bangkokiscool

On Dec 31 I was in D1 DTW-PEK. D1 was very empty, I was the only customer seated in the mini cabin (A332). I had a 5.5 hour layover in DTW before departure.

Upon arrival into PEK on Jan 1, my name was with a bunch of other names (about 8 total) on a signboard at baggage claim. At the baggage office they showed us a piece of paper that said that due to smoggy conditions in PEK DL decided to offload bags in DTW and that our bags would be coming the next day.

I called Diamond in the US, and they said I could purchase "reasonable" expenses including clothing with no limit.

Being Jan 1, Sunday night, late evening, I didn't really have time to get on Taobao to order a new suit for my Monday morning business meetings. I went to the nearest mall and bought a suit and shirt that fit me, for about US$600.

I submitted a claim. What do you all think? Will DL reimburse me? Should Delta have pulled off a D1 Diamond bag with a 5 hour layover from the plane when plenty of other bags made it through? I know I can count on this crowd for the unvarnished truth!

nichojo

Yes, they will reimburse you.

flyerCO

They should pay out. Especially being a DM there's really no reason for them not to. I've bought new suits twice in last year paid by DL. NO issues in getting paid back. In fact bag claims for DM get handled by a separate group.

baccarat0809

Back in the days of being a DM I had a trip to a resort that took about 3 days to get the bags to me, iirc, and I had over $600 in "resort wear" - ie, tommy bahama, swim suit, etc., all purchased at the store at the resort for crazy retail prices.

Had a check about 2 weeks after I turned in the receipts to them.

You should have no problem getting reimbursed as a DM on a D1 flight.

davetravels

Oh, I'm SURE the stockholders are LUVIN' this thread!

TheLifeOfA_NKCM

Eh, why do businessmen always need suits -makes me think of doormen.

Just show up in a company t-shirt and unzipped branded sweatshirt over it.
(less money, more enthuaism, more comfortable, and more free advertising )

KDCAflyer

I think you have to be a billionaire to have that privilege.

TheLifeOfA_NKCM

LOL. IDK why but when I see someone in a suit I think "Look at me, I'm important and when you approach me I'm going to be stuffy"

I've joked with my small team of seven how it isn't going to fly with me

(pun not intended)

I suppose you could be sorta right though.. Even so, this is how my team members expect to see me. Only.. Way.. Younger.

LoganFlyer

I'm probably missing something stupid, but why would smoggy conditions in PEK mean they can't take the bags on the flight?

TTT

Guessing weight issues should visibility decrease due to smog (i.e. need to fuel for a further alternate). Surprising, however, given that the flight wasn't otherwise full.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

I would certainly hope DL with do a full reimbursement. We had something similar once and what made me mad about it was as a medallion flier our bags were "priority" yet they still got offloaded.

TheMadBrewer

Priority bags are put on last so to be first off, right? I guess that makes them the easiest to offload as well...

kop84

Just a guess but off loading 8 bags with a one day delay, even factoring in reimbursements and baggage delivery, would probably cost less than the delay plus having to IDB 5-8 passengers and then have to dig through the plane to find their specific bags.

davetravels

Maybe they should handle bags like VDBing passengers - with vouchers asking for volunteers.

jdrtravel

I'm sure that in the end this practice is good for the bottom line. The alternatives are more expensive, including loosing a high value customer who is probably worth much more than $600 per year.