Actions Speaks Louder Than Words: Did You Stop Flying Delta?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Silver, AA, WN, DL
Posts: 4,091
Actions Speaks Louder Than Words: Did You Stop Flying Delta?
Apologies if this has been discussed before... there were many threads complaining about the devaluation of SM and the overall degradation of the FFP from NW Worldperk point of view. If this is a duplicate subject, please merge.
That said, I am interested to see if members here really have taken action and boycotted Delta and found an alternate airline.
For all the bellyaching (warranted or not), I wonder if there really has been sufficient defections or loss of loyalty to Delta that they would actually even realize or care about it.
I know many vocal FT'ers say that people should show their displeasure by not flying Delta, or vote with their wallets and give money to other carriers, but is that really happening? I think stating that one has burned/used up all their miles means very little. What makes a difference is if future revenue is lost.
Since FT is supposedly a community of (vocal) frequent flyers, I'd love to see ancedotal proof that Delta is actually impacted. Have you actually stopped flying Delta and specifically told them so (i.e. the SM program drove you away)?
Personally, as much as I detest what's going on, I have a total of 3 mileage runs booked with them in 1.5 months. Since I don't fly on the company dime, doing this out of my own pocket actually says I'm still putting up with it.
As a sidenote, Delta's tie in with AMEX is another source of Skymiles. Has anyone cancelled it in protest?
That said, I am interested to see if members here really have taken action and boycotted Delta and found an alternate airline.
For all the bellyaching (warranted or not), I wonder if there really has been sufficient defections or loss of loyalty to Delta that they would actually even realize or care about it.
I know many vocal FT'ers say that people should show their displeasure by not flying Delta, or vote with their wallets and give money to other carriers, but is that really happening? I think stating that one has burned/used up all their miles means very little. What makes a difference is if future revenue is lost.
Since FT is supposedly a community of (vocal) frequent flyers, I'd love to see ancedotal proof that Delta is actually impacted. Have you actually stopped flying Delta and specifically told them so (i.e. the SM program drove you away)?
Personally, as much as I detest what's going on, I have a total of 3 mileage runs booked with them in 1.5 months. Since I don't fly on the company dime, doing this out of my own pocket actually says I'm still putting up with it.
As a sidenote, Delta's tie in with AMEX is another source of Skymiles. Has anyone cancelled it in protest?
Last edited by luv2ctheworld; Mar 10, 2010 at 10:05 am Reason: EDIT: Highlight the "telling" Delta portion
#2
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: ORD
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, Starwood Plat
Posts: 189
Yup, status matched to CO in October and have not booked any travel on DL since. I now only book revenue flights on *A carriers. Also cancelled my Delta Amex and signed up for a Starwood Amex instead as I now find the Starwood points much more valuable than Skymiles that are hard to redeem at reasonable levels.
Mostly just lurk around the forum these days to see if there have been any recent changes to the program or any user tips that would help me more easily burn through my remaining 225K miles for low J awards.
Mostly just lurk around the forum these days to see if there have been any recent changes to the program or any user tips that would help me more easily burn through my remaining 225K miles for low J awards.
#3
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: EAU
Programs: UA 1K, CO Plat, NW Plat, Marriott Premiere Plat, SPG Plat, Priority Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 4,712
I status matched to CO and I have to say I am very pleased with the switch thus far. I feel like almost every interaction I've had with CO and UA shows how those companies value their elite travelers. Just this morning I was flying SAN-DEN-ORD-EAU (cheapest ticket at time of purchase), the UA staff helping people check in noticed my DEN connection and pulled me over to the elite line (I'd gone into the regular line as I couldn't determine if there was a like for *G but I just wasn't reading the signage right) where the agent put me on the non-stop to Chicago and put me up in Economy Plus (which I'm technically not eligible for until CO/UA reciprocal upgrades roll out thus summer.) The agent even said "I can put you on the non-stop to Chicago, UNLESS you're trying to build segments."
Last time I was in CLE and, due to being a moron, missed the last CO flight of the day to ATL. CO was willing to put me on the DL flight as a courtesy, although with that flight delayed on the inbound due to a mechanical I went with UA through Chicago. I have no doubt DL would have made me wait until the next morning at a minimum and quite possibly hit me with fees to boot.
The planes I have been on have all been nice and clean. By all accounts, the FF programs are better, although I don't have the miles to test that yet. Hell, the terminal layout at ORD even lets me get some value out of the remaining 2 years of my NW Worldclub membership since the EAU flights arrive into the F concourse.
