My husband is a Delta Platinum Medallion member due to his frequent business travel, and has come to live and breathe for the free upgrades to first class (or at the very least, Economy Comfort) that this status often provides him. On a recent crowded flight, his status was of no help to him and he ended up in a middle seat towards the back of the plane. Of course he complained to me about it, but we both understand that unless you actually pay for the upgrade, you can’t complain or expect too much!
A few days after this flight, he received the following email from Delta:
SOOTHING THE MIDDLE-SEAT-ON-MONDAY BLUES.
SORRY YOU GOT STUCK IN THE MIDDLE SEAT.
HERE’S A 500-MILE BONUS FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
Mondays are tough enough as is, and yours didn’t get any better when you got stuck in the middle seat.
Loyal Platinum Medallion® members like you deserve our best seats. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible.
In appreciation of your understanding and flexibility, we added 500 miles to your account.
We hope to see you flying in a Preferred Seat or First Class on your next flight — but know that we’ve got your back regardless of your cabin or seat.
And we’ll always do what we can to make things right.
Pretty cool, right? Of course 500 miles isn’t a huge amount, but the fact that they were even aware of him (one of their millions of customers), that he had been in a middle seat, apologized for it, and then tried to compensate him for the inconvenience really went a long way in making him an even more loyal customer.