DLASflyer

The second you hit A+21 minutes you can claim. I usually start filling out the form at about 18.

whooperatw

I’ve found if it’s close, say the 19 minute mark when it comes out, I’d try to send it in too. There can be some time differences it seems. Basically when in doubt, doesn’t hurt to submit. Worst it does is say no.

VFR

Also note that at some airports the bag won't get a scan when it gets to the baggage claim – I've experienced this and had a successful claim at DEN and LAX.

I think this guarantee is more for marketing than actually getting everyone's bags out in 20 min. Still, I'm not complaining at what I value at $50 worth of SkyMiles per roundtrip.

mbluecpa

Claimed * 2 at MSY on 10/12 ~715pm arrival. One of my travel mate’s bags came out in under 20 mins, but her second and my only took about 25. I claimed mine and had miles posted before my bag came out. Yes, I’m anal retentive. 😎

GagaPilot

My past DL trip was the first in well over a year where I didn’t actually get to claim 2500 miles in at least one direction. Both times were well under 20 minutes. I was actually shocked lol.

VFR

I’ve been shocked that recently in ORD and BOS my bag has been delivered in as little as 11 minutes. I’m used to getting more miles from the bag guarantee than I earn from the flight!

It took about 20 min to get my bag in DEN today — I have noticed that I don’t seem to get notifications at DEN when my bag arrives at the carousel, so it might be possible to file claims regardless of bag delivery time there.

beachmouse

In Tucson this year, I got a ‘your bag is arriving on the carousel’ message roughly 16 hours after I picked it up on the carousel and left the airport. BOT claim was successful the night before.

I wouldn't be surprised if there has been a memo about improving performance for that metric- I had successful claims more than 80% of the time this summer and that kinda f thing will eventually add to the liability balance sheet.

country_boy

I’ve noticed if delta fails to load your bag on a flight, and then you have an irrop, they won’t pay..

1) connected in ATL, 2 hour layover, bag doesn’t get loaded on connecting flight, flight to DCA diverts to IAD. Eventually delta decides to terminate the flight at IAD at 2 AM. My bag doesn’t come out. Delta says it’s still in ATL, no credit because bag wasn’t checked to IAD, nor was it late to DCA ( since plane never landed)

2) Flying through ATL from PHL. Delta checked my bags (2) to SFO on a flight the next day ( I didn’t read the destination airport, because the guy said it to me correctly and printed out a correct boarding pass). Agent charged me $40, said no free bags anymore for silver/ gold ( what ever I was this summer). Delta initially wouldn’t discuss it as I couldn’t confirm the ID of the names on the claim, they finally rerouted the bags, and refunded the $40, but no credit.

3) Flew back to ATL with a small yellow pelican case. Fly delta app says it arrived at baggage claim 6 with my suitcase. It didn’t show. 15 minutes later I get in line for baggage service, they send me to the Atlanta room, Atlanta room sends me to oversized claim. It’s not there and they send me back to Atlanta room, who tells me to ignore the guy at oversized and wait there. 2 hours after flight arrival they get a new lady at oversized, and she asks me what I’m looking for- I tell her a small yellow pelican case, she grabs it immediately and says she wondered why it was in oversized ( it was behind a bike, and not visible to passengers.) Again, wasted 2 hours, but no credit because Delta thinks they delivered it to the conveyor on time ( at best they delivered it to the wrong belt, where it was hidden by the attendant. )

My two other delayed bags this year, they gave me the credit on one, and the other I didn’t file in time,

PreCOVID, they wouldn’t pay for clothes or the credit because they blamed customs for seizing my bag in Seattle ( on a domestic connection to Anchorage) Turns out Delta sent the bag to Japan, and Japan did a 24 hr hold on it due to a passable ITAR violation. Customs supervisor in Seattle tracked it down because he was PO’d delta was blaming them- particularly for a domestic bag, and apparently Customs rarely seizes bags- they just seize the illegal item.