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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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
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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