Bill_61

I am not one of the screamers (disdain much, bubba?). The 72 hour rule was a non-issue for me, as I never even thought of doing it until I saw on FT I couldn't do it...meh. Unlike you, my expectations for domestic F are modest -- I don't drink alcohol and avoid the food in favor of my favorite terminal spots. I just want a bigger seat. I spent a decade as a Platinum, and when they devalued the worth of the Platinum I chased Diamond -- and in doing so increased my spend/loyalty to Delta. If they do what is suggested in this thread --and I believe there has been some solid proof set forth -- I am not able to significantly increase my spend. If DM is the new PM (like PM became the new GM) and I can get a better chance at upgrades with another carrier (in my case as a NC resident probably USAir), I'll vote with my feet. Your opinion may be "good riddance!" as you get more exclusivity and a better F experience without a Kettle Medallion like me who'll put my feet up in the bulkhead row, but I fail to see where driving away a $15-$20k per year customer advances Delta's business. That is why I have some hope that this will end up being a tweak rather than a major overhaul/devaluation. My wife would tell you I am a relentless optimist...

AA_EXP09

Why don't you just get GLD and use stickers for AA F?

Crazyhotelguy

I find it odd that someone without a horse in the race is so passionate about bashing everyone who does.

Vote with your wallet, as you say you have. Go to AA, reap the fruits of their fAAbulous product and don't look back. That is a respectable decision.

I see no reason why you would want to waste your precious time on the likes of us.....

64beebop

Two thoughts:

This could be an additional means of earning, not a replacement.

Likewise for the redemption/purchase, we have revenue tickets, pay with miles tickets, and award tickets. We have known that DL wants to implement a x dollars/ x miles structure for ticketing. This might play into that along with one way revenue and award tickets.

I think the ultimate goal is ala carte for whatever your needs. We see that now with the experiment on buying elevated boarding status though it does seem slightly unfair that one can earn FO with 30 segments and get the same boarding zone (I believe) for $9.

VIP Select is another way of monetizing some of the DM benefits.

BTW: Like another poster, one year I didn't make my previous status (missed GM by 15K) and I was kept at GM and received a nice letter thanking me for my business.

Crazyhotelguy

I am all for a revenue element, but not a complete revamp. Reward the high rollers, but keep in mind that the weekly DL loyalist means something as well. I, like others often bend over backward to fly DL vs. Another carrier. I do that because DL has for the most part treated me well.

My company would be fine if I shopped mostly on price.

DL can do whatever they feel they need to. I will evaluate the changes and decide for myself accordingly.

canndlewic

Let's hope that it is a balance between FREQUENCY (which is correlated with distance or segments) and spend.

All of my travel is leisure and comes out of my own pocket. I fly at least 2-3 times a month but usually fly LUT fares on weekends. The fact that I get upgraded on almost every flight is what keeps me flying Delta.

It could be argued that my type of travel has a substantial impact to Delta's bottom line as I satisfy an oversupply. Put another way, the flights I book are flying with or without me (sunk cost) so if I choose to fly Delta my revenue (contribution) is directly impacting Delta's margin.

DLroads

They have openings for Android progammers, and other iOS applications associated with the Evolution of Skymiles (EOS). It's just that it seems someone went and revised some postings that are still on to remove those key expressions. I personally think that the revisions are bad because applicants would not understand what they applied for and what is needed. If DL wanted to recruit people with the proper background, the details were needed.

But, again- when all elements are aligned, you can always do outreach, put the ducks in a row, and then bait and switch. It would increase the incremental revenues, and allow to maximize the fee-based of the audience, while controling the margins of profit and optimizing the ratio of miles earned to spend with an effective deletion of miles from the obligo. Indeed, this process is best in class.












And PS- not that I think that all people read the postings above them (actually, I am afraid most people don't...) but here is my opinion again (for what it's worth)--
Don't change the rules in the middle of the game (aka- sep 2012 schedule). Don't change them a day/a week/a month before the new program year begins. Allow people to review the rules, and make business decisions knowing the rules of the game.
Don't mask your clients. Don't hide away from your clients. Don't ignore your clients. Don't screen the calls of your clients. Don't delay fixing things for your clients. Don't take and give back and call it an enhancement. Don't throw big words at your clients. Remember that actions speak louder than words (therefore, stop informing me that there are $2B investments in client experience, and that the award calendar is going to work very soon, as soon as Q1 of 2009).
For the changes themselves- parallel channels are better than replacement channels. (i.e. 2 ways to become GM). But, whatever you do- communicate it, an advance, clearly, in a way that a high school graduate can understand the rules of the game (i.e. an intern at the award calendar desk *sarcasm*)

Dovster

Yes. When I bought it there was Z (or G) available TLV-JFK-ATL and MCO-JFK-TLV. G opened for LAS-MCO 6 days before the flight leaving me only ATL-LAS in coach.

