Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
In the example, you seem to have four award levels, L D S K in order, but DL supposedly has/had five tiers? Does this mean that no low level award space (N and O) was found over some time period from USA (or ATL?) to France (CDG or other airports included?)?
Do the lowest numbers of miles for each level necessarily correspond to nonstops, as seems to be confirmed by them having the lowest fees in this example? If so, it looks like DL is doing additive pricing, possibly with the domestic connection being at a lower level of miles for the award tickets that seem to cost slightly more miles than the nonstop at the same level?
ADDED: To answer the last question in my first paragraph, I see N and O level (low) rates for some other examples. So the five levels are still there.
Note that in most markets, you can identity the nonstops by looking for the lowest fees. These flights wouldn't be mixed awards or have additive pricing.
ADDED AGAIN: I'm intrigued by the question of how this tool is going to identify when DL's "award charts" that we cannot see have changed. Would the criterion be that no awards at the old levels have been found for a certain period of time? [It sounds like an event study type of problem, just like trying to detect new information in stock prices.]
Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
I know that connections can still price as low, as mixed, or even additively (for the same tier, when this should not be the case but married segment logic is probably playing a role here), but I was commenting that in your USA to France example, the lowest award prices shown in miles also had the lowest fees ($5.60), which looked like TSA and other government imposed taxes and fees for a single segment. It's suggestive to me that the way to get relatively low award tickets is to look for nonstops, including looking for destinations with nonstop service from your home airport.
DL is certainly doing additive pricing. For example, 95,000 for Business Class US to France indicates Level 2 domestic (OL) plus Level 1 TATL (O).
Taxes and fees are certainly going to be least expensive on non-stops. The more connections you have, and more importantly the more countries you hit along the way, the higher taxes you will have.
The lowest taxes and fees will have no correlation to the lowest price in miles. Additive pricing comes into play when a higher tier Delta award is mixed with a lower tier award (often a partner). These taxes would be charged no matter which level of Delta award you are mixing with, and would be the same even if you were combining with a level 1 Delta flight. Further, flights with the lowest taxes and fees might be more likely to be non-stops, but that doesn't mean Delta is pricing them at Saver levels. You may well find better availability partially or entirely on partners, with or without connecting flights, than you would find with a Delta non-stop with $5.60 taxes and fees.