I have given up upgrade percentage compared to DL, but with Economy Plus on UA, and the lack of reliable food service on DL, I don't think I'm missing much there. I even get to keep flying out of EAU since SkyWest nudged out Mesaba as of last week.
About the only thing I DO miss from DL was the more rapid rollout of in-flight WiFi. I've been combating that by just staying up the night before and sleeping on the plane.
Oh, and last bone to pick with DL: I registered for the double-miles Amex card holder promo in 2009, never saw the miles, and despite several attempts to get the situation resolved, have had no return communication from DL on where they are.
I still have DL Amex - in one case because my company may be changing ownership and I don't feel like going through the hassle of changing credit card numbers twice, and in one case because I want the bonus miles from the SPG card and have not gotten around to applying for that either.. In about a month though, I expect I will be 100% non-DL cards. Not sure if I'll go CO Chase or Amex SPG.
Oh, since I'm done with DL, that also means I'm done with BizPerks/SkyBonus, so all my companies' travel is only on DL when it's the cheapest airfare, and yes, I factor in bag fees.
One more advantage to *A: Cheapest domestic F seats, as long as you're willing to risk US IRROPS.
I congratulate DL on their best-in-class customer disloyalty program.
Last time I was in CLE and, due to being a moron, missed the last CO flight of the day to ATL. CO was willing to put me on the DL flight as a courtesy, although with that flight delayed on the inbound due to a mechanical I went with UA through Chicago. I have no doubt DL would have made me wait until the next morning at a minimum and quite possibly hit me with fees to boot.
The planes I have been on have all been nice and clean. By all accounts, the FF programs are better, although I don't have the miles to test that yet. Hell, the terminal layout at ORD even lets me get some value out of the remaining 2 years of my NW Worldclub membership since the EAU flights arrive into the F concourse.
I have given up upgrade percentage compared to DL, but with Economy Plus on UA, and the lack of reliable food service on DL, I don't think I'm missing much there. I even get to keep flying out of EAU since SkyWest nudged out Mesaba as of last week.
About the only thing I DO miss from DL was the more rapid rollout of in-flight WiFi. I've been combating that by just staying up the night before and sleeping on the plane.
Oh, and last bone to pick with DL: I registered for the double-miles Amex card holder promo in 2009, never saw the miles, and despite several attempts to get the situation resolved, have had no return communication from DL on where they are.
I still have DL Amex - in one case because my company may be changing ownership and I don't feel like going through the hassle of changing credit card numbers twice, and in one case because I want the bonus miles from the SPG card and have not gotten around to applying for that either.. In about a month though, I expect I will be 100% non-DL cards. Not sure if I'll go CO Chase or Amex SPG.
Oh, since I'm done with DL, that also means I'm done with BizPerks/SkyBonus, so all my companies' travel is only on DL when it's the cheapest airfare, and yes, I factor in bag fees.
One more advantage to *A: Cheapest domestic F seats, as long as you're willing to risk US IRROPS.
I congratulate DL on their best-in-class customer disloyalty program.
#4
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Nashville, & wherever I'm working
Programs: Delta 2MM DM, Hilton Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 104
I comped to PE on CO in Dec. of last year. My travel frequency tends to change a lot month to month. I haven't travelled a lot since the move but I have taken some CO flights. My upgrade % is way down. Other than that I like CO a lot and being based in IAH it's better for me. I've always liked their clubs better as well, though I let my club membership lapse during the merger and am still not sure if I will renew this with anyone yet. I'm planning a few Asia trips on my own dime this year so price is likely to affect my airline choice...so far CO or United are looking the best. I've been putting off the invevitable....that you just get whatever flight works best every time regardless of airline....yep I will loss some status....it's just not what it used to be anymore.
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: DL SkyClub Lifer
Posts: 10,000
How long I fly DL is entirely up to DL.
As a Hawaii-based NW elite, I got a small number of upgrade certs good for flights to the mainland each year; that seems to be going away with DL.
And as a NW elite, I could upgrade from any fare class with SWUs; we all know about DL only allowing upgrades from higher fares.
On the flip side, I have a lifetime WC membership, which should be becoming a lifetime SC membership, and having made plat the last four years (and I figure I'll either be plat again or diamond this year), I do feel like they take reasonable care of me, give me op-ups when they need to, and so on.
If DL redefines "lifetime" or gets even more stingy, and another alliance comes up with a good routing HNL-EBB (or better still, adds direct flights from ITO to a west-coast hub at reasonable prices), I'd have to reconsider. But for 2010, at least, it doesn't look like DL will succeed in driving me away.
