My DL Million Miler story from Jan 2013
Oct 25, 2023, 4:00 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ/New York, NY/ATL
Programs: DL DM MM, BIS 2.4MM, EK Gold, SQ Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold,
Posts: 5,223
My DL Million Miler story from Jan 2013
With so much negative press about DL (and yes im one that also is incredibly sick and over all US carriers, but I digress) I wanted to share a story from over a decade ago I have never shared because in some sense this seems like the by-gone area of DL Airlines and maybe US carriers as a whole. I also chose not to share because I realize that many MMers do not even get a pat on the back, let alone public recognition. I am not special, nor do I think hitting MM is special to DL beyond the length of a coin, so please understand that this story is shared merely for memories sake. With all of that prefaced, on that rainy cold January day, they did make me feel like, even for a brief moment, that they cared.
When I hit MM at 23 years old I had quite a celebration. I was traveling from GRU to ATL with an 8 hour layover then to LAX on the 77L with a 18 hour layover then onto Maui. All on one ticket, all in paid Business (BE at the time). I didnt have a DL credit card that earned MQMs, so the 1 million MQMS were primarily from flying+any MQM bonuses.
When I landed in ATL at 545am on a cold, rainy January morning (the flight that officially crossed the boundary) the team meeting the flight was standing in the jet bridge with a sign with my name on it. I was very surprised as to what was going on. They took me down to the tarmac for photos with the aircraft, then they escorted me through customs and back up in the SC where I walked in (at 615am mind you) to the entire front desk staff standing up and clapping with huge smiles on their faces. They then handed me a box of cupcakes and a balloon and offered me a shower(not with the cupcakes). The irony is, I had booked this layover to NOT stay in the airport so after I profusely thanked them, they took me back out where they had a car drive me into the city.
But it didnt stop there.
I returned to ATL at about 4pm that same day expecting this was all behind us. Shortly after boarding ATL-LAX, at end of boarding, they got on the INTERCOM for the entire aircraft and said that the person in 7A (remember that seat!?) was crossing 1 MM on that flight and to give him a round of applause. This was embarrassing for sure as many of the pax in that BE cabin were fellow DMs with many millions as well-I could only think in that moment as I sunk in my seat blushing, how they were thinking about their own MM threshold and comparing it. After this was done, 3 FAs came up to me as though it was timed and handed me a bag of DL goodies. Model plane, shirt, cupholder, other swag etc. When I got to LAX I had to ship this stuff to New York as I was going to Japan after Maui but I appreciated the gesture. The only soldiers left behind were the cupcakes-I donated those to the staff.
Ive always reminisced about that day as one that DL really shined. Im only sad to see how far US carriers have come, and sadder still that I realize this was an unusual occurrence for many. Ill always look back on that day with fond memories and a story ill take with me until I depart this world as what a company is capable of if they really put all their resources in motion to make one day for one client a special one.
When I hit MM at 23 years old I had quite a celebration. I was traveling from GRU to ATL with an 8 hour layover then to LAX on the 77L with a 18 hour layover then onto Maui. All on one ticket, all in paid Business (BE at the time). I didnt have a DL credit card that earned MQMs, so the 1 million MQMS were primarily from flying+any MQM bonuses.
When I landed in ATL at 545am on a cold, rainy January morning (the flight that officially crossed the boundary) the team meeting the flight was standing in the jet bridge with a sign with my name on it. I was very surprised as to what was going on. They took me down to the tarmac for photos with the aircraft, then they escorted me through customs and back up in the SC where I walked in (at 615am mind you) to the entire front desk staff standing up and clapping with huge smiles on their faces. They then handed me a box of cupcakes and a balloon and offered me a shower(not with the cupcakes). The irony is, I had booked this layover to NOT stay in the airport so after I profusely thanked them, they took me back out where they had a car drive me into the city.
But it didnt stop there.
I returned to ATL at about 4pm that same day expecting this was all behind us. Shortly after boarding ATL-LAX, at end of boarding, they got on the INTERCOM for the entire aircraft and said that the person in 7A (remember that seat!?) was crossing 1 MM on that flight and to give him a round of applause. This was embarrassing for sure as many of the pax in that BE cabin were fellow DMs with many millions as well-I could only think in that moment as I sunk in my seat blushing, how they were thinking about their own MM threshold and comparing it. After this was done, 3 FAs came up to me as though it was timed and handed me a bag of DL goodies. Model plane, shirt, cupholder, other swag etc. When I got to LAX I had to ship this stuff to New York as I was going to Japan after Maui but I appreciated the gesture. The only soldiers left behind were the cupcakes-I donated those to the staff.
