Originally Posted by
ATOBTTR
Just to play Devil's advocate, a fair question to ask is "Where is the line then?" This almost becomes one of philosophy but it's still a fair question. OP is 2 MQDs short. They choose to grant a waiver - then what about the person who is 3 MQDs short? Then the next one who is 4 MQDs short? <snip> So where is the line drawn?
I'm not sure this would be possible, and it would be qualitative, but I might suggest that waiving in people who are "close" could be based on whether that person has been a "good Delta citizen" and other factors. By this, I mean has the passenger engaged in such activities as:
(1) Taken the time to write a complimentary note to Delta when it has been deserved, and perhaps has shared such positive experiences on social media
(2) Taken the time to write a note providing constructive feedback or mature, well-articulated criticism about something that went wrong (but not a rant; i.e., something Delta could potentially use to improve their service)
(3) No record of "no shows" for flights
(4) Lifetime status record (i.e., person has had long history of achieving status)
(5) Lives in a non-hub city (idea here is that the person truly has a choice of airlines, by which status would potentially be a win-win for Delta and the passenger)
(6) Bad luck in past year with irregular ops, canceled flights, being bumped, delayed/ missing baggage, that sort of thing