In a comment to my post about More Options for Medallions, a great question was posed about Coach Choice Seats and how Medallion Preferred Seats are affected.
While it’s true the Choice Seats project opened a new revenue stream for Delta, it did not come at the expense of existing Preferred Seats. The number of preferred seats Delta offers is the same before and after choice seats implementation. Over 90% of seats on Delta flights are still available when booking, or any time after, at no charge.
The SkyMiles team insured the integrity of the Preferred Seats program throughout the business requirements phase of the Choice Seats application development. Medallion members can continue to book Preferred Seats at any time prior to departure, and the number of seats allocated has not changed. Consequently, Medallions may also book Choice Seats for no fee, but only in the 24 hours prior to the flight.
As a side note, if someone purchases a Choice Seat, but ends up sitting in a different spot, the fee will be refunded.
Shani Nizan
delta.com
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UPDATE 11/17: Thank you for participating in the Delta Blog! Delta has been listening to your concerns and has responded. For more information see my comment below.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
As a frequent flier, I am totally cool with this concept… I don’t mind paying an extra $5 or $10 for an exit row or bulkhead seat. It’s worth it since I’m 6′4″.
However, I have a serious problem with the new baggage fees. It’s ridiculous to charge $15 for the first checked bag — that’s enough to make me shop the competition, even though I’m a Delta loyalist. I understand the need to recoup costs, but at most, you should create a step-scale fee. For example, $5 for the first bag, $20 for the second, etc.
The only thing this fee is going to do is encourage more carry-ons. Have you flown lately? You can hardly get anything in the overheads as it is. If even a few more passengers bring carry-ons, it will be pure madness boarding and deplaning.
I seriously hope you’ll reconsider this fee and go with a more intelligent plan.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I agree…every week I watch people come on with bigger and bigger carry-ons. No one is checking luggage anymore… obviously to avoid these fees. No one is stopping people from coming on with more than 2 bags that are the size of a small farm animals. I watched a family of 4 come on with 2 bags each (including a 5 year old) each the size of a regular suitecase.
The boarding proccess is much slower because of this. If your going to charge (fine with me by the way), Delta needs to enforce the number of bags and size of bags that may be carried on.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
How can you say “it did not come at the expense of existing Preferred Seats. The number of preferred seats Delta offers is the same before and after choice seats implementation.”, when clearly medallion members can no longer select these seats at the time of booking? Therefore this new revenue stream did come at the expense of Preferred Seats. Sure, we can go online, if we have time, availability, and proper access to reselect a new seat 24-hours in advance, of course assuming someone else doesn’t book at that time. If I book flights in advance enough to obtain a specific exit row aisle seat, but am now unable to book that particular seat until 24-hours before the actual flight, then you have made a change at my expense.
Thank you for taking yet another step to making flights miserable and flying with Delta even less enjoyable. You sure aren’t managing to earn or keep my loyalty.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
The Choice Coach Seats program is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea. Delta may try to put the best spin on the program as only involving 10% of the plan’s seats and supposedly not impacting the inventory of preferred seats; but that has not been my experience. Looking at seating charts on some of my future flights, the Choice seats represent more than 60% of desirable seat locations (non-center seats in the front of the cabin). In my flight next week to Bermuda on an $1100 ticket, despite being a 2 Million Miler and supposedly an Elite member, I now find myself booked in a center seat and will have to play the Choice Seat upgrage game 24 hours before flight time to see if I can get 1 of the 10 aisle seats available. Penny wise and pound foolish.
Agree with ATLguy on the baggage program as well. I can understand fees for overweight bags as I have seen people try to check bags that could double as a mobile apartment. And I know airlines are looking for new revenue streams, but this policy only serves to encourage passengers to bring carry-on luggage. Then the last customers coming on don’t have room so the flight gets delayed because they have to check their bags and they are severely inconvenienced. I think some of the people making these policies have never flown before as they make no sense.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I also have to take issue with the statement that the new program did not come at our expense. Unless I’m reading something wrong, Choice Seats are not available to Medallion members unless you’re flying on a Y or B class ticket. I just confirmed that is the case on my flight this afternoon. I’m on an L ticket and can’t select Choice Seats. I’m platinum Medallion, fly 51 weeks/yr and I can’t book an exit row.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Delta would do well to take the lead from Northwest Airlines Worldperk’s program which allows their elite members to select preferred seating when we purchase our reservations. The goodwill which NWA generates from this approach to offering preferred seating keeps many of us returning to this airline even when their ticket prices are higher than the competition. The progam is strategically profitable since they are willing to invest in keeping their loyal frequent flyers rather to “nickle dime us to death” with short term revenue enhancements. Delta’s initiatives for incremental baggage and preferred seating fees comes at the expense of ailenating those of us who prefer preferential treatment over the absolutely lowest cost vendor. Beware being “penny wise, but pound foolish.”