Ive always reminisced about that day as one that DL really shined. Im only sad to see how far US carriers have come, and sadder still that I realize this was an unusual occurrence for many. Ill always look back on that day with fond memories and a story ill take with me until I depart this world as what a company is capable of if they really put all their resources in motion to make one day for one client a special one.
Last edited by DLATL777; Oct 25, 2023 at 6:42 pm
Oct 25, 2023, 5:18 pm
#3
Join Date: Sep 2023
Location: PVR
Programs: Delta 1.7MM United 1MM Hhonors Lifetime Diamond Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Plus
Posts: 20
Mine was similar, but not as elaborate. With a connection at DET though from MSP and going on to FCO so no customs/immigration requirement for me that day. But they had a sign on the Jet Bridge and took me, my wife, and brought another Porsche for my parents (once I told them they were with me and it was a trip for their 50th Anniversary. Drove around the airport a bit, got out in front of the plane we were going to be on for me becoming a MM, and got a photo, then off to the skyqclub and they gave me a Million Miler Passport holder that fell apart in less than a year.
I was on a flight in 2015 where someone hit 4mm and they made an announcement and brought a gift bag, and I saw from across the isle and 2 rows back it was a model of the plane we were on. Pretty nice gesture, no clue what, if anything else they did for him that day.
It's nice when they recognize things like that.
I was on a flight in 2015 where someone hit 4mm and they made an announcement and brought a gift bag, and I saw from across the isle and 2 rows back it was a model of the plane we were on. Pretty nice gesture, no clue what, if anything else they did for him that day.
It's nice when they recognize things like that.
Last edited by pvrMM3; Oct 25, 2023 at 5:19 pm Reason: adding missing line
Oct 25, 2023, 5:42 pm
#4
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: LAX
Programs: DL DM, 2 MM; OW Emerald; MVP Gold 100k;Marriott/SPG LTPlat; HH Diamond
Posts: 968
Oct 25, 2023, 6:34 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: KATL
Programs: DL DM/2MM
Posts: 2,034
Just before I hit 1MM, I realized that I would cross the threshold somewhere over the Atlantic on my way from MAD-JFK. I started to even calculate the exact spot on the journey timewise. I didn't expect any fanfare but thought I could quietly celebrate the moment in the air.
Then a few days prior.... my Amex threshold MQM bonus hit and, dreams deflated, I quietly celebrated in my hotel room.
This is still my all-time favorite seat. Well that and 6F (I think) on the old domestic 764. The one with the top secret waaaaay-back lever.
Then a few days prior.... my Amex threshold MQM bonus hit and, dreams deflated, I quietly celebrated in my hotel room.
This is still my all-time favorite seat. Well that and 6F (I think) on the old domestic 764. The one with the top secret waaaaay-back lever.
Oct 25, 2023, 6:41 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ/New York, NY/ATL
Programs: DL DM MM, BIS 2.4MM, EK Gold, SQ Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold,
Posts: 5,223
Yeah that was the right side window last row. This bird always did ATL-FLL and sometimes LAX turns and I would take it and scare the crap out of the person next to me. The best was if you knew that behind the seat was the blue leather "ramp" that the pilots would use to prop up their feet when on INTL flights they used this seat as crew rest. The domestic crews knew nothing about it, so I would grab it and set up a full bed.
Oct 25, 2023, 7:02 pm
#7
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Plat, 1 MM; SPG LT Plat (RIP); Marriott LT Titanium; Fairmont Plat (RIP), DL Kryptonium Medallion
Posts: 1,791
My flight that put me over 1 MM was a bit of a mess, but I got an actually nice gift from the IRROPS gods on the way back home.
The flight was a TPAC flight en route to TPE for a weekend, done shortly before Delta dropped Taipei and its 747s.
- The flight was delayed several hours - high winds in NRT slowed the arrivals and departures
- That meant a risk of misconnect in NRT, Given the short length of the weekend trip, I almost decided to declare trip in vain and fly back home
- Had a window seat in C+, and I think an open middle which was fine, but the AC power at my seat did not work
- I spent most of the time over CONUS searching for alternative flights to TPE if I misconnected in NRT and the rest watching the "your flight" on my screen
- No 1 MM recognition
- Managed to exit the plane in a hurry, which startled some of the workers in the ramp, but the onward flight was delayed, so I needn't have worried
- On the return, I flew paid J, wanted to fly DJ 747 upper deck J, had done it on many airlines, including NW, but never DL. This would be my one and only chance
- About 12 hours before my TPE-NRT, it was already posting a delay long enough to risk a misconnect. If I misconnected, to get back home in a timely fashion, I would have to fly a non-747
- I was able to rebook TPE-NRT on CI a few hours earlier. That flight was a 747. CI sold the upper deck as Y not J, but it had (old) J seats. I checked in with CI at TPE, and after talking to an agent, managed to get the last upper deck seat. My original TPE-NRT would have misconnected, so I wound up with upper deck seats on two 747 flights, on two airlines I had never done it on before, instead of zero
The flight was a TPAC flight en route to TPE for a weekend, done shortly before Delta dropped Taipei and its 747s.
