Delta will fly a case of Sonoma wine home free, starting today
The airline's new SkyMiles "Wine Takes Flight" program waives the $45 checked-bag fee for one case of wine on Delta flights departing STS and four other Northern California airports.
SONOMA: Starting today, visitors heading home from Sonoma Valley can pack a case of local wine into their checked luggage without paying Delta's $45 checked-bag fee. The airline's new SkyMiles "Wine Takes Flight" program waives that fee for one case of wine checked on Delta or Delta Connection flights departing Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport and four other Northern California airports, bound for destinations in the United States.
To qualify, travelers must be SkyMiles members, free to join, at least 21 years old, and flying on a paid or award ticket on a flight marketed and operated by Delta or Delta Connection. The case can hold up to 12 unopened 750-milliliter bottles with their original labels, must weigh no more than 50 pounds, and stay within Delta's 62-linear-inch checked-baggage limit. The wine has to be packed in an approved shipping box or travel container, presented at the ticket counter, and left unsealed so an agent can inspect it at check-in. The perk works in one direction only: checking a wine case on a flight to one of the five airports still costs the usual fee.
The other four participating airports are San Francisco International, Oakland, San Jose Mineta, and Sacramento International. Delta says the list may expand over time. Travelers who already check bags free, like Medallion elites and Delta cardholders, gain nothing extra here; the waiver is aimed at everyone else, saving the $45 first-bag fee on the trip home.
Delta is not the first airline to make wine fly free. Alaska Airlines' Wine Flies Free program, which includes Sonoma County among its West Coast airports, dates to 2007, and Southwest Airlines rolled out its Sip and Ship program earlier this year, covering 19 airports including STS. Delta's program joins that lineup on the same day the airline plants its own flag at the county airport.
Today is also Delta's first day of service at STS in its own right. The airline launches twice-daily nonstop flights between Salt Lake City and Sonoma County, its first-ever service at the airport, operated by Delta Connection partner SkyWest with Embraer E175 aircraft. That gives SkyMiles members a one-connection path from across the country straight to wine country, and a free ride home for a case of what they taste here.
For a visitor, the practical version is simple: join SkyMiles before the trip, pick up an approved wine shipping box, pack up to a dozen bottles, and leave the case unsealed until the ticket agent inspects it. The case is checked at the counter and picked up at baggage claim on the other end.
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