Syzygies

At around 1.5MM on United, I left United 1K for Delta Platinum. I commute between SFO and NYC. Of course, United never got in touch to ask what they did wrong. I'm sure they know.

I'm not saying Delta behaves any more honorably than United, but United's generally smug attitude of deceit got to me. I want a fresh romantic partner to break my heart. While selling seats I should have cleared upgrade certificates into at prices I was never offered, United wouldn't even admit a value of $49 for my upgrade certificates. Last year, none of my upgrade certificates ever cleared on this route. After completing a Delta Platinum challenge, I received four regional upgrades that cleared at purchase for future flights, saving me an average of $500 per flight. I'm leaving behind a tree of rotting fruit United certificates, that my friends are attempting to work through. I just want a bar that comps me a few drinks while I pay for biz when it matters. United 1K's ten certificates were a mirage, Confederate currency.

One is being simplistic to read Delta Platinum (75k qualifying miles) as below United 1K (100k qualifying miles). For example, if one flies 50k actual discount business class miles, one ends up with either 75k on Delta or 100k on United.

On this route, the American Express Centurion lounge at SFO has the best food. It is however always crowded, with reserved signs on tables for those with actual status. The one place I know that can make an American Express Platinum card holder feel like a peasant; I'm amused. The Delta lounges at each end are spectacular, not crowded, and the food is good enough and varied enough to end the discussion. I'll take a shower out of boredom, imagining I'm in a Frankfurt lounge. One gets in on an American Express Platinum card, or a Delta Reserve Amex card. I'm switching to the Delta Reserve card, for a multitude of reasons one can figure out if one considers this.

We all know that United lounges resemble Greyhound stations. I've heard they're working on this. Good luck with that.

The 757's are newer inside than United's equipment. There's the different between a touch screen like a cheap GPS (United) and a touch screen like a GPS trying to compete with iPads (Delta). However, there are many 767's on this route. Those are where the least expensive Delta One beds are to be found, and where the upgrade certificates clear at purchase. I've seen empty seats go out in Delta One, before they instituted complimentary upgrades (don't hold your breath). Anyone who managed to fly United's 77W private cabins on this route will salivate imagining these Delta 767 seat maps. Wrong. They're first generation beds, not as bad as United's older 772 beds, but not far off. (They're being replaced.) Barely room to squeeze a briefcase by one's side while sleeping; for security, choose seats with gaps between the seat and the window, the opposite of one's 77W strategy. And the armrest doesn't go down. Nevertheless, I've arrived to one of these seats in desperate need of sleep, and one can when in need. In coach on 767's, avoid aisles on the outside, with underseat space mostly taken up by Soviet-era entertainment boxes (like what the trunk of your car looked like before "class D" amps became a thing). Choose instead aisles from the middle seats.

The Delta One menus promise an experience that would regain Thomas Keller's reputation at Per Se. The food is not better than United's offerings. Worse? Hard to say. Defensive ordering is the dominant term here. I'd rather eat in the Delta lounge and skip eating in the air, like Virgin Atlantic encourages so one can sleep the short hop JFK to LHR.

Delta's boarding is more chaotic than United's, and it's not clear they enforce priority. Still, I always manage to place my bag over my seat when in coach.

Some rules are more stringent on Delta. I moved my last flight a day. That would have been a free change on United; I paid $280 including a change fee on Delta. At least the $80 showed up as qualification dollars; every dollar one expects to count toward status, counts toward status. United is deceitful about this; buying an upgrade is hit-or-miss on counting toward status, and United goes out of its way to not tell you, as we all know. Award travel also locks in sooner on Delta. Making the transition, you're a lawyer moving your practice to a new state. You need to bone up on the new rules.

Delta's international network nonstop out of SFO is more meager, relying on international partners. Effectively, this means one is looking at coach minus. Or figure out booking Premium Economy on the carrier itself, crediting to Delta. United has its own international metal out of SFO. On United I could buy coach and waitlist a GPU (these did used to clear, in the era of gas lights), sitting in Economy Plus for sure.

The above is the primary reason I have an advantage on Delta. Anyone with broader needs, on someone else's dime, is instead on United.

I'm looking ahead to a couple years of part-year travel, as I take an academic sabbatical. It will be far easier to maintain Delta Platinum status, with the Delta Reserve card, rollover qualifying miles, and such. I'm leaving out the details; study them before deciding.

