Just as many of Minnesota's Delta SkyMiles credit card users are about to get socked with sometimes steep annual fees, the airline has come up with a new perk: free baggage. Beginning June 1, customers of the Delta SkyMiles card issued by American Express can check their first bag at no charge. Up to nine travelers on the same reservation will get the typical $25 checked bag fee waived, potentially saving families hundreds of dollars.
The announcement comes about a year after the battle for former Northwest Airlines' WorldPerks Visa customers began. When Northwest went away, so did the popular card issued by U.S. Bank. American Express paid Delta $1.05 billion in a five-year deal for exclusive rights to market Delta's SkyMiles program. U.S. Bank introduced its FlexPerks Travel Reward card, which offers award travel on 150 carriers.
Customers need not even use their American Express SkyMiles card to get the perk. The benefit is linked to a person's frequent-flier account.
David Rabkin, the American Express vice president in charge of the Delta SkyMiles card, said most people would probably use their SkyMiles card for the purchase anyway. "The people who get our card get it because they have a great loyalty to Delta Air Lines. It's our job to always be the best card we can be and we think they'll reward us with their loyalty," he said. This promotion has no end date and applies to every flight the cardholder takes on Delta. But it applies only to SkyMiles Gold level cardholders and higher.
As American Express launched an advertising blitz here to get the former WorldPerks Visa card holders, annual fees were waived for the first year. Cardholders will need to decide whether it's worth paying anywhere from $55 to $450 for the card and its perks.
Bob Daly, a senior vice president for Retail Payment Solutions at U.S. Bank, downplayed its rival's move and calls the announcement "almost flattering." The bank has been offering FlexPerks cardholders a $25 allowance on award flights that they can spend on anything from in-flight food to checking a bag. Award flights kick in at 20,000 miles.
Minneapolis travel expert Terry Trippler thinks it's no coincidence that a new national ad campaign for the SkyMiles card will focus on the Twin Cities, Detroit and Memphis -- former hub cities for Northwest Airlines. Axing the first bag fee for SkyMiles cardholders is "a good move, but I think it's a move because FlexPerks is really giving them a run for the money," he said.
While neither company would share revenue details or cardholder data, both American Express and U.S. Bancorp claim their post Delta-Northwest merger cards are great successes.
