Originally Posted by Esltroy

I am always wondering why high value customers even stick with delta and don't just fly whatever is cheapest. The same goes for low volume customers. They just pick the cheapest and go with them. It's the middle people, like myself, who are the bread and butter of a loyalty program. We go out if our way to gain status for perks that we otherwise could not afford. If you are flying and spending 300,000 a year you are not in economy. You already are in first with all the perks. You probably bring in a healthy salary and can afford to join a delta club. You probably don't give a rat's Azz about your skyrubles. You can afford to take personal trips and not have to deal with all the craziness of the awards calendar. You are not even on the upgrade list...you already bought first.

If I knew what delta would do with their skymiles program, I never would have started flying with them. I am one of those folks who will wait and see what american does.

The emperor has no clothes.

Originally Posted by MLCJ

I disagree with your argument here. My employees that travel, myself included, have good salaries and fly paid BE, usually at last minute prices. While we can, as you put it, afford to take personal trips, we all view the Sky Miles as a perk ( a free one at that) and are more than happy to take the families in BE to Europe or Asia once a year for vacation for a few hundred dollars. All but one is 360 and none of us could care less about what that means. Status on an airline is smoke and mirrors and it isn't the airline's fault when a customer has put more value on themselves because they have a metal bag tag and "think" they're important.