TheHorta

I'm going to ask virtually the same question in the UA forum as well. I'm looking for feedback from former "elite" DL flyers who made the switch to either AA or UA, if they're glad they did, and why -- or are the "Big 3" just variations on a theme, each with their own warts of a different color.

First, I'm not hub-captive. My home airports are HSV / BHM. My most frequent destinations are LAX / SNA, as my office is in Irvine. Over 50% of my travel is TATL / TPAC, but all over the world, with annual trips to AMS for the IBC Show. As such, my office trips are a slight backtrack as they're always through ATL.

The problem is, I'm a DM with 400K rollover MQMs. I also put over $1MM in annual spend on my Delta Amex cards (2 Plat, 2 Reserve). I'm heavily invested in DL, and will certainly take a big hit. Between my spouse and myself we spend ~$70K with DL. We buy F / J for >70% of our trips. In short, a switch will be a PITA. We've been absurdly loyal, never even quoting flights with other airlines, booking every flight with DL.

My schedule is hectic, to say the least. With few exceptions, all of my flights are booked inside 7 days, many within 48 hours or even same-day. A good 30% of my flights change on DoD, which has been a gold mine for DL with their $200 change fees, accounting for probably $2-3K in annual fees (not talking fare changes, but change fees). On the times I don't book F it's usually for a last-moment INTL fare that is >$10K (x2, as my spouse usually accompanies me, but that's a personal expense). DL's GUCs/RUCs are becoming more and more difficult to use, and DL has 60K other DMs, so most flights I take are elite-heavy routes. DL makes their highest published "elite" tier absurdly easy to reach, so it's not really that elite at all.

Most of those issues are tolerable, but over the last >90 days DL seems to have been on a race to the bottom -- lots of equipment issues, poor CS agents, GUC debacles, free-for-alls at most gates, lost / broken / stolen baggage, and a myriad of normally small issues that, on their own, wouldn't get a rise out of me, but the frequency of them has compounded to make them more and more of a hassle. Then, even though I book F for most flights, when I need to make a change I'm always nailed the $200 fee. I've never bought an E fare in my entire life, so I'm not asking for much here, just some understanding and not such an overt money grab every time the opportunity arises.

Anyway, I guess this is part rant and part inquiry, so apologies for the whine-fest. I'd just like some quasi-objective input from those in similar positions who left DL for the greener pastures of AA or UA.

Thanks!