FlyerTalk Forums - Thinking of dropping AA for Delta

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Quote:

Originally Posted by nk15 (Post 31955580)

That flight was a waste of miles, a 6-hour daytime flight LHR-PHL, no flagship lounge in PHL. You could have used those 57.5k miles for an annual AC pass and with the $300 you could have bought a roundtrip in coach Europe-MIA.

well I see your point, but it was my cheapest way out of London. I had a flight booked coach and had to change the date, but the fare difference was going to cost $1500+ since it was last minute so I booked an award flight for those miles and $300 out of pocket and left the original flight as a no show. I then used the Centurion Lounge in PHL. I see what you mean but the price of the flight itself is far greater than the price of AC membership

Quote:

Originally Posted by newyorkgeorge (Post 31944842)

The OP is considering buying an AC membership. I've found that the AC staff will be very proactive in helping with re-routes compared to a TA or GA that just wants you to go away and accept whatever you are being told. It's AC staff that will make a telephone call to make something happen. Doing your own research helps them help you. The AC staff can also find out the true story behind a mechanical delay other than the detail less story you get from a GA.

In my somewhat limited experience, the AA club agents have had their ability to proactively help passengers reduced drastically in the last few years. I'm not an AC member, but before the downturn I would routinely buy a day pass when IRROPs started snowballing in order to get the improved service. In the last year or so, I still did that, with negligible results. The AC agents would routinely direct me to the gate agents or give me a number to call. "I don't have the ability to fix that..." Now it is no longer an issue since I have Skyclub access, and also in my still limited experience DL gate agents are as proactive and helpful as the AC agents ever were at their best. To be precise, I've experienced IRROPs twice since I switched to DL, and both times the gate agents, that I spoke to initially, aggressively and cheerfully solved the problem with better results than I expected.

So, in short, I totally agree with your experience regarding AC staff _as of several years ago_. In recent years, my experience has been different, I am sorry to say.

saunders111

I have been flying a lot on Delta lately as I won't connect to stay on AA and am NYC based. I'm not sure how Delta does what it does, but the attitude of employees is noticeably better - I'm reguallry told "thank you" for your business by check-in agents and FAs. On my Delta regional yesterday from LGA to Savannah there was a mechanical problem after boarding - Delta literally sent a SWAT team of mechanics to the plane who were breathless by the time the situation was solved - departed 10 minutes late. On AA this would have taken god knows how long. Delta and AA just have a fundamental difference in what they want their companies to be. Delta bet that they could create a brand that people are willing to pay more to fly - I bet Doug Parker thought Delta was crazy when they set out on this strategy - but it's obviously working. However, as a paid J flyer with my travel patterns AA works very, very well.