Bags late to the carousel? You could get miles.

Many travelers skip checking bags for so many reasons. When I’m returning from a trip, and I’m toting a foldable duffel stuffed with souvenirs, I often check the bags just to lighten the load.

Still, nothing is worse than waiting at the baggage carousel for your bags, especially when you’re trying to catch a bus or train reservation or keep the waiting Lyft driver from leaving in a huff.

Standing at the baggage carousel last week, waiting for our bags due to a ‘stuck door’, it would have been nice to know about this on-time bags guarantee. Apparently, this has been a thing for some time … and I can’t figure out why I didn’t know about it until now!

According to my research, only two airlines have an on-time guarantee for luggage arriving at the carousel – Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines. Alaska Airlines takes the credit for first introducing this customer-friendly policy; it’s been in effect since 2010! Here’s hoping that other airlines pick up on this idea.

Here’s how it works and what you need to know.

What’s an on-time bag guarantee?

If your bag takes more than 20 minutes to arrive at the baggage claim, you can get cash or bonus miles:

• Delta will give SkyMiles members 2,500 bonus miles for late luggage.
• Alaska will give mileage members $25 on their next Alaska flight or 2,500 miles. 

The timing specifics matter, and it’s only slightly different for each airline:

• Delta’s baggage tracking system starts the clock from the second the boarding door opens at the gate until the bag is scanned onto the carousel.
• Alaska’s baggage delivery timer starts when the plane arrives at the gate until the bag is delivered to baggage claim.

What are the rules?

The bag guarantees are available to all passengers who are registered as loyalty members of the airline before taking their flight. Your reservation must also have the loyalty number assigned. 

The on-time guarantee works for fares paid with money or miles and on flights within the US and Puerto Rico, but not international flights. You’re also allowed only one request for each direction of travel, no matter how many bags you check.

The flights must be Delta- or Alaska-operated too. If your trip has multiple airlines on the same domestic itinerary, the guarantee applies as long as the final flight is operated by Delta or Alaska (because that will be the carrier responsible for delivering the bags to the carousel).

Pro tip:  Make sure everyone in your traveling party is a loyalty member and check each bag under the individual’s name. This way, if the bags take more than 20 minutes, each person could receive the bonus.

Bummer: The guarantee does not apply to oversized or overweight bags because these items can understandably take longer to transport to the carousel.

What is the process for claiming the reward?

The process depends on the airline, and here’s where Delta shines.

On Delta

If you flew on Delta and your bag takes more than 20 minutes to arrive, you can file a claim directly. You’ll need to do this within 3 days of your flight, and you’ll need these details:

1. Your name
2. Your SkyMiles number
3. The origin and destination city of the flight
4. Your 6-digit confirmation code
5. The date of your flight

You may see a notice that it can take up to two weeks to get your miles, but it’s often instant.

On Alaska

Alaska doesn’t have an online claim process. Instead, you have to speak to a baggage claim agent at the airport within two hours of your flight’s arrival to submit a claim.

See the full terms online.

Start your timer when the boarding door opens

Both airlines’ policies are based on 20 minutes from when the aircraft door opens, so you can start your timer on the plane. If your bags aren’t rolling onto the carousel when your timer beeps, you know exactly what to do.

Checked bags are big money-makers for airlines, with US carriers collecting over $5 billion in baggage fees every year. Honestly, it’s nice to see that some airlines are willing to put a little money behind their service to help customers get on their way as quickly as possible or have a little boost to their mileage account.

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