FlyerTalk is abuzz with news that Delta has started attaching extra tags to ALL of its customers’ bags as they come off the baggage carousel in Seattle, according to user bjohnsonmn.
These tags remind customers that they could check their bags for free if they had the Delta Gold Rewards Amex. Unfortunately for Delta, they chose a pretty dumb place to implement it.
My impression is Seattle generally dislikes corporate advertising. The main reason we don’t have public toilets downtown — which other cities like San Francisco rolled out years ago — is that the city won’t permit any advertising on them to defray the costs.
Seattleites generally like to be left alone. We are friendly — but distant. Putting ads on people’s luggage seems like an invasion of personal space.
Alaska Airlines guarantees bags will come out in 20 minutes or less. With the extra time Delta requires to put the tags on bags, some people have reported bags arriving as much as 40 minutes after arrival at Sea-Tac.
Essentially, Delta has succeeded at pissing off potential customers by adding their own advertising to people’s personal property while simultaneously providing slower service than their main competitor.
Update: Just a day after sharing this news, Delta and Alaska have agreed to cut their reciprocal elite benefits for customers traveling on each other’s flights. Free checked bags are among the casualties. So if you don’t have a Delta credit card yet, hopefully this marketing strategy has made a compelling argument.
