Duckouttahere

I know I haven't traveled much this year and haven't flown on Delta yet but when I looked at booking a flight on Delta, I noticed the new rules (ok since Jan 15) that only B,M,S fares qualify for actual miles while Y and FC fares receive a bonus. I did a comparison shops of fares and there is about a $1000 fare difference to earn 100% of miles on a B,M, or S fare vs an X fare. WTH? I didn't realize there was that much of a difference. I guess I really have been burying my head in the sand regarding the souring of the Alaska/Delta partnership. Does anyone fly Delta anymore for AS Miles? Inquiring minds want to know.

PDXPremier

Nope, never fly DL for AS miles...ever....and if I collected DL miles, I wouldn't fly DL for DL miles....they're FF is AWFUL and if you've been paying attention to the news lately about their upcoming changes, it's actually getting worse (honestly didn't think it could get much worse but it is).

ANC RED-EYE

There are times it would still make sense:
-when Delta is significantly cheaper than AS or AA and the value of the additional miles earned on AS or AA would not be worth the premium paid
-with relatively short flights - there is still a 500 mile minimum. So on flights of 500 miles or less, it is still 100%. On flights 500-999 miles it is still >50%
-when DL had a superior schedule/route/product (i.e. there is certainly more to consider than miles earned...)

That said, I have not flown DL 1 mile this year, and the past 2 years was probably 20K+. Coincidentally that business has not gone over to AA, but rather to AS - there has been a change in my travel patterns towards the AS network (previously most of my DL flying was to places not served by AS).

apodo77

I book last minute trips for work (usually less than 10 days out) and DL has been a boon for me.

Often times I get a FCM (A,P, G fares) ticket for about $80-$100 more than economy fares. Living in south FL and going out of PBI the options are limited though.

DL is consistently cheaper than AA out of PBI.

I recently booked PBI-ATL-PDX-ATL-PBI RT in F for less than $900 (left on Monday and head home tomorrow).

I had some GGU's to burn so looked at MCO and FLL to get to PDX. Not only was there no U space the coach ticket cost was more than the F ticket I bought on DL.

So DL is an option for some.

Yes their FF program sucks.

channa

Agreed.


Yup. So on things like SFO-SEA, it's not much difference. AS is 674, DL is 500.


Yup. For those of us not based in SEA, AS often does not have a viable schedule or reasonable published fares to many domestic places that DL serves.

On a recent SFO-ATL trip, AS's lowest published fare was nearly double than of the major airlines. And that doesn't even address AS's weak schedule or out-of-the-way connection. So from my perspective, the choices were AA with a connection, UA nonstop, or DL nonstop.

DL had better frequency than UA, and even at 50%, I get more miles flying DL (crediting AS) than I would flying UA as 1K, crediting UA.

CDKing

I've been booking AA. In fact looking forward to flying on the new 777W in MCE and earning 100%, well for now until AA devalues (I'm guessing next year once everything is all merged)

apodo77

No doubt Dougie will be joining his buddies at UA and DL in devaluing next year.

If MCE is also 3-4-3 on the 77W that is a right squeeze. Enjoy the trip.

CDKing

MCE is 3-3-3. much better than 3-4-3 in back

flytoeat

I've earned a lot of eqms this year by crediting cheap DL business class international tickets, and by the end of the year, enough to hit the 90K partner threshold with DL alone. The change in earning has been good for a few of us.

PV_Premier

i only credit to AS when flying DL in paid F. otherwise i credit to DL.

i'm trying to fly AA when i can't fly AS, but they're sort of unreliable and a bit of a mess right now with the admixture of AA and US flight numbers that we have to keep track of. fortunately i'll fly mostly on AS (with AF for INTL) the rest of this year. next year, i could see myself dropping to MVP and bumping back up to DL gold, but we'll have to see.

Hartmann

I am noticing out of PDX that DL has a lot of better priced options than AS, especially close-in and especially when a feeder flight to SEA is required. If I am within 10-12 days of departure and try to buy anything that requires a SEA connection, forget about it, I'm paying top $$ on AS for Y while I could fly DL F for less.

I pretty much credit all DL flights to AS, but I am not buying the lower fare classes on DL either.

Eastbay1K

My limited DL flying this year has been with discounted premium fares.

PWMTrav

It's not too bad on short segments because of the 500 mile minimum. DL and US both get me to one of our major office locations, which itself is not in a major city. Once US becomes AA and can earn, it'll be better, but for now, I can do 2000-3000 EQM RT on DL on ~2300-3500 flown miles because each segment isn't much over the 500 minimum.

anc-ord772

I earn as follows.

Paid F on DL and credit to AS
Paid Y on AA and credit to AS
Paid F/Y on AS and credit to AS

It really is quite wonderful. DL also has extremely reasonable discount F fares most of the time. I like the DL operation, but would never accrue skymiles through flying. AS has kind of a weak schedule out of LAX for where I need to go, but combined with AA/DL... unstoppable.

ANC

To answer OP no I dont fly DL anymore with the intent to earn EQMs for status on AS, I just look at them as a few extra miles into the AS account for RDMs. I do have some stuff coming up on DL booked in K and H. The way I look at it, I'd rather earn 75% into my AS account than bank them into a DL account for 100%. In mileage plan at 75% they have more value than 100% in sky pesos. The way I figure is if the turf war keeps going then DL wont even be a partner. I think they would have already ended but theres likely some contractual agreement that doesnt expire until some future date. Hainan partnership with AS is a another punch in the face to DL or maybe even a double whammy given the fact that DL just lost a flight to Asia from SEA