Airline Promises Luggage in '20 Minutes or Less'

In February Delta airlines ran a pilot project ensuring that customers on domestic flights would receive their checked luggage in 20 minutes or less.

While this was done on a trail basis, the airline has just announced that the 20 minute luggage guarantee will become a permanent feature.

Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant says “Customer response was positive and our employees are rallying to achieve the 20-minute mark, so it’s here to stay,”  when he spoke to USA Today. The guarantee covers all itineraries where a traveler’s last leg is a domestic Delta flight – including those operated by Delta’s regional Delta Connection affiliates.

The consolation for those whose luggage takes longer than 20 minutes to reach the carousel is 2,500 bonus SkyMiles, however the guarantee comes with a fair amount of fine print:

-Customers must be traveling on a domestic U.S. flight. International flights are not included. However, a passenger traveling from Paris to Chicago via New York would be eligible since the passenger’s last leg would be a U.S. domestic flight.

-Customers must be a Delta SkyMiles member in good standing at the time of travel.

-The offer is limited to one request per passenger per outbound or return travel. Fliers will be eligible only for 2,500 miles, regardless of number of bags they’ve checked.

-Lost, mishandled, and damaged bags are excluded. Oversize and overweight baggage and special items also are not eligible.

Alaska Airlines has long been offering a similar 20 minute luggage guarantee where customers are given 2,500 bonus miles, but unlike Delta, Alaska Airlines offers an alternate choice of a $25 travel voucher instead of the miles. We think it’s nice to see some positive press on airline customer service as of late!