Delta is offering bonus miles for each trip to several destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean regardless of class of service.
Registration is required prior to ticket purchase and no later than September 30, for travel between September 2 through December 11.
The promotion is open to residents of the US 50 states (though the promotion terms do not say so, presumably residents of the District of Colombia are eligible — they’re really just intending to exclude folks already in the area like Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands but exclude residents of Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas by extension).
All paid mileage-eligible tickets earn bonus miles, and one-way tickets earn half the bonus of roundtrips. There is no limit to the number of times the bonus can be earned.
The offer isn’t just to fly to places at risk for hurricanes of course. Fly far enough South in the Caribbean and you’ll be outside the path. And Mexico bonuses apply to both East and West Coast as well as inland.
The idea for this offer is to incentivize travel to the Caribbean and Mexico when people in general aren’t going there — hurricane season and through shoulder season.
So much for Delta’s plans to move towards only awarding miles based on ticket price. They’re giving more miles for flights to the Caribbean when those flights are empty and prices tend to be lower. (And, really, a $400 ticket from the West Coast to the Caribbean ought to be worth fewer miles under their new “miles for profits” model than a $400 ticket between Los Angeles and San Francisco, but Delta’s blunt instrument doesn’t recognize that.)
As I’ve said since the beginning of revenue-based discussions, airlines will still incentivize flying when it suits their purposes… with bonus miles, and with bonus elite qualifying dollar earning.
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For ‘flying through hurricanes’, really?
FYI – Hurricane season in the Atlantic is from June 1st through November 30th, 6 months in the year covering Summer and Fall.
Gary, your column is usually pretty good. No need to write sensationalist misleading headers and notes.
@TX it wasn’t meant as sensationalist, just to emphasize that it’s a bonus to goose traffic when no one wants to fly to the destination.
What TX said: silly title. There are always lots of incentives to travel to the tropics during low and shoulder season. And it’s low and shoulder season not because of hurricanes but because it’s warm in the US so people don’t want/need to escape to the tropics from sun and warmth.
Which makes it the PERFECT time to go!