Does the "Above & Beyond" Program Still Exist?
 

Does anyone remember this program and/or know if and how I can get more recognition cards?

A few years ago, DL sent me a supply of "Customer Recognition Cards" that were intended to be given to particularly helpful DL employees. The cards were designed as post cards and could also be mailed to "Above & Beyond" at an address in ATL.

Since I had only a dozen or so of the cards, I used them very judiciously (mostly in HNL since that was my home base for 12 years), but now I'm down to my last one. I hate to use it, because I want to save it for the truly deserving employee (of which there are many).

The employees to whom I've given the other 11 or so cards were all familiar with the program and very thankful to receive the card and the recognition for their excellent service. I was never sure what the employee received from the company in exchange for earning cards from their customers, but one employee did tell me that it earned them a higher priority when traveling standby. There may have been other incremental benefits (seems a logical assumption although I have no way of knowing).

Anyway, I enjoy having these cards at my disposal to give a really helpful employee and knowing that my recognition translates into something tangible for that employee.

I don't know how to post a scan of the card, but am willing to learn if someone wants to teach me. Alternatively, I can email a scan to anyone who needs to see it.

Any help with a re-supply? UDH?

I haven't received any in years.

Probably earns them a demerit now. Either that or Virginia Ave starts monitoring them more closely to make sure they aren't doing something crazy like actually assisting an elite member.

DL ran this a couple times at least in the early to mid 90's. I think we received a half dozen certificates to hand out to employees who were truly exceptional.
But this program was pre-Leo and as we all are painfully aware, he's strictly focused on $$'s and not service.

I remember the cards too, though I always thought that this sort of thing should have been built into the delta ticket envelope given to a passenger at check-in. (That way, one could simply tear off the card and hand it to the person--not have to remember to bring the things along on the trip, or have to find them once back at home.)

In any case, one can always send a quick e-mail regarding excellent service (using the Delta web site). These e-mails will be acknowlegded. Once, after sending an e-mail in recognition of a flight attendant's excellent service,I subsequently received a gracious thank you note from that same person.

IIRC, the Above & Beyond program was discontinued at the end of 2001. I gave out my last one in early 2002; the FA who received it was grateful for the recognition even though the program had ended and it wouldn't result in any tangible benefit.

AA discontinued its similar program (You're SomeOne Special, or "SOS") at the end of 2002.

In my mind, both moves were a mistake. Who better to recognize and reward great service than frequent customers? But as the other posters have mentioned, the airlines aren't focusing on either great service or frequent customers anymore these days.

I gave out my last card, a bit tattered looking at that, at the beginning of 2003 to an exceptional FA whose courtesy and consideration should typify the spirit of Delta (I wrote that on the card). She was very grateful. I believe it was a big plus to receive these, can our resident FA on the board confirm the importance or unimportance of these little cards?

You know, with the demise of such programs across the airlines and a proven requirement for customer service still existing, perhaps an idea would be to create a FlyerTalk-endorsed recognition program. That, being a third-party, would have as much importance, as, say a recognition card published by ASTA, or the FAA, but at least backs a huge number of frequent flyers.

Does anyone else see where I'm going with this?

I love the idea...But with Leo out there, the recognized individuals could possibly get fired http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Something in the deep dark recesses of my fading mind tells me that I once heard that there was a cash bonus given when an employee received these cards.

If that's true, then it's no wonder that receiving a card made the recipients smile; AND it explains why the program no longer exists!

The last one I used was June. The agent in the DCA CRC worked a small miracle for me in spite of being plenty busy after two flight cancellations. He acted very pleased by my recognition of his efforts and gave no indication that the card was useless to him or that the program was terminated. Of course, that kind of 'service with a smile' attitude is what garnered him the praise in the first place.

Don't forget that you can always send an e-mail through the web-site praising a person who has gone above and beyond. I have done this on several occaisions and in each case received a very nice thank-you e-mail from the employee lauded telling me that Delta does notify the employee and makes it appear to be a worthwhile thing us to do.

I am so disgusted with the lack of response that normally follows any written note to DL, that I won't waste my time on the off-chance someone there actually bothers to read let alone act on such a communication.

Well put.

An Update...
 