- The flight was delayed several hours - high winds in NRT slowed the arrivals and departures
- That meant a risk of misconnect in NRT, Given the short length of the weekend trip, I almost decided to declare trip in vain and fly back home
- Had a window seat in C+, and I think an open middle which was fine, but the AC power at my seat did not work
- I spent most of the time over CONUS searching for alternative flights to TPE if I misconnected in NRT and the rest watching the "your flight" on my screen
- No 1 MM recognition
- Managed to exit the plane in a hurry, which startled some of the workers in the ramp, but the onward flight was delayed, so I needn't have worried
- On the return, I flew paid J, wanted to fly DJ 747 upper deck J, had done it on many airlines, including NW, but never DL. This would be my one and only chance
- About 12 hours before my TPE-NRT, it was already posting a delay long enough to risk a misconnect. If I misconnected, to get back home in a timely fashion, I would have to fly a non-747
- I was able to rebook TPE-NRT on CI a few hours earlier. That flight was a 747. CI sold the upper deck as Y not J, but it had (old) J seats. I checked in with CI at TPE, and after talking to an agent, managed to get the last upper deck seat. My original TPE-NRT would have misconnected, so I wound up with upper deck seats on two 747 flights, on two airlines I had never done it on before, instead of zero
Oct 25, 2023, 8:43 pm
#9
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: AUS
Programs: AA Exec Platinum/MM, DL Gold/MM, Hilton Diamond, Accor Platinum, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 6,977
Just checked the records and saw I passed the 1 million mark in May 2013. No recognition of any sort. Seems like there should be a happy medium between nothing and the over the top spectacle the OP received only a few months before mine.
Oct 25, 2023, 9:04 pm
#10
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: WAS
Programs: AA EXP2M, DL 1MM DM ext, UA PP <=> HH G/Marr PE/Hyatt G/IHG P FT RA ( Recovering Addict)
Posts: 4,596
Perhaps that was because a few months earlier they still had memory of the Great Recession and a few months later forgot all about the flyers who helped them escape bankruptcy, .....
Oct 25, 2023, 9:40 pm
#11
Join Date: May 2023
Location: IAD/SFO/ICN
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 9
With so much negative press about DL (and yes im one that also is incredibly sick and over all US carriers, but I digress) I wanted to share a story from over a decade ago I have never shared because in some sense this seems like the by-gone area of DL Airlines and maybe US carriers as a whole. I also chose not to share because I realize that many MMers do not even get a pat on the back, let alone public recognition. I am not special, nor do I think hitting MM is special to DL beyond the length of a coin, so please understand that this story is shared merely for memories sake. With all of that prefaced, on that rainy cold January day, they did make me feel like, even for a brief moment, that they cared.
When I hit MM at 23 years old I had quite a celebration. I was traveling from GRU to ATL with an 8 hour layover then to LAX on the 77L with a 18 hour layover then onto Maui. All on one ticket, all in paid Business (BE at the time). I didnt have a DL credit card that earned MQMs, so the 1 million MQMS were primarily from flying+any MQM bonuses.
When I landed in ATL at 545am on a cold, rainy January morning (the flight that officially crossed the boundary) the team meeting the flight was standing in the jet bridge with a sign with my name on it. I was very surprised as to what was going on. They took me down to the tarmac for photos with the aircraft, then they escorted me through customs and back up in the SC where I walked in (at 615am mind you) to the entire front desk staff standing up and clapping with huge smiles on their faces. They then handed me a box of cupcakes and a balloon and offered me a shower(not with the cupcakes). The irony is, I had booked this layover to NOT stay in the airport so after I profusely thanked them, they took me back out where they had a car drive me into the city.
But it didnt stop there.
