(USA TODAY) -- Delta Air Lines has started testing an on-time guarantee for checked baggage.
The trial, which starts today and runs through March 31, guarantees that fliers' checked bags will arrive at the baggage carousel within 20 minutes when traveling on domestic flights. Delta will give 2,500 miles to customers' whose bags take longer than that to reach the carousel.
"We're committed to providing you with reliable and on-time baggage service every time you fly," Delta says about the trial via its website. "That's why we're backing your bags with a guarantee: if your checked bag doesn't arrive at the carousel in 20 minutes or less after any domestic flight through March 31, 2015, you are eligible to receive 2,500 bonus miles."
Customers whose bags are slow to get to the carousel must fill out an online form at Delta's website to receive the miles. Delta will check the details and award the 2,500 miles once it confirms a customer's eligibility, spokesman Anthony Black tells Today in the Sky.
Delta says the plane-to-carousel time will be "measured by Delta's baggage tracking system, where available."
Black says Delta will use the information from the trial period to evaluate if -- or how -- such a guarantee would be implemented on a permanent basis.
For now, Delta becomes the second big U.S. carrier to offer such a guarantee.
Alaska Airlines has long offered its own 20-minute baggage guarantee. Like Delta, Alaska Air offers 2,500 miles to customers whose bags do not arrive to the carousel within 20 minutes. Alaska Air also gives customers the option to receive a $25 travel voucher instead of the miles.
As for Delta's offer, fliers must meet the following criteria to be eligible:
+ Be traveling on a domestic U.S. flight. International flights are not included. However, a passenger traveling from Paris to Chicago via New York would be eligible since the passenger's last leg would be a U.S. domestic flight.
+ Customers must be a Delta SkyMiles member in good standing at the time of travel.
+ The offer is limited to one request per passenger per outbound or return travel. Fliers will be eligible only for 2,500 miles, regardless of number of bags they've checked.
+ Lost, mishandled, and damaged bags are excluded. Oversize and overweight baggage and special items also are not eligible.
