Delta introduces new revenue program for earn, one-way awards
 

The new InsideFlyer blog has the scoop on a HUGE Delta Skymiles change. Adds one-way awards, miles + cash and a whole new award chart with up to five tiers.

http://insideflyer.boardingarea.com/...miles-revenue/

Delta Becomes the Industry’s Canary in a Coal Mine
It’s been three years since rumors first began leaking out of Atlanta that Delta was considering modifying their popular SkyMiles frequent flyer program from a “mileage-based” program to a “revenue-based” program. (“Popular?” you might ask, but what else would you call a program with 90 million members?) Over the three years, the topic leaked from internal communications and front-end employees and was blogged about from countless points of view. Although the topic was news for many, for Delta, this was not a new development.

It was in December 2002 that Delta sent its SkyMiles Medallion members a letter outlining the program’s revised qualifications for earning elite status. The letter stated that beginning January 2003, the program would “… better align loyalty benefits and rewards with the fares customers pay.” Again, this missive was sent to members in 2002. So it has been a long journey for SkyMiles that will culminate on Jan. 1, 2015, when the recently announced changes to the program will begin.
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Was just about to post

WSJ 5 minutes ago http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-h...9/SS-2-465448/

Interesting.

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DL appears to have convinced some in the media that the narrative is about "fixing" the overrewarding problem... but it's really reducing overall miles provided. Wonder why reporters given the pre-embargo scoop didn't think about this.

Let's think about it this way, you now reward at a fixed rate, dis-incentivizing Mileage Runs and rewarding your business travelers *more* than before (theoretically). That should be a win for all, right?

What DL is doing increases the miles earned for short haul and dramatically reduces for long haul travel in Y (and J, in some markets I would assume).

ATL -> LHR
4,210 miles each way
DM @ 125% bonus earns 9,472 miles each way.

To earn that many miles in the new program, base fare + YQ must be at least $861 to net the same number of miles (@ 11 miles / dollar)... factoring in taxes you are looking at a ~$2,000 RT fare.

ATL -> MCO
500 miles each way
DM @ 125% bonus earns 1,125 miles each way.

To earn that many miles in the new program, base fare + YQ must be at least $102 to net the same number of miles (@ 11 miles / dollar)... factoring in taxes you are looking at a ~$250 RT fare.


ATL -> DXB
7,599 miles each way
DM @ 125% bonus earns 17,098 miles each way.

To earn that many miles in the new program, base fare + YQ must be at least $1,555 to net the same number of miles (@ 11 miles / dollar)... factoring in taxes you are looking at a $3,500+ RT fare.

Time to burn those pesos!

Pass the popcorn over here please...gonna be a very long thread IBTO (in before the outrage)

aaah..the sweet days to maximize points are slowly coming to an end! :(

Man, gonna burn my miles while I can. Regardless of what shakes out, there's no chance this turns out great for the majority of us on FT.

One way award tickets. YES!

RIP DL mileage runs

My bigger question is whether Medallion qualification will also be based on the spend points system rather than mileage. It's not really addressed in the articles. Personally, as someone who only redeems coach award tickets, I don't have a big problem with the new award system as it will likely be simpler and more transparent. Yeah, I understand you BE award redeemers are probably not going to like it.

Looks like the best one can do is 7.7cpm as a Diamond booking with Amex.

Also here: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/...requent-flier/

About time, I say

Delta hasn't even fixed the current award system that has been broken for years. I have no hope in DL making a smooth transition to this new system.

The InsideFlyer article is surprisingly short on detail. I'm halfway through and still wondering what, exactly, has changed. We'll see if it improves. I'm going to switch to WSJ coverage and come back to finish.

Well, in hindsight, if they knew they were going to be moving to a new system, there wasn't much point in investing much time/money to fix the old system.