Brand loyalty

We’re big Delta fans in our house. We fly Delta, we use a Delta AmEx and we spend our Delta miles sending people hither and yon. It’s been a great relationship—Kent’s been either Platinum or Diamond for seven years and I’ve been Platinum for six years.

We’d booked tickets for Jen and the kids to come see us this month. Since her folks still live in Lawrence, it’s especially convenient because the kids can see two sets of grandparents with just one stop. But as can happen, plans changed and so we needed to cancel the four sets of tickets. To be honest, I figured the miles might get refunded but the cash for fees and an upgrade to Economy Comfort was probably gone.

To my utter surprise and delight, Delta refunded 100% of everything.

My mom pointed out that if she—someone without status—had tried to get a similar refund, it probably wouldn’t have happened. And that may well be the case. But the thing is, loyalty is a two way street. Yes, Delta treated us well. But we’ve been very loyal for the last seven years.We only fly Delta, we use a Delta AmEx and we work at it. Twice I’ve had to fly a different airline for just one segment of a flight because either Delta didn’t go there, or their flight was booked. It’s not all that convenient to change airlines; often that means clearing security again which is not my idea of a good time. But my point is this: we’ve been very loyal and this week, that loyalty paid off in a big way.

And for Delta, it will pay off too because we’re even bigger fans now.