I have heard of this truly wonderful thing called “Frequent Flyer Miles” and the associated benefits. But have come to hold the belief that Delta considers me to be some third world pigmy not worthy of such benefits.
It all starts back in 1997. That was the year I got to visit London England with the family. Given we lived in the Greater Cincinnati Area Delta was the only realist flying option. International flight equals lots of miles so I signed up for the Frequent Flyer/SkyMiles, they seemed to be in the middle of changing the name back them.
Few years later in the spring of 2000 I’m flying from Seattle to Cincinnati after riding cross country with Delmar. So I choose Delta, use my SkyMiles card to get more of those great miles.
Skip ahead to last summer. Work is flying me to Greece, lots of miles! Maybe combined with my London and cross country fights I might have something worth using. When I get to the airport with my SkyMiles card they tell me they can’t give me the miles for some unknown reason. Just keep my ticket stubs and deal with it after my trip.
When I returned to the States I tried through there website to check the account. There it says to call a different number than the normal one and only during normal business hours. After several attempts spend a hour on hold I give up.
Which brings me to now, today. In May there is an Alaskan cruise with the family. The flight is booked through the cruise company but for a nominal fee of $50 you can pick the airline. Time to get that SkyMiles account working.
Back to the website which has been totally revamped. Still can’t use the account but just call this number. After trying several different ways through the automated system, none of which mention anything about getting a new pin, I get someone in India. After 30 minutes of trying to find the complete address they have for me, one of the 6 I have had in the past 8 years, he tells me he can’t give me a pin and I can’t use any of my old ticket stubs. Apparently they are only good for 6 months, first time anyone from Delta mentioned that. If I want to waste my time I could mail my complaint and maybe they will accept my Greece miles.
Delta Airlines IncorporatedSky Miles Department 654
P.O. Box 20532
Atlanta, GA 30320-2532
But the guy from India seems like he is almost laughing at the idea of that getting me anywhere. Then he transfers me back into the same phone queue I spent an hour waiting in!
This time I get a woman in the south. After we go through the same routine she gives me a fax number, 404-773-1945, to handle things out of procedure. Says the fax folks are way behind and she doesn’t know how long it will take but at least weeks. So I finally thinking of asking if they have any of my previous miles, nope. Seems that they expire miles after 3 years. Great, so all this effort and there is nothing there! Now I have never heard of this automatic expiration. She says it is on there website, but I couldn’t find it following the directions. Actually can’t really find anything useful on there website. /
Now should I even bother? I can maybe in weeks get my Greece miles, though both the Delta reps got as close to saying “not a chance in hell” as they could without saying it. I could just setup a new SkyMiles account for the Alaska miles, but if previous experience is any indication I will not be able to access them until after they expire them.
Kinda makes glad when I hear Delta bankruptcy news, though the government will bail them out.
