Delta eliminates award ticket redeposit and reissue fees
 

Per OMAAT: https://onemileatatime.com/skymiles-...d-change-fees/

Effective immediately, Delta SkyMiles has eliminated award ticket redeposit and reissue fees for travel within the US (including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands). Much like with revenue tickets, basic economy tickets are excluded from this new policy.

Previously Delta SkyMiles also had a pesky rule whereby you had to change or cancel a ticket at least 72 hours before departure, or else the award would be forfeited. That rule has been eliminated as well, so all that matters is that you cancel your award ticket before departure.

All of this is in addition to Delta’s blanket no change fee policy for tickets purchased through December 31, 2020, for both domestic and international travel. This means that even international award tickets can be redeposited for free for the time being.

Not surprised that they ended up doing this as I believe UA announced they were removing their award redeposit fee as well (I don’t believe AA had a redeposit fee). I’m surprised DL still hasn't gotten rid of the SDC/SDS $75 fee yet for FOs and non-status members as both AA and UA announced they would drop the fee along with change fees on domestic flights.

AA certainly did have an award redeposit fee before Covid times.

Direct link to the Delta news item:

https://news.delta.com/delta-extends...y-award-travel

This is good, but what about award ticket changes for international tickets? For me that has been one of the better benefits of P&DM status.

About time. This always made DL awards a PITA compared to AA awards.

Some further details on the following would be helpful:
"Diamond and Platinum Medallion Members who selected Upgrade Certificates, Delta Sky Club Memberships, Delta Sky Club Guest Passes, or Delta Travel Vouchers or gave Medallion Status through Delta’s exclusive Choice Benefits for the 2020 Medallion Year will get to select new Choice Benefits starting on Feb. 1, 2021 (the start of the 2021 Medallion Year) or as they earn Medallion Status (like they normally would)."

For example, what if you selected miles for one Diamond benefit and upgrades for the other two. Do you get two new choices? Will those two new choices include miles? Or, will you get zero choices? This is as clear as mud.

Did DL say this was permanent? I'd be surprised if it is, especially within 72 hours of travel. They instituted the 72-hour rule for a good reason, as people were massively abusing the system.

They have previously said that PMs/DMs will get to select Choice Benefits again even if they don't requalify organically. That seems much more obvious and simple, so I am going to go with that previous announcement rather than a close literal parsing of the current news announcement (which I agree is badly worded in the way that you pointed out)

Delta does go out of their way to list every Choice benefit other than miles, so I don't think this is parsing. I suspect that they will simply not allow you to make duplicate selections for miles if you received a free extension of your status. Under normal circumstances, once I have "enough" upgrades to use, I usually use the remainder of my selection for miles. With all of the certificate extensions and not having not traveled for 6+ months, I am pretty sure I have "enough" upgrades for a while!

I believe AA allowed you to change an award booking for no fee but you did have to pay to redeposit the miles.


This is ultimately good news for most travelers though I wonder how it will impact availability for bookings if now everyone and not just PMs and DMs can book and hold and change mileage tickets. The question is is how many non-PMs/DMs (and those who were PM and DM before but dropped back to GM/FO/General Member) will "play" with bookings. I will say interestingly, this change removes one of the best reasons to reach for PM over GM.
EDIT: This is still good news for travelers but I do see, at least for now, it's limited to US domestic bookings, so there's still the benefit to getting PM if you use your miles for int'l award tickets.

You could be right, but I'm still chalking it up to bad copywriting (of which there are plenty of other examples, inconsistencies on the DL web site, etc.) -- we can come back in January/Feb and see who's right -- I'll bet you a Woodford mini :)

Sometime in 2022 or 2023: "DL adds $200 redeposit fee for domestic award tickets, does not permit changes 5 days before departure"

+1

With no changes to redeposit/reissue fees for int'l flights it's largely an empty gesture (which is not surprising).

This is really fantastic news, being able to change award tickets for cheap was already a luxury, now being able to do it for free anytime allows for more flexible planning. I know ya'll make fun of "skypesos" but some of their deals to SE Asia and Europe from Mexico in J are actually quite competitive on partner flights if you're super flexible on dates. Its only for their own metal and domestic flights in the US that their redemptions suck. The China Airlines partner flight from LAX to TPE is truly a great biz class product, I love the "old train" feeling of the interior decor.

I wonder what effect this will have on availability/abuse, now that anyone can book an award to "reserve the spot" for a flight they may have little intention of taking and getting 100% of the points and money back no question asked. My prediction is this is going to lead to a lot more competition for flights way out like many months, and more last minute availability from people cancelling at the last second.

Look no further then ANA's program for this type of behavior. You have to basically book 12 months out the day the space opens, or 2-3 days before nothing in between, could be the fact ANA has never had change fees could have something to do with this.