I do not have the patience to read every one of the detailed posts on this voluminous thread but I was one of the participants in the discussion mentioned by opushomes last week in Oregon.

The consensus that really emerged that evening was that DL was no longer a good choice for the international leisure traveler. I also now understand that NW WorldPerks was much more hospitable to this group than DL's program would be and their best choice would be to look elsewhere for the kind of service and perks that they have lost in the transition.

As a short haul domestic business traveler and up and down the East Coast commuter flying numerous segments on a complete mix of fare classes, I am feeling well-treated by DL with nearly 100% upgrades and much assistance and cooperation from the agents in the case of IRROPS and also when searching award availability for my three or four annual international long weekends.

To keep my upgrade percentage where it is, I do use virtually all of my PMUs on domestic transcons where most or all of the front cabin is usually sold and prudence dictates that a seat should be confirmed in advance. The K and Q fares carry only a quite reasonable premium over the LUTs and I consider the PMUs to be quite valuable for this purpose. They also come in handy the once in a while that there absolutely is no award availability and we need to travel internationally without trying to meet the conditions required by the I fare. Only time will tell whether the same day provision will come in useful for us. Others whom I know use them up when their company buys them YBM tickets.

Therefore, at this stage, I will continue on with DL and give the Diamond status the test of its first year to see if it is suitable for my purposes. As usual, everybody's MMV.