I recently became a big fan of Delta Air Lines after witnessing first-hand how they treat members of our military and how they do a nice job giving free upgrades to their frequent fliers (they still have the worst frequent flier program in terms of redeeming miles at their lowest award level, but that’s another story).
My beef with Delta is how they encourage their flight attendants to push their Delta American Express credit cards in the middle of the flight. I can understand that the airline and the flight attendant want to make more money (they must pay the flight attendants a commission) and build brand loyalty, but there’s a time and place for everything—and the middle of a flight is not one of them.
It seems that the head flight attendant usually pushes the card for a second time an hour before landing, which is when most passengers are sleeping, watching movies or working on their laptops. The last thing they want to hear is some flight attendant get on a loud PA and speak for two to three minutes about the perks of a credit card. Actually, the last thing passengers want is to hear the pilot get on the horn and say we’re having mechanical problems. But you get my point.
Each time I’ve heard a Delta flight attendant makes this long, disruptive announcement, I’ve watched the passengers around me grumble and shake their heads in disbelief. I’m one of them, too. Yes, the Gold card is a very good one. We’ve even written about it and its many perks on this site. But don’t make a second announcement. Just make your first plug after the safety briefing. Or if that’s not good enough, run a silent commercial on the screen. But making the second announcement actually turns people off and makes the airline and the flight attendants look desperate.
FYI: Each time, after they make this announcement, I watch the flight attendant walk down the aisle with sign-up pamphlets and I’ve only ever seen one passenger take one.
Have you noticed this? Does it irk you too or is it just me? I hear US Airways and Alaska Airlines does it as well but I can’t confirm this since I haven’t flown them in a while.
I haven’t flown Delta in years because of their frequent flyer program. I am a Million-Miler on United.
good for you dude. Thanks for the irrelevant commentary
Johnny, you’re right. I’m a long time Delta FF – Million-Miler, blah blah blah – and I’ve lost my loyalty. Once, on a regional flight, an attendant told me why he pushes the Am Exp card so hard: he got his first iPad as a bonus for doing so and he wanted other gifts.
Just flew US Airways and they pushed their card several times during the flights. I too was surprised.
Yep, was on a USAirways cross country flight in early morning. Everyone was sleeping and then the stupid announcement came on. Of course everyone woke up and then it was loud. At 9 a.m., with all passengers being quiet and sleeping, why would you want to interrupt them and wake them up?!?!?
Yes it’s super annoying and Alaska does it, too.
Maybe they’d get better response if they just walked down the aisle before landing handing out the app with a stick of gum (anyone remember the days of pre-landing chiclets? :))
Alaska does the same thing….
I totally agree. I almost always fly iS Airways because I’m based in Phoenix. They do it on every flight and I’ve had it wake me up more than once. I actually saw someone take a pamphlet last week. The first time ever. I wish they would stop the in flight announcements.
Me too, Susan! I’m a FF on US since I live in PHX and I resent the fact that credit card holders get my perks!
Funny how there are not one, but two ads pushing the Amex SkyMiles gold card following this post…
Do you say the same thing about Google ads? Are you suggesting something nefarious here? It’s nothing more than good ad targeting. That’s how the Internet is supposed to work, nothing more.
I think you’re missing the point – on a post complaining about airlines hawking credit cards, the blogger is doing the exact same thing.. Credit card signup ads aren’t offered on all blog entries either, only if the the poster wants them there.
I think you’re missing the point. The spaces are trafficked by Google. The algorithms dictate what shows up, not the blogger. This is the algorithm seeing the keywords (Delta, Skymiles, Amex, etc) and putting in logical content.
I was on a US Airways flight yesterday where they did this. It’s ridiculous and I actually feel bad for the flight attendants, as it must be one of the most painful parts of their job.
If you want to see the hard sell, try flying Ryan Air or Easy Jet, where they hawk much more than co-branded credit cards.
Agreed! I can also confirm that U.S. Airways does the same thing. I just flew them into Venice, Italy and out of Rome and had the sales pitch 2 or 3 times each flight. Pahleeze, airlines, give it a rest!