Tag Archives for delta air lines.
Delta Air Lines is offering free inflight internet to elite SkyMiles members on many planes that are equipped with their fastest satellite wifi. Entering your SkyMiles number and password at DeltaWifi.com unlocks the service now where offered. This is part of the airline’s slow test to ensure they have enough bandwidth when usage goes up as a result of not charging for connectivity.
Delta and Starbucks have a new reciprocal earning partnership, which is only upside. There’s even a bonus for linking your accounts, which you should do in order not to leave miles on the table.
Delta is doubling down on the requirement that you not only fly a minimum amount to earn elite status, but spend a minimum amount with the airline, too. There are no changes to how much you need to fly – just how much you need to spend. And they’re updating choice benefits for Platinum and Diamond members.
When you reach a million mile threshold with Delta SkyMiles, they offer you a choice of gift. It’s a really nice touch, or at least it was. The program was paused during the pandemic, and just re-launched. So everyone who earned million mile status since the program went on hiatus (or earned a selection, but their selection didn’t ship prior to Covid) was invited to pick a gift from the new program.
Delta Air Lines is considering an order for 20 Airbus A350-1000s, the largest aircraft that Airbus is currently producing. These may be the planes that Qatar Airways was going to buy, before Airbus cancelled their purchase agreement in a spat with the Doha-based carrier over paint.
Getting into a Delta Sky Club these days requires waiting in line like its the U2 Joshua Tree tour in 1987 or a Best Buy Black Friday doorbuster. At New York JFK terminal 4 things are even worse: the China National Highway 110 traffic jam of 2010, which is to say being a Sky Club member in 2022 is akin to Beatlemania – or living your life queueing as though you’re French.
Delta customers have clearly gotten the word that if they want a seat in the club, they need to show up at the airport early, even before the Sky Clubs open.
In March 2019 Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the airline would offer free wifi within “a year or two.” They needed to ensure they had enough bandwidth for everyone to use it, since not charging would mean far greater usage.
Delta’s plan has taken further shape. Domestic ViaSat-equipped aircraft (the ones that have enough bandwidth to support this) will get free internet early next year.
A Delta Air Lines passenger shares what happened when they rang their flight attendant call bell to ask for a drink while flying from Atlanta to Boston recently.
Seated in extra legroom coach, which offers free cocktails, they asked for a Jack Daniels and Coke during the drink cart pass through the cabin. Half an hour later they wanted another drink so they pushed the button about their seat. It lit up. About five minutes later a crewmember showed up and declined their request.
Transatlantic airfares have been exceptionally high in all classes of service. I haven’t seen much like premium economy (think: domestic first class plus a foot rest) at reasonable pricing until now.
Delta and its partners are offering roundtrips starting at $860 for premium economy between October and May, a wide period of time that includes peak travel periods. And it’s available from numerous U.S. cities to several cities in Europe and back.
Delta Air Lines is conducting a test boarding planes using two jet bridges at the same time. This way they can get twice as many passengers onto the aircraft at once, making the boarding process go faster.
If adopted, in the future this could mean a single jet bridge that splits off and then boards passengers through two different doors on the aircraft. For now they are using two gates next to each other to accomplish the feat. Since Cincinnati is a much smaller station for Delta than the hub it used to be, they have extra gate space to allow this kind of test.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
