Policy change shoots frequent flier down
By Glenn Smith
The Post and Courier
Daniel Ruth, former frequent flyer with Delta, stands outside the Charleston International Airport on Tuesday.
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Daniel Ruth racked up nearly 700,000 frequent-flier miles as a loyal customer of Delta Airlines, but he recently found himself grounded from the friendly skies when he tried to book a flight for his daughter.
The 72-year-old Daniel Island resident planned to use some of his SkyMiles to fly her to Oregon. But when he checked his Delta account last month, it was empty. Not a mile to be had.
Alarmed, Ruth contacted Delta, assuming there had been a mistake. No, he was told, the SkyMiles he spent years accumulating had expired because his account had been dormant for 24 months. Sorry, but no activity, no miles, the airline explained. Those are the rules.
That answer didn't sit well with Ruth, who called Post and Courier Watchdog for help.
"I think this is just a total disregard for customer loyalty and relations," he said. "I would have expected the decency of some kind of notice. Even if I had to pay some kind of penalty, I can understand that. But to completely erase that many miles is unreasonable."
That kind of mileage probably put
Ruth in the top 10 percent of frequent-fliers, said Randy Petersen, a frequent-flier guru from Colorado who publishes Inside Flyer magazine. Among other things, 700,000 SkyMiles would cover three around-the-world flights in first class or an eight-month stay in a stylish hotel, he said.
Ruth, a retired container company manager, said he flew exclusively with Delta for years, regularly jetting around the eastern seaboard on business. At one point, Ruth said, he had accumulated 1.5 million SkyMiles, qualifying him for the airline's elite "platinum medallion" status.
That kind of loyalty should have earned him a heads-up from Delta before they simply deleted his balance of 694,541 SkyMiles in January, he said. The last statement he received from Delta, in May 2006, indicated he had until the end of 2009 before his miles expired, Ruth said. He said he didn't realize that Delta had since changed its expiration period from three years to two, meaning Ruth had to take some action on his miles by December 2008. When he failed to do so, they simply disappeared.
Ruth appealed to Delta, citing his long relationship with the airline, family matters that prevented him from traveling in the past two years and other mitigating factors.
The airline told him the program's rules clearly require members to earn or redeem miles at least once in a 24-month period to keep accrued SkyMiles from expiring. A variety of methods are available to do so. SkyMiles can be used for airline tickets or for car rentals, hotel stays, magazine subscriptions or other services with "partner" industries. Ruth, however, failed to exercise any of those options, the airline stated.
When contacted this week by Watchdog, Delta spokesman Kent Landers said it is up to customers to keep track of their accounts and what is required of them. But he said the airline would review Ruth's situation to make sure nothing was overlooked.
"Obviously, our loyal customers are very important to us, and we will certainly look at this to make sure we did everything possible to maintain that loyalty," he said.
Petersen, of Inside Flyer, said many airlines have changed the guidelines of frequent-flier programs, and SkyMiles has less-onerous requirements and restrictions than many of its competitors. The lesson here is that customers need to pay attention to their accounts, watch for changes and take necessary steps to keep miles active, he said.
"These are assets, just like a checking or savings account," he said. "As with any type of asset, you want to stay engaged."
Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.
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sethook (anonymous) says...
Use em or lose em...
April 9, 2009 at 1:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sardis12 (anonymous) says...
Delta shouldn't expect to change the rules in the middle of the game, especially without giving adequate notice. Sue them...
April 9, 2009 at 3:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
softmoore (anonymous) says...
I had a similar experience with Delta a few years ago, although I did not have as many miles as Ruth. I was disappointed that Delta did not take the time to send me any form of advance communication about the pending loss of miles so that I could take the necessary steps to retain the miles. Since then I have flown Delta only once, and that was because I could not find a reasonable alternative. They have become my last choice when booking a flight, and most of the time I don't even look to see what they have available.
April 9, 2009 at 6:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oldglory (anonymous) says...
Companies in general send a barrage of promotional communications costing who knows how much of their budgets. The irritating part is embodied in Mr. Ruth's complaint. I've always wondered why we have to live up to our end of these contracts when, in fact, few companies do. Contracts are frequently broken and/or are changed by companies.
April 9, 2009 at 6:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
waterbug (anonymous) says...
These miles were accrued through the company he was employed by and not out of his pocket book. So, in actuallity he didn't lose anything.
April 9, 2009 at 6:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oldglory (anonymous) says...
waterbug - very true; however, he was influenced to choose that airline for its promotional campaigns as did many others.
April 9, 2009 at 7:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weeeee (anonymous) says...
