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My Delta Million Miler flight – The planning & start of the run to Japan
My Delta Million Miler flight – TSA at Chicago O’Hare ORD Airport
My Delta Million Miler flight – Delta 777 Delta One Business class review to Japan NRT Narita Airport
My Delta Million Miler flight – Delta Gogo International Satellite Speed Review
My Delta Million Miler flight – 2016 Delta One TUMI Amenity Kit Black and Gray Review
My Delta Million Miler flight – Narita NRT Airport outside observation Deck
My Delta Million Miler flight – IASS Priority Pass Lounge Review NRT Narita Airport
My Delta Million Miler flight – Korean Air Lounge Review NRT Narita Airport
My Delta Million Miler flight – Delta Sky Club NRT Narita Airport near Gate 21
My Delta Million Miler flight – Delta Sky Club NRT Narita Airport near Gate 15
My Delta Million Miler flight – Delta 747 Delta One Business Class review from Japan NRT Narita Airport
My Delta Million Miler flight – Delta Million Miler Gift Choices & My Selection
My Delta Million Miler flight – Final thoughts of reaching one million miles with Delta Air Lines
One of the perks that you receive for reaching the major milestone of accumulating, either via flying or other means, 1 million elite miles with Delta (all MQMs count including credit card MQMs) is the option to select a very nice gift choice from the airline.
I received an automated letter of congratulations from Sandeep Dube, the current Vice President of Customer Engagement & Loyalty from Delta, with the link to cash in my gift on Delta.com.
After logging in I was directed to choose what I wanted to redeem, that is 1, or 2 or some other million miler gift. Since I just crossed 1 million I am assuming that is the only one listed (maybe some 2 or 3 million milers can comment here).
At the next screen you are presented with a drop down box but the very first choice can be one of the most valuable selections depending on how good you are at spending your SkyMiles (for example flushing them down the drain buying drinks in Sky Clubs). But I have a ton of SkyMiles so that is not a focus for me just now.
One of the other choices presented was Tiffany jewelry that is often a popular choice for million milers, but my wife is a GOLD girl and after almost 30 years of marriage has all the “bling” she needs (or wants btw). On to other choices.
Next up we have luggage. Hartmann does make top quality bags and a number of readers have told me they are well worth the price. Nice, but not what I need.
The last choice was luggage from Tumi. I am a big fan of the quality, style and features they offer. I like the amenity kits (as you can see both of them reviewed in this series). But for better or worse I am hard on stuff. I like quality but not at any price.
So what did I choose out of all these options? Well, since I was not very likely to keep whatever item I chose I wanted to select the one item I could resell and get the most real cash back out of.
I looked at the MSRP of each of the items but also what they were, on average, selling for on Amazon as well as other locations like Ebay. That made the choice really simple in the end:
Yep, I went with the Tumi Tegra-Lite Max International Expandable Carry-On Suitcase. Now again, not to use it once it arrived but to extract as much as possible for my gift (fyi it sold and I will net, after S&H & fees, about $350). But there are a bunch of funny bits with all these choices. If you take the time to look at some of the options, and look at the sizes that Delta offers, notice what you find? They are just a bit outside the Size Check sizes. 😉
While the Tumi bag I have chosen is spot on the Size Check size Delta.com tells us is OK for a carry on, we also know 23x14x10 really is the more “real” max size per the testers at the gates (that almost no agents ever enforce).
The other funny thing is my wife and I are both wanting to upgrade our old carry on bags that are dual wheel to spinners. But, as already mentioned, I want quality but at a good price and that normally does not mean Tumi. I really like Samsonite. Most of their stuff comes with a 10 year warranty. They also have a very nice carry on (that is 20 x 13.5 x 9) Samsonite Luggage Winfield 2 Fashion HS Spinner bag that looks amazing and had very good reviews. Plus I can get two of these and still have enough left over after selling my Delta gift to pay for a very nice dinner out. Not bad at all!
So what do you think of the Delta choices for reaching the million miler milestone? Are you impressed with that they offer? What do you think of my choice? – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I agree on the Samsonite over TUMI providing more value
congrats on the million miles! How many skypesos was the offer?
But, slightly related, if you want a great bag, go with a Briggs & Riley (available through ebates). I switched from travelpro 2 years ago and couldn’t be happier. Lifetime warranty on bags, no questions asked, including accidental damage (unlike Tumi’s pathetic new warranties) and you can either self-service repair and order parts online, or send it in. Customer service is top notch and made in USA.
@Noah – See screen shot above. 40k
René,
I can’t Comment on the Million Miler gifts, as I have along way to go before I get there. The last Samsonite bag I bought broke the second time I used it and they ended up replacing it.
I also have Delsey pieces. Which I happen to like a little better than the Samsonite Spinner Carry on. After almost 5 years, I broke the handle on the carry on (it was my fault), but I brought it to an authorized repair place for repair and they told me it was under warranty. Delsey no longer made parts for this bag and sent me a brand new one.
As far as customer service goes, both brands stand by their products and will take care of problems if and when they occur.
Gregg
So you chose $350 dollar after a lot of effort to resell over an easy $400 in SkyMiles? Why?