Someone mentioned this program in a post earlier today, which reminded me to update this thread. On March 3rd, I sent the following letter to DL Marketing Proposals:


Approximately 3 weeks later, I received a call from Greg Ingram, who identified himself as Jerry Grinstein's Executive Assistant. He told me that DL would soon be introducing a new, yet similar program. The cards will not be mailed to SM members as before, but will be placed in special holders near the exit(s) of each plane near where you might expect to find the Timetables (remember those?). These holders are to be installed as part of the interior refurbishment each plane will undergo beginning this summer (his paraphrased words, not mine).

According to Mr. Ingram, employees singled out for recognition via these cards will benefit directly in various ways. For example, recepients would receive additional "points" when being considered for a promotion (again, his paraphrased words).

Although I look forward to soon being able to once again recognize exceptional employees at point of service, I have one concern that I shared with Mr. Ingram. If the only place to find these cards is on the planes, it would seem to discourage their use to recognize ground based staff. In my experience, it is employees working in the CRC, or as ticket agents, SMS agents, gate agents, etc. who have the most impact on how my day with Delta is going. He seemed interested in my suggestion to make the cards more readily available at the various points of service, so I guess we'll know the answer when we begin to see the cards.

Will someone please post an update when you first see these new cards?

I just looked in my DAL file and I still have a couple of these cards. It's too bad they stopped the program, but I guess those cards I have are now collector's items. Maybe I should sell them on e-bay (although I've never actually been to their site) or how about if we get Cholula to start the bidding right here for them at, let's say, $10,000?!? ;)

The only benefit I ever saw from these Above & Beyond cards was a higher boarding priority when flying stand-by... NOT reason enough to break my back!

DL has instituted a new program where employees earn points for various achievements. These points can then be converted into "stuff"... The idea appeals to me. Let's just see if it works... I'm a few points short of a toaster!!!

I was once told that when I write a letter and mention the DL person by name, they got a free DL positve space pass. Is this still true?

Far from true... We get what is called an S2B pass that helps climb up the non-rev line at the airport for one day. Believe me, it's nothing to hang in the tree...

Traveller, that's exactly what I had heard as well. They said that DL personnel could bump up from NR status.
So much for that myth I guess....

My neighbor who works for DL told me that... he worked at the check in counter now he works in a Crown Room... this was a few years ago, it could possible be different now.

How many Above & Beyond cards did you receive by NOT breaking your back? Since most employees would have had a difficult time discerning which of their customers actually had the cards and were inclined to use them, I doubt any DL employee ever broke their back in the hopes of being rewarded with that form of recognition. IMHO, those employees who consistently received them were the ones who at least tried to break their back for each and every customer. They were motivated by their desire to provide quality service, not in a selfish attempt to accumulate accolades. For me, that was the beauty of the program.

Hopefully, I have misinterpreted your comments. :confused:

Good point DLFan, I never gave these out to a FA who just did their jobs. I handed them out quite often to res agents on the phone, gate agents, FAs who did something extra special for me. I bet I never gave one out to DL Purser, especially with that attitude (or how I too perceived her attitude in this thread).

All of The responses DL Purser gives seem slightly odd, sometimes Floris-ish in a weird way,. Whatever happened to our other resident DL FA... I can't remember her name.. was FoPaa or something?

As I posted in this thread earlier,I always rewarded DL's Excellent Front-line Employees with my Above and Beyond cards and the people I gave them too were always very appreciative of receiving them, they must have meant something to them.

You did.

I've gotten more than my fair share of A&B Cards in addition to letters of appreciation... All of which have come as a result of my love for my work and the people I meet on my flights.

My only point in making the "not reason enough to break my back" comment was to point out that the REWARD for receiving a A&B Card IS NOT going to make someone go out of their way to receive one...

Please take a moment to read my response to DLfan... Guess I should take a crash course in basic writing.

What do you mean by "odd"?

What is Floris-ish?

Forgive me DeltaPurser, we used to have another DL FA on this board whose input was more...technical in nature? I guess I just grew accustomed to the posting styles of he other DL employees that have posted here. I should have said "Different" instead of "odd".

The FLoris comment was me being a bit cheeky.

Above and beyond
 

It truly was thing of beauty to see the smile of recognition that showed up on a Delta employee's face when you handed them one of these cards AFTER they went above and beyond. "Positive reinforcement reinforces positively"-Pavlov*

As an aside- I sat next to a senior Delta FA last week, and in conversation, she mentioned that that good old fashioned letter still works-the recipient gets great recognition and a one time top priority pass for standyby (vs other NRSA's, not us) for them and thier companion. Evidently these passes are like gold dust, especially to those who are more junior, more motivated, and less jaded by their seniors. To quote Rod Serling "Imagine if you will...." the last truly unmotivated, least caring (very old, senior) flight attendant you flew with being bumped, yes bumped, by the flight attendant about whom you wrote a great letter. And now this crusty, senior, non-caring, unmotivated, burned out person (or captain) has to wait for the next flight, while your heroine (or hero) leaves them standing at the gate.

