Originally Posted by
monitor
The continual reference to what is best for "most customers" seems to lack grounding in the basic business tenets that in many industries, "most customers" are mostly "fill" which to some extent helps provide more diverse service to the more profitable segment of customers.
If it seems that way to you it has nothing to do with what I posted or did not post.
Originally Posted by monitor
As a long veteran of business travel, I have watched as these programs have become less and less generous and have moved from one company's top tier to another a number of times and will do so again if the benefits become insufficient for me to remain a customer of any one of them.
I've watched programs go in multiple directions over the decades of many millions of miles of travel, and it's not as systematically unidirectional as you may be suggesting.
It's clear that you are satisfied with whatever DL is providing you, and that's good for you. For most customers, however, DL's approach to toying around with the loyalty programs customers by stripping away value for many customers to give the same or less value to a smaller segment of customers hasn't done well by most customers. Nor has this DL approach of hunting after dinosaurs seemed to spare DL from failing financially or relying upon the repeated graces of government intervention.
Originally Posted by monitor
All of those with such grievous complaints well have the same option. And if it should come to a pass that none of them provide any significant benefits, all of us will be back to the procedure followed in the '70s and early '80s of taking whoever was going at the most convenient time with some consideration of fare differentials.
All of us will not be captive to such a hypothetical outcome.
Originally Posted by monitor
And, of course, the main disappointment with this system is still the relative inflexibility of the PMUs. I do believe that some lower fare classes should permit their use, possibly by requiring the use of multiples.
Let's see how DL listens or does not listen to such suggestion about the upgrades received by Platinums (as well). I don't think DL management will listen to that like it will listen to the sound of money, but if/whenever DL management do get to that kind of outcome, it would be an improvement for far more customers than is the case with what DL management has done with the process of creating the 2010 Medallion program.