Originally Posted by
JayTeaBee
Thank goodness for the FT Glossary!! I'm learning new acronyms like a madman. I work in IT so this is nothing new but the FT world is a whole new vocab.....
Thanks for taking the time to respond Baccarat King! I'm going to assume you aren't Phil Ivey lol. I'm a big (well, big in my mind lol) poker player so your comments about the "status at Mohegan Sun" are interesting. I don't get there often, though. Mostly Vegas to play live and really I'm just a donkey amateur.
I'm also a big Amsterdam fan, in fact, flying BOS>AMS next Friday with my wife & her parents. Sadlythis was before I got into the Delta lifestyle and it breaks my heart that we are flying Aer Lingus connecting via Dublin but that is something I have to live with.....oh the pain lol
I guess I still must not fully understand the international upgrade list. I guess the key is you were on an "M" fare which made you eligible to upgrade with miles? Is that right? In my limited n00b searching it seems M fares are nearly the cost of FC. I see your comments about the SWU so perhaps that's the difference and you note them as a thing of the past. If I was flying to AMS for personal travel I certainly would be booking LUT fares and looking for any possible upgrade potential from there, but it seems there is none unless I get lucky at OLCI etc.....
I mostly book M-fares (the lowest priced upgradeable fare with 25K miles or the soon to be history SWUs) ex-AMS which are often less expensive than ex-BOS M-fares and have the added feature of being fully refundable and changeable with no service charges. Z-fares (if available) often are a similar price; but this is very variable, especially in the Boston market. (and Z-fares do come with a change fee, if necessary, but they book into BusinessElite and get the class of service MQM bonus) I often fly BOS-AMS; but, for example, this trip my outbound was AMS-DTW-BTV. Ticket was around 2300€, IIRC, all M-fares. Outbound upgraded a few weeks in advance. (remember, coach tickets on Delta nonstop to Boston are quite high now, going into the summer... it's quite usual to be paying 1000€+/- for the least expensive coach fares on that route in Economy Class)
I am usually weighing issues with fare, versus possible changes etc., with regard to what I book. I was back and forth to the States for 3-4 days trips twice over the past two weeks; so I much prefer BusinessElite for the (short) return to AMS, since I get a good 3 to 4 hours sleep, which makes me feel much better on arrival in AMS.
Flying a connection to AMS in painful; since it adds way more hours than I'm willing to spend. BOS-AMS often has a "block time" of around 7hours10minutes; but it's very usual for flight time to be under 6.5hours. Obviously, when you connect, in DUB/LHR/CDG you don't benefit from the (often) shorter than expected flights East.
Regarding my "tongue-in-cheek," status comments; status on Delta isn't what it used to be. And, well, domestic upgrades and lounge access are sort of "meh." Only real perk is to be able to ride upfront in BusinessElite on a super-low fare using a GUC; but these (as we have noted) are only available for Diamond Medallions.
At least, the "leisure/ VIP experience" at Mohegan Sun, is much better than Delta domestic first or the SkyClub. As I like to say, it ain't a VIP Lounge experience, unless they are pouring drinks freely (and without extra cost) that exceed $25/shot.
ALAS, it's really not relative, and well, you know how they treat poker players. But, as in most things in life (including the Delta Skymiles program); with enough passion you can always find an angle. It just ain't easy sometimes.