Over the past year, I flew a lot on Delta Air Lines. I boarded 35 flights with the air carrier and half of those flights were to Atlanta. “How come have you been to Atlanta so many times this year?” my friends ask me. I actually never visited Atlanta in my whole life. I have only been through the airport to connect to my next flight.
I started to accumulate all my boarding passes!
For those who did not know, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is home of Delta and is the busiest airport in the world. It will welcome its 100th million passenger of the of the year, by the end of December.
Since the beginning of 2015, I have accumulated numerous flights and miles with Delta, and over Thanksgiving break, I got my first frequent flyer status! I became Silver Medallion with Delta and at the same time, SkyTeam® Elite, since the airline is in the SkyTeam® alliance.
There are many great benefits that come along with the status, but first, lets discuss how to reach the status. To become Silver (lowest status), a customer needs 25,000 Qualification Miles (MQMs) or 30 Qualification Segments (MQSs). Customers also need to spend more than $3,000 every year with Delta. Those numbers increase by a lot for the other upper level statuses.
There are many advantages of being Silver Medallion® with Delta. Here are some of them.
The first perk is to be able to be added for free to the upgrade list for a First Class seat. Who doesn’t like to fly upfront with wider seats and greater legroom?
It is often rare to get upgraded as a Silver. One time, I was 39/41 on the upgrade list and there were only four seats available. There is another option if you want to have extra legroom and sip beer, wine, or spirits and snack on premium snacks. At time of check-in, you can select a Comfort+™ seat if there is availability. These seats are located between First Class and Main Cabin. A passenger upgrading its seat to Comfort+™ will spend up to $55 on a one-way flight between Daytona Beach and Atlanta.
Passengers also benefit from 2 extra miles per dollar spent. For example, if my roundtrip ticket from Daytona Beach to Atlanta was $800, I would get 1,600 bonus miles added to the amount of base miles for the trip.
One of my favorite (favourite for my Canadian readers) perk is the waived baggage fees. You can get a checked-baggage free of charge. This saves $50 round-trip per person.
At the airport, passengers can enjoy expedited check-in using the Sky Priority lane. Customers can also benefit from priority boarding and the order depends on the seat selected:
- PREM: First Class customers
- SKY: Delta Comfort+™
- Zone 1: Silver Medallion®
- Zone 2: Main Cabin
Now you know the main benefits of having a Silver status with Delta Air Lines. If you travel a lot, flying with the same airline might lead you to a frequent flyer status!
Until next time!
Nicolas
