Baggage arrives after 21 minutes? Delta gives you 2500 miles

In recent days we have talked about those situations where Airlines and hotel chains recognize compensations to passengers in case of small, or large, inconveniences. Today we are talking instead about a commercial policy by which companies promise customers a certain outcome, and what happens if this promise is not fulfilled.

Baggage delivery within 20 minutes

Delta promises all its passengers that their checked baggage will be on the conveyor belt within 20 minutes. What happens if the baggage arrives after 1260 seconds? Delta will credit the passenger's SkyMiles profile with 2,500 points as compensation for the delay!

Alaska also has a similar policy, but with Delta redeeming the reward is significantly easier and more straightforward. Unfortunately, this promise applies only on flights within the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico.

Despite being launched back in 2015, few travelers are aware of this option or how easy it is to use.

How it works

The rules are simple and there is no such thing as small print to limit damage

• Applies only to domestic flights within the 50 U.S. states (plus Puerto Rico): no international travel is eligible for 2,500 bonus SkyMiles even when luggage is delayed
• The 20-minute countdown starts from the moment you open the door of the plane and ends when the luggage arrives on the belt
• Does the bag arrive 21 minutes or later? You may submit one complaint per traveler per route, regardless of the number of bags you registered
• If you are traveling with a group and your companions have checked their own luggage, any traveler can file his or her own complaint
• To file a claim for delayed baggage, you must be a Delta SkyMiles member at the time of your flight
• You must Submit a request within three days From your flight to get the SkyMiles bonus
• Both cash fares and award tickets booked through SkyMiles are valid
• Codeshare flights on Delta are eligible, but only if the last flight in the itinerary is operated by Delta

Delta records the arrival time directly within its app, so it is easy to know when the countdown is triggered. Similarly, through the app, it is possible to know where your baggage is and where it is on the path to drop-off until it arrives on the final belt.

To make the complaint there is a dedicated page on Delta's website, you fill out the application and the points are credited in no time, at most a couple of weeks.

In conclusion

Flying to the U.S. is a decidedly different experience and we have written about it many times, this bet by Delta, as by other companies, is feasible because the carrier runs its own terminal with its own staff and is therefore able to control the whole supply chain, while in Italy, as in Europe, there are no owned terminals and the ground staff is generally managed by a third party company and not by the company.