In just two days, I went from a pauper sitting in the back row of coach to a prince with my own first-class row.
The two days were how long Delta Air Lines took to approve my status match application.
I was flying on that same November day that Delta approved my Gold Medallion status. My application was approved based on the fact that I had similar elite status on American Airlines.
After I was approved, my seat was changed from the back of the plane to the front mere hours before my flight.
Yes, the best benefit of status is first-class upgrades, and I immediately hit the jackpot. I was given complimentary upgrades on Nov. 25 for both my initial flight from Austin to Salt Lake City and my connecting flight from Salt Lake to Las Vegas.
Delta is blocking off the middle seat of the three-seat row in coach until the end of March. And in first class, where there are only two seats on each side of the aisle, the carrier is keeping the second seat in each row empty.
It was a pandemic-only treat to have my own first-class row!
The Delta website says the status match request can take up to three weeks, but airlines are desperate to win over customers these days, which is probably why it took only two days.
It’s not only airlines that offer status matches. Hotels and rental car companies will also match your status with competitors.
Your status can be worth lots of money. For hotels, elite members can get free breakfast for two, upgrades to suites and a late check-out. Rental car companies offer upgrades to larger cars.
None of this helps if you don’t have status now. But there are other avenues you might want to consider — particularly if you’ll be one of the travelers who hits the road in the second half of 2021 as we get more comfortable about travel because of the COVID-19 vaccines.
A “status challenge” is one option. American Airlines, for example, offers a pay-to-play program. It starts at $100 and goes up to more than $500. Once you pay, you must fly at least 7,000 miles and spend $1,000 on air ticket in three months to qualify for American’s lowest status level.
My Delta status match, on the other hand, did not cost anything. However, to keep Delta Gold Medallion status, I will have to accumulate a total of 12,000 miles within three months and spend a minimum of $1,500 on Delta tickets.
I received 4,411 miles on my November trips and spent $450 for my ticket. So I will need roughly 7,600 miles and must spend $1,050 to keep my status until Jan. 31, 2022.
It’s a good deal. If I weren’t doing a status match, I would have to accumulate 60,000 miles and spend $9,000 dollars in 2021 to receive Delta Gold Medallion status.
What’s crazy to me — in a good way — is how Delta matched my American Airlines status. I have only flown on American Airlines a few times this year.
I’ve cut my number of flights this year because I’m worried about COVID-19. I was very far from achieving the 50,000 miles flown and $6,000 spent on tickets to maintain the American Airlines platinum status for 2021.
But status extensions are common during the COVID-19 pandemic. American, like other airlines, has extended status levels for a year. So my platinum status does not expire until Jan. 31, 2022.
That was good enough for Delta.
In first class on my recent Delta flight, I was offered courtesy beer and wine, plus snack packs featuring salami, crackers and chips. It wasn’t the hot food that used to be a feature of first class, and soda and juice were not available — but it was a lot better than coach.
Delta only serves domestic coach passengers a small, room-temperature bottle of Dasani water, a Biscoff cookie and a small package of Cheez-It crackers.
The snack packs in first class used to be sold in coach. Under Delta’s COVID-19 rules, coach passengers can’t buy them at any price.
I am not complaining about the Biscoff cookies, by the way. The buttery, crumbly, spiced cookies have always been a highlight of flying Delta.
The best part of flying first class is the extra room. On an Airbus 321, a common plane in the Delta fleet, the first-class legroom pitch is 37 inches. The seat width is 21 inches.
This compares to 30 to 31 inches of legroom pitch in coach and a seat width of 18 inches.
Another advantage of status on Delta — if you’re shut out of the first-class upgrades — is that Delta offers you complimentary “Comfort+” seating, which is better than coach but not as good as first class.
This enhanced coach seating section adds up to 4 inches to the standard coach legroom pitch. The surcharge on the extra legroom section if you don’t have status can easily add another $100 or more to your ticket price.
Given the few flights I’ve taken the pandemic so far, I am still amazed that I received the coveted Gold Medallion status in the first place!
randy.diamond@express-news.net
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December 29, 2020 at 07:06PM
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