http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/delta-...gram-1C7048162

A. Pawlowski , NBC News contributor
Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program

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A world-renowned cellist says Delta Air Lines made him feel like a
“master criminal” after the carrier banished him from its frequent
flier program for collecting miles whenever he paid for an extra seat
for his instrument.

Image:

Courtesy Lynn Harrell

Cellist Lynn Harrell found himself on Delta's naughty list.

Lynn Harrell travels all over the world to perform and always buys a
second full fare ticket for his cello, which is too delicate and
valuable to fly as checked baggage.

A travel agent set up a separate Delta SkyMiles account for the
instrument 15 years ago under the name “Cello Harrell” and Harrell
collected frequent flier miles for both himself and his stringed
companion without any problems for more than a decade.

“They kept giving me miles,” Harrell told NBC News.

That ended with a terse letter from the airline in January – an
incident Harrell shared on his blog on Monday in a post titled, “No
miles for you!”

“It has come to our attention that you have continued to earn miles
for your cello even after you were advised in 2001 that this was not
permitted,” the letter, signed by SkyMiles auditor Jonsey Vee, reads.

It goes on to say that Delta had closed the cello’s account and
terminated Harrell’s membership in the program. All of the accumulated
miles in both accounts -- several hundred thousand in all – were gone,
Harrell said. In addition, he could never reopen a new SkyMiles
account.

The 2001 warning the letter refers to is a note informing Harrell that
the cello was not allowed to accrue mileage, but he either just forgot
about it or never saw it when his secretary handled the
correspondence, Harrell said. He was taken aback by the harshness of
Delta’s January decision.

“This was an outrageous event and it came absolutely out of the blue,”
Harrell said. “They could have just simply taken the miles away from
the cello and be done with that.”

On his blog, Harrell wrote that “it seemed as though they were trying
to make me feel like some sort of master criminal.”

Delta did not respond to a request for comment, but SkyMiles rules and
conditions do state that mileage credit will not be given for “tickets
purchased to carry excess baggage such as musical instruments.”

American Airlines has a similar policy for its AAdvantage frequent
flier program: Only individual persons are eligible for membership.
Corporations, other entities, animals or blocked-seat baggage cannot
become AAdvantage members or to accrue miles.

But Harrell said airlines including United, Alaska and Lufthansa still
let him accrue miles when he buys a second seat for his cello.
Limiting the amount of miles passengers can collect translates into
profits for carriers, he added.

“I am sorry and perplexed that airlines like Delta are willing to turn
down the opportunity to maintain long-time customers and income (my
career has been in full swing for more than 40 years!) for nothing
more than the ability to make a quick one-off buck now by selling my
miles,” Harrell wrote on his blog.

He’s grateful that he didn’t use his Delta SkyMiles to book personal
trips because he would have had to scramble to rebook vacations and
upgrades in the wake of his account cancellation.

“I avoid Delta as much as I can,” he said.