Jacob Morris

Hey guys,

I just wanted to check-in and give you an update on the Sky Priority coupons...

Starting tomorrow, March 1, you will see an updated look and feel to the Sky Priority coupons printed below the boarding pass. This is just a design change, not a program change. This update will not change how coupons are issued or how many--it's a visual/layout update only.

I'm about to board a flight to Europe, but I will check back in tomorrow to share some more specifics about how and when coupons print as well as review some details around known issues.


Best regards,
Jacob Morris
Senior Product Manager
Customer Experience
Delta Air Lines, Inc.

sharktums

Looking forward to seeing the new design. We're flying LAX/JFK this week and I realize I have zero chance of an upgrade so interested to see the new coupons.

DLdweeb

Thanks for checking in Jacob. Appreciate the update.

StayingHomeIsBetter

Thanks for checking in but, here again, DL is placing emphasis on cosmetic changes rather than functional changes.

Perhaps, as your post implies, you are going to finally tells us what the policy is with respect to when we should expect to receive these coupons.

If the answer is anything other than "every time a Sky Priority elite fails to get his upgrade or ends up on an RJ without a FC section" then your message is going to be inconsistent with the message that SkyMilesInsider posted here on FT, affirmed here in FT, and reaffirmed here in FT.

If your message differs from SMI's, I hope that DL will have the decency to explain why the message has changed.

If you were the consumer, would you expect anything less?

Sorry this situation has landed in your lap, but SMI has had ample opportunity to come back and clean up the mess he created.

syrwhizzy

I suggested via TTU awhile back the ability to print these at an airport kiosk... Sometimes I get them on OLCI but have no printer. I've asked at ticket counters, gates, even at a SkyClub (not a member)... Even tried to show the flight attendant via my smartphone like the electronic BP but no luck. It would be nice if the kiosk and agents could print them out for you.

Also, on this same topic... Extend the valid dates... I get them for a 6am flight on a Monday morning but they are expired before my return on Friday night. If I'm unlucky enough to be in Coach both times... Or stuck on a RJ with no F... I deserve to get more than 1!

Another plus would be to offer them to companions on the itinerary too.

Jacob Morris

Hey guys,

Just following up from the previous message I sent yesterday...so let's talk coupons!

First, I'd like to provide a little back story on coupons. As I've shared before, when we designed the Sky Priority coupon benefit, we originally intended for it to be a surprise & delight benefit--something you would get everyone once and while during online check-in.

The coupons started to quickly develop a large fan base. Customers were asking for more of them. So, I pulled out the abacus to see how we could make that work. I found a way, we dialed-up the volume, and in a short period of time these coupons became a fairly consistent surprise & delight.

We never elaborated in any official DL channels, like delta.com, email, or direct mail with specific details on how these are issued--other than checking in online. We did this because there were probably 50 different concepts/features/new coupons I was toying around with, and that I thought would be pretty cool to introduce or test out with the boarding pass.

However, I quickly learned that we just needed to keep it simple, and that people really do love and want just the drink/snack coupons.

SMI did share some details on FlyerTalk about the actual back-end logic we use to serve these coupons. Those details were provided by me, and I will continue to elaborate on that further in this post.

However, know that what I am sharing with you and what SMI has shared with you regarding these coupons is more of a peek behind the curtain than it is official communication/promise.

I will work with our team to be more clear with you about this in some of those official channels. As I read delta.com tonight, I think there's an opportunity for us to update some of those specifics further.

COUPON ISSUANCE & THE GOAL

There are still a few known issues we are working through in addition to some of the new ideas and features that many of you have suggested.

The goal still remains the same. To the extent possible, we are serving these coupons to customers who are eligible for Sky Priority AND seated in economy at time of check-in.

Coupons today are served on a trip basis, not segment basis. A trip is defined as an origin & destination (which may also have connections).

So in other words, if you're traveling from ATL to MKE with a conx in CVG, and both segments are in economy, you would be served one coupon.

Will we ever serve coupons on all segments within atrip? Not sure just yet, but I do have the abacus out.

ABOUT THE LAYOUT CHANGE

At 5pm CST today, we loaded the new layout for these coupons. You will see there is also some additional content on the page.

Some of you have already asked, why would DL focus on a cosmetic change when we still have known issues to work through?

This was a fairly quick change to make and one that provided a lot of unseen benefit on the back-end.

The space below the boarding pass is completly hosted by a vendor who monetizes that space with content. For the past year we've had an arrangement with that vendor to serve only a jumbo size coupon below the boarding pass.

The number of customers who are eligible for these coupons continues to grow, and this change is helping to fund that growth by releasing unused space back into inventory.

