Originally Posted by
rankourabu
...people spending their miles on low-value domestic awards on seats that would probably be empty otherwise, on Delta metal, which costs Delta very little.
This is ideal rather than have people be able to redeem for high-value premium cabin international awards.
Perhaps if you feel you'd get a better value/use of miles for international awards, you should try another airline. However, you are out of line to dictate what value others assign to their domestic redemptions. For me - and I'm certainly speaking only for myself - I don't have much use for international redemptions. In most (not all) cases, I wouldn't redeem international awards even if I was obtaining, say 8+ CPM. Domestically, however, I'm thrilled to redeem at 2+ CPM (often equates to 3+), as I obtain my miles cheaply (anywhere from free to 1 CPM) and I'd need/want to spend tens of thousands of dollars annually on domestic travel if I weren't redeeming miles. In other words, saving myself a few thousand dollars annually at 2+ CPM domestically than spending on something I don't need/want much at 8+ CPM (for example) internationally. I'm describing my own situation, and perhaps I'm unique, but I suspect that there are others like me... perhaps even enough like me that Delta feels that domestic is more important. (Btw, don't forget that international isn't completely broken... even I've done a handful of such redemptions in the past couple of years at low/saver level, but admittedly with more of a hassle.)
Originally Posted by
rankourabu
And the argument that it would cost too much money to fix it, the merger is to blame, etc etc. bullocks. DL is simply much happier people redeeming for low-value domestics and maybe even hooking a sucker or two for extortionate, out of thin air mileage, international awards.
I didn't argue that it would cost too much to fix, and I don't think I've seen anyone else argue this. I argued that the cost must be weighed carefully against the degree of problems, what the problems are and who they affect, and the timing of the fix especially given the merger changes.
Originally Posted by
denCSA
This inflationary mess with SkyPiles started when DL sold what was LEFT of its soul to AMEX. It's pretty sad that DL still can't manage to run an excellent program the way AA has.
I agree with you on AA... I have the most superb experiences redeeming with them. Calendar is superb, low/saver availability is about on par with Delta, etc. I wish they'd serve more of the routes I use, but that's an economic issue that I can't complain about.
However, I take issue with your "inflationary" assertion, unless you are being specific. Again, I wont speak to international much, as I don't have much experience or knowledge of it, but domestically I'm wondering what data you have that backs up your claim of inflation. In my experience with domestic redemption, availability might have even improved - not worsened - over the past couple of years. With NW integrated, options are even better, and I'm able to secure dozens of routes (especially last minute ones for business travel that give me an enormous value) . The Amex/Delta partnership has been a gold mine for me, Delta, and Amex, as far as I can tell.