Delta to Give SkyTeam Elite Plus to Gold Medallions Plus More Planned Enhancements
Delta recently hosted a bunch of frequent flyers to their Atlanta headquarters for a weekend of fun. Unfortunately I was unable to attend due to a family wedding, but
I heard Delta really pulled out all the stops- including speeches by the CEO and VP of SkyMiles. They also gave away 1 million SkyMiles to a table of 8 lucky attendees who won the trivia game. 125,000 miles each can get you to the Seychelles in business class (as I did this summer using my SkyMiles)!
Anyway- the key enhancements that I heard are coming are:
1) Coming March 1, 2011 Gold Medallion will now be given SkyTeam Elite Plus status. Currently only Diamond and Platinums get SkyTeam ElitePlus, which gives you lounge access to all SkyTeam lounges when traveling internationally and it also gives baggage priority. A nice benefit if you travel internationally on coach fares.
2) Upgrades on Air France are coming. They already announced that System-Wide Upgrades are now available for use on AF (which I love and wrote about here), so now anyone will be able to use miles to upgrade an Air France flight. I'd like to see Medallions eligible for complimentary upgrades when traveling in Europe even though European business class isn't anything noteworthy.
3) Tightened partnership with Alaska Airlines. Reciprocal upgrades and lounge access to be further strengthened and Delta elites exempt from baggage fees.
4) Tightened partnerships with SkyTeam partners Alitalia and Korean coming up next. I would love to see stronger upgrading opportunities using SystemWide Upgrades and miles.
5) A possible increase in the 3 hour Same Day Confirmed benefit. Other airlines allow their top elites to switch to any other flight on the day of departure, whereas Delta only allows you to confirm to a different flight (as long as its the same departure city and arrival destination) 3 hours before the flight takes off. This is a risky proposition if you try to switch to a later flight and all the sudden it books up and you are stranded.
Overall, not earth shattering changes, but enhancements nonetheless, in my opionion. SkyTeam isn't the strong alliance in terms of members, but I do like seeing them integrate and add more reciprocal benefits.
[card card-name='Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express' card-id='22034414' type='javascript' bullet-id='1']
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Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month