Originally Posted by
jasondc
They're moving to reward those who spend more on them. Their technology that they use allows them to explicitly value those travelers who contribute the most to their bottom line and reward them accordingly. Technology along with capacity discipline within delta and within the industry allows them to do this. No giving away things like they use to to people who don't contribute. They don't have to do that any more. And I think other airlines will make the same decisions. Because they can. And Should.
Riiiiight....because people like me who fly 150k-200k (with a spend of 15k-20k) a year for work that don't have the privilege of frivolously spending extra money on the same seats in economy don't contribute. And because the top 4-5% who can purchase higher fares are the ones who contribute the most to the bottom-line, not the other 95%.
This is just my opinion but I think this is a huge oversight on Delta's part - they think that their demand is inelastic because of the lack of competition in a lot of cities and that pissing off a large part of their customer-base won't change anything. They think people will complain for a bit and forget about it and accept the new normal and other airlines will see that and follow suit. I hope that doesn't happen - I hope their competitors identify the opportunity to poach customers appropriately (seems to already be happening with AA) and Delta suffers for their seeming lack of care for their customers. Because that is what should happen with proper competition in a free market if that is still the case with airlines.
And if it isn't...that means that airlines are just a small step from completely colluding to make flying a worse and more expensive experience for everyone.