Delta providing pre-board for corporate clients
Apr 5, 2016, 7:19 pm
#16
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I have long suspected that such policies exist. My spouse is a management consultant with one of the big firms. He, a PM, was traveling with a non-status colleague who was on her own PNR, and she was upgraded at the gate without ever requesting an upgrade. Coach was not oversold. She seemed to have some low-level unpublished upgrade priority (it seemed to be after medallions).
Apr 5, 2016, 7:20 pm
#17
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Do you really think some major company is going to switch its corporate travel contract from DL to UA (or Spirit) because some intern or management trainee (maybe a young kid with a MBA) didn't get a preferred aisle seat for their first business trip?
Apr 6, 2016, 12:56 am
#18
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I have never experienced any such call that prioritises something nebulous over F/GS/1K/EXP ....
Apr 6, 2016, 1:01 am
#19
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Heck, DL is allowing priority boarding just for people wearing the jerseys of crappy baseball teams...
http://airport.blog.ajc.com/2016/04/...rity-boarding/
(Also find it hilarious that this article, about the Mets and Yankees, has a photo of the Nats mascots at DCA...)
http://airport.blog.ajc.com/2016/04/...rity-boarding/
(Also find it hilarious that this article, about the Mets and Yankees, has a photo of the Nats mascots at DCA...)
Apr 6, 2016, 2:47 am
#20
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I have long suspected that such policies exist. My spouse is a management consultant with one of the big firms. He, a PM, was traveling with a non-status colleague who was on her own PNR, and she was upgraded at the gate without ever requesting an upgrade. Coach was not oversold. She seemed to have some low-level unpublished upgrade priority (it seemed to be after medallions).
Apr 6, 2016, 2:53 am
#21
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Perks are well deserved for the company, not the traveler. The contract traveler is likely to be obligated to travel via DL by company policy, the preferred seat provides no further incentive (though certainly nice to have for the traveler).
OTOH, lack of preferred seats can provide disincentive to a Medallion without a corporate contract, and that Medallion has flexibility to choose another carrier. And in the aggregate, the collection of Medallions is probably worth MUCH more to DL[1] than any individual corporate contract, especially when selecting for higher-value last minute purchasers who are most likely to be affected by the lack of decent seats.
[1] Using the $25M number upthread, given that a DM must spend at least $18000 (MQD + taxes), it takes only about 1400 DMs to exceed that spend (which is the equivalent of 1 per 10 flights operated each day). And that completely ignores the rest of the Medallion tiers. And it also ignores that corporate contracts gets discounts, whereas unaffiliated Medallions are paying list price (ie: more for the same ticket).
OTOH, lack of preferred seats can provide disincentive to a Medallion without a corporate contract, and that Medallion has flexibility to choose another carrier. And in the aggregate, the collection of Medallions is probably worth MUCH more to DL[1] than any individual corporate contract, especially when selecting for higher-value last minute purchasers who are most likely to be affected by the lack of decent seats.
[1] Using the $25M number upthread, given that a DM must spend at least $18000 (MQD + taxes), it takes only about 1400 DMs to exceed that spend (which is the equivalent of 1 per 10 flights operated each day). And that completely ignores the rest of the Medallion tiers. And it also ignores that corporate contracts gets discounts, whereas unaffiliated Medallions are paying list price (ie: more for the same ticket).
Apr 6, 2016, 3:14 am
#22
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And anyone that can't see that because of the myopic blinders of "medallion" self worth can't possibly claim to have even the basic understanding of how business works.
Apr 6, 2016, 5:10 am
#23
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I was on a call with my company this morning discussing my client, Delta, and learned that Delta will start giving our employees pre-board due to our volume of business with them. We do roughly $25m a year with Delta. They are #3 in airline spend. No idea of the specifics, ie at what level they will board. Just thought it was very interesting.
Anyone else heard this for other customers?
Anyone else heard this for other customers?
Apr 6, 2016, 9:28 am
#24
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Last year, for a last minute trip, someone within my company booked my ticket for me and put me on DL. In spite of the late timing, it was not a full-fare ticket. However, I was surprised to find that, as a non-elite member, I was able to select from all preferred seats (including the exit rows) and received Zone 1 boarding.
Apr 6, 2016, 9:48 am
#25
Join Date: Apr 2011
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And if a majority of travelers who don't have DL status complain about not having seat assignments or middle seats in the back, or always having to check their carry-on with group 17 boarding, that might be enough to force a change to another airline that will give them that.
It's possible that the company could have 150 people (that took 300 trips) are unhappy with DL, 5 road warriors (that also took 300 trips) are happy with DL and the company writes it up as 150 vs 5...we're going to start looking for a new airline.
Apr 6, 2016, 10:06 am
#26
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Unfortunately that section freezes up periodically and has to be rebooted, at which point everyone has to go back through TSA screening.
Apr 6, 2016, 10:19 am
#27
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As others note, this is a throwaway item for the carrier and the employer alike as the items which move the contract are the % discount, flexibility for otherwise non-flexible fare buckets and an assurance of top-tier treatment for some specified number of designated people (e.g., GS at UA for the top people).
Apr 6, 2016, 10:30 am
#28
Join Date: Jan 2015
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As a consultant for one of the "big four" I've certainly never received any boarding zone upgrades based on my corporate ticket. Not sure what my company spends with Delta a year, but it has to be well north of $25mm...
Apr 6, 2016, 10:46 am
#29
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Are you booking through the company's corporate TA and at the company's corporate rate?
Apr 6, 2016, 10:49 am
#30
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Heck, DL is allowing priority boarding just for people wearing the jerseys of crappy baseball teams...
http://airport.blog.ajc.com/2016/04/...rity-boarding/
(Also find it hilarious that this article, about the Mets and Yankees, has a photo of the Nats mascots at DCA...)
http://airport.blog.ajc.com/2016/04/...rity-boarding/
(Also find it hilarious that this article, about the Mets and Yankees, has a photo of the Nats mascots at DCA...)
Who isn't zone 1 now?
Soon Zone 2 & 3 will have like 3 people in it.