Thanks for your post Jeff but obviously you are late to the party. And we don't appreciate your spin.
Diamonds have unlimited changes to award tickets? Hmm. I thought the reason you eliminated that benefit was "abuse" of the system, not to "give it back" to a higher elite level. Someone here was lying and it wasn't Flyertalkers.
The REASON that 80% of elites don't use the certificates was not addressed - because they suck. Take a look at other airlines' systemwide upgrades.
+1 x2. We all knew that the award change takeaway was a mask to giveback at a higher level. There were many other ways to address the abuse issue, but it was clearly a fleece. And yes, worthless PMU's. Don't spin it as a great benefit.
Originally Posted by
alison11
+
Plat guaranteed upgrade is gone
And assuming that we go to the companion program at DL. Best of both, another strike DL.
Originally Posted by
psychtobe
This is massive elitedom inflation
+1, apparently DL's calculation is that this will help the bottom line - apparently at the cost of some of it's most frequent travelers.
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Welcome to Delta Airlines, where management takes from the many to give it back later to even fewer than before.
Yes, since I smelled DL in NWA land I'm getting a better and better picture,
I was on a mega MR in January to attain Platinum status for 2 years. Literally in the middle of the MR Delta was slashing platinum benefits. We earned PM/PE status last year and had stated benefits, which we all thought were for the following year. Unfortunately, the game changed. Am I happy with it? No. But life is not fair (and Delta is even less fair!).
I feel the same way, I wasn't happy to see my 2009 perks fleeced when I earned them in 2008 under the terms existing in 2008.
Originally Posted by
FlytheTail
+1 ^ Very well articulated. I can understand some DL plats being pleased with the new diamond tier, but for us former NW Plats, the diamond tier is definitely a step down from the NW Plat program of 2007. The DL plats just never tasted the sweet nectar of being an NW Plat.
+1 - I feel this resonates with the long-time NW folks.
Originally Posted by
raehl311
I do think it is unrealistic to compare DL's current Skymiles program with NW's Worldperks program. Like it or not, NW is dead.
We should be comparing DL's Skymiles program with programs offered by CO, UA, and AA. For the 25k and 50k levels, CO/UA/AA win on better mileage redemption value. For 100k and up, I think CO/UA/AA win on better mileage redemption and better elite benefits.
If we are going to convince DL that their current program is not going to be successful in keeping elite travelers, then we need to be making that argument based on what is currently available from other airlines.
A fair point, but keep in mind customers are not logical/100% objective, but rather emotional irrational beings. Customers tend to weigh the last experience the most, and with all the fleecing and bogus "enhancements"