Here's to positive re-inforcement.

Dallas49er, in case no one else has done this yet...welcome to FT and the DL forum. Hope you will continue to share your insights here, as I note you've had your butt in a Delta seat for a mile or two. ^

Thank you
 

Thanks. Hopefully I might be one of voices of reason (and hope).He who dies with least miles (and most places been) wins.

Isn't this saying the same thing as not breaking your back?

I go out of my way for our customers all the time, if they take the time to send something in writing to my boss I get $25. It rarely happens and I am certainly not in it for the cash, but it's certainly still a good program.

Not really... depends on how you want to interpret it I guess.

My only point in making the comment was that the S2B pass in and of itself is not enough of a motivator to make someone who is not "service minded" start going out of his/her way.

Like your $25 "reward"... It sounds like you'd keep doing your job the way you do it, with or without the money. What about the guy in the cubicle next to you? If he's not "service minded" like you, do you think the $25 is going to make him "try harder"? Probably not...

I really still do have a problem with this kind of thinking. I believe that everyone in the "service industry" should go out of his way all the time in just doing their job. Maybe this is one reason that the airline industry is having so many problems lately. And most people who have flown DL for many years have noticed that DL's service in the last 5 years or so has really gone downhill... Not every employee, but too many. :(

Oh, if it were only so!

There are five different boarding priorities for Non-Revs...

S4 - the lowest - "Friends & Family Certificates", or Buddy Passes as they are called. These are the tickets employees can give out to their friends.

S3 - next step up - Every employee has an unlimited supply of these. Can be used to fly anywhere as many times as you wish. No limit!

S2B - next step up from S3 - this is the "reward" for an Above & Beyond card. They expire within a year and can not be used on international flights.

S2 - second higest level - Each employee gets a limited supply of these each year.

S1 - top of the line - These are extremely rare. They come by once in a blue moon, and when they do, they are usually given out system wide or by department.

So, that poor junior flight attendant that got a nice letter is probably still sitting at the airport waiting to get on that flight... Because the grumpy ol' pilot or the nasty senior flight attendant just "upped" the nice girl by using an S2 to get ahead of her anyway.

Dallas49er....excellent post and a belated welcome to this forum!! ^

I stand here humble and more fully informed. Thank you. However, at the end of a long week, I like what happens to that junior FA in my scenario.

Well, I don't especially.
Dallas49er, why are you equating good service with junior FAs? And poor service with senior FAs?
On one of my last flights, a passenger sought me out in the terminal after the flight, and much to my delight said "you are a throwback to the days when all FAs were nice!" (which, of course, made my day!)
I have also been occasionally horrified by, shall we say, more slipshod methods of service used by the junior FAs of which you are so fond.
And, as DeltaPurser pointed out, that junior FA won't be ahead of me in the non-rev line anyway! :p

(Welcome to FlyerTalk)

No offense intended
 

No offense intended. I'll still continue to send cards & letters for "Above and Beyond" behavior. And I'll still fly Delta.

Reviewing the last couple of years of letters and the cards out of Sky Magazine that I have sent, the vast majority of the positive have been to less senior people, both flight & ground who went out of thier way. The 4 negative letters (in 7 years) involved very senior people who just didn't care. I realize that this is a broad, gross, sweeping generalization. And as an 18 year old trapped in a 53 year old body, I would love to be proved wrong, over and over.

By the way, I have great respect for anyone who can do something well that I can't. I could never do your job for even a single 3-day trip, much less a career. Have a good next trip. And I look forward to flying with you in the future.



[QUOTE=FoPAA]Well, I don't especially.
Dallas49er, why are you equating good service with junior FAs? And poor service with senior FAs?
On one of my last flights, a passenger sought me out in the terminal after the flight, and much to my delight said "you are a throwback to the days when all FAs were nice!" (which, of course, made my day!)
I have also been occasionally horrified by, shall we say, more slipshod methods of service used by the junior FAs of which you are so fond.
And, as DeltaPurser pointed out, that junior FA won't be ahead of me in the non-rev line anyway! :p

(Welcome to FlyerTalk