November 6th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
One has to wonder how these decisions get made. Do people that run the airline actually FLY the airline? I’m someone that is responsible for creating and building loyalty programs for the largest consumer organizations in the world (no, not Delta), and this flies in the face of logic on how to treat your best customers. There are already 271 messages on this change in the Flyertalk discussion forum so it has hit a chord, that’s for sure.
Like dlwinger and ETK, I don’t have the time nor inclination to play seat roulette at the 24 hour mark. In each of the last two flights I’ve take (last week and this week), preferred seats were offered that were all middle seats. How is a middle seat preferred? If that’s not taking inventory away, I don’t know what is. Why not make one simple change to the program? Give Medallion members the opportunity to grab the Choice seats at the same window timeframe as upgrades. It’s not an ideal solution but it’s better than how you’ve implemented this attack on your most loyal customers.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
What bothers me is that airlines have said that these baggage fees are to recoup cost of the rising price of gas.
Yet gas prices are dropping and DELTA brings adds the policy instead of eliminating it from Northwest.
Makes the offer that my JOB has to switch to AA and they will match the status I have with delta even more appealing.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Hi Shani,
Can you clarify this for me? Your email above says that Choice Seats are free for Medallions but only 24hrs before before the flight. But in the email I got today it says (and i cut n pasted) “Prices range from $5 to $25 per flight—but for Medallion® members like you, Coach Choice Seats are free. So what are you waiting for? The choice is yours”
The email doesn’t say that they are only free within 24hrs before departure.
So if this means that I can’t book a preferred seat (or these new Choice Seats) when I book my reservation, then this really really ticks me off. I fly at least 10 trips a year from RDU to the west coast (4 segments), so now, if I want the same type of seats that I’ve enjoyed in the past, I’m going to have to fork out anywhere from $200 to $1000 a year?? And of course, comes out of my pocket, can’t go on the expense report.
I’m sorry, this is so wrong… in fact between the 3 tier award seat program and the bag fees, this could be the proverbial straw…
November 6th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Hi everybody,
Thank you for your comments. I personally am not involved with excess baggage fees, so let’s table that discussion for this blog post.
Regarding Choice Seats:
- Preferred seats, including aisles and exit rows are still available to Medallions prior to the 24 hour window.
- Choice Seats span the whole row (at least in every configuration I have seen), which includes middle seats. Besides, the extra leg room of an exit row is not only available to the person on the aisle
- pmcary, Choice Seats can only be booked until 24 hours in advance. So, while you may be qualified to get Choice Seats for free, you cannot necessarily book them when you buy your ticket.
-Shani
November 6th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Shani,
Thank you for responding so quickly (I’ve been surfing the FT thread on this to get some insight as well).
Am glad to read that I won’t be forced to pay for exit row seating that I’ve been able to reserve in the past.
Now my concern is that since the overall number of exit row seats are going to be less (since some/all will be deemed “Choice”) that my chances of getting exit row go down.. and not just because of fewer seats, but also because it is rare that I can be in on-line exactly 24hrs before most of my flight departures to try and beat every other Medallion trying to get the good seats).
One suggestion on the FT thread resonates.. why not make Choice seats available to PM’s 36 or 72 hrs in adv… the extra benefits of PM have become so watered down over the past couple of years, would be quite a gesture to give us something back… just a thought.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Choice seats don’t expand the full row on the 737-800
http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/images/uploads/not_entire_row.jpg
November 6th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Hi Shani,
Another question regarding this program I can’t seem to find an answer to on FT. So thinking of my typical outbound route: 0600 RDU-ATL, 0850 ATL-SJC When I wake up at 6a the day before departure to grab a Choice seat for the RDU-ATL segment, can I also grab a Choice seat for the ATL-SJC portion as well since I can do OLCI for that segment? If I can, then bully for me, but probably won’t bode well for the ATL based pax who has the 8:50a as their first segment as all the connecting pax get earlier access to the Choice seats. But if I can’t do that, then a bit of a pain then to remember to do seat selections twice a day…
Thank you, pmcary
November 6th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
This is the last straw.
