Money is important to everyone, especially here at missionary travel agency. Saving it and being a wise spender is even more important. Since the invention of the Internet, there is an abundance of businesses dedicated to help the average person save money. The travel industry isn’t short on their share of corporations guaranteeing customers the best price. But are we selling ourselves short looking for the best price at the expense of brand loyalty and relationships with private perks?
I had this thought recently as I prepared to fly from Maine to California. I have a Delta Sky Miles number, a United Star Alliance number as well as a United Frequent Flier card. As I prepared to plan my trip I thought about my options. I live about four minutes from the Bangor Airport, two hours from Portland International Airport, three hours from Manchester, New Hampshire and four hours from Boston. Each airport has it’s own attraction. Southwest flies into New Hampshire, Jet Blue flies into Portland and Boston is a large airport with hundreds of daily flights. The first concern for me is ticket price, followed by luggage policy. Departure and arrival times are the lowest of my priorities.
After searching the world wide web for hours I realized that while airfare prices appear to differ greatly, most end up costing the same price when I consider the time it takes to travel to airports farther from home, fuel costs and the value of my personal time. From past international trips I accrued enough miles to reach Elite Status with Delta Sky Team. This put me in the position to be given free, automatic upgrades to first class, three pieces of free checked luggage, priority boarding and priority baggage loading/unloading. Bangor Airport only has two major carriers USAirways and Delta. Four minutes to the airport is hard to beat so I chose to fly with Delta out of loyalty and convenience.
There was a flight on USAirways for $10 less and a single layover in Philadelphia, but I wanted to take advantage of my standing with Delta. I was automatically upgraded to first class, checked two pieces of luggage with no fee, boarded first and received my luggage at baggage claim quickly.
However, I learned my elite status expired one week after my arrival in California. I had not traveled enough in 2011 to maintain my status even though I had flown over 20,000 miles. This meant my flight back to Maine would not be first class and I would have to pay $25 for any luggage I checked. I was very disappointed to say the least. I had maintained my loyalty, but because I was a few thousand miles short of reaching the minimum elite status requirement, I was downgraded to Sky Team member.
I have not reached an absolute conclusion to my question. Is brand loyalty or saving money more important? At this point, I’m a little jaded and disappointed by the lack of loyalty from Delta Sky Team to me. I have already decided the next flight I take will be price driven. I am apprehensive as to how other airline services will compare with what I am accustomed to receiving from a familiar one. I may find myself paying more for comfort, familiarity and dependability.
