How I Got an Easy 2,500 SkyMiles With This Little-Known Delta Benefit

I’ll gladly take 2,500 SkyMiles in exchange for 20 minutes, thank you very much. That’s essentially 125 Delta miles for every minute I spent waiting for a suitcase.

While it doesn’t get a lot of attention, Delta Air Lines promises your bags will be delivered within 20 minutes of your flight’s arrival. If they’re not, the airline gives you 2,500 miles as recompense. I claimed this benefit for the first time recently, and I was shocked by how easy it was — and how quickly I got my bonus miles.

Let me show you how simple it was to use the Delta baggage guarantee.

What Is Delta’s 20-Minute Bag Guarantee?

Delta promises that checked bags will arrive at the baggage claim carousel within 20 minutes. If they don’t, you’re entitled to 2,500 bonus SkyMiles in exchange for the delay.

There are some stipulations, of course. This only applies to domestic flights operated by Delta within the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). Moreover, you must be a SkyMiles member and must have your SkyMiles number listed on the reservation. Codeshare flights are only eligible if the final flight leg is operated by Delta.

It’s also worth pointing out that you only get 2,500 SkyMiles per occurrence, not per bag. Thus, if you check 3 suitcases, you’re only eligible for 2,500 miles for the delay — not 7,500.

What counts for the 20 minutes? It’s the time from the plane’s door opening until bags start arriving at baggage claim. Delta tracks this with its baggage tracking technology, where available.

Unfortunately, this offer doesn’t apply to oversize or overweight items. The full terms are available on the claims page.

How I Easily Claimed 2,500 Bonus SkyMiles

To submit a claim, you need to have your name, SkyMiles member number, and information about your flight handy. Once you have that, head to the online claim page to request your 2,500 bonus miles. Claims can only be submitted online.

Filling out the form is quick and easy, assuming your SkyMiles number was attached to the reservation. After you submit, you’ll see a confirmation message.

I submitted my claim at 5:26 p.m. after remembering this benefit existed — and checking the time I had sent a text message as soon as I’d landed at John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County, California. It turned out I’d been waiting for my suitcase long enough for the benefit to be applicable. At 5:27 p.m., just 1 minute later, I received an alert in the Delta app that my claim had been approved and that the miles were in my account.

However, Delta’s terms say it can take up to 2 weeks to verify claims and deposit the bonus miles.

Do Other Airlines Do This?

Delta isn’t the only airline that promises to give you miles if your bags don’t come out quickly. Alaska Airlines also has a 20-minute guarantee, and the terms are available here.

Unlike Delta, Alaska Airlines doesn’t offer an online claim form. Alaska offers 2,500 bonus Mileage Plan miles, just like Delta’s offer, but also gives you the option of a $25 discount code to use on a future Alaska Airlines flight.

This offer is only valid on Alaska Airlines flights with flight numbers 0001-1999 or flights operated by regional partners Horizon Air (flight numbers 2000-2999) and SkyWest (flight numbers 3000-3499). Additionally, Alaska’s guarantee doesn’t apply to international flights requiring customs clearance or flights between Anchorage (ANC) and Dutch Harbor (DUT) in Alaska.

To claim your miles or flight voucher with Alaska Airlines, you need to go to the baggage services desk at the airport to make your claim in person — and you need to do so within 2 hours of arrival.

As with Delta’s offer, Alaska Airlines doesn’t include overweight or oversize items in its 20-minute guarantee.

Final Thoughts

If your checked luggage doesn’t appear on the baggage claim carousel within 20 minutes, you can get bonus miles to make up for the delay. I had never claimed this benefit with Delta before, and I was impressed by how easy it was to fill out the online claim form. Even better, I got the 2,500 bonus miles just a minute later — though Delta doesn’t guarantee results will always be this fast.

I was happy to trade 10 extra minutes of waiting for $30 worth of miles.