Originally Posted by
dtremit
At the time of the US/HP merger, three of the six major legacies also offered a 75k tier (CO/NW/DL). It was a competitive decision.
Today, both DL and UA continue to offer a 75k tier -- both with benefits not available to AA PLTs. Some of those benefits are pretty significant -- UDUs, waived award fees, and waived ticketing charges on both; SWUs and award flight UDUs on DL.
Not anymore: Delta took their already-restricted SWUs away from 75k elites today, effective March 1 (replacing them with a product somewhat like the UA regional upgrades, valid on almost any fare, but excluding the premium transcons). To my eye, the only benefits of DL Plat (75k) status that significantly beats the current AA Plat (50k) is the waived award change and phone booking fees. On paper, I think AA remains quite competitive at the 75k level (except for Australia-based discount economy fliers like me
).
And there's of course lots of disagreement about whether UDUs are a benefit. I prefer certificates and the ability to upgrade a companion at my priority, something AA offers but DL doesn't. (Dunno about UA.)