Originally Posted by
SamuelS
I think the programme is strong and these enhancements positive for a cross section of the programme, specifically those at Silver/Gold status, and those who travel primarily within North and Central America and the Caribbean.
That's the issue that many on FlyerTalk have. Granted, there is an extremely high concentration of Platinums on this bulletin board. And that's where a lot of the problems lie - it seems to many of us that DL/NW is catering heavily to those Silvers/Golds (and giving those passengers a superior elite experience compared to AA/UA), especially if you're a North America traveler (as Star Gold/OW Sapphire/ST Elite Plus doesn't come into play).
The issue is that with those perceived improvements to the lower levels, the top levels are hurt a bit. DL's admitted that there's only so many dollars in the pie (as there most likely are with AAdvantage and Mileage Plus). AA and UA tend to give smaller slices of that pie to their 25k/50k EQM flyers than does DL. Thus, there's more "pie" for AA/UA top-tiers, and less for DL/NW top-tiers.
Today's announcement basically seals the deal in my mind for that. DL's international upgrade policies are the most draconian of any major carrier if you're not on a high-fare coach ticket. Even US has a more liberal policy, where you can pay 30,000 miles (40k to TLV) and $300 to upgrade to Envoy. So, on a $500 coach ticket to Europe, you can pay $600 and 60k miles to sit up front - I'd consider that, especially since a DL M fare for a similar route could run upwards of $2200. Allowing DoD upgrades is an improvement (though all other majors have allowed it...), but it still has DL sitting in the cellar.
If you're a solely North America traveller, you're in good shape with DL. But I like to go to Europe a couple of times a year on vacation - I'd like to at least have a shot of sitting in Business without having to break the bank to do so. There are a lot of people in a similar boat here on FT - they like to take an international vacation once or twice a year, and don't want to sit in Y. With DL, it's break the bank for an M fare (which isn't an option for everyone; and then pray that Z inventory is there) or burn a ton of miles (and hope low award inventory is there - which two new nonstop destinations - JNB and SYD - appear not to have any low-J seats available on the nonstops from the US at any point going forward.