I’ve sent my share of positive, negative, and neutral emails to airlines over the years.  It seems if the email is neutral and is just a question about something that the response comes from someone who didn’t understand the question at all.  I could ask something like “how many miles will I earn from Charlotte to Chicago” and get an answer like “You are only awarded miles for flights actually flown.  Cancelling a ticket will not incur miles.”

I figured if I sent a compliment to Delta and requested no email response that it would just get autorouted to imaginary land.  Instead, they responded anyway and the response actually matches my compliment.

I flew in First class on Christmas and the male flight
attendant with the beard provided excellent service. My first beverage
choice was not catered in first class but even after I said I was fine
with another choice he explored the coach carts and found my beverage
for me. It really made my Christmas.

Their reply:

Thank you for sharing your kind and thoughtful comments about the
service provided by our flight attendant while traveling with us.  On
behalf of Delta Air Lines, your positive feedback is greatly
appreciated.

Delta places a high priority on customer satisfaction and we are
fortunate to have employees who strive for excellence and
professionalism in every area of responsibility.  The fine work by our
flight attendant, which earned your positive comments, reaffirms our
belief that our company is only as good as its people.  We believe our
team members are our most important assets, and I am happy to learn our
flight attendant exceeded your expectations.  Please know I will be
sharing your comments with our Inflight leadership team so this employee
receives appropriate recognition on your behalf.

, thank you again for writing.  I am so glad that our
employee has made your flight experience so enjoyable.  As a Gold
Medallion member we appreciate your loyalty to Delta and are always
interested in your feedback.  We deeply value your continued business
and look forward to serving you in the near future.

Still fairly boilerplate, but at least the person chose the right boilerplate template!  This year I resolve to send positive comments when appropriate to make sure good staff members are appreciated.

I know I’m very late to the game since I received the e-mail about this on 12/29 and it was posted on Flyertalk at least a day before, but for anyone who missed the Hilton 1Q promotion please sign up.

It is nothing spectacular,

Make every night you stay count for more. With the More Points promotion from Hilton HHonors™ you’ll earn 1,000 Bonus Points for every night plus an additional 5,000 Bonus Points for every weekend* stay of two nights or more at participating hotels and resorts through March 31, 2012. And with ten distinct brands worldwide, you’ll have thousands of places to make thousands of new memories.

but if you are staying at the Hiltons anyway might as well get more points.

Delta decided to add bonus miles for joining Nutrisystem so I understand I shouldn’t take this personally, but it still stings a bit!  Also, I tried Nutrisystem a few years ago (and mentioned it on one of my blogs) and the flatulence was so bad I would never encourage anyone to eat this stuff and fly.  Even the stuff the recommend to eliminate flatulence didn’t help so I quit nutrisystem to save my lungs and my friendships.  If any of you Delta lovers have been considering Nutrisystem, there is a Delta promotion.

I hope everyone finished their year with all of the status they want.  I’m disappointed that very soon I will drop from United’s Premier Executive to the Silver level, but all of my other programs stayed intact.