Looks like I will enjoy my Diamond status next year for a little while and then do a status match to CO. I was seriously considering CO before this, now it has definitely sealed the deal. Delta, give me SWU for all booking classes and you may just keep me around for a while!

Greetings All:

As any of you who know me, I have been very careful not to give an opinion on what any of the programs do, but rather to offer analysis and insight. I did a post earlier comparing SWUs. DL by far now has the weakest if "price" is your metric.

Safe Travels

You know me... ^

I hope this puts the squeeze on DL. I'd rather DL match than go to CO, but as it stands now, DL is really making it tough for me to consider keeping the majority of my business with it.

This is all coming on top of all the IT problems and other issues. They better act fast or it will be a bloodbath.

Guilty as charged. (I don't expect to be GM again after 2010, unless I switch jobs or a win a lottery.)

Disappointed... in DL.

+1.... I think that DL is no longer the best program out there if you want to fly CHEAPLY in J internationally.

I will NOT be picking SWU's as my DM benefit for 2010 unless they are substantially changed.

I agree USA today said they were down 7% versus last year. I am sure it is being blamed on the economy versus any product issues they have.

They should seriously consider it, given the fact that Continental will status match any DL elite..... AA hasn't offered that.

Even though DL follows what is being discussed here, I do not think that they at all care about cultivating the crowd that gathers here. They have little respect for the LUT flyers (as the recent DEQM promo shows) and have no interest in putting these people into its premium international cabins.

That being said, I believe that no airline takes better care of its domestic business travelers. This opinion comes from one who has been top tier in three different programs over the past 6 years and has settled on DL as the best deal for his travel patterns.

It is true that when it comes time to travel internationally on leisure, it requires quite a bit of finesse and the use of lots of miles. But it can, and is done that way. Of course I would like the PMUs to be easier to use but that is far from crucial.

I laughed out loud at this! ...But then became saddened when I realized just how true it is!

I think the flaw in what many here are assuming is that LUT customers are ONLY LUT customers. As a business traveller who flys 250kish MQM's a year I do try and find the lowest DOM flights I can...it is the right thing to do in business. That said; I buy FC many times as that is my only choice. I also will pay a premium to upgrade internationally. I cannot however justify the prices I have to pay on DL to sit up front internationally when there are much cheaper options. The key here is if DL gave out 4 or 6 REAL SWU's that were good from any fare I would look at it as lowering my INT Biz travel expense but NOT replacing it. I fly far more than 2 or 3 times a year which means I will be paying for Discount biz or M fares for the other 20 INT flights I take. The "freebies" just lower the average I pay for the year. That is what DL is missing with this strategy. If I go to CO I will focus everything there and get cheap biz across the board. If DL had limited SWU's I would stay at DL...bottom ,line is for every SWU from any fare they give me I will end up flying 3 discount biz or M fares. I am really bumming and hope DL counters but I think they too muddled in integration issues to mess with this.

For International flyers, this announcement is great. However, when you factor CO's smaller F cabins into the equation, I still find DL to be a superior program. Bigger F cabins. More likelihood of upgrade domestically. For the flyers who spend a majority of their year doing domestic flying, this isn't quite the game changer one would consider. For those with 2+ international r/t flights per year, this could be a positive.

Still ahead of US if you ONLY consider the SWU. If you consider everything I would consider Delta middle of the pack.

Disagree. K+ is similar to UA. AA/CO offer on any fare.

+1. We've been saying K+ for MONTHS would make a SWU competitive. With the Y/B/M prices, it's becoming uncompetitive.

CO was more closely aligned to DL than AA. I find DL far better than AA @ the GM & FO level. I, however, would be happy to jump ship to AA for EXP if they would match me there.

See note @ top.

However, these are also capacity controlled. No award inventory, no upgrade availability. Much like DL. The lower fare classes are a + versus DL.

I agree at 100K, partly. CO's small premium cabins & cheap F leave many 100K flyers in Y.

Take a look at the current programs for US and non top tiers at the other majors. I don't think that would be MY view. Taking SWU's, domestic upgrades, earning/burning into account I'd rank it:

AA - CO - DL - UA - US

Is DL best in class? No. Is it worst in class? No.

Delta is about average... and on the decline

+1 on ALL accounts. DL prefers higher revenue flyers over LUT flyers.

+1 as well. At some point unfortunately the bean counters will not figure out WHO they have pushed away...

The last time DL screwed its LUT customers big time it took them 3 years to see the light & do an about face. We got LUT upgrades back, we got 100% qualfying miles back, and we got Jeff.

Expect something positive in late 2012.

It sounds like most posters here should or will join the DART program!
I had complained about the PMUs for years but I did nothing about it for 2 reasons:

1. My int'l flying to Asia in J and F gave me enough miles on *A to do my trips to Europe with awards in first, so I could do away with the PMUs
2. As has been mentioned, AA's program, though fantastic for EXPs is not as good for Golds and Platinums, so switching was a bit of a painful process.

However this year, thanks to the double EQM AA is having, I easily switched to AA and I am very happy about it. If I were to consider reaching elite status on another US based program, it sure would not be DL. I am done with them. Even if they changed the PMU rules, I have no trust left in them. Jeff has nicely screwed that up in my eyes! I would be convinced that two years later, he'd go back to the crazy M/B/Y rule! The Delta SkyMiles program manager cannot be trusted and I will never trust Delta again!