From autumn 2023, the SkyBonus program will undergo a name change to become SkyMiles for Business, according to Shane Spyak, Delta's managing director of sales development.
GLOFrom autumn 2023, the SkyBonus program will undergo a name change to become SkyMiles for Business, according to Shane Spyak, Delta’s managing director of sales development. With this rebranding, the process of redeeming miles will be simplified for participants in the program.
Notably, companies will no longer need to achieve a minimum spending threshold to join the program. This means that they will gain immediate access to travel management tools and personalized offers as soon as they enroll. Spyak explained that the revamped program will be a versatile three-tiered business loyalty program, catering to businesses of all sizes.
In the new SkyMiles for Business program, companies will attain Plus status, enabling them to start earning miles, once they reach annual Delta expenditures of $5,000 involving at least five traveling employees. Upon spending $300,000 within a year, companies will attain Elite status, resulting in faster SkyMiles accrual rates.
Importantly, the existing SkyBonus status of companies will remain intact during the transition to SkyMiles for Business. However, a key distinction will be that companies not meeting the Plus spending threshold will still be eligible for membership in the new program. By becoming members, Delta will be able to track the travel of company employees on the airline, providing managers with organized access to information on each employee’s travel and associated expenses.
Additionally, Delta plans to utilize this data to offer personalized deals to the company, potentially involving offers from Delta itself or from Delta loyalty partners like Lyft.
Another significant change will pertain to miles redemption. In the current SkyBonus program, companies earn SkyBonus points, which differ from the SkyMiles points earned by individual Delta loyalty program members. These SkyBonus points have their own separate redemption menus and cannot be directly transferred to SkyMiles points.
However, with the transition to SkyMiles for Business, participants will begin accruing SkyMiles, which can be redeemed in the same way as regular SkyMiles. This switch will empower companies to easily transfer SkyMiles from their own account into the individual accounts of their employees, offering them as an appealing perk, as explained by Spyak.
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