Delta really needs to get its act together. Two weeks ago, they announced an award sale to Tokyo’s “other” airport, Haneda. Now, they are offering a promotion that gives you double miles on paid flights. So Atlanta, do you want people to pay for their tickets on your new route or redeem miles for them?
Haneda may be the “secondary” airport, but it offers one big advantage: its proximity to Tokyo. Less than a half hour away from the city, Haneda cuts out the notoriously slow trip to Narita. It also offers monorail service to the city center every few minutes.
Double SkyMiles to Haneda
Airlines frequently offer promotions when launching a new route, taking on a new airport, etc. Since they don’t have a history of passengers on the route and connectivity may be limited, they have to come up with another way to generate volumes. Double miles is not an unusual offer and may turn out to be a very good one. Unfortunately, these are only redeemable miles, not status qualifying miles.
You do, of course, need to register for the promotion. They want to make sure that they are stimulating traffic, not letting you pick up bonus miles “by accident.” You can register anytime up to January 12 and have until February 28 to take your flight. Just be sure to register before booking your flight. And that’s about it for terms and conditions.
Added Bonus
Got Gold Elite status or higher? Congratulations, you now have a comfortable place to wait, as well. From the terms and conditions:
Lounge access available through April 30, 2017 to Diamond, Platinum and Gold Medallion members and Delta Sky Club members regardless of cabin of service traveling in. To gain entry, boarding pass must display SkyMiles number and Delta Sky Club members must present Delta Sky Club card.
One Final Note
According to the Terms and Conditions:
Double miles are awarded from the respective Medallion status multiplier but not on any bonus miles.
As you probably know, you earn miles based on the amount of money you spend. You start with five miles per dollar and get a bonus based on your elite status. So are your elite status bonus miles also doubled? Even Delta customer service did not have a good answer. I’m going to leave the answer to this question as “undetermined” until I feel confident that I have the correct information.
