Originally Posted by
JIM_Travel
I have seen the term SkyPesos thrown around for Delta's Skymiles program, but have yet to fully understand why. Can someone enlighten me as to why I should avoid Delta like the plague?
Thanks.
A major factor is the fact that Skymiles are extremely difficult to redeem at the low/saver tier for international travel, or even domestic travel if you do not hold status with Delta. However, if you are redeeming for travel wholly within the contiguous 48 states, you are Medallion (and therefore have access to Medallion award inventory), and know how to work around the calendar bug (which displays less inventory than you're entitled to, unless you make it work), then low/saver awards are plentiful if you have a little flexibility. I redeem dozens of such awards over a wide variety of routes and dates, both cabins, at a CPM value that has actually been increasing in recent months (over 2CPM average). Almost all fees are waived for upper elites, making it even nicer. To top it off, Skymiles are the easiest miles to earn, especially if your credit card use and attention to promotions are high. Many fail to factor this in, too. For example, if you can spend $60K on an Amex card, you can earn 180K DL miles by stacking a a bonus and a promo, and you'll walk with 30K EQMs (MQMs) to boot. No other airline provides an earning opportunity that lucrative, as far as I'm aware. Finally, for those who hold high status and travel within the 48 contiguous states primarily or solely, the perks are indeed best in class (overall, there are minor exceptions). That's the defense of Skymiles and its strong points.
If you are primarily an international traveler - the portion of Delta's business that makes up the minority of their revenue and profits - then you might look elsewhere. Most of the other majors provide advantages over Delta, specifically in the award realm, at least for now (I think this gap will tighten later this year, but who knows.) Also, if you don't have nor can easily obtain status with Delta, then regardless of where you fly, other airlines are likely more appealing (then again, if you don't fly much, it might not be worth your time to research or care... a couple of flights a year are tolerable no matter what you do and the rewards you earn aren't likely to be substantial in terms of absolute value).