This should be the scary part to people - if the phone reps aren't empowered to say "YES" to reasonable requests, the default answer will be "NO". I'm not sure I'm willing to put my bank of miles for a family trip in jeopardy to this sort of vague solution to real problems that people might have.

I've said it before, my miles redemption and earning pattern will change and it will probably be an unintended negative consequence for Delta.