Members of the carrier's Skymiles scheme will no longer see their miles expire after two years of inactivity.
The move, which follows the completed integration of Delta's loyalty scheme with that of merged airline Northwest, is effective for all accounts as of January 1, 2011, and means that members are no longer required to earn or redeem miles within the two-year period in order to keep accrued miles.
It's a change from Delta's strategy back in 2007, when the Skymiles expiration period was reduced from three years to two years (see online news February 1, 2007). Several US carriers also tightened up their miles expiration policies around this time, and Delta says it is now the only major US carrier without mileage expiration.
Delta has made several changes to its loyalty programme as part of the merger with Northwest, including the removal of last-minute redemption fees, and the introduction of a Diamond Medallion tier (see online news June 3, 2010).
The carrier says there will be further enhancements to the scheme in 2011, including “ an upgraded award travel calendar, improved booking process and better flight information displays”, as well as "new benefits" for Diamond, Platinum and Gold Medallion members when travelling with alliance partners including Air France, KLM, Alitalia and Alaska Airlines.
For more information visit delta.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
