Originally Posted by
Ledfish
There is no way the waiver is going away.
The benefit to Delta's gross margin/net sales (sales less cost of goods sold) from people meeting the waiver instead of MQD is probably equal to or better than if you meet the status requirement through MQD. Plus you still have to meet the MQM requirement regardless of whether you make MQD or earn the waiver. So in the end, it costs Delta nothing to offer the option of meeting the waiver versus MQD.
The margin may be better for Silver's, but I doubt it for any of the other levels. Assuming DL is getting .01/mile from AMEX, the waiver is only generating $250 for DL. Plus it adds a liability of 25K miles (or more) to the books. I believe the waiver is likely due to the total value of the AMEX relationship and has little to do with the amount of income it actually generates from individual Medallions. Given that DL and AMEX just recently renewed their relationship, I'm going to bet that AMEX has contractually embedded the MQD waiver and agree that it is unlikely to go away.