KNOWN ISSUES

1) Itineraries with multiple segments where the last segment for a trip is in F/C will not see a coupon; see trip definition above (however if the first segment is F/C and the last is in Y, then a coupon will be served)

2) Itineraries with an OA Elite number (Alaska MVP Gold or SkyTeam Elite Plus) will not see a coupon

FEATURE REQUESTS

1) Serve coupons on all economy segments within a trip versus one coupon per trip (see trip definition above)

2) Serve coupons to companions traveling in the same PNR who are not technically Sky Priority

3) Serve coupons on mobile & kiosks

4) Extend the validity dates

We are working through known issues and the feature requests, and I will provide more details as they become available.

I know I have not answered some other really good questions, and forgive me if I have not clarified something fully or left something out--it's 3am in Europe and my bedtime.

I'll check back in with you guys in a couple days to answer some more questions.

If you are experiencing any issues outside of what I have explained here, please share the # of segments in your PNR, the city pairs, the classes of service for each segment, your elite level, and I will track down on my side...


Best regards,
Jacob

FlytheTail

Thanks for the update Jacob. I was in coach yesterday from SFO to DTW, and as a diamond, was disappointed not to receive a coupon (my connecting flight was also coach on a CR1) while the gold elite next to me had one. I am guessing that's because I checked in at the airport kiosk whereas she checked in from home (?).

Communicating these features, limitations, etc are appreciated as it helps avoid disappointment with a reported (yet not formally announced) benefit.

StayingHomeIsBetter

Sorry... if you go back and review SMI's communications on this topic, summarized here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/15525225-post76.html

you can see how your "surprise & delight benefit" assertion has the faint odor of B.S.

I am not sure what is more frustrating: (1) that you DL managers cannot get your wits and your stories straight between you before one of you goes out an opens his mouth (or puts fingers on a keyboard) or (2) that you feel you can crab walk away from prior commitments with a glib post nearly a year later.

This is not about the value of the coupon, this is about the integrity of the organization behind it.

BTW... this father of three daughters would like to point out that a southern gentleman would not start a post with "Hey guys." There are a number of folks impacted by your vacillating concept of benefits who are not "guys."

itsaboutthejourney

Your comments make me embarrased to associate myself with FlyerTalk.

We have a Delta manager here engaging with us, honestly and with interesting detail and you continue to complain over and over again without any constructive comments. These are drink & snack coupons for crying out loud. It's posts & attitude such as yours above that likely drive away anyone from Delta wanting to try and engage us.

mike_plat

And your comments embarrass me. If the Delta manager can't stand the heat...you know what they say. This is a poorly implemented program, through and through. It has been complained about ad nauseum. Then a very senior person in Delta's management decides to enter this forum and talk about some window dressing on a bad program.

Delta needs to fire many of its existing managers and hire ones that can see their product through their customer's eyes. It's a very different view.

His coming into this forum to announce this fluff just proves how out-of-touch DL is with its customers.

mike_plat

As a fellow Diamond, I have never, not even once, seen one of these coupons despite at least 4 opportunites in the last few months when one should have printed out at OLCI according to the information provided by DL management in this forum. Bad program. Out of touch management.

Sabai

Jacob, please put it back when you're through; the IT Dept needs to reinstall it in the award calendar.

Thanks.

BadgerFlyer91

I Believe that the programming doesn't give these to diamonds. I haven't seen on since last year, despite sitting in coach mre than I would like. And yet I continue to see my gold or platinum colleagues with them regularly. Truly disappointing.

Vuelos

Well said. These employees don't have to be here.. they have made a decision to try and develop a dialogue here and if all they are greeted with is cynicism and attacks, they won't be around for long.

Exactly. They'll get out of the kitchen which is a loss for many people who don't have access on their own to someone @ DL who can get .... done. If y'all had worked with K.P. this way, there's no way he'd have stayed around.

RE: Firing the managers... not sure what twisted myopic world you inhabit but I wouldn't call a "Senior Product Manager " a very senior person on DL's staff... It's quite DYKWIA/ me me me for you to rail against someone coming here, on their own time to try and talk with customers just because you aren't receiving the 'benefit' enough.

And finally, DL is the only airline in the industry offering such a program, please give them more reason to pull it! When I'm stuck in Y as a Plat on CO I get a smile and told there are 20+ other Plats back here with me...

Y'all need to lighten up! Attacks like this prove just why MilePoint was started...

I'd doubt that as I received one 2 weeks ago and the week before that. I was flying segments > 750 miles. Maybe it's your segment distance not triggering the coupon.

Vuelos

Hi Jacob,

Wondering if it's truly worthwhile to extend the coupon to every segment on a trip given the increase in cost to the program versus what would likely be a decrease in the number of pax who would be offered it as a result?

With regards to companions on the same PNR... why? Why would they be given one when they aren't the one doing the flying each year to earn status? Since the goal of this program is to reward loyalty, how does that engender loyalty amongst those who put their butt in a seat for many miles each year?

The coupons would be great on a kiosk... doubt y'all have been looking into that

Extended validity dates would be nice but what's the point when the coupons are intended to 'apologize' to elites who have ended up in coach...