November 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Shani,
Ok, I think this should be my last question, and thank you for fielding them. I just realized or come to understand that Choice seats can only be done while in the process of OLCI. Well, inevitably, every year for a couple of months at a time, my name triggers the TSA watch list and I am unable to do OL or Kiosk check-in, which means when that happens again, then during that time I will be unable to get Choice (unless by some strange circumstance, no other Medallions claimed them until I get to the airport to check in). So for those of us in that boat (unable to do OLCI) will there be some other mechanism to allow us a chance at Choice?
thanks, pmcary
November 6th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Maybe everyone but me flies Y fares. Should I be able to select a Choice Seat on any ticket or is it restricted by fare class?
November 6th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Thanks for the screenshot HWGeek! I know I had the same thought about the middle seats, but I did not study the seatmaps.
pmcary
- Regarding an extension of the time frame, all I can do is alert the people who make those decisions
- From my understanding, having Choice Seats will not change the other check-in rules, but let me do some research and get back to you on that.
- Your last question has left question marks circling around my head… So, again, I’ll see what I can find out.
Shani
November 6th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Thank you Shani.
November 6th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Shani,
pmcary has good idea and compromise for the corporate bean counters with his suggestion to give Delta/NWA elite members more than a 24 hour lead time(say 36 to 72 hours before the flight) in order to reserve preferred or choice seats. He is right on claiming that the privileges offered to your elite members have been so diluted as to undermine the intent of a loyalty program. The Delta management staff coming up with these schemes must only travel on corporate jets………they exercise no common sense for holding on to their existing clients.
November 6th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Is there someone in Delta’s senior management who lays awake at night to dream up ways to screw over your best customers? If so that person should be given a bonus. This is, by far, the dumbest idea Delta has ever come up with. (And lately, there has been some serious competition for the “dumbest idea” award.) It’s no wonder you can’t make money. You keep taking away benefits from medallion flyers, and then try to tell them the you’re doing them a favor. I suppose you think that a hemorrhoid operation or a root canal is a pleasant experience.
Treat your best customers well, and they will continue to do business with you. Treat them like dirt, and they will do business with your competition. The short term revenue you gain from selling these seats will pale in comparison to the revenue you will lose from alienating so many frequent flyers.
Most, if not all, Medallion flyers do not have the time or patience to play these silly games to try to get a decent seat. Change this stupid rule and let Medallion flyers select any available seat when they make their reservation.
November 6th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I completely agree with HWGeek, steveg, and the rest of the people who think that the baggage fee is a mistake. Shani, if you’re not involved in it, don’t take any of this personally. However, a blog admin/writer should hurry up and write a post addressing this issue.
I know that sacrifices have to be made to keep fares low, like charge for bags, remove IFE, begin charging for food (if offering it at all), and begin charging for particular seats. Then how do airlines like Continental Airlines, who do charge for a first bag, manage have IFE, have HOT, complimentary meals for passengers in ALL classes, and not charge for certain seats? Okay, if you pay full Y fare then you get premium seats in the first few rows; that’s not what I’m talking about - if you have status then you get those seats anyway!
Jshiroma said it perfectly: this is, indeed, the last straw. I wish you all the best luck with the new NWA counterparts, but honestly, what’s going on? Keep Delta my Delta!
November 6th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
2.9 million miler - The DL senior management who came up with this idea was indeed given a bonus. $13.6 million, to be exact (re: Richard Anderson).
Delta, get your head out of the gutter. A previous poster had an excellent point… do the ‘decision makers’ ever fly DL? How about from the perspective of a revenue passenger? THIS CHANGE DOES NOT BENEFIT MEDALLION MEMBERS. You HAVE to recognize that one of your primary (or at least, main) long-term revenue sources is your medallions. Why, oh why, do you keep making changes that continue to alienate your strongest alies?