I returned to ATL at about 4pm that same day expecting this was all behind us. Shortly after boarding ATL-LAX, at end of boarding, they got on the INTERCOM for the entire aircraft and said that the person in 7A (remember that seat!?) was crossing 1 MM on that flight and to give him a round of applause. This was embarrassing for sure as many of the pax in that BE cabin were fellow DMs with many millions as well-I could only think in that moment as I sunk in my seat blushing, how they were thinking about their own MM threshold and comparing it. After this was done, 3 FAs came up to me as though it was timed and handed me a bag of DL goodies. Model plane, shirt, cupholder, other swag etc. When I got to LAX I had to ship this stuff to New York as I was going to Japan after Maui but I appreciated the gesture. The only soldiers left behind were the cupcakes-I donated those to the staff.
Ive always reminisced about that day as one that DL really shined. Im only sad to see how far US carriers have come, and sadder still that I realize this was an unusual occurrence for many. Ill always look back on that day with fond memories and a story ill take with me until I depart this world as what a company is capable of if they really put all their resources in motion to make one day for one client a special one.
When I hit MM at 23 years old I had quite a celebration. I was traveling from GRU to ATL with an 8 hour layover then to LAX on the 77L with a 18 hour layover then onto Maui. All on one ticket, all in paid Business (BE at the time). I didnt have a DL credit card that earned MQMs, so the 1 million MQMS were primarily from flying+any MQM bonuses.
When I landed in ATL at 545am on a cold, rainy January morning (the flight that officially crossed the boundary) the team meeting the flight was standing in the jet bridge with a sign with my name on it. I was very surprised as to what was going on. They took me down to the tarmac for photos with the aircraft, then they escorted me through customs and back up in the SC where I walked in (at 615am mind you) to the entire front desk staff standing up and clapping with huge smiles on their faces. They then handed me a box of cupcakes and a balloon and offered me a shower(not with the cupcakes). The irony is, I had booked this layover to NOT stay in the airport so after I profusely thanked them, they took me back out where they had a car drive me into the city.
But it didnt stop there.
I returned to ATL at about 4pm that same day expecting this was all behind us. Shortly after boarding ATL-LAX, at end of boarding, they got on the INTERCOM for the entire aircraft and said that the person in 7A (remember that seat!?) was crossing 1 MM on that flight and to give him a round of applause. This was embarrassing for sure as many of the pax in that BE cabin were fellow DMs with many millions as well-I could only think in that moment as I sunk in my seat blushing, how they were thinking about their own MM threshold and comparing it. After this was done, 3 FAs came up to me as though it was timed and handed me a bag of DL goodies. Model plane, shirt, cupholder, other swag etc. When I got to LAX I had to ship this stuff to New York as I was going to Japan after Maui but I appreciated the gesture. The only soldiers left behind were the cupcakes-I donated those to the staff.
Ive always reminisced about that day as one that DL really shined. Im only sad to see how far US carriers have come, and sadder still that I realize this was an unusual occurrence for many. Ill always look back on that day with fond memories and a story ill take with me until I depart this world as what a company is capable of if they really put all their resources in motion to make one day for one client a special one.
Oct 25, 2023, 9:57 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: DL DM/MM, AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 60
It was in 2017 on a flight to NRT through MSP that I hit 1MM. In MSP, someone greeted and brought me to the SC on a Porsche. Then when I flew back, in NRT, a Japanese agent also greeted me at the Check-in counter, brought me through security to the lounge and gave me a secluded place to stay in. Inside, I got a tin can of chocolates, and later, a coffee tumbler. To say I felt valued was accurate. As the OP said, how we long for those days.....
Oct 25, 2023, 10:03 pm
#13
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: PHX
Programs: Delta 2M DM, Southwest A List and CP
Posts: 1,102
It all depends on the situation... For both my 1 MM and 2 MM "crossings" (about 20 and 10 years ago; a domestic and an international DL flight) there was no mention by anyone at DL.
Oct 25, 2023, 11:03 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: Formaldehyde Medallion DL DieMiles
Posts: 12,646
Somewhere, I have the boarding passes from my 1MM, 2MM, and 3MM flights.
The first two were on the old heavy card stock that DL used to use.
For the third, I had to wander around the PHL airport to find a machine that still used the old card stock and get the BP reprinted.
The first two were on the old heavy card stock that DL used to use.
For the third, I had to wander around the PHL airport to find a machine that still used the old card stock and get the BP reprinted.
Oct 25, 2023, 11:07 pm
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: Formaldehyde Medallion DL DieMiles
Posts: 12,646
"Folks, the passenger in 3B will be achieving 3 million mile status on this flight. The crew would like to acknowledge him and suggest that he get a life."
(Just kidding...)
(Just kidding...)