Moving to Dallas
 

I'll be moving from Atlanta to Dallas in a few months. Anyone whose home base in DFW and can share their experience on DL as DFW is no longer its hub?

Not to take this off-topic with the first response, but when was DFW ever a DL hub?

I'm in Austin, and you'll probably have about the same slim pickins of Delta directs that we do. We have direct flights to all of the Delta hubs, but not much else. DFW is really AA territory, and I completely despise flying through there.

Good luck with your move!

For many years until 2005. As many as 250 flights a day.

From DFW you're really stuck with AA if you prefer the most nonstops. Since DL has about 25 other hubs these days (!), it might be a good second choice, and if you don't mind that most flights will be connections, you can make out very well on segments.

You are now officially an American Airlines flyer.

Bear in mind also that, as a legacy of DL's former hub at DFW, there are still a lot of elites in the area, and upgrades can be hard to come by.

Just another man's experiences...but I have not had the same impression.

I don't believe that's the case anymore. I took a Friday/Sunday trip to DFW last fall and got the 24-hour confirmed upgrade as a silver.

I suppose it's thinning out by now... But I heard frequent gripes from my partner about that a while (maybe 2 years ago) back.

I was a Elite on both AA and DL while living in Dallas post Delta De-hubbing... If you don't mind connecting you'll do fine. I found it very difficult to get upgraded on ATL flights but it usually wasn't too hard on SLC, DTW and MEM flights.

The skyclub is nice and its quiet. And with the exception of the new International terminal D, gates 11 and higher in E where Delta is at are actually some of the nicest in the airport.

I actually like the Sky Club and the short walking distance between the terminal and the gate area-unlike ATL where I have to take a train. However, there are thing I don't like is the toll road going down to DFW and the small roads leading to the terminals.

I've just gone through this myself having moved to DFW 18 months ago from MKE... I dragged my feet at first and kept flying DL.. but eventually I decided it was just so much easier on my travel schedule to take the non-stops on AA that I've now fully converted as of this year. I managed to stay Plat with DL and got Plat with AA on a challenge.

As for there being a lot of elites in DFW, I completely agree and think that the numbers are pretty big. It seemed like every flight to ATL I was on there was an upgrade list of 40 to 50 people. One day I saw it over 80! Completely crazy... Rarely, if ever, missed an upgrade as a Plat, though.

If you do decide to convert to AA, call them up and tell them you want to do a Plat challenge.. it cost me $200 and I even convinced them to give me Gold immediately. The only thing I hate about AA is that they don't offer the free, unlimited upgrades unless you get to Exec Plat with 100,000 miles. They have this awful sticker system for upgrades for their Gold and Plats.

Good luck!

Well things are about to change majorly on the north side with road construction starting up.

OK - back to the question - I might get a little long winded here as I've lived in DFW my entire professional life. I've been boycotting AA since '95 due to an incident where they permanently lost my luggage and tried every trick in the book to weasel out of it. They literally dared me to try to live in DFW w/o flying them when I protested so I've done just that for 15 years now.

The DL experience is probably the best you can have as a non AA flyer here although I'm going to keep a close eye on the *A since they too are now more or less co-located in DFW Term E. Some points and thoughts:

1. Driving time to DFW can vary greatly depending on time of day and whether you use a North or South approach. Do your google map to see.
2. DFW security time is one of the better in the US because its so spread out with about 1 entrance for every 10 gates. There isn't an elite line but they really don't need one.
3. DL's check in counter has been a real mess since the merger but its starting to sort out. The line structure is still in flux so keep your eye out for the Medallion/FC signage and don't ever let them get away with trying to shuffle you to the kiosks - which they will try even with Medallions.
3. Yes, DFW was a DL hub until a few years ago but I gather the DFW Medallion ranks are thinning. I haven't had much trouble with upgrades on either DL or NW metal out of DFW.
4. The SC is one of the nicer ones in the system as its the survivor of what was 3 clubs. Its starting to get a little worn but the staff is very attentive.
5. Flight selection out of DFW earning skymiles is actually pretty good - you've got 7 destinations direct by DL (ATL, CVG, SLC, JFK, MSP, DTW, MEM) and you have AS to SEA and YX to MKE. I can only hope DL plays nice with Republic and adds Frontier to DEN. From those points there are a lot of connection options and remember the benefit of connecting flts - you earn more MQM/EQM that way.
6. About AS - no upgrades or Elite bennies right now but they apparently are coming and SC members can use their BR.
7. SC location - the walk from the SC is a bit long to the farthest gate - its on the opposite end of the gates from the primary DL security entrance. Oddly AS's one gate is next to the SC but apparently DL is going to share that gate with AS as DL has been running tight since cramming NW into its existing gates.
8. YX/Republic - well Midwest is sort of a shadow of its former self. No upgrades or bennies for us and I don't see them coming since YX doesn't have a FC section and its unclear how DL is going to treat the new Republic lineup. They are at the far end of the terminal (did I mention E is a rather long bldg) but the new train makes getting to the SC a breeze. If you do fly YX you can use their Best Care Club in MKE which is a treat - I wish DL would copy it for the SC system.
9. Vendors - pretty slim pickings but if you get stuck waiting for a delayed flt or something the train gets you to the terminal D 'palace' pretty quick.

Now about AA - stay away - stay far far far away. It takes 100K EQM flying to get the slightest notice from them. They consider DFW flyers their captives and it shows.

Thanks for your input! DL remains the best choice for me since I split my time between HKG and the States. With JAL's possible defect to Sky Team and the fact that KE maintain a nonstop to ICN from DFW, and not to mention that as an Asian-Pac Plat, I get complimentary Sky Club access-a really big +. I think I'm better off with DL. However, I'll definitely miss the abundant nonstops available from ATL. One thing I should note is the DL staff at DFW are much friendlier than those in ATL. Anyone has a different thought on that?

Cheers!

Yes, the DFW SC staff are some of the best. From the conversations I've had with them many of them are veterans that survived the de-hubbing and have that old 'vested stakeholder' mentality that is so rare these days.

If you were able to keep Plat on DL and do the challenge successfully, how far would you be from making Exec Plat? Maybe you should just go for Exec Plat and then you will have both the unlimited upgrades and 8 eVIPs.