Delta Denies US Men's Curling Team an Upgrade on Flight Home
Not even gold status will get you upgraded with Delta. After a stunning gold-medal win for the US men's curling team, Delta missed the easy opportunity for a PR win. Instead, the airline denied the curling team an upgrade on their trip home from Pyeongchang.
Team USA's win in curling — the first for an American team in the sport — left the men riding high, with gold medals draped around their necks. So when the USA Curling Twitter account asked Delta if the carrier could spot a few seats for upgrades, Delta quickly shot the team down, claiming that it didn't have any spots to offer.
While Delta indeed has no obligation to upgrade the gold-medal winners, many on social media found the airline's response to be rather cold.
A spokesperson from Delta told Inc.: "We are excited these Olympic champions have chosen to fly home on Delta, and we are looking forward to welcoming them on board. While there are no seats currently available for upgrades, we are working with our employee teams to celebrate their gold-medal achievement ahead of departure and in flight."
The team members — John Shuster, Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner and Joe Polo — are based in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Delta operates out of Seoul (ICN), with nonstop service on Mondays to Atlanta (ATL), Detroit (DTW) and Seattle (SEA). Of course, Delta's new A350, operates on the ICN-DTW route, featuring its Delta One Suite. The athletes then could continue on to their home airport, perhaps Minneapolis (MSP). But, the A350 would be their most comfortable option — of course, that is if they did get upgraded. Check out TPG's review of the Delta One Suites on the A350 in the below video:
So, even though it looks like the team's upgrades won't become a reality, hopefully Delta can help in giving them the VIP treatment on their trip home. As for now, it appears gold status with Delta isn't enough.
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