I'm not sure how many people spend $35,000 on flights sitting in coach, or how many would spend $350,000 on a Delta cards for a few potential upgrades, especially considering new limitations on global certificates. Maybe it makes more sense at the Platinum level for frequent flyers, but certainly not from swiping the credit card.

I used to spend up to $120K a year on my Reserve to keep Platinum. Assuming Delta miles are worth 1.2 cents, the opportunity cost was $960 over a 2% cash back card. Sometimes those region upgrade certificates came through, sometimes they didn't. Add a slow climb to MM and additional seat upgrades, we stayed on the hook. How do I justify a $960 opportunity cost for Gold medallion now? I get that there are too many people with status, so throw something else at us, half an oz of gold bullion minted with Detla's logo for all I care!

Contrast this with 2 Hilton Aspire Cards, where the perks and credits overpower the annual fees. If I were to spend $60K on each, assuming that Hilton Honor points are worth half a cent each, there would be an opportunity cost of $600, offset by 2 additional free nights. Even conservatively counting those free nights at $500 each, you're $400 ahead over a 2% setup.

If Delta wants to keep the 6.5 Billion in profit off their credit card program, removing the dangling carrot could be a surprising mistake.