Delta: We'll Have Your Bags in Baggage Claim in 20 Minutes or Less

Yahoo Travel

Under Delta’s temporary new guarantee, passengers won’t be waiting too long for their bags. (Photo: Getty Images)

Delta is taking a cue from pizza delivery joints — and, apparently, a rival airline — with a new guarantee it’s testing.

The airline is offering a “20 minutes or less” guarantee on checked baggage. Delta says any SkyMiles member whose luggage is not at the baggage claim carousel within 20 minutes of a domestic flight’s arrival gets 2,500 bonus miles.

The guarantee comes with quite a bit of fine print:

  • It’s only temporary; it runs through March 31

  • It’s available only to eligible SkyMiles members

  • It’s only for domestic flights within the U.S. and Puerto Rico

  • In order to get your miles, you have to submit an online request form within three days of your arrival (and all claims must be made by April 3) Delta makes the final call about whether to award the bonus miles

  • Limit one request per passenger per outbound or return travel, regardless of how many bags you check

  • Lost, mishandled, and damaged bags are excluded

  • Oversize and overweight baggage and special items (such as wheelchairs, skis, infant car seats, etc.) are not eligible

Related: Protect Your Stuff: Credit Cards With the Best Baggage Insurance

Delta is not the first airline to make such an offer, a fact of which we were reminded within hours of Delta’s announcement. Alaska Airlines — which already has a 20-minute baggage guarantee good for 2,500 frequent flier mlles — tweeted this less-than-subtle jab at its rival:

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Delta tells USA Today it’ll be using this trial period to see if it wants to make this guarantee permanent.

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