Nothing's worse than getting off a long flight only to wait at the baggage carousel for your luggage. It's why many travelers skip checking a bag and pack in just a carry-on bag. But flying with Delta, there's a silver lining…
Delta has a 20-minute guarantee to get bags onto the carousel after arrival. Did it take 21 minutes or more for your bags to slide down? You can easily (and, in most cases, instantly) get 2,500 Delta SkyMiles as compensation for the delay! And despite widespread rumors last year that this program was ending, it's still alive and well … with an important catch.
The airline previously gave flyers frustrated about late bags a full three days to submit a claim to get their bonus SkyMiles. But the airline quietly changed the terms of this policy recently: It now requires you to request your miles within just two hours of arrival. Remember two hours and a minute later, and you'll get nothing.
This policy applies to all flights within the 50 U.S. states as well as Puerto Rico – not any international trips. Other airlines, including Alaska, have these baggage promises, but Delta's is incredibly easy to put to use, and it could be a windfall for the next time you check a bag.
Despite launching way back in 2015 and plenty of press over the years, few travelers are even aware of this option to earn a few thousand SkyMiles – or how easy it is to take advantage of when your bags are late to the carousel. Here's how it works.
Read next: The 16 Best Ways to Earn Delta SkyMiles in 2026
The Rules for Delta's Bag Guarantee
The rules surrounding the Delta bag guarantee couldn't be clearer.
- Only domestic flights within the 50 U.S. states (plus Puerto Rico) qualify – no international trips are eligible for 2,500 bonus SkyMiles, even when bags are late
- The 20-minute timer starts from the moment the boarding door opens, and it ends when your bag arrives on the carousel
- Bags arrive 21 minutes or later? You can only submit one claim per traveler each way, regardless of how many bags you checked
- But if you're traveling with a group and your companions checked their own bags, each traveler can submit their own claim
- To submit a claim for late baggage, you must be a Delta SkyMiles member with your account number attached to your reservation at the time of your flight
- You must submit a claim within just two hours of your flight's arrival – a major change, as Delta previously gave travelers three full days to submit a request
- Cash fares as well as award tickets booked using SkyMiles are eligible
- Codeshare flights on Delta are eligible, but only if the last flight on the itinerary is operated by Delta
- Delta says it can take up to two weeks to deposit bonus SkyMiles, but it's typically instantaneous
Read more about Delta baggage fees!
It might seem difficult to figure out whether you can claim 2,500 SkyMiles for a late bag, but fortunately, it's all fairly automated.
Delta logs the time of arrival directly within its app, so you can double-check that for the official arrival time to start your counter for delayed baggage with Delta. And if you've checked a bag, the Fly Delta app also tracks your bag's progress to the carousel and stamps a final arrival time.
Otherwise, just start a stopwatch on your phone when the boarding door opens and hit stop when your bag makes its way down to the carousel. Either way, it couldn't be easier to submit a claim if your bags take more than 20 minutes.
How to Submit a Claim for Delayed Bags with Delta
Unlike Alaska Airlines, Delta has brought the entire process to get your bonus SkyMiles for a late bag online.
If your bags take more than 20 minutes to arrive, file a claim directly with Delta or visit delta.com/bagsontime in your web browser. Just remember: You need to submit these claims within two hours of arrival to get the 2,500 bonus SkyMiles.
The form itself is incredibly simple. Just enter your name, SkyMiles number, origin, and destination city, your six-digit confirmation code, and the date of your flight.
Just hit submit and you're done. In most cases, that's all it takes to get your 2,500 SkyMiles. While Delta warns it can take up to two weeks, it's often instant. The airline seems to simply cross-check your claim against its internal records and issue the bonus SkyMiles automatically.
Just check your SkyMiles account history to confirm that the 2,500 SkyMiles have been deposited.
That's really all it takes. Getting 2,500 SkyMiles might not be earth-shattering, but it's an easy way to earn more SkyMiles if you're checking a bag. And considering we've seen domestic flights occasionally drop as low as 4,000 to 5,000 miles roundtrip thanks to Delta SkyMiles flash sales, a couple of late bags could get you quite far.
Read next: The Best Delta SkyMiles Deals We’ve Found … Under 20K Miles!
Bottom Line
At this point, we're shocked more travelers don't know about this sweet little perk.
If your checked bag takes more than 20 minutes to reach the luggage carousel, you can quickly and easily submit a claim and earn 2,500 SkyMiles for your trouble. Delta recently tightened the time window you have to submit a claim, but this crafty way to earn SkyMiles is still around.
And these might just be the easiest 2,500 SkyMiles you'll ever earn.
Lead photo courtesy of risingthermals via Flickr
I think the time of 2hrs. is ridiculous. I liked the old system and have used it several times in the last 3 years. The new way just reduces the amount of SkyMiles they give out because they know that people have more important things on their mind and to do in that 2hr. window.
I do all of this in under 4 steps with the Delta IOS app, and have it dialed in before I arrive at the baggage claim carousel, and while waiting. Do it no matter what, as Delta tracks the time, and the worst that can happen is a denial. If so, your your bags came very quickly, so it’s still a win. We came up short on our outbound flight to RDU last week. However, I successfully got it today for my daughter and I on our return flight this morning back home to MCO.
Thank you for this article! I was under the impression that ended last year so I haven’t been paying attention…
Delta lost my bags for 8 days and they gave me only 2500 miles
Alaska Airlines, I believe, gives you cash, or at least the option to get a future discount with a cash value. That could be more useful to casual Delta fliers. Regarding Alaska, last summer, after arriving in Seattle, my bag appeared on the carousel at literally the 19 minute mark…it’s actually longer than it seems, so don’t count your miles before they hatch. But still, the Delta guarantee could be useful at Newark or JFK, where long waits happen often.
Also, if you’re deplaning, is it still a boarding door?
For Delta, it’s based on arrival at gate (door opens) and loaded onto the carousel belt at the baggage claim. They have timestamps on both in their app (flight status and bag tracking status). Delta typically has the most robust tracking of baggage compared to other airlines.
My favorite part is knowing when my bag is loaded onto and unloaded off the plane.
At slower airports, I sometimes use the bag tracking feature to determine if I have time to swing by a lounge for a few minutes for a quick snack or coffee/tea to go.