Shani, I’d be hard pressed to call a middle seat “preferred.” Yes, extra leg room a la the exit row is a plus, but it’s a slap in the face to medallions to severly limit the available exit rows to middle seats.
Honestly, DL senior management should invite a group of FlyerTalkers to ATL to have a focus group. This intimate customer interaction would hopefully help DL to quit making these bonehead decisions.
And I love how the e-mail I got this afternoon pegged this as an “enhancement” to us medallions. Sounds like Jeff Robertson wrote that one.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
This Choice Seat program is an idea guaranteed to tick off the frequent flyers that are a large part of an airlines revenue. Whatever financial incentives the Delta Brainchildren considered in implementing this program will be reduced by folks like mysself that see this as a last straw. I am also a 2M miler and I fly Delta by choice, and often at a premium over low cost, lower service airlines, but I don’t have the time nor the inclination to log in 24 hours in advance, for often more than 4 flights a week, to try and jockey for a better seat. I just booked travel that forced me in a middle seat on one leg and the back of the plane on another while there were many Choice Seats open in the front of the plane. That Southwest seat is looking better all the time.
November 7th, 2008 at 1:09 am
Here’s my letter to Delta
Dear Delta,
I can’t express how disappointed I am in your new changes in regards to fees for baggage, seats, and award tickets. I travel on a weekly basis and until now I was pretty satisfied with Delta. I was impressed with the fact that you continued to treat your frequent flyers considerably well despite the silly increases seen on other carriers.
I could certainly understand the fuel surcharges with the surge in oil prices. Prices have come down drastically and still you have not dropped this charge. Instead you dreamed of more ways to squeeze your most loyal customers out of more money.
Have you flown lately? Your changes have caused excessive baggage in the overhead bins and delayed flights due to baggage issues. You have created a mess. In addition, denying your best customers the right to choose their desired seat upon booking is absurd. Yes, we may change the seating option 24 hours prior but who has time to play musical chairs with seating.
I can’t express how disappointed I am. I’ve declined lower fares to fly Delta but driving or selecting another carrier is looking like a better alternative. Can’t wait to see what surprises you have for 2009 to further alienate your loyal frequent flyers.
November 7th, 2008 at 2:19 am
I have to say that this is very disappointing. If the number of preferred seats hasn’t changed, the quality of the seats sure has. If the exit rows were all preferred in the past and now they are not, then they have been replaced by seats that were not considered preferred in the past. We may have been born at night, but as you can see from most of our flying histories, it wasn’t last night. I feel like I am in the “Spin Zone”. Delta is spinning it as a benefit to the GMs and PMs, instead of a sacrifice.
As far as the 24 hour lead time for check in, it’s basically the same as Southwest. The only difference is that I just have to be in the top 33% of people checking in on SW and I get my Aisle seat. The odds seem to be better on getting an aisle seat on SW then it is on Delta. Only time will tell. Flying SW is not much different then flying on one of Delta’s regional jets. I never compare SW when buying Delta tickets, but if I start getting middle seats on Delta, you can bet I will start.
I can tell you this without any doubt. If I start sitting in middle seats, then I WILL stop flying Delta. You can take that to the bank.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
It is very disappointing that Delta has taken away another benefit from Medallion Members in that we can no longer select preferred seats at booking. I booked two flights today with very little or no options for preferred seating. One of my flights there were no seats available except the ones held for Coach Choice, which I could not select. It is inconvenient to have to remember to select your seats 24 hours prior or on your travel day. There are enough hassels on a travel day without the added burden of having to remember or worry about your seat selection.
Shame on you Delta!
November 7th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
You guys at Delta have to be kidding! Why would I fly with Delta if I’m going to be treated the same as though I am flying with Southwest or Airtran???? This “seating” situation, along with their unprofessional flight attendants, is the primary reason I remain loyal to Delta. We understand you guys are losing money, but this is just putting lipstick on a very dirty pig.
November 7th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
No worries, I don’t take things personally.
I did want to let you all know extending the availability period for Medallions is on the radar of the decision makers. Specifically, I was told, right now the technology does not allow for it, but an update to the technology will be discussed for 2009. No promises though.
If I get any more information, I will share.
