FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - 2019 strategy - GM w/ Delta AmEx Platinium vs no status w/AmEx Platinum?
Old Jan 2, 2018, 9:40 am
  #1  
Gewurztraminer
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: DL GM, B6, SPG
Posts: 6
2019 strategy - GM w/ Delta AmEx Platinium vs no status w/AmEx Platinum?

Hi all. So here's my situation: I used to fly a fair amount for work, but the last couple of years I'm in a different role, so most of my flying is for leisure. Since the role change I have been maintaining GM status with the delta amex $25k waiver and the 10k MQM bonus. I fly about 40-60k miles per year in economy (so because of the variance some years I have a large rollover and other years I really need the 10k mqm bonus to maintain GM). Last year I finally burned up most of my Skymiles (2 pax RT BOS-SYD in J - nice!), so I'm looking at a clean slate for 2019.

Also I got the Chase Sapphire Reserve when it was first introduced, so its been motivating me to look around at other airlines.

As I see it, here are my options:
1. Do the same thing as before - keep relying on the 25k waiver and 10k bonus to hit GM. I've had reasonably good luck using the companion cert, so between that and the bonus MQMs I'm reasonably happy with the card's benefits. The benefit from GM status is more questionable: the main benefit I get from GM status is SkyPriority and lounge access on intl itineraries - I don't do enough domestic flying anymore to really benefit from priority phone support, SDC or upgrade opportunities.
2. Drop the Delta Platinum AmEx; pick up the Platinum AmEx. This will still get me Skyclub access when flying Delta (and even on domestic flights, which is nice), but I don't think I'll be able to hit the MQD minimums, so I'll lose SkyPriority. I think this is mostly just loss of slightly earlier boarding (I have TSA Pre for security lines). But on the other hand I'll then have AmEx reward points and Chase UR points (from the CSR) which seems better from a flexibility point of view.
3. Drop the Delta Platinum AmEx; concentrate on Chase UR points. Just simplify all my earning down to one card - maybe credit my DL flights to SkyPASS or FlyingBlue since they're xfer partners for UR.

I guess the main thing that's holding me back is that I really do prefer Delta service - the handful of times I've flown other domestic airlines (UA, VX, B6 in recent times) it just felt like a much more chaotic experience. So if my biases will drive me to keep buying Delta tickets maybe it makes sense to keep going for Delta status still.

Any thoughts?
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