, I would have indicated to the person what my travel in 2009 would be reviewed – and if it was apparent that I was not using priivleges afforded me on a regular basis indicating my preference for Delta in 2009, the mileage bonuses and other perquisites wouldbe removed from my account.

    This is a reasonable resolution. Everyone gets what they need; the customer, who was platinum legally under the tough rules gets the benefits, the company gets the loyalty, and, if the customer does not maintain that loyalty, the company gets to take the bonus miles and upgrades back. You ask for something special, you gotta give . . .

  • William Rowell

    Well, I’m a Platinum member that Delta sent on his way. Their Skymiles program has been gradually trimmed to bone for about 4 years now. When I originally started traveling with my new job, midyear in 2000, I quickly made Skymiles status, even making Platinum within my first year.

    One of the biggest perks of Delta’s program was Crown Room Membership for their Platinums. While I don’t drink (free sodas are nice though), I was thoroughly impressed by the Agents in the Crown Room. My travel plans change A LOT and with using Atlanta has a hub, weather often throws a wrench in my plans. The Crown room agents would ALWAYS find a good solution to any problem I had.

    Delta even gave out great gifts to it’s high end Platinums (over 125,000) a year. Four years ago, I received a 20″ Hartmann Rollaboard (MSRP over $400). Then they started playing with the system. First they decided that the Platinums would have to play the 500 mile segment upgrades just like the Silver and Golds (Platinums had unlimited upgrades). Almost immediately, they changed their minds and reversed directions. Instead, now ALL Medallion member get unlimited upgrades. While I understand that this is wonderful for the Silver and Golds, when was the last time you saw an available 1st Class seat on Delta?

    Then there was the Saturn Sky Roadster promotion. For every 1000 Miles you flew you received an entry to win one of 20 or 25 Sky Roadsters. I racked almost 200,000. I WANTED one of those cute little cars. Then the promotion went AWOL. I don’t remember ever receiving ANY notice that it was being stopped. It just disappeared. As a matter of fact, I spent DAYS looking for any hint of it on their website, nothing, nada, GONE.

    And then the hatchet came down on the Crown Room membership. No more free Crown Room for Platinums. Oh, but late that year, I get an email. The 125,000 mark Platinums will still get Free Membership that year. Now theoretically the cost of Membership for Platinums is $300 or 40,000 miles. Realistically the cost to Delta is about zip. The rooms are open at every airport I’ve seen, the cost of the free booze may be something, but honestly it’s definitely cheaper than the Hartmann luggage they gave away the year before.

    Then, as that year end approaches, I start looking for information about my next years membership. After not finding anything, I wrote Platinum customer service an email. Their reply looked A LOT like Mr. Chapin’s. I then emailed a reply, explaining how much I appreciated my Crown Room membership, and also mentioning the fact that I was only 60,000 miles from my 1st Million Miler Status. The response was almost word for word the same, ie. we don’t care.

    I swallowed that and kept traveling, at one point I considered dropping 40,000 just to get access to my Crown Room agents, but by now 3 months had passed and I would have to pay an “Initiation Fee”. Nope, I’m Pi**ed. Ain’t gonna do it.

    Now the final straw. One of the other BIG perks for the Platinums was 3 bags at 70lbs for FREE. I travel 10 days out and 4 home all year long. I carry a 50-70lb toolbox, clothes for 4-6 days and a spare 20″ so that if I travel on another airline, I can get my weights below 50lbs in my first two bags and carry on my spare. On February 1, with ZERO notice Delta started charging Platinums $25 for the third bag. At first I thought it was simply stupid ticket agents who didn’t know their own companies policies. I actually carry a copy of the proper pages for United and US Air ’cause I run into that a lot as a Star Alliance Gold Member. Nope, new policy, pay up.

    I haven’t flown Delta since. I’m now a US Air Gold Member enroute to 150 segments (they give away club membership at that point!) 20 segments in the 1st 30 days….. I wonder how much revenue Delta saved with those “Improvements” vs how much I’m going to spend with US Air this year, and next year, etc.

    Oh, Yeah, I got my Million Miler packet in February. Bye Delta.

  • Mike

    I missed MVP on Alaska by about 3000 miles. The biggest factor was that they changed my most frequent route from a non-stop to a connection in PDX or SEA. While I continue to fly AS when possible, sometimes for short trips I cannot afford the extra time for a connection. The final blow was the horrible weather in December. I had to rebook a 1000+ mile trip to another carrier to get home.

    I got an email saying if I flew 4 segments in a 2-month window they would extend MVP benefits again this year. i took them up on it, and while I still have the problem with the connecting service on the one route, I am projecting to be about half-way to MVP for 2010 by June. Had they not helped me out, I would have booked all my trips on the non-stop service of another carrier.

  • Carver

    @Joe

    Well, I can’t speak for anyone else, but I have to disagree. During the economic downturn, traveling as much just isn’t possible for many of us. However, the concept of loyalty (terrible BS term) is that is runs both ways. During those times when meeting 75 nights is not possible, Marriott and others extend their grace as a way of engendering good will towards it so-called elite members.

    As such, when the good times return, we remain with our chosen travel provider.

    The fundamental problem with your approach is that is fails to appreciate that loyalty programs are not designed to be well targetted towards the individual, but are set up along very arbitrary, yet bright line rules. For example, someone who stays 25 single nights at the 4 pts brings in far less revenue that someone who makes 20 stays of 2 nights each at the St. Regis. Yet the former will have a higher SPG status than the latter.

    This is because the transactional cost of reviewing individual account to determine each ndividua’ls profitability is too high and too much like voodoo, so we accept the bright line rules which may or may not accurately reflect the individual profitability.

    The only major program to attempt to address this disparity is Hilton by permitting one to obtain status through dollars spent.

  • DN

    FYI, unless it’s changed, every major airline has a “one-sie” that they’ll extend to elite members to maintain their status.

    @Joe:
    I travel a lot, and I have a high elite status on a number of programs. However, my choices are deliberately targeted to programs that, well basically, don’t drive me insane or are extremely difficult to reach. I’d be a very bad customer because I like to expand my choices and am not particularly loyal to a specific preferred company. For example, I don’t see any difference between National Emerald Executive Elite and Emerald Executive, so I make the minimum 12 rentals per year and maintain my Hertz 5-Star and Avis First status as well. I went with Hilton because I could easily reach and maintain Diamond Status, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t also stay with Holiday Inn (Gold) if it’s 50% less. It’d be really tough to go through the history and determine which ones game the system and which ones are extremely profitable.

    @Carver:
    You are correct that, when times are good, I make sure I support the companies I have high status with and only under the rarest of circumstances do I support one that I don’t. If I leave my high travel job for one where I rarely travel, I won’t complain about losing my status. But I’m also remembering which companies treated me well (and which ones didn’t) and will do my best to maintain some sort of status with at least one or two of them.

    @William:
    Sorry to hear about your Delta experience. That just sucks.