-Shani
November 7th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
When United came up with Economy Plus seating, it actually gave those seats more legroom. SkyTeam’s “Choice” seats, in contrast, used to just be part of the standard seating pool. Why should you pay more to sit in an available Coach seat? Even Southwest doesn’t charge you for that.
This latest move by Delta-Northwest is just one more example of why Continental will be well served dumping its alliance with them and moving to the Star Alliance. It’s the worst kind of incongruence when two member airlines want to charge extra for exit row seating and the third still has complimentary hot meals. :-/
Of course, Delta-Northwest can still find a kindred spirit in ultra-cheapskate U.S. Airways, which charges for sodas and water now. Now THERE’S a big revenue idea Delta can grab onto, right?
November 7th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Let me get in line along with the other Medallion flyers who Delta has recently “slapped in the face”. As Medallion flyers, we have been around the block a few times and don’t drink the cool aid Delta - NEVER have I seen so few isle, window and exit row seats available. They are now all marked $$. Yes, you may think $$ means profits for Delta but just watch and see how those $$ profit margins fall quickly as your loyal Medallion flyers seek alternatives when they have to sit in the middle seats offered to them at the time of on line booking. Not speaking for any other Medallion flyers, but I don’t have the time to worry about my seat selection after I book my flight. Maybe I will get an upgrade to first, maybe not, but that is OK because I have the seat I selected at booking. Shame on you Delta for your total disregard to the loyal flyers that have kept you in business over these hard times.
November 8th, 2008 at 11:45 am
The Coach Choice Seats program just severed the last piece of loyalty that I had to Delta. Who needs the headache of trying to get an exit row seat precisely 24 hours prior to takeoff? For all of you Medallion-level business travelers, book your flights on AirTran, pay the $20 for the exit row seat at the time that you make the reservation (the cost of the flight will still typically be less than what Delta charges), and then send in your itinerary to Delta. That is my plan. It probably won’t take too many of those letters to convince Delta that this ill-conceived hassle is only causing it to lose its most loyal group of customers. Of course, by the time they do anything (if they do anything) you may have too many flights invested in AirTran’s A+ Rewards to want to switch back to Delta…
November 8th, 2008 at 11:58 am
It’s generous that considerations may be made to address the mess made to frequent fllyers with this Choice Seat Program. Let us know how those discussion go and we might also consider flying on Delta again. No promises though.
November 9th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
After 30 years and almost 2 million MQM miles, I’ve come to expect and get great service from Delta; however this weekend made me rethink the loyalty I’ve given…
My main issue is the “Choice Seat” fiasco. I’ve been using it since Delta airlines.com (as delta.com would take you to the faucet manufacturer). After steaming about the “New Seating Enhancement” I was trying to change to a “choice” seat as my “Preferred Seat” was a middle selection (How any airline can identify a middle seat as preferred must have claustrophobic fetish.) The website could not show “the seat map for the flight.” thus making it impossible for me to even check. I did contact the tech support and submitted the issue.
My question to Shani is who in authority (Able to change policy) should we contact with our concerns. This website allows us to blow off steam, but I don’t want to be “teaching a a pig to sing.”
November 9th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I am writing to complain vigorously about the sudden charge for decent seats. Specifically, I have a flight with my granddaughters on 12/29 from CVG to SFO and can’t even sit with them! The seats are vacant but have a dollar sign and cannot be assigned until 24 hours prior to the flight? What are you trying to do, be more like Southwest? That’s a giant step backwards in customer service. The amount of revenue you hope to make from this is going to be very small compared to the huge amount of ill will you are gathering, in particular from Medallion members (BTW I’m Platinum, not that it helps). I have a long and loyal history with Delta but this is definitely a deciding factor if I will continue to be. You should immediately reconsider this and pull this stupid restriction from these seats. So 24 hours before a flight, I have nothing better to do than check the website with the hope that I can confirm a decent seat, you have got to be kidding.
November 9th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Know what else is disgusting? Delta is moving people out of $$ seats and putting them in the back of the Plane.
And I have Proof. I had two seats booked on 14E and 14F
I was in 14F my mother was in 14E
When 14E turned into a $$ seat my mother was moved into 25D
This is a flight that has been booked for nearly 2 months now.
