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Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program
http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/delta-...gram-1C7048162
A. Pawlowski , NBC News contributor Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program Advertise | AdChoices 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. |
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Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program
Why wouldn't they let him accrue the miles for the instrument?
-- Binyamin Dissen http://www.dissensoftware.com Should you use the mailblocks package and expect a response from me, you should preauthorize the dissensoftware.com domain. I very rarely bother responding to challenge/response systems, especially those from irresponsible companies. |
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Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program
In the last episode of ,
Brian said: 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. Limiting the amount a miles passengers can collect translates into passengers limiting their travel on that airline, which costs an airline more than giving out miles for purchased tickets. I'm having trouble understanding what the airline's problem is here. He's paying for the seat, why can't he have the miles? If he wanted to consolidate the miles into one account I could understand the friction, but if they're maintained and managed separately, for tickets purchased and flights flown, what's the issue? -- The nice thing about standards, there is enough for everyone to have their own. |
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Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program
On Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:03:26 -0800, DevilsPGD
wrote: In the last episode of , Brian said: 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. Limiting the amount a miles passengers can collect translates into passengers limiting their travel on that airline, which costs an airline more than giving out miles for purchased tickets. I'm having trouble understanding what the airline's problem is here. He's paying for the seat, why can't he have the miles? If he wanted to consolidate the miles into one account I could understand the friction, but if they're maintained and managed separately, for tickets purchased and flights flown, what's the issue? I agree that since he paid for the seat, he should get miles for it. However, It does seem to be in the rules but I don't see why they didn't just take back the miles for the tickets for the instrument. |
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Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program
In the last episode of ,
Brian said: I agree that since he paid for the seat, he should get miles for it. However, It does seem to be in the rules but I don't see why they didn't just take back the miles for the tickets for the instrument. Seems like the sort of thing a lawsuit would resolve. -- The nice thing about standards, there is enough for everyone to have their own. |
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Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program
"DevilsPGD" wrote in message
news Limiting the amount a miles passengers can collect translates into passengers limiting their travel on that airline, which costs an airline more than giving out miles for purchased tickets. I'm having trouble understanding what the airline's problem is here. He's paying for the seat, why can't he have the miles? If he wanted to consolidate the miles into one account I could understand the friction, but if they're maintained and managed separately, for tickets purchased and flights flown, what's the issue? You hear storys like this alot from celebritys or quasi-celebs and it always boggles the mind. It really is a moot point. He's paying for the seat, he should get the miles however useless and arbitrary they are. He certainly travels a lot and it does add up. The guitarist slash had is mouth duct taped and his hands bound on a flight once. It makes anything that happens to you on an airline pale in comparison. I call it the leper-god syndrome. I'd take my business to another airline. |
#7
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Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program
In article Brian writes:
I avoid Delta as much as I can,' he said. I have avoided them for over three decades myself. After finding out that their actions were not just bad service, but actually illegal at the time, they became the first entry in my "don't fly them" list. Alan |
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