And as a NW elite, I could upgrade from any fare class with SWUs; we all know about DL only allowing upgrades from higher fares.
On the flip side, I have a lifetime WC membership, which should be becoming a lifetime SC membership, and having made plat the last four years (and I figure I'll either be plat again or diamond this year), I do feel like they take reasonable care of me, give me op-ups when they need to, and so on.
If DL redefines "lifetime" or gets even more stingy, and another alliance comes up with a good routing HNL-EBB (or better still, adds direct flights from ITO to a west-coast hub at reasonable prices), I'd have to reconsider. But for 2010, at least, it doesn't look like DL will succeed in driving me away.
#6
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: UA GS>1K>Nothing; DL DM 2MM; AS 75K>Nothing>MVP
Posts: 9,341
I switched to UA about a year and half ago. IMHO, the problems (impossibility of UGs on INTL, second rate seats in C, etc) pre-dated the merger. Prior to making the change, the NW experience had been so awful (no UGs so riding in the back), that I cut back from about 10 TPAC RTs per year to 4 or 5 RTs. After switching to UA, it took a while to get the miles and SWUs for UGs, but now that I have them, I'm getting UGed on 90%+ of my TPACs and I'm back to flying 10 or more RTs per year.
Mileage Plus is a really good program.... like WP was up until 4 or 5 years ago. Also the new C seats on UA (flat bed) are really, really comfortable. For the first time ever (after 2MM+ miles), I get lots of sleep without Ambien and the best part of most business trips is the flight itself.
I'm glad I switched (should have done it much sooner). If you read both the UA and DL boards, it's pretty clear that the UA board is a much happier place. That being said, if DL had a comparable hard product and FF program (i.e. high UG probability on low cost international fares), I'd probably switch back.
Mileage Plus is a really good program.... like WP was up until 4 or 5 years ago. Also the new C seats on UA (flat bed) are really, really comfortable. For the first time ever (after 2MM+ miles), I get lots of sleep without Ambien and the best part of most business trips is the flight itself.
I'm glad I switched (should have done it much sooner). If you read both the UA and DL boards, it's pretty clear that the UA board is a much happier place. That being said, if DL had a comparable hard product and FF program (i.e. high UG probability on low cost international fares), I'd probably switch back.
#7
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Programs: UA/CO Silver
Posts: 121
I will fly 3 roundtrip flights on DL this year for a total of about 18000 MQM. All my other flying this year will be award travel. I will reevaluate my options next year. It would depend on soft landing with DL and if the award availability issues are resolved.
#9
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Nice
Programs: Marriott Titanium, AA Concierge Key, Delta, United, Emorates, and others
Posts: 4,694
I have not flown DL this year at all. So far I've flown AA and AF this year, so I still have some SkyMiles accumulating. I will fly DL at least three times in the next few months, but I am no longer choosing DL, but using them only when it is very inconvenient to take another carrier.
#12
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SYD
Programs: |QF Platinum|HH Gold|DL Silver|ALL Silver|
Posts: 1,736
Don't underestimate the impact of no longer accruing non-BIS miles, "ancilliary revenue" is one of an airline's most profitable segments, sometimes the only profitable one.
Having recently moved to Asia, I'm not really flying them anymore:
- SkyTeam is by far the weakest alliance out of SIN
- US Delta Amex converted to SPG Amex because of the greater point flexibility
- many of the Skymiles bonuses are limited to US residents, so I'd already be behind the eight ball
- an eye-watering third redemption tier is the same reason I don't accrue to SQ
- I could get a local card which converts to Skymiles (http://www.citibank.com.sg/global_do...iles/index.htm) but DL publishes no chart to let me know how much it would be to redeem the miles.
Love the airline, miss the blue leather and the widget branding, but when no longer at a hub, other FF programs make much more sense.
Having recently moved to Asia, I'm not really flying them anymore:
- SkyTeam is by far the weakest alliance out of SIN
- US Delta Amex converted to SPG Amex because of the greater point flexibility
- many of the Skymiles bonuses are limited to US residents, so I'd already be behind the eight ball
- an eye-watering third redemption tier is the same reason I don't accrue to SQ
- I could get a local card which converts to Skymiles (http://www.citibank.com.sg/global_do...iles/index.htm) but DL publishes no chart to let me know how much it would be to redeem the miles.
Love the airline, miss the blue leather and the widget branding, but when no longer at a hub, other FF programs make much more sense.
