By Mike Grasso
So sad. Delta Airlines has discontinued its online booking bonus of 500 miles.
Airlines which historically have offered online booking bonuses initially did so to lure people to book tickets through their computer, rather than a travel agent or on the phone. Back in the day, many reservations booked online at the airlines website scored you upwards of 1000 added frequent flyer miles.
Since then, airlines have initiated service fees for booking reservations with an agent - ranging from $10-$40 bucks. Some airlines have also trimmed, cut, and slashed travel agent commissions on booking air-only reservations. Finally, online travel sites such as Expedia and Travelocity often charge a service fee, albeit it minimal, for booking air tickets. All of this has worked to the airlines advantage, to the point where online booking bonuses are rarely necessary to get folks to travel with the mouse directly to the airlines website.
Delta joins Northwest in discontinuing online booking bonuses, while United, Continental and U.S Air only offer 500 miles, and American now down to 250 bonus miles.