StayingHomeIsBetter

"Regardless of how high a company's satisfaction levels may appear to be, satisfying customers without creating an emotional connection with them has no real value."

"McEwen and Fleming noticed a difference in financial outcomes only when they isolated customers who were both extremely satisfied with the company and emotionally connected to the company with which they were doing business. At the supermarket chain, customers who were both extremely satisfied and emotionally connected visited the chain more often and spent more each month. The pattern was the same at the retail bank: Customers who were extremely satisfied and emotionally engaged were far less likely to leave than customers who were merely satisfied but lacked an emotional connection."

http://gmj.gallup.com/content/15850/...g-measure.aspx


Just a counterpoint to those who like to curl their lip and deride those who they claim have an undue emotional connection to an airline.

Of course, DL management seems willing to forgo both customer satisfaction and emotional connection in a search for short-term success.

Air Brian

As someone who has already moved most of his business in $ terms from Delta, cancelled the amex, etc. I actually think a revenue based program COULD be a positive for a customer with my flying habits. I fly Delta on longer domestic flights for which my employer/clients will pay up to F - typically fights exceeding a total of 6 hours (including layover) which gives Delta just enough business in return for Platinum - about 10-12 a year including a couple to Hawaii. Southwest gets nearly all my domestic shorter than the above, which from Nashville amounts to about 10-12 r/ t's a year BUT they are always the higher priced Anytime/Biz Select fares so even with that limited flying I am A plus with SW. My Int'l travel is nearly exclusively on Star alliance and also in Biz, about 8 or so mostly to Africa/Middle East, a switch I made a couple years back solely due to my frustration in redeeming skymiles for Int'l Biz award travel.

The capital COULD be a positive switch hinges on what Delta does with redemptions. On SW the switch has been a goldmine for people like myself. 9,000 points accumulated on a last minutes BNA-FLL is enough to fly myself to Chicago for a weekend with advanced "purchase." However, the Int'l flights SW touts are exceedingly expensive b/c SW actually has to buy those tickets from the airlines you choose - thus this is based purely on the cash cost. If DL relates the actual fare charged for a BNA-DUB (example) r/t in J to the points/miles needed this will be even more of a catastrophe then the current redemption system. The paletability of this program to most high dollar customers I believe will be the redemption scheme. If it become even more onerous then I may just tolerate O'Hare and move exclusively my trans-cons to United. Upgrades generally don't matter to me for the reasons mentioned above and the fact that I don't like airplane wine and am 5'7". It is all about the value of the miles/points to me and my ability to redeem for Int'l Biz class to fly the Mrs home to Ireland a few times a year.

dcline414

Exactly why moving to a purely revenue-based loyalty program is a bad idea for Delta! A "punch card" type program (or miles/segments in Delta's case) rewards loyalty and creates a cognitive link between visits and awards. A rebate program, on the other hand, rewards customers for spending money. This crates a direct cognitive link between spending money and getting awards.

Consumer behavior studies have shown that rewarding behavior creates a much stronger emotional connection between the customer and the brand, as it disassociates spending money from earning rewards.

Why else would casinos move to a point-based award system and grocery stores use a point-based loyalty card rather than simply giving a 1% rebate?

SamuelS

And if you go to a revenue based mile per cent redemption model, calculating number of miles required based on the full J fare, it is likely that you will be looking at several hundred thousand miles for that Intl Biz class for you and the Mrs to Europe rather than the current rates as low as 120,000.

DLdweeb

Which is precisely what DL wants.

StayingHomeIsBetter

A fair prediction.

Obviously, we are all working in a speculative mode, but it is informed speculation. Informed by the job posts but, more importantly, informed by DL management's past demonstrated behaviors. So, that said, why should anyone expect DL management to act in a fashion that is not intended to further devalue our mileage balances and further disadvantage us?

We earned those miles under one set of rules, and they have repeatedly demonstrated the intent to ensure that we redeem them under a different, much less advantageous, set of rules.

rylan

More likely that the full J fare could end up costing over a million, based on current PWM value.