Delta creates a class higher than first class
Last year, Delta Air Lines Inc. unveiled a unique experiment in upgrades. It gave its very frequent flyers a chance to book a seat most can only dream of—on a private jet. For a few hundred dollars more, the dream could become reality.
The carrier later backed away from the offer and is now transforming it into the ultimate frequent flier point spend.
SEE ALSO:How to get a first class upgrade every timeDelta briefly offered $300-$800 paid upgrades to private jets last summer, a viable option when a customer’s travel plans aligned with the smaller aircraft’s journey. The trouble with making this work was logistics, said David Sneed, chief operating officer at Delta Private Jets.
The private aviation business works on short lead times because movers and shakers summon a jet with little notice. It’s a good business when there’s a paying customer, but it also means that the aircraft operator rarely has much of a heads-up when a plane will be flying back empty—typically 10 hours or less. Those were the legs Delta Private Jets had sought to match with Delta passengers heading to the same destination. Most people—even road warriors—need a tad more notice. On top of that, the upgrades were a heavy lift for staff to coordinate.
Delta has a very small window when it knows it has an empty leg, which constitute about 30 percent of overall private-jet flying time, Sneed said. “We might not know until 10 p.m. the night before” that an empty flight will exist, he said.
But Delta has a new twist on how to move passengers to its private jet subsidiary: Get time on private jets by cashing in miles. Delta’s SkyMiles members can spend 2.5 million miles for a $25,000 jet card, which is equivalent to just over four hours in a smaller “light” private jet. Customers will be able to fly solo or with as many people as there are seats on the jet. Larger mileage increments can also be used for longer flights or larger aircraft.
Delta said the program will include all of the roughly 5,000 airports at which DPJ now flies.
A balance of millions of miles may strike some as enormous, but it’s not a crazy amount for many business folks who fly virtually nonstop. Delta has thousands of SkyMiles members with balances above 1 million miles, said Karen Zachary, the program’s managing director. The potential customer audience also includes those with points that can be transferred to SkyMiles, such as American Express Membership Rewards points or those from Starwood’s Preferred Guest program.
The SkyMiles link also provides Delta with another unique way to lure people to cash in miles, which airlines must count as a balance sheet liability. “This is really an enhancement to the SkyMiles program,” Zachary said. “We’ve worked hard on trying to make miles more useful.”
Delta Private Jets, which is based at Delta’s former Cincinnati hub airport in Hebron, Ky., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta. The world’s second-largest carrier acquired the company in 1999 with its acquisition of Comair Inc., the former regional airline that had begun the charter business in the 1980s. For those who actually pay to fly privately, Delta’s regular private-jet cards start with a minimum $100,000 deposit, with hourly rates that are guaranteed for two years. The deposits are not refundable. Jet-card buyers also receive the highest level of status, diamond medallion, in Delta’s frequent flier program.
The airline expects to relaunch the paid upgrade game once it has developed mobile app technology that can coordinate empty legs and passenger itineraries. Delta flew only two passengers, a couple from Cincinnati, on one private-jet upgrade flight in August 2015 before concluding that more robust technology was required, said Sneed, who is also a Delta 767 pilot. “Quite frankly, what we need is a mobile app that is real time, that can speak between the DPJ system and the Delta system,” he said.
(责任编辑:新闻中心)
- The Analog Embrace: How Some Experiences Are Surviving the Digital Age
- North Korean human rights
- New AR game 'Ghostbusters World' is like Pokemon Go, but with ghosts
- Best PlayStation 5 console deals for Cyber Monday 2023
- World’s first ‘meltdown
- Netanyahu’s Inferno
- Jennifer Lawrence couldn't get into 'Phantom Thread'
- Allies identify remains of US soldier killed in Korean War
- People are leaving out hats and gloves to help the homeless stay warm
- It's Unnecessary But, AMD Is Basically Lying About CPU Performance
- Cyber Monday Nintendo Switch deals 2023: The 'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe' bundle is back
- Thin solar panel coating recruits infrared light for energy generation
- 筑牢安全防线 全力保障灾后恢复重建
-
碘是人体必需的微量元素。人体缺碘会造成不同程度的损害,导致发生碘缺乏病,特别是对孕妇、婴幼儿的危害更为突出。那么,我们该如何科学补碘呢?近日,记者采访了雨城区疾控中心相关专家。问:什么是碘缺乏病?答: ...[详细]
-
N. Korea slams Japan over UN human rights resolution
North Korea's media lambasted Japan on Friday for submitting a new UN human rights resolution agains ...[详细] -
Archbishop Alfred Xuereb speaks to reporters in Seoul, Sunday. / YonhapPope Francis has voiced hopes ...[详细]
-
Archbishop Alfred Xuereb speaks to reporters in Seoul, Sunday. / YonhapPope Francis has voiced hopes ...[详细]
-
高燃!哨响表停赛不止,2024广东“村BA”开赛在即,一分钟带你重温高光瞬间。
...[详细] -
Ajax crash out of the Champions League after defeat by Valencia
AMSTERDAM:Ajax's hopes of another fairytale run in the Champions League were dashed on Tuesday as a ...[详细] -
Mo Farah completes historic double
Winning gold in the 5,000-meter final Saturday, Britain's Mohamed "Mo" Farah doubled his Olympic win ...[详细] -
Archbishop Alfred Xuereb speaks to reporters in Seoul, Sunday. / YonhapPope Francis has voiced hopes ...[详细]
-
Coach jailed for sexual exploitation of underage athlete
A coach for the national jump rope team was sentenced to five years in jail for his yearlong sexual ...[详细] -
Graphene device could harvest Wi
In its current form, wireless charging technology isn’t much more useful than plugging in your phone ...[详细]
- Cheap heat
- CDC reports increase in HIV diagnoses among millennials in U.S
- 250+ best Walmart Cyber Monday deals (live now)
- Best PlayStation 5 console deals for Cyber Monday 2023
- Is Mercury retrograde messing with you? Think again.
- People are leaving out hats and gloves to help the homeless stay warm
- Chinese TV pulls Arsenal match after Ozil's Muslim Uighur comments