@Giel – Very little effort. A few clicks and done. I have a ton of SkyMiles as well as million of other points to burn. I like cash right now 🙂
Rene – surprised you didn’t devote today’s column to Delta global system outage. What does a flyer do when caught in the middle of an outage? Your million miler tchotchke choice could have run on any day.
@Mary R – See the post before this one: http://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2016/08/08/expect-delays-delta-slowly-gets-total-computers-system-outage-back-today/
.
Beyond that, until they get the IT up and running fully, there is not much anyone can do. Clearly try to use @Delta on twitter but all the outlets will be overwhelmed and why they have offered a global waver for today. My best advice if at airport is visit a Sky Club if you can.
Love the expandable carry-on from Costco (Kirkland). I believe lifetime warranty … and it’s light! I believe it’s right around $100.
@Preston – Lifetime warranty? Sweet for Costco member. Thanks for the input!
Wish you had made your million before me instead of after me. I never even thought of resale!! DUH I took the miles. Oh well, maybe my next million in about 6 years I will remember…..
Just got Tumi 22″ for 2M. Love Tumi! Partly function/partly for my ego. Regardless, a nice gift from Delta. And as I have about 4 years left, last Million. Just can’t seem to let go from what I got for first M … bag tag and a passport holder. Bag tag tore off and who uses passport holders. AA didn’t give much for either 1st or 2nd M (back when they double counted) Coupons for upgrades which were nice but gone quick.
Hello Rene,
I am seeking your expert advice!
I just completed my million miles on a flight returning from France, CDG-CVG on July 20th.
My wife who is one of your frequent readers made me drool about your blog “My Delta Million Miler flight” and advised me to tell Delta in advance of my accomplishment.
So, following her recommendations, I tweeted Delta Assist before my flight and got their answer <>, so I was all excited and ready for something extraordinary!
As a Diamond, I checked at the SkyPriority line at Montpellier (France) and mentioned that I was going to be Million Miler but the Air France agent didn’t pay attention to that and gave me the boarding passes with the Economy Comfort seats that were previously assigned on CDG-CVG.
Connection in Paris was kind short so I only allowed myself time to grab a water bottle and French magazine at the Air France Lounge before rushing to the gate.
During boarding I didn’t get any special attention, so I told myself that I will need to reach the Million before being congratulated, but nothing happened during disembarkation nor during my last segment CVG-CLT.
I told my wife how I was so excited and that nothing happened.
So July 27, I was travelling with my wife and as we had spare time at MSP airport and she is not as shy as me we stopped at the desk of a Delta Red Coat. The Delta Red Coat congratulated me and told me that they had 4 Million milers last week but that she could not do anything because it has to be at our home airport which is CAE (we live closer to CAE but it happens that CLT is more convenient or affordable). However she called CLT where we were heading and again we were hoping some kind of celebration and getting some goodies, but nothing.
Then I received the email, picked the 40,000 miles and also received the new Diamond card with the “1M”.
After that, my wife sent a comment to Delta, she got a phone call after hours from a phone number she didn’t recognize and didn’t pick up. After congratulating her for being a Platinum the rep told her that she was sorry my wife was under the impression that representatives at the gate would know I was a million miler and would do something special for me but that’s not what happens. She then referred to the letter I would get in the mail and the gift I would pick.
Our next flight is Sept 8, CAE-ATL-DTW-NRT-MNL, using my 4 global upgrades to fly Delta One, so no upgrades expected but I would not mind to get something extra as a bag of goodies or Porsche ride or else.
What would you recommend me to do?
Thank you so much!
@Jean – Keep in mind Delta CORP did nothing for me. Nada. Not one thing. All this was my doing. I had a contact who flew the jet. I had a buddy on the flight who helped let the crew know I was going to cross MM. I used GU to fly 1st aka no “FREE” MM upgrades or anything. The ONLY thing I got from the mothership as a congrats was the automated Sandeep Dube email that I could pick my MM gift and I sold that on eBay for cash 😉
I just crossed the 1M mark myself…not noticing until I went to book a flight…I wanted the Tiffany Luggage Tag only to find out that they’re not offering it anymore…made my celebration anticlimactic. Anyone know where I can snag one? Thanks for the great info, Rene!
Just crossed the 2.5 MM mark and talk about anticlimatic….:
Alas, I never received my 2MM gift. At the time I crossed that threshold, there was some kind of technical glitch that prevented me accessing the site. A contact at HQ acknowledged tha and said there was no deadline to select the gift, but they would process manually. But the coordinator assigned to handle processing my gist apparently moved on to another function. I’ve followed up periodically, but never receive a response. Until today, when crossing the 2.5MM threshold spurred me to reach out again.
Delta’s response was “sorry, there is a 6 month window for gift selection, you really should have requested it sooner.”
Gee, thanks….
No MM recognition here. Just an email to select a gift. And when I finally went to select one a couple of weeks later, the gifts had since been downgraded to lesser value luggage (about a $200 drop). No Delta miles as an option. And today, an email from Delta explaining how they are increasing Diamond MQD level requirements by 10 times to $250k. Gee, thanks Delta for all of your recognition of my loyalty!
Yes, I did just look at the million miler gifts and it seems there is definitely a downgrade, as they don’t provide Tumi carry on options anymore, just a back pack and the laptop brief. And no 40k miles either. Really feeling very appreciated right now.