On January 13, Delta emailed me my 2016 year-end SkyMiles statement. I had just started using the SkyMiles program a few months before, and had earned about two-thirds of the miles and spend needed to achieve “Silver” status. Of course, on January 1, anything I’d earned toward status was erased. In this context, the email’s message became: Look at all the qualification miles you just lost!
Yes, Delta’s year-end review was poorly timed, too late to add an....