Delta RTW going away?
Oct 7, 2014, 1:37 am
#46
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Sadly, DL fleecing on great benefits takes another step today...
Oct 7, 2014, 1:42 am
#47
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Thankfully, there are still other airlines which offer the equivalent (e.g. JL's oneworld awards work well and are 120,000 for J round the world without too circuitous routing, though the YQ charges can easily add up to more than $500). One would be smart to save up on SPG points and the like that can be converted a wide variety of airline miles vs. stock up on airline specific points, like DL SlyMiles.
Oct 7, 2014, 1:54 am
#48
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Dovster, pricing a RTW award based on multiple one-way awards and ticketing them under one PNR should still be technically possible (but generally more expensive).
All airline mileage programs? No.
All airline mileage programs? No.
Oct 7, 2014, 2:57 am
#49
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again delta saying we value our customers.....so a majority of people next year will earn less miles and do less with them, or we will cap what you earn and limit what you do. More award availability, gee thanks if I can do nothing I want with them that availability is awesome! Maybe next week I can wake up and find out my miles are going to expire next week, or I can't use my peso's with KE anymore, maybe a 25$ for the DM line, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it.
Oct 7, 2014, 3:04 am
#50
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Why should DL mangement care? They are a big cartel kingpin and can knee-cap SkyMiles customers largely with impunity, and so they are doing so. These awards eat up a lot of time to book and most SkyMiles customers won't ever come close to having enough miles stocked up for a RTW award even in economy class. Instead, DL will try to fleece the customers via charging for a set of multiple one-way awards -- or maybe charging at some kind of fixed redemption value per mile for a cash-equivalent fare -- that generally results in needing far more miles for flying than is the case today.
Give it to DL management to squeeze out consumer surplus from SkyMiles and transform that consumer surplus into supplier surplus and the extraordinary profits that arise from that in this oligopolistic marketplace where competition has been destroyed with assistance from the airline-industry-lobbyist-bought government. The competition horse has been sent to the glue factory, and the customers are stuck in this customer-unfriendly environment.
Give it to DL management to squeeze out consumer surplus from SkyMiles and transform that consumer surplus into supplier surplus and the extraordinary profits that arise from that in this oligopolistic marketplace where competition has been destroyed with assistance from the airline-industry-lobbyist-bought government. The competition horse has been sent to the glue factory, and the customers are stuck in this customer-unfriendly environment.
I agree, they are doing an excellent job to squeeze out every inch of profit. That being said, someone somewhere in Atlanta does keep a prioritized list of consumer comments/complaints. Should DL's market share/profitability ever start to get soft (the world changes quickly, who knows what will happen in the next 2 years) -- they will go to that list and probably start going backwards.
Oct 7, 2014, 4:50 am
#51
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(If JFK-LAS had been available at the low rate, I could have done the entire thing for the 140,000 SkyMiles.)
In the end, I paid for JFK-LAS-ATL and then added ATL-JFK (which was available at the low rate) to my JFK-TLV return. This means that if ATL-JFK has a problem, and does not arrive in time, I am protected for my return JFK-TLV flight as they are on the same PNR.
I am not worried about JFK-LAS (assuming that I am not delayed more than 34 hours in arriving at JFK). If the JFK-LAS flight is delayed, it just means I won't have the full 10 days in LAS. If the LAS-ATL flight is delayed, it will reduce my 3 days in ATL.
Without the extra time built into my stays in NYC and LAS, the fact that I will not be on the same itinerary as my award stay could well have cost me a lot of money for a missed flight -- even though my missing the flight would have been Delta's fault.
Oct 7, 2014, 6:23 am
#53
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This is why they're doing it:
And don't forget this side effect... even if you can piece it together using the 'new' 1-way awards, you're going to get nailed for origination fees.
Give it to DL management to squeeze out consumer surplus from SkyMiles and transform that consumer surplus into supplier surplus and the extraordinary profits that arise from that in this oligopolistic marketplace where competition has been destroyed with assistance from the airline-industry-lobbyist-bought government. The competition horse has been sent to the glue factory, and the customers are stuck in this customer-unfriendly environment.
Oct 7, 2014, 6:26 am
#54
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They are NOT getting rid of RTW. Only RTW with skymiles. You can still buy a RTW ticket ^
Oct 7, 2014, 6:27 am
#55
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I agree, they are doing an excellent job to squeeze out every inch of profit. That being said, someone somewhere in Atlanta does keep a prioritized list of consumer comments/complaints. Should DL's market share/profitability ever start to get soft (the world changes quickly, who knows what will happen in the next 2 years) -- they will go to that list and probably start going backwards.
Oct 7, 2014, 6:29 am
#56
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http://www.skyteam.com/en/Flights-an...World-Planner/
and to be frank with you, the RTW business class prices really aren't that bad. The only real bummer is that say you spend $11,000 on a RTW BE ticket, you are still capped at the 75,000 max mileage credit.
Oct 7, 2014, 6:38 am
#57
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RTW tickets need to be booked into the correct (discount/restricted) fare classes. It can be hard to find availability of the required inventory.
Oct 7, 2014, 6:50 am
#58
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I think you will need to call as the fare isn't published online.
Oct 7, 2014, 6:52 am
#59
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its not on DL's website. Its on Skyteams website...here:
http://www.skyteam.com/en/Flights-an...World-Planner/
and to be frank with you, the RTW business class prices really aren't that bad. The only real bummer is that say you spend $11,000 on a RTW BE ticket, you are still capped at the 75,000 max mileage credit.
http://www.skyteam.com/en/Flights-an...World-Planner/
and to be frank with you, the RTW business class prices really aren't that bad. The only real bummer is that say you spend $11,000 on a RTW BE ticket, you are still capped at the 75,000 max mileage credit.
Oct 7, 2014, 7:08 am
#60
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Those are the general terms and conditions. The fare rules and fare rates are different depending on which SkyTeam carrier is originating the ticket so would need to be obtained from the operating carrier or a travel agent. You can also find them if you have access to a GDS.
http://roundtheworld.skyteam.com/B2C...me/WelcomePage
I just priced out an itinerary in BE and it gave me a price of $12,000 or so. It mostly depends on mileage bands.