Delta Air Lines just made it much easier for passengers to keep their frequent-flyer status

Boeing

• Delta Air Lines introduced a new program on Wednesday that will allow passengers to reclaim their lost frequent-flyer status.
• The new loyalty benefit dubbed "Reclaim My Status" gives frequent flyers who have earned Delta Medallion status the opportunity to restore their previous status if a major life event such as a career change or a medical issue reduces their opportunities to fly with the airline.
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Delta Air Lines introduced a new program on Wednesday that will allow passengers to reclaim their lost frequent-flyer status.

The new loyalty benefit dubbed "Reclaim My Status" gives frequent flyers who have earned Delta Medallion status the opportunity to restore their previous status if a major life event such as a career change or a medical issue reduces their opportunities to fly with the airline.

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"The key word here is flexibility. We wanted to provide a lot of flexibility to our Medallion members when life happens," Sandeep Dube, Delta's senior vice president for loyalty and customer engagement told us.

The new program is a direct result of feedback from the airline's frequent flyers.

"It was very clear from the member feedback that life events happen to all of us and we knew that the exception policy we had in place at the time was just not enough," Dube said. "In our opinion, we need to do more."

The Delta SVP added, "Our Medallions have been loyal to us a long time. We need to make sure that we can be loyal to them as well."

According to Delta, whether a passenger is eligible for the benefit will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. However, the major life events covered by the Reclaim My Status program include: 1) becoming a parent, recovering from illness, sustaining a serious injury, caring for a family member, changing careers, and going back to school.

Each customer must submit an application for the benefit when he or she is ready is to resume their frequent flyer level travel schedule again. If the application is approved, the customer would automatically receive three months of their previous Medallion status.

To keep the status, passengers them must meet the requisite spending and travel level necessary for that Medallion over the next three months. Which means if a passenger wants to keep their Silver Medallion status, he or she must travel and spend the equivalent of 1/4 of the annual requirement over the next three months.