Delta’s latest elite frequent flyer changes
For Delta Air Lines’ most loyal customers, the extra perks they get to choose at the start of each year are a key benefit of their elite frequent flyer status.
The Atlanta-based airline reevaluates these benefits every year, and its latest adjustments, announced in December, offer insights into Delta’s larger loyalty strategy.
Frequent flyers with platinum or diamond Medallion status in the SkyMiles program can choose from a variety of options, including:
- Bonus miles
- Delta Vacations coupons
- Cash toward an American Express credit card statement
The airline is cutting back on the credit card statement benefit — but boosting other options designed to cultivate new Delta loyalists in other ways.
For 2026, the company is increasing the SkyMiles and travel voucher benefits — as well as doubling the total “gift” statuses that members can bestow on friends or family.
The popular American Express statement benefits are being cut from $700 to $500 for diamond and from $400 to $250 for platinum.
✈️ See what Delta customers are saying about the changes
Photography book captures humanity in harmony atop Stone Mountain
Beloved by some and loathed by others, Stone Mountain is a study in contrasts. There’s no denying the geographical splendor of the massive slab of exposed granite 12 miles east of Atlanta. But detractors have a hard time looking past the racist sentiment reflected by the Confederate memorial carved in its side and a history of KKK cross burnings.
And yet, barring bad weather, scores of hikers of all ages representing a multitude of cultures, religions and countries of origin are drawn to the summit every day to sing, dance, pray, meditate, work out and admire the view in harmony.
That’s the aspect of Stone Mountain celebrated in “Rise Above: On Top of Stone Mountain” (Shock Design Books, $49.95), a gorgeous, full-color photography book by Atlanta photojournalist Jean Shifrin, a former staff photographer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Despite enduring multiple foot and knee surgeries, Shifrin has spent the last decade taking countless treks to the top of Stone Mountain. Her initial interest in her favorite pastime wasn’t photography, but exercise and immersion in nature. But over time, she began using her iPhone to capture images of the people she saw there.
With the help of award-winning book designer Laurie Shock, Shifrin turned her photos into a gorgeous art book that celebrates humanity in all its many forms.
📷 Read an excerpt from a conversation with Shifrin about ‘Rise Above’ here
Inside Atlanta designer Carter Kay’s Chattanooga cottage
From one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the winding streets of Lookout Mountain are spectacular in the light mist, a layer of fog wrapping the homes in a wintry stole.
Carter Kay is an interior designer who moved to Chattanooga from Atlanta to be closer to her family. Kay downsized in 2022 from a five-bedroom home in Chastain Park to a cozy, expertly designed (as you would expect) two-bedroom, two-bath cottage she shares with her husband, Forde. “It was fun,” she said of the challenge of translating a home filled with furniture and decor into a smaller footprint. “I didn’t need all that,” she said of the process of downsizing.
Kay has deep roots in the area: Her great uncle created the perennially popular tourist attraction See Rock City. A framed 1960 cover of “Life” magazine in her home features a crowd of onlookers at the Lover’s Leap overlook, including a 6-year-old Carter Kay.
Her 1951 cottage home is a testament to mastering scale and color when decorating a smaller space. One of her best tricks is using oversized furniture to bring attitude to more modestly sized rooms, like the enormous armoire that commands center stage in her living room. Many of the larger antiques in her home, like that mega armoire, do double duty as storage space to keep the couple’s 2,447 square feet home clutter-free.
A lover of vignettes, every side table, console and coffee table contains a little story attesting to travel, life experience, a sense of humor expressed in objects and a love of beauty.
🏠 Browse more photos of the Kays’ cottage, in all its wonderful eccentricity
February is serving up food fun right in your backyard
If January’s cold weather has you looking ahead, February offers plenty to do in metro Atlanta, from Lunar New Year celebrations to Bad Bunny‑themed halftime parties and a Mardi Gras pop‑up.
The AJC’s Food & Dining team plans to update their list throughout the month. Here are a few highlights from their lineup:
🐴 Hawkers will celebrate the Year of the Horse through February with yusheng, a Malaysian prosperity salad. It will also run a special dim sum-inspired menu where diners select what they’re hoping to manifest this year and Hawkers’ chefs match those goals with symbolic ingredients like smoked salmon, pomelo and carrots.
Feb. 1-28. Multiple locations. eathawkers.com.
🥂 El Super Pan will host a brunch party for Bad Bunny’s upcoming halftime performance at the Super Bowl. There will be music by DJ Luis Treviño, coffee-based cocktails, brunch and bottomless mimosas.
Noon-4 p.m. Sunday. 455 Legends Place, Atlanta. 404-521-6500, elsuperpan.com/the-battery
🦪 Lagarde American Eatery will hold a Mardi Gras pop-up with a special menu featuring lobster po’boy, crab and shrimp boil, Cajun lobster Rockefeller oysters, frozen hurricanes, strawberry daiquiris and king cake shots.
Through March 1. 5090 Peachtree Blvd., Chamblee. 470-385-3533, lagardeamerica.com.
🗓️ Here’s a selection of other events to bookmark for next month
Savannah’s iconic Forsyth Park fountain springs back to life
With the turn of a valve, what officials call the “jewel of Savannah” sprung back to life last December.
The Forsyth Park fountain, a landmark of this historic city since 1858, returned to operation after a six-month restoration that included a full dismantlement and removal of the cast-iron structure.
The fountain was reassembled in September, but infrastructure work continued into this month. And just as New York’s Statue of Liberty wouldn’t be the same beacon if Lady Liberty’s torch didn’t glow, the Forsyth Park fountain isn’t a Savannah treasure without the waterworks. Mayor Van Johnson calls it part of the city’s soul.
“Every great city has a great fountain,” said Jay Melder, the Savannah city government’s chief administrator. “The Forsyth fountain is loved the world over, but nowhere more than right here as the centerpiece of our world-class community space.”
The $650,000 restoration began in June — after the spring wedding season, when the fountain is a frequent backdrop for nuptials.
⛲ Discover more about how experts revived the landmark, long a magnet for locals and tourists
What’s next for Delta’s Atlanta Sky Clubs
The road warriors who frequent Delta Air Lines lounges might have noticed some Atlanta clubs haven’t seen as many upgrades as other major cities.
That’s changing, promises Dwight James, Delta’s senior vice president of customer engagement and loyalty.
- In Concourse D last spring, Delta opened the first addition to its Atlanta Sky Club lounges since 2016, and its largest in Atlanta yet.
- Renovations in three lounges between Concourses A and C at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are complete, with more upgrades in the works.
- A new Delta One Lounge remains in the planning stages, James said.
✈️ Learn more about what the upgrades mean for Atlanta travelers
