Originally Posted by
SamOF
I decided to go for DM this year, and am basically happy with the decision, but I haven't experienced any IROPS handling that would never have happened to me as a PM.
What you describe sounds like what would have happily been done for a general member, unless I'm missing something.
Agreed. If a PM had called before the DM, the seat would have gone to the PM and the DM would have been the one who missed out. This was more likely a first-come, first-serve situation. Maybe a general member wouldn't have been given the seat, but anyone with status would have likely been helped. During Storm Week 2011, many agents worked very hard to change this lowly PM's flights over and over again. I was supposed to fly through ATL six days straight, and was accommodated in a way that got me everywhere I needed to be when I needed to be there. (Original flight out was moved forward, just like the poster's wife, in fact.)
I held back last year, staying below the DM number of segments, thinking I was gaming the rollover system. It didn't pan out, and I had no rollover miles. Rollover worked differently in 2011 than in 2010. My point to the OP is that you shouldn't depend on the rules working the same way next year as the rules worked this year or last year. One in the hand is worth two in the bush here. I'd take DM now, rather than risking that you may have held off for nothing.