Originally Posted by
sdix
I think for the first time ever I am leaving a year with close to ZERO mile balance with any airline.
I've had 12 months of paying ridiculous amounts for reward redemption on DL, UA and AA. I've found DL to be the worst. I'm embarrassed to publish how many mile i'm using SJC-SLC in F. UA is a close 2nd with also ridiculous redemption rates in F SJC-DEN. With AA I've always been able to find something decent in F or J but using 1 stops instead of non stop or going out of SFO but coming back into SJC etc. For international AA has done a decent job of putting me on BA instead of their own metal with much better redemption rates and availability. UA also usually gives me a better shot on LH as does DL with Virgin.
Just remember airline miles are just like Sushi. If you don't eat it quickly it goes bad.
Yes, DL award levels can go quite high. On the other hand, many routes have fairly predictable pricing if you look at the fare rules for the awards which DL discloses. FC awards for SJC-SLC are currently available from 23K roundtrip (11.5K each way). As disclosed in the fare rules, this level has a 21-day advance purchase requirement as well as requiring Tue/Wed/Sat travel. Low-level awards for travel on other days of the week are 1K higher each way. Obviously, if you are booking at higher demand times the lowest levels will likely not be available. If you are a last minute booker, it pretty much guaranteed DL will only have availability in the highest award levels. Your options with DL are pretty much adjust your booking strategy, or move elsewhere. But at least if you are looking at something that is 3+ weeks out, you know with certainty that level will no longer be available once you pass the 21-day mark (similar to advance purchase revenue fares) and you need to be looking at that advance time horizon to find best awards. There can also be awards (not on this particular route) where a round-trip purchase is required to get a lower award level. There will be a min stay requirement in the fare rules for these and the fare basis codes will have an 'R' in the middle for them.