Originally Posted by
berliner5000
What does this say to the average joe flyer? Delta guarantees payment up until March 31, but then nothing? Even if they do advertise this on every billboard possible, it's only for the next 40 days. Everyone is commenting on how they're going to take advantage of this because DL is terrible at delivering checked luggage within 20 minutes -- this promotion (as we all know) isn't going to change that. At least Alaska's guarantee offers $25 instead of the miles, which is something that average joe would appreciate.
Also, 2,500 RDMs means very little because the average flyer (no status, no DL amex card, etc.) has to spend 5,000$ (before government taxes and fees) to earn a roundtrip domestic ticket (excluding partner flights).
This promotion is a joke.
If one looks at it another way, those 2500 RDMs are the equivalent of a kettle spending $500 on DL, which is about two cheap coach RTs. This way it seems like a generous amount of bonus miles for a (hopefully) short wait for the bag.
OTOH, if we use one cent per RDM as the value of miles, then 2500 RDMs = $25, which is roughly the cheapest checked bag fee DL charges (first checked bag for a domestic coach flight with no status and no DL AmEx card).