Agreed, Pluff. This guy is crying about "his" miles when he probably has that 1st class ticket for his daughter in cash.
Meh, I pay attention to anything with my name on it. It's not difficult. If he's sooo distraught over this, he should just change airlines.
April 9, 2009 at 8:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
R_U_Kidding_Me (anonymous) says...
"These are assets, just like a checking or savings account,"...
I haven't touched my savings account in years. I wonder if the bank has deleted it. I better check.
April 9, 2009 at 8:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Nonsense (anonymous) says...
I used my Delta skymiles for a round trip to San Francisco for me and my husband; so I already feel ahead of the game. I saw a news program for American Airlines that reported it was next to impossible to use miles accumulated with AA, so if you really want to profit on these things, you have to keep up with it, i.e., rules, restrictions. I get emails from Delta at least twice a week advertising special fares, rules changes, etc., and go on-line to check my account at least once a month - more if I am traveling. They clearly give you an expiration date. Evidently, this guy wasn't computer saavy - if I had that many miles, I would have checked on it pretty often.
April 9, 2009 at 8:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
charlestonian (anonymous) says...
All he had to do was get a Delta American Express credit card and but one cup of coffee a year on it and it would saved him.
April 9, 2009 at 8:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hobcaw (anonymous) says...
Delta (et al) sux
April 9, 2009 at 9:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
charlestt (anonymous) says...
I had a bunch of vouchers with an airline when I was younger. I always looked for ways to get bumped so I could get more and more free flights. I had maybe 8 or 10 free flights around the continental US and then Eastern Airlines went Bankrupt. Nobody would honor them. Just pay for your flight and forget about getting something for free.
April 9, 2009 at 9:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
beefsaver (anonymous) says...
Ahhh... the smell of fresh class warfare in the morning. Is it the smell of cheap perk or chic espresso? I can't tell.
While this is undoubtedly a fluffy piece with consumer watchdog overtones, I don't see any reason to revile this particular consumer for his complaint. How do any of us know whether he's got the disposable cash to do anything? You know what they say about assumptions.
If you're tempted to judge him because he's some corporate swine, then remove the human element from it. Look at it as another case study in how our once storied, American companies are eroding their own past esteem customer by customer. Let's see... extremely loyal customer for years: treat like a child and hide behind bureaucracy. Now that is a winning formula, the type that can come only from the wisest of group-think sessions.
Or, you can imagine how many endless hours of delay this guy spent in Hartsfeld-Jackson Airport. That makes this customer service snafu pale in comparison to the harsh, awful reality of flying Delta for years.
April 9, 2009 at 9:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gingerlatte (anonymous) says...
R_U_Kidding_Me: I work at a bank. If you're account is inactive for an extended period of time, it goes into dormancy during which time the bank has no obligation to pay you interest. Your loss.
For the people grumbling about how he earned the flyer miles, he's the one who spent what must have been half of his life, at the time, jetting back and forth for his company. That's one of the few perks he should be allowed to enjoy as a frequent flyer! Yes, it sounds easy but it's extremely exhausting, especially flying overseas. Jetlag is a b!%^#.
I bet Delta did a little dance of joy when they watched his points expire. One less person to be accountable to.
April 9, 2009 at 9:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weeeee (anonymous) says...
My apologies. My distaste for this guy's whining in no way lightens my belief that Delta (et al) are all trash. Personally, I'll only fly Delta, but that's ONLY when I have no option to drive. I don't consider a 20+ hour road trip when I have limited days an option to drive.
The airlines are all trash...just like the utility companies. They can charge whatever they want because they know they'll get it.
April 9, 2009 at 9:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SCHoser (anonymous) says...
It boils down to personal responsibility. He should have checked on it if it was that important to him-seems like a lot of effort went into getting the miles and then just forget them? A big question is if Delta notified him and others about the policy change. Still, this a great opportunity for Delta to get some good publicity. And please people, don't be mad because this guy has something and you don't-jealousy will kill you early and is not an endearing attribute.
April 9, 2009 at 10:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
iceman1978 (anonymous) says...
Posted by Hobcaw on April 9, 2009 at 9:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Delta (et al) sux
-----------------
You got that right. I remember a time when the airlines had customer service. Flying used to be an experience. It still is, just not a pleasant one.
April 9, 2009 at 11:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Nonsense (anonymous) says...
