Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) is making adjustments to its loyalty program after facing a significant backlash from its customers. The airline giant initially announced changes to its frequent-flyer program, SkyMiles, with a focus on prioritizing big spenders over those who accumulate the most flight miles. However, after numerous objections from loyal customers, Delta is scaling back some of these changes.
Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, conveyed these revisions in an email addressed to SkyMiles members. Bastian acknowledged the passionate loyalty of Delta customers to the brand and expressed his understanding of the disappointment caused by the proposed alterations.
The primary concerns raised by customers centered around the difficulty of achieving elite status and the imposition of new restrictions on accessing airport lounges. Delta had initially introduced these changes in response to overcrowding in its lounges and an increase in elite-status customers, which was making it more challenging for passengers to secure upgrades.
Under the initial proposal, Delta intended to transition to a spending-based model for elite status, eliminating the consideration of flight frequency and miles traveled. This meant significantly higher spending requirements for each SkyMiles level.
In the latest update from Bastian’s email, it is clarified that flights and miles will still not contribute to elite status, but the spending requirements will not increase as drastically as originally planned. For instance, Silver status will now require 5,000 “Medallion qualifying dollars” instead of the previously proposed 6,000, although it is still a higher threshold than the current system.
The Diamond top tier will necessitate 28,000 points, down from the initially proposed 35,000, but it remains higher than the current requirement of 20,000 points in addition to flight segments.
These adjustments will take effect next year as travelers strive to qualify for elite status in 2025. Delta is also modifying its policy regarding the number of times premium credit card holders can access airport lounges, albeit not as restrictively as initially suggested.
The original announcement in September triggered a wave of negative reactions from Delta’s customer base on social media, with some customers even contemplating switching to other airlines. Competitors such as JetBlue and Alaska Airlines attempted to entice Delta’s best customers by offering to match their elite status. Southwest Airlines also declared plans to make it easier to achieve top-level status in its frequent-flyer program in the coming year.
Airlines, recognizing the capricious nature of travelers, design loyalty programs to retain their most valuable customers. Despite these revisions, it is expected that some SkyMiles members will still find the shift to an entirely spending-based program unsatisfactory, and they may opt for other airlines.
Travel analyst Henry Harteveldt of Atmosphere Research Group believes that these changes might not go far enough to appease the discontented Medallion members, stating, “Given the mercenary mindset that many travelers have, they will fly other airlines and not look back.”
Less than two weeks after the initial announcement of the SkyMiles overhaul, Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, acknowledged that the airline may have gone too far with its proposed changes. Despite the backlash, Delta has indicated that the negative sentiments have not significantly impacted sign-ups or spending on its co-branded American Express credit cards, as of their last update.
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Author Faith Yakubu 
