LAXHOUND

Let me start by saying I have been closely following this board for the last two years and I am current Diamond Medallion already re-qualified through 2012 thanks to rollover miles. SKYMILESINSIDER I have a serious gripe with your Sky Priority marketing blitz. I have no complaints on the domestic side as I have missed upgrades on only a few segments and am very happy with the domestic benefits. However, on the international side Skymiles and Sky Priority is a complete laughing stock. Delta is soo far from being best in class on international travel that it’s a travesty your marketing department can get away with uttering those words.

As a DM who just returned from an LAX-SYD RT in Y both ways and witnessed on both the outbound and return flights that there was excess space in BE after accommodating all paying passengers (cash and skymiles), all NRSA employees and all buddy passes. On the return flight I confirmed with the lead purser that I was the only DM in Y on the flight and there were 2 or 3 PMs. The fact that there is not some instrument available to the top tiers to upgrade in a situation like this is from my vantage point a serious lacking in the Skymiles offering. I would have gladly exchanged 50,000 miles for one of those seats each way. Ohh and even if I had wanted to book an award ticket for the trip of course there was no low level BE awards available even though both cabins were more than half empty.

Apparently Delta fail’s to realize that 3 out of the 4 Majors (soon to be 2 of 3) both realize and value their top tier fliers enough to give them instruments that allow them to upgrade to Biz Class at substantially lower fare levels than Delta a few times a year for their loyalty.

I agree Delta runs a business and can't sustain in the long run if BE seats are just given away. But where I think Delta differs from the other airlines (i.e. United, Continental, and AA) is they fail to see the separation and difference between Business and Leisure travel. They are GREEDY and expect all their Top Tier Fliers to behave and spend as if they are on Business Travel internationally every time they fly. As I have over 1mm Skymiles and in all likelihood another 30 years of active flying, its in my best interest for Delta to right this ship. I will not remain complacent and be satisfied with the status quo that delta calls there useless SWUs and shame on those of you out there that aren’t willing to take more of a stand in order to get Delta to change their course. This hogwash that Delta feeds us about protecting the yield on their BE cabin is just that…when half the cabin is going out empty and being given to NRSA and buddy passes nothing is being protected. If last minute upgrades via miles or cash or usable SWUs were allowed the only net effect would be a few less buddy passes sitting upfront.

Case in point.. those that fly on business internationally and have travel policies that allow for the purchase of J class tickets will continue to do just that. They are not going to risk a gate a upgrade and the chance of riding in Y if they don’t have to b/c they are spending OPM (Other People’s Money). In addition, those high rollers out there to which money flows freely will also not change their purchasing decisions and risk sitting in back. The majority of international flights that Delta is operating today have room to accommodate all types of passengers to maximize yield including full J, Discounted I, Award Tickets, NRSA, buddy passes, and SWU’s on all fares if not just mid and up on a space available basis.

Let me leave the flyertalk community with this..if you just paid a full fare J ticket for BE on a long-haul which seat mate would would make u feel more slighted by Delta’s system? A kid on a buddy pass that paid a few hundred dollars in taxes? Or a Diamond Medallion who paid $800 for a T-fare and upgraded using one of his SWUs (hypothetically speaking) after flying 125,000 miles domestically? Wake up Delta some of us out there would actually like being treated like a DM internationally and be given more options than paying $800 for Y or $3,000 for M and that’s it.

As I’m sure I’ll be flamed for this, please note that I’m moving all the remainder of my international travel this year to UA. Delta needs to realize they are a global airline and needs to treat their top tiers in-line with the other major carriers when we choose to fly internationally a couple times a year on leisure.

-LAXHOUND