Photo: Dj's Aviation on YouTube / O'Gara / autoevolution edit
Delta Air Lines is rewarding some of its customers with an exclusive perk for a limited time – being chauffeured around in a plug-in hybrid hypercar. Here's where your unique Porsche experience could happen.
Delta Air Lines knows marketing and its customers. Besides providing passengers with reliable flights as the nation's second-best airline last year (Hawaii Airlines got the top spot), it's also one of the savviest companies out there. And here's the most recent example that confirms it – some of its regulars will ride in a Porsche 918 Spyder, a hypercar many gearheads can only dream of.
The airline made this possible through a partnership with Porsche North America. The automaker's US subsidiary is lending the special vehicle to Delta's Elite Services team, which is responsible for what frequent flyers call "unicorn transfers." Fortunate customers needing a transfer at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) might see the 918 Spyder waiting for them.
If you're one of the selected ones, then you will see a Delta Elite Services employee sitting near the hypercar and waiting with a sign bearing your name. Meet them, introduce yourself, and you'll be invited to sit in the passenger's seat and enjoy the short but exclusive ride to your next flight.
Delta chose ATL for this experience because it's the world's busiest airport, despite flyers complaining about delays. The weather has been unfriendly lately and has caused some flights to land elsewhere or others to depart late.
The hypercar will be used for a limited time only. Plan your transfer accordingly because it will only be seen plane-side until the last day of July 2023.
Photo: Delta
Using the 918 Spyder is a highlight of the collaboration between Delta and Porsche. The two companies are known for working together and providing some of Delta's flyers with timely transfers, whisking people away from one gate to the other without losing precious time. Most often, Macan and Panamera models are used.
These airport transfers might seem like an experience reserved only for those paying for the most expensive seats, but the smartly-named "Surprise and Delight" program isn't happening all the time. Moreover, it's not a thing known in advance by the flight and ground crews. It just takes place occasionally!
If you're part of the Medallion program and visiting the Atlanta airport, there's a high chance you might get a ride in the 918 Spyder finished in Dark Blue Metallic until July 31. Other Porsche models are available at numerous other locations. You just need a transfer at one of Delta's most common airports and hubs.
The airline has a paid service dedicated to VIP customers, but the Porsche thing is available to nearly all Medallion members free of charge.
The two-door 918 Spyder is a V8-powered plug-in hybrid all-wheel-drive hypercar that puts out 899 hp and can reach 62 mph in 2.6 seconds thanks to two electric motors helping out the 4.6-liter internal combustion engine. The concept was shown in 2010, and the monster machine was put into production three years later. The last customer-ready model left the factory in 2015. Only 918 units were ever built.
If you're not so much into free Porsche rides, Delta also implements free high-speed Wi-Fi on its aircraft with T-Mobile's help. That's a good perk to have in this day and age. And according to customer reports, it actually works, unlike Hawaii Airlines' planes which are reportedly still waiting for the Starlink hardware.
Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one. Full profile
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