HOT vs. PRIORITY
 

Last week I flew 4 OW trips on DL metal, all connecting via ATL. I had a bag to check each time and on each trip, my connection time was around an hour. As a Platinum, the luggage tag on all four trips never showed PRIORITY on the sides as it normally does, but had the HOT tag, presumably because of the short time between flights.

The only thing I could think of, perhaps, is that HOT outdoes PRIORITY on a baggage tag since this was the only thing constant on all four trips. Anyone have any other guesses as to why PRIORITY wouldn't show up on a bag tag for a Platinum elite?

Assuming that these were domestic flights, there is no priority baggage handling for Platinum Elites.

I have always wondered what "HOT" meant on luggage tags. I like your idea of the short connection time - wonder if anyone knows.

HOT on the bag tag means a short connection time so you are right on that. DL priority program still only applies to international flights. If the flight is by NWA or affiliate then the NWA priority tag program take place. It is yet to be decided on which program the new DL will adopt next year.

I hope you're right that the domestic elite and FC priority baggage tags still might continue (DL-north) or be adopted (DL-south). My recent experience has been no priority tags for Plat on FC ticket on NW-coded, NW-ticketed, NW-operated flights from "non-NW stations." Even though I usually don't check luggage on domestic, I am not happy about the lack of priority tags and handling when I must/should check something.

There have been a couple other recent threads on the priority tags.

What are the criteria for a HOT tag? I don't think I've ever seen one and I would like to be able to remind the agents when I'm entitled to it. (If former NW agents don't know the rules, what is the reference?) Do anticipated delays matter or just scheduled connection time? What about IROPS? Does status or class or service matter in such cases?

<humor>

HOT means that the contents are valuable and are flagged for theft by the TSA...

</humor>

HOT connections for baggage is 75 minutes or less. Everything is generated by the computer and takes IROPs into account.

Well I was hoping it was referring to the passenger's looks, but alas, I found out that wasn't so much the case...

I have always assumed that HOT means the luggage gets handled by the direct transfer instead of heading to the concourse bag room. Is that correct or do HOT bags also go through the concourse bag sorting too?

I recently (October) got Priority bag tags on a NW flight as a Silver.

Its a hit and miss.

DL should start offering all elites and FC priority baggage handling.

Take an average MD-88 flight... back in the old way of doing things we used to split the bags as such: 6 bins, the back two were split between the "HOT's" and "DB's" (don't ask what that means), the 4th bin was "thru" bags (bags that were continuing with that flight number), 3rd was "locals" (e.g. bags that were going to the claim in Atlanta) and the front two bins were usually gate claims and live animals.

Nowadays, it's just DB's and locals, everything just kinda gets congealed as they realized that more bags were delayed with the old system.

Why?

DB=Domestic Bound
IB=International Bound

It will just be one more thing Delta will ignore. United Airlines will priority tag baggage for certain elite levels traveling domestically. I can tell you those priority tags mean NOTHING to the baggage crews in the United States.

I started earlier this year telling the TA in Denver to stop priority tagging my bags because it sets an expectation that United has no intention of fulfilling.

If Delta were to implement domestic priority tagging, I see the same exact thing happening.

Exactly. I have to side with DL on this one. In a perfect world, the priority tag would ensure priority handling and it would be a great benefit. But the actual result on carriers like NW and CO has been so random as to make it pointless. Better to not promise anything than to promise a benefit and consistently botch the implementation.

Not that DL's handling of international "priority" baggage is any better.