Delta has, in my opinion, been the leader of the US airlines throughout the coronavirus pandemic. (Well, Alaska Airlines has been just as good!)
In this article
Delta’s Coronavirus Waiver Policy
Any tickets purchased by July 31, 2020 can be changed without a change fee or Award redeposit fee within a year of the date of purchase. I’ve booked (and cancelled) award flights and it’s been seamless. No fee and a return of the taxes.
This means that it’s easy to use SkyMiles for “maybe” trips without fear of a complicated cancellation process – for example if you wanted to fly to Europe this summer only to learn that Europe won’t let Americans in.
On paid trips, you won’t get a full refund but a full year to change is still pretty generous. But to me, the award flights with no redeposit fees are where it’s at.
American Airlines, by contrast, will only offer this currently on flights booked through September 30th (date of travel) and since any travel I’m booking is later on at this point, that’s significant.
Delta’s Safety Protocols
Delta has also taken a firm stance with requiring masks on Delta flights, even banning customers that won’t comply.
They are also still only selling 60% of available economy seats through at least September, rather than cramming flights as full as humanly possible like American Airlines.
They are also selling no more than 50% of First Class seats and no more than 75% of Delta One seats – which are the Business Class configurations with additional personal space.
I personally appreciate the steps Delta is taking to enhance safety. Some will argue that having someone next to you doesn’t matter. I’d reply that I’d choose having someone who may have coronavirus breathing two seats away from me over one any day. And I’d pay more for it.
UPDATE: United, Alaska, and JetBlue have all extended through July 31st as well.
Would You Pay a Premium to Fly Delta Now?
Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