Flying is a necessary evil - and on any airline it sux - it's like riding the bus used to be about 40 years ago - there are all kinds of weirdos and germs out there. And Atlanta's airport gets filthier everytime I go through there. There was an article in the AJC yesterday where Delta had a guy arrested by the FBI and he spent two days in jail because he was coming in from Honduras and had Montezuma's revenge; the flight attendant would not let him use the bathroom in business class and the refreshment cart was blocking the aisle to keep him from using the coach restroom. So he pushed the flight attendant aside and used the business class restroom - and he was met by the FBI at the Atlanta airport; two days in jail. I personally think he should have soiled himself on top of the stupid Nazi flight attendant. But I do see a lawsuit coming out of this......
April 9, 2009 at 11:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TinaR (anonymous) says...
R_U_Kidding, ya might just want to check that account...
I know a number of years ago, my parents opened an account for me with a local Navy Federal, it was just a small savings account that they would put money in from time to time. It was not until I finished college that my mom told me about the account. I went there to make a deposit one day and was told that my account had been closed due to in activity because it had been so long since a deposit or withdrawal was made, they decided just to keep the money and roll with it. My parents were never notified that the account was being closed.
Chalked up to lesson learned.
April 9, 2009 at 11:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mypointofview (anonymous) says...
Delta tried to do this to me several years ago, but I called USAir before my Delta miles expired and asked them if they would recognize me at the same status level and transfer the miles. They did.
...and NO, Mr. Lander... it is NOT "obvious" that "our loyal customers are important to us." What IS obvious is that Delta doesn't give a rat's arse about it's legacy customers. If Delta continues to show such disregard for it's customers, my guess is they will be out of business within a few years...as any company with such contemptable behavior should be.
April 9, 2009 at 12:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ConcernedinCHS (anonymous) says...
I don't have much sympathy for the guy. The 24 month rule has been around for as long as I can remember. If he was so concerned with his miles then he should have earned miles to reset the 24 month. There are probably 50 ways to earn miles. If he sent his daughter $20 worth of flowers via FTD he would have earned enough miles to keep his account active.
The guy had a brain fart. Sucks to be him
April 9, 2009 at 1:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UrGatorbait (anonymous) says...
True on the limits, my United miles are limited to like a year. Airlines are looking for ways to cut costs though I think they should have grandfathered his sky miles and placed the time limit on new sky miles accounts.
April 9, 2009 at 2:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UrGatorbait (anonymous) says...
Beefsaver, well put.
Airlines are the most cut throat operations because of minimal margins and high costs. So business is hyper-competitive. People that take buses might overlook that business fact and bemoan some one that can fly. If the company reimbursed his tickets than they are a perk. I have no problem with that.
A whole lot of envy from the usual folks.
My daughter lives overseas and flying is the preferred way to get there for me anyway.
April 9, 2009 at 2:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
beefsaver (anonymous) says...
ConcernedinCHS, as you no doubt read in the article, the "24 month" rule has not been around that long, as he verified that he had 36 months (until the end of 2009) to use his points. Then they changed it. So this new limitation has been around as long as anyone can remember, as long as anyone can only remember two years ago.
April 9, 2009 at 2:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ConcernedinCHS (anonymous) says...
beefsaver,
It has been 24 months for at least 14 years that I have been a Medallion member. The change was from 24 month to a rolling 24 month.
Quoting from Delta's website:
SkyMiles Mileage Expiration Policy Changes
On January 1, 2009, the SkyMiles program mileage expiration policy changed from a two-year policy tied to the end of the calendar year to a rolling 24-month policy for all SkyMiles members. Miles will expire 24 months after a member's last qualifying activity rather than at the end of the year. To ensure a smooth transition to this 24-month policy, miles will not expire earlier than April 30, 2009. You can check your February online statement or log into your SkyMiles account beginning February 1, 2009, for your updated expiration date.
April 9, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheriamos (anonymous) says...
Greed and hoarding will get you absolutely no where!
April 9, 2009 at 2:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MP (anonymous) says...
Pluffmud, you are a Greyhound type of guy.
April 9, 2009 at 8:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ertdfg (anonymous) says...
Posted by PluffmudHenry on April 9, 2009 at 7:52 a.m.
Well pluff, why should we care about you and your bourgeois travel arrangements with Greyhound when some people can't afford that and have to hitchhike or simply walk?
I'm sorry; is it still fair to claim a social status under someone else and express the class warfare and envy as pride; or did that option expire as well?
Anyhow, obviously with your logic; since there are tons of people worse off than you; we should never care if you're treated unfairly or ripped off either... it's your fault for being so rich.
That was your point, right? Class warfare, envy, dismissal without looking at the story or the situation... I think I got it. Sadly you aren't at the bottom of the pile, so the same does apply to you doesn't it?
And now, I shall go to mourn the poor travel opportunities of the Amish. Or maybe do something useful; I haven't decided.
April 10, 2009 at 6:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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