There was no notice of her seat change either.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Hello Airtran. De-motivate the loyalists one too-many times and they will shop elsewhere. What is left for convenience? Faster free flights? No. Better seating at check in? No longer. The only reason to stay is convenience with the security lines at Hartsfield. I can get that from Clear now and take advantage of better treatment to the loyal customers with another company.
Why would you offer something that is de-motivating to the customers you rely on the most for consistent loyalty? The % of preferred seats may be the same, but the locations are not.
November 10th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Just an update to my mothers seat being switched, Delta CS does remain friendly as they moved her back and apologized.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Shani
Management attempting to say they don’t have the technology to fix this is a very lame excuse. Moreover, saying they might reconsider some type of change sometime in 2009 won’t cut it. To me, nothing short of immediately resinstating the ability for Medallion passengers to reserve any available seat AT THE TIME OF BOOKING is an acceptable solution.
In hearing converstions of other passengers on flights, I have never heard so many passengers as upset with Delta as they are over this idiotic policy.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
In regards to the technology update that is required to undo this debacle, Shani, I respectfully submit it could be made a priority if it was considered urgent. They put it in there, they can take it out. I don’t want a larger window to get a choice seat, I want my choice of seats. On another 5 hour leg of the flight coast to coast with my granddaughters at Christmas, we’re sitting in the back by the toilets in row 43, I look forward to that. Row 21 on the left is currently vacant but we can’t sit there because that’s only for people that have some kind of mysterious opportunity that I might not get because I didn’t win the choice seat lottery. How many people have to complain before this is taken seriously? Please tell me you are making the right people aware that this small thing is taking on a life of its own and it’s not pretty.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:18 am
All I can say is “hear hear” to all the points made previously. The sad thing though is that Delta was slow to enter this game. Now they have, which clearly must have been a finance department, yield management and procurement department decision. And then they asked Marketing to create some spin and sell it to us.
There are two realities. The first one is that, unfortunately, Delta can do this because they know the competition does not really offer any better alternatives. Delta has joined the lowest common denominator and has become par with the others. Which leads to reality number two. Delta’s bean counters have chosen to remove a true USP (that is marketing speak for a unique selling proposition).
Here is an alternate universe. Delta decides to introduce a fare menu. You want cheap and no-frills. OK, back of the plane, and anything you want you pay for. You want some service but do not want to pay first? Sure, here is an all-in coach fare, middle of the plane and you get decent service (snack, blanket, head set, non-alchoholic beverage). You want the full first treatment? Absolutely, we got that too with all the bells and whistles.
Platinum Medallion and Million Miler… you know what, you are truly special. There are no restrictions to where you want to sit, and when you book coach you will always sit in the middle section of the plane. Because we LOVE you Platinum Medallions and Million Milers.
Oh well… just a dream. But let’s have that fare debate. Why all these cray surcharges? Just build it into the actual ticket fare, avoid this kind of consternation and public defacing of Delta.
There is one surcharge I would like to see… that would be for putting a smile back on the faces of so many Delta employee’s who have lost the will to smile because of the embarrassment they feel regarding their management’s decisions. I am not making this up. I see your employees having to make so many excuses to us as they, too, are powerless to treat their most loyal with some recognition. At least they make excuses… not spin…
November 17th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
It looks as if the Choice Seats Program is down (do not know if temporarily or permanent) but as of today, you can change seats for existing reservations into seats that were previously held as Choice Seats (I just did for a trip starting this wednesday and for another trip starting 12/1)… was able to get seats in exits/aisles where I wasn’t able to at time of booking.
First.. everyone who reads this blog who have upcoming trips, go get ‘em (it’s an active thread on FlyerTalk so the race is on).
Second… Delta, thank you for listening. I’m glad I have waited to book my January flights…I had made my mind up that if I could not book the type of seats I wanted, I was going to fly on another airline.
pmcary
November 17th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
pmcary, you are quicker than I am!
You should all be receiving an email acknowledging the negative impact of the Choice Seats program on Medallions. Please check your inbox if you have not already received it.
Choice Seats has been deactivated, you will have access to the Preferred Seats the same way you did prior to this program.
Thank you to everyone for your feedback.