#13
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: at 35,000 feet
Programs: WN A-List; Hyatt Glob: CC/HH Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 1,473
As a former NW flyer I matched to CO late last year but ended up more on UA/US than CO so far. This summer I'll burn my last Skymiles with 3(!) low TATL flights booked 1 week before nwa.com went down. That's all but impossible now. Most family members come to me for advice on FF matters and I've steered just about all of them towards CO/UA.
I'm quite happy with *A and had good service from CO for the flights I took with them. And for short hops I've used WN more than I used to. Very little chance I'll be back. I liked the unique NW combination of no-frills flying plus excellent FF program and DL is the complete opposite of that.
I'm quite happy with *A and had good service from CO for the flights I took with them. And for short hops I've used WN more than I used to. Very little chance I'll be back. I liked the unique NW combination of no-frills flying plus excellent FF program and DL is the complete opposite of that.
#14
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Highland PArk,IL,USA -- AA Lifetime Platinum, IHG Plat, UA Silver, Hilton Gold, Radisson Gold, Marriott Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 2,366
Comped to CO PE. I'm not a bug hitter like some of yo but will log in around 40K BIS miles by end of March and at least 10K in April.
Hated what they did to SWU at 120K and 160K for me. Hated awards calendar nonsense. Hated $50 change fees after 2 for an award; this would be no big deal if awards were easy to get first time.. oh I think that was one of my points above.
As far as upgrades have only missed two ORD-IAH on one trip and IAH-ORD on another. CO actually gave a meal in coach on these sub 1000 miles flights and DL would have given me a Biscott if I made upgrade on DL for this distance. CO has great meals in FC IMHO on every flight I've taken including off hours flights.
My last flight on DL at end of year I was over 20 on upgrade list as a PE. ATL-ORD were those flights.
Did not renew SC membership and got PPC master card which gives me PC membership and several other bonus miles for every flight I take.
BTW four flights on UA sat in E+ on each one. Pretty good problem if upgrade does not come through starting in second quarter when free upgrades are available for CO on UA.
Hated what they did to SWU at 120K and 160K for me. Hated awards calendar nonsense. Hated $50 change fees after 2 for an award; this would be no big deal if awards were easy to get first time.. oh I think that was one of my points above.
As far as upgrades have only missed two ORD-IAH on one trip and IAH-ORD on another. CO actually gave a meal in coach on these sub 1000 miles flights and DL would have given me a Biscott if I made upgrade on DL for this distance. CO has great meals in FC IMHO on every flight I've taken including off hours flights.
My last flight on DL at end of year I was over 20 on upgrade list as a PE. ATL-ORD were those flights.
Did not renew SC membership and got PPC master card which gives me PC membership and several other bonus miles for every flight I take.
BTW four flights on UA sat in E+ on each one. Pretty good problem if upgrade does not come through starting in second quarter when free upgrades are available for CO on UA.
#15
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: DCA
Posts: 3,395
I am pretty much treading water with Delta until this fall when I intend to status match over to CO and switch to Star Alliance for next year. I will end up requalifying for Platinum on Delta this year, but that is mainly because of J trip to DPS I took on AF and rollover miles. The reasons for this are varied, a primary one is that Delta.com is just driving me nuts. I can't believe how difficult it is to book an international award ticket and if I hear that "No flights are available" from IAD to Europe again I will... well anyway it is incredibly fustrating. More than that, though, I am really bored with Skyteam and their business class products. The DPS trip was eye opening as I had segments on TG is J and CX in J and I realized how much better their J products were than what can be found in Skyteam.
What could Delta do to keep me? Fixing Delta.com would maybe do it, I really hate calling in to book an award. Back in the NWA.com days I would spend a great deal of time fiddling with an award, dates, classes, routings, until I got what I considered to be a perfect trip. The telephone agents simply don't have the patience for it. That would help. I would also like to see some realistic way to upgrade to business class. I am not afraid to spend 2-3K or so for a leisure J fare, but these prices on M fares are just unbelievable.
What could Delta do to keep me? Fixing Delta.com would maybe do it, I really hate calling in to book an award. Back in the NWA.com days I would spend a great deal of time fiddling with an award, dates, classes, routings, until I got what I considered to be a perfect trip. The telephone agents simply don't have the patience for it. That would help. I would also like to see some realistic way to upgrade to business class. I am not afraid to spend 2-3K or so for a leisure J fare, but these prices on M fares are just unbelievable.
Last edited by humanoid94; Mar 10, 2010 at 7:10 am