Last year I spent nearly $15,000 on United, with a bed 77% of the time. This year I'm spending nearly $11,000 on Delta, with a bed 53% of the time. That's good enough; I can think of other uses for the money.

worldwidedreamer

I've been either Gold or Platinum every year on UA or CO since about 2002. It is mid-April 2018, and so far this year I've taken 21 flights on WN, 4 flights on VX, 2 flights on AS and 2 flights on DL. I have not deliberately avoided UA, but a WN companion pass means that UA has to be significantly cheaper than WN if I'm flying with the Mrs. Historically about half of the WN flights would have gone to UA along with the VX/AS/DL flights. I also feel that at a similar price point VX/DL/AS offers a better value than UA.

In a world where my current UA Gold Status does not yield upgrades or significantly better service, the only real benefit of elite status versus my premium UA credit card is E+. That's not enough to earn my business.

So---in a nutshell I'll probably end up taking a couple UA flights this year, but as they treat me transactionaly I'm doing likewise. Overall I'm paying less, happier and more comfortable. I miss the great people at my home SFO station, but we'll see when I next get to see them.

Boraxo

Any DL comparison should necessarily include a discussion of skypesos. Good luck finding a TATL/TPAC business class ticket for less than 2x the UA saver price. DL doesn't even publish award charts anymore which tells you something. I would gladly take the inferior upgrade % and lounges so long as I can use my miles when I want at a fair price, which is often the case on UA/*A.

In my view E+ at booking is a key benefit for flights > 2hours. Occasional CPUs on vacation travel is a secondary benefit. Neither is an option on WN, so I continue to buy tickets on UA for mid/long haul when the fare is competitive.

On the flip side, the biggest minus for UA is the inability to re-fare when fare drops, forcing the passenger to gamble on the best date to buy a ticket. This is never a problem when using paying cash on WN (or AS).

I, too, have a CP on WN, but the savings is less dramatic for a family of 4, and of course of no value on my paid company travel. WN would probably get more biz from me if it would lower fares from OAK, instead of adopting the fortress hub mentality. If I have the hassle of crossing the bridge to SFO, I'm generally going to fly with UA.

Kacee

Not my experience. I recently redeemed 95k DL for CI BKK-SFO. That's only 5k more than UA charges. For one of the best TPAC business class products out there, and a perfect one-stop schedule (depart BKK 5:30 pm, arrive SFO 8 pm).

By contrast, I've found it very difficult to book the outbound SFO-BKK using UA miles. After weeks of searching, currently have a two stop itinerary via SEA on BR/TG, with the first segment in Y on UA. Which means no Polaris lounge at SFO.

Basically each airline and each program has its advantages. DL is generally more pleasant to fly than UA, with more attentive service, and the phone reps have been fantastic.

I'll probably clear both 1K and DL Plat this year.

laxmillenial

If you wait T-2 weeks, you'll get all the Eva J availability making it a one-stop SFO-TPE-BKK? I always book the SEA itin as a backup and shift it to a one-stop within T-2 weeks. Never not found space, even during Christmas holidays.

brp1264

I lived in New Jersey all my life, so most of my flights during my 10 years of travel were Continental and then United.

My wife was applying for new jobs all over the country, and I sat contemplating the fact that I may be forced to re-think my airline choice depending on where we moved.

She wound up getting a job in Houston...

So, looks like I'll be grinding away for that million miler status.

Kacee

Been checking everyday for a month . . . hope you're right

sinoflyer

Different needs, different deeds. I just had a last minute change of plans while I'm in China, and I casually booked a oneway SZX-NKG MP award (Y) for next week using 8,000 miles. After reading this discussion, I checked DL's award table and found DL has far fewer award seats for CAN-NKG, and they cost 17,500 miles. I was also reminded of Skymiles's recent imposition of a 3-day advance purchase requirement for awards that do no originate or terminate in North America. I didn't think much of it when that topic first came up on the DL board, but now I realize how much it would have sucked had I have to deal with that.

xliioper

DL said it was a mistake and reverted the rule to the older version within a day or two of it's introduction.

Kacee

I'll just add that with premium fare bonuses, you can now earn UA 1K and DL Plat for 100k BIS miles (50k on each). (Even less if you get one of the DL Amex cards, which will give MQM based on spend thresholds.)

sinoflyer

So, instead of "flights originating/terminating in North America," it's back to the old rule of "flights within or originating from certain countries" -- China is among them. I have found zero DL award availability within 72 hours of travel on the various intra-China routes I chose to search. This includes hourly routes like CAN-SHA. Otherwise you have to issue the ticket in person. But DL has no ticket counter in CAN or SZX. Oh well.

DL also has an unsavory rule of making awards nonrefundable within 72 hours. Were I PM or DM, I would assume that I could get that waived.