-Shani
November 17th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Well done Delta for cancelling this “new feature”. I think it is really cool that not only you listened but also were not afraid to change. It shows that this Delta blog (plus the other fora) are not just places for people to rant and complain. If there are genuine arguments you will find them online and it is commendable that you listen.
I for one will remain your critical but loyal customer.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Thanks, pmcary, for the heads up on the system change. No word if this is permanent or not but I also quickly rebooked my December travel (I had already began booking on another airline) and updated my seats on those already booked. It’s nice to have the options back for ‘preferred’ seating.
Thanks, Delta, for listening and responding.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Thank you Delta just saw this email from a VP
—-
Dear Mr. Reyes,
We heard you loud and clear.
Since we launched our Coach Choice Seats program that impacted Medallion® access to Preferred Seats, we’ve received substantial feedback from Medallion members like you, and your dissatisfaction was crystal clear.
Retaining your long-term loyalty is of paramount importance to us, and we’re not afraid to change course when we need to. Therefore, effective November 18th, we will revert back to the original Preferred Seat program offering Medallions unrestricted access to Preferred Seats.
Simply put: Medallion members will be able to book any of the seats you used to enjoy at the time of booking and without a charge.
Thanks for your input and for enabling us to continue to earn your loyalty.
You’re the reason we fly,
J. W. Robertson
Vice President - Loyalty Programs
November 18th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Wow, yes, I am very impresses that Delta listened and made the change so quickly.
Thank you Shani & Delta!
November 18th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Jeff,
Thanks for the email update — and thanks for listening.
Delta’s actions speak louder than words…er, blogs.
“Simply put: Medallion members will be able to book any of the seats you used to enjoy at the time of booking and without a charge.”
Keep up the good work.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Dear Delta,
Thanks for doing the right thing. It’s a glimpse of hope in an industry that has forgotten the glamour and enjoyment of world travel. I think you would be rewarded for the enhancement of customer treatment including decent food in the price of a ticket. Try an actual focus group of business and lesure travelers and see what we’re looking for. You might be surprised and rise to the top?
November 26th, 2008 at 2:46 am
The change to the choice seat system works. I was able to select seats for a flight in January that were blocked by choice seat $ in the past.
I did hit a problem with this schedule change. My flight time changed by 1 minute on a flight. I was dropped to seat 32D as a result of this change. Medallion customers need to watch their reservations for schedule changes and insure their seat assignments have not been changed.
As I said the system did let me select the seat of my choice.
December 7th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Fantastic. Just another reason to stick with the pros =D
December 8th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Shani,
I wrote earlier to congratulate you for intervening on behalf of your elite frequent flyers for your successful efforts to have Delta management reverse their flawed Choice Coach Seats program. By moving the many complaints up the line to management you obviously had something to do with their intelligent decision to discontinue a program which undermined any sense of loyality towards Delta. Kudos to you and management for making such a timely move in the face of ligitimate criticism.
Hank
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Here is a rollover MQM question: Lets say that I finish the year with 120000 MQMs. I will have achieved Platinum level and will also be able to rollover 45000 MQMs for the next year. If I finish the year with 130000 MQMs, I will have reached Diamond level but will only be able to carry over 5000 MQMs for the following year. Even though I have reached a higher level for the following year, I will have a clearly a disadvantage for the following year. Does this make any sense?
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Talking about “preferred” seating. Even though these seats are blocked for status fliers until the day of travel, Delta is not trying to keep them open until all other seats have been assigned which would require the airport agents to fill planes from the back forward. Other airlines enforce this policy which keeps middle seats in the preferred section open if the flight is not sold out.
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
The new updated boarding process is clearly an improvement over the initial “breezeway” boarding chaos. Roping off the general boarding line until zones 1-3 have been called helps the overall process. As Delta is introducing its new “diamond elite” level, maybe they should also consider always assigning diamond members “zone 1″ regardless of where they are sitting. This way diamond members could always board with first class which would recognize the “special” top tier level that they have earned.
September 28th, 2009 at 9:06 am
[...] It will also be interesting to see how elite members of Executive Club, BA’s frequent flier program, will see the move. Silver members and above will still be able to select seats at the time of booking, but now there will be a bit more competition. When Delta tried to roll out Coach Choice Seats, an offering from Northwest, elites in the SkyMiles program weren’t pleased and the program was quickly eliminated, [...]