Stripe

I have been flying AA recently (due to the route) as a non-elite and it's pretty acceptable. I have been able to improve my seating on a couple of occasions (including snagging an exit) by using the airport kiosk, and I found the overhead space to be OK even as a group 5-6 boarder. This may be due to very zealous enforcement of carry-on size regulations at the gate. If your bag doesn't pass muster -- and a lot don't -- it is checked, but at no charge to you.

I'll probably get to Gold on AA by the end of the summer so I won't have to worry about even the above.

redtailshark

This.

Once again, this thinking that SM don't matter is a product of a very shortsighted COI rationale. If the SM don't feel they get anything, as you state, there's no incentive for "career development" to the "heights" of PM/DM.

I flew NW for years, working up the tiers. I enjoyed the (excellent) benefits WP provided for SE, went to GE and then a number of years at PE. Now I'm at a point in my career where I'm beginning to consistently buy higher-fare bucket itins. Until 2008, I knew that these were all going to go to NW. I even looked forward to spending more money with NW, because they rewarded me with excellent service and benefits and the value was great.

But since the merger and the cliff-plunge of service and benefits, every single one of these has gone to CO/UA and they will continue to do so. DL can be my carrier of domestic resort, as long as I hold some Medallion status. Ironically, their calculus guarantees them the kind of custom they claim they don't want - cheap LUT buckets when on sale and nothing else!

nfg05

Wait, they still haven't reverted to the old boarding system even though practically NOBODY prefers the new system?

micstatic

I think the worst part of this for Silver Medallions is that Delta came out on this forum saying there would be no devalue to silver. cmon. I would imagine silver status matches to other airlines is at an all time high right now.

hardscrabblers

Makes sense to me, FC=Zone 1. the remaining Medallions=Zone 2. Seems like the fairest way to keep all us Medallions flying Delta and still feel appreciated.

n301dp

It's almost the end of "next week" and still no answer. It seems to me that, given the near-immediate implementation of SkyPriority, the implementation of the new boarding process shouldn't be that hard. I hope your overlords give you permission to share the info soon, as I think the crowds here will be getting restless mighty quick.

Please also take a few minutes to pass along what myself and other FOs have said up-thread. If you truly are intent on listening, I'd hope DL can re-think its recent actions toward de-valuing the Silver Medallion level.

jmichaeljordan

I was in the Sky Club in SLC recently and they had Sky Club "to do lists" which have adhesive to stick on a wall. I put one up in the Sky Club cubicles and wrote under to do - Get Delta gate agents to board First Class - First.

edscholl

on dl 1212 ogg-lax this morning. must have been just about the only medallion member on the plane - seemed like my gf and i were the only ones to board in zone 1.

anyways, our 3 checked bags w/ priority tags came out 1-2-3. very happy, especially given how charlie foxtrot lax baggage usually is. it also allowed my to walk outside, and practically onto the flyaway bus. any later with the bags and it would have been a 30 min wait... ^

bmw303

I am status matching to another airline in June.

Silver feels like nothing now.

chrisj85

I booked my first Southwest flight in over 10 years recently. Fare was half as much as DL FLL-HOU and nonstop to boot. With early bird checkin I should get a forward aisle seat at worst. Don't check bags so not losing anything there. I'm losing a shot at an exit row, and a long shot at an upgrade. That's all FO means these days if you don't check bags.

I'll fly enough cheap LUT fares to maintain DL FO, but certainly won't go out of my way to pay higher coach fare classes just to fly DL from now on. Maybe the corporate intent was to run off a lot of the too-numerous FOs, if so I think they are succeeding.

stdatwmu

Had my first experience on a 6 segment, TATL trip this past week. I'm only going to comment on the return as the outbound I was in F (out of DAY, where I've never had any issues with boarding and wasn't standing in the gate area long enough to notice anything) and once reaching ATL it was all operated by AF.

On the return, the CDG-ATL flight landed late and then bags took forever to come out. I'm only a SM/FO but AF had tagged them Priority at my point of departure, BHX. By the time I made it through immigration, customs, and security there were only about 25 minutes before my plane was to depart. I made it to the gate and there was still a long line of general passengers as they were already boarding Zone 3 or 4.

Under the old system - walk through the Breezeway and right on to the plane, bins are at least slightly less full at this point.

Under SkyPriority - had to wait in line for another 5 to 10 minutes and then stand in a crammed jetway, had to place my laptop bag/coat/very small bag holding a pair of shoes in three separate overhead bins (I was in 6D on a DC9 so no floor storage) and swim upstream.

I've been a GM in the past and due to significant travel cuts last year at work I only managed SM this year. Yet I still planned to take a MR if needed to remain SM for next year. Now, with this level of service, I'm definitely considering taking my business elsewhere. I realize I'm still in the much lower tier in spending than some of you out there but I know I've spent somewhere in the ballpark of $30K to $45K on NW/DL over the past 3-4 years so it's not like I didn't have any loyalty.

How is this not a devaluation, DL?

pitbulllover

Even though FO boards with Zone 2, I was under the impression that FOs could still use the SP lane for boarding if doing so after Zone 2 even when in Y. I have seen mixed responses on this, but can't find anything definitive. I think part of that is because the SP is implemented so inconsistently. Does anyone have a definitive ruling on that?

stdatwmu

I didn't try and push over through the crowd to the SP lane so I can't say 100% that I would have been able to get through it as a FO.

SMI had indicated earlier ITT that all Medallions could use the SP lane, but all the signs on the SP lane say GM/PM/DM only. So if it is indeed the case that ALL can use the lane why in the heck isn't it signed as such?

pokeable

Because we (FOs) don't matter. FAs don't even waste their breath to include us at the end of a sentence thanking Medallions for our business. At first I thought it was funny...but with SkyPriority....seriously, why stay loyal to a company who really doesn't care if you aren't GM?

USirritated

Why don't you just send AA your medallion credentials and status match on AA now? Since you are going to make gold with them anyway, you will not have to worry about the short year making you come up short on miles, so you might as well use status match to get gold benefits now, right?