GBadger

Totally agree with that. Was just pointing out that it is relatively easy to get EQMs without flying.

DLNYC

I took advantage of bonus MQMs last year. I think I got 15,000 bonus for flying JFK-LHR. In paid J. I was gifted 10,000 MQMs to re-attract my business. I stopped flying DL for two years, and had been medallion for over a decade before that. I will have flown at least 46,000 BIS MQMs as of Jun 1 this year. Some on LUT fares. Some on HQK fares. Some on intl M fares. Out of pocket. Am I a poser who deserves to be in the back?

pmaddock

AA is less likely to match now that their unions have to go to arbitration again. I would imagine it won't fly this round.

Personally I'd rather it didn't happen with DL. I get the distinct impression that the Medallion ranks are getting a bit inflated.

judolphin

Well said. Sometimes we go a bit far with lumping people together.

natas43

Guess since I'm a segment flyer and will earn Diamond in August on segments that I'm a poser. A poser who buys LUT fares every week at $440+ RT for a >500 mile flight, then a connector of ~50 miles. I also guess that certain passengers are more important to Delta's bottom line because they paid more for their flight in a higher fare class. I mean nothing at all and I should just bend over and take it. Got it. Thanks for putting us minions in our place.

judolphin

So... has the concept that only "wannabes" and "posers" buy deeply discounted coach fares been thoroughly beaten down yet?

me4yankees

I am right there with you. I fly mostly short-haul, East Coast routes from a small regional airport that has only one other airline, US, so the LUT fares I often purchase out of my own pocket have much higher yields per mile. Folks like us often subsidize the routes with really low fares.

Last year I earned my status the hard way. I only bought ONE double MQM trip and that, too, was short-haul, not a mileage run. The rest were all regular MQM earning trips on LUT fares. I don't have a Delta Amex, so no credit card MQMs, either.

At least I know I am a minion.

cfischer

make it double RDM, but PLEASE no double MQM. We don't need more Elites!

ecaarch

Not quite. I am totally with judolphin on this one.

Many of those on "higher" fare classes are not only flying on their employers dime, they are doing it at a contract rate that may be less than some of the "posers". So who should DL be courting - flyers like me that have flown almost 650k BIS miles paid for out of my own pocket, or flyers that are on DL because it is the carrier that their employer was able to negotiate a contract rate with? Which is more valuable long-term? The reality is that DL needs different types of flyers to fill the planes, so the "my status is real but yours is not" displayed by some posters in this thread is a load of b*ll.

N830MH

Yep, sure I did. I just sign up for US promo to get double dividend miles when I fly to LAS during those days.

N830MH

Relax!!!! Please be patient for awhile. DL will let you know if you offered earned double MQM promo again.

Watchful

I have sometimes booked LUT fares many months in advance.

There is some value to a company to get their money that far in advance - even for a discounted fare!

pmaddock

Bubba -for once we agree - I don't understand why DL thinks upping the fare class should have the extra pain of having to add a fee so long as the bump doens't move the fare to a refundable basis. (e.g. the company buys T and I want to up to M to be able to upgrade or qualify for a promo or something like that).

However, I really would ask you to consider holding back on the 'poser' slights. If our company will only buy the lowest fare and we're playing by the published rules why do we deserve such tacit labels? After all - you're in a program with these rules. If really need the the differential perhaps you might want to consider the programs that require much more spend to reach F regularly like AA as opposed to being on DL which doesn't?

bubbashow

Wow...I feel like the most-hated man on Flyertalk today. I just REALLY wish there were fewer elites, and I think the only way to do that is to add a "spend" element to the FFP.

Granted, by the program rules, you can make elite by flying back and forth on mistake fares, but anyone that does it HAS to agree that is gaming the system. Too many have figured out how to game the system...so I think it is time to change the system.

I truly didn't mean to offend anyone on here. Like I said before, I am a purist and wish it would return to a pure form. To stay on topic, this includes the hope that there is NEVER another DEQM promo of any type.

First Class is a joke now...it is a joke because the fares to justify good service are not being met. Yes, it is a race to the bottom with DL and seemingly all other carriers. It is a race because the revenue isn't there.

Please take no offense to anything said here. They are only opinions, and I have never claimed to be anything more than an idiot.

Safe flying.

PMMMDL

The amount of trans-border discount fares are directly related to taxation and government regulation that restricts competition, primarily imposed by the Canadian Government in this case. That is the reason the fares are so high. The profitability of these flights are probably much less than you think dispite the high discount fares due to charges and restrictions imposed by your government, otherwise there would be alot more competition on the transborder routes.

I never made any comment about "cheapy" or "no revenue" or "bottom feeder". I really don't care much about who earns what miles for what fare buckets, I was just addressing your complaint about the high prices of the discount fare buckets.

Heck, I'm a DM and travelling this week-end on a L fare to ATL (to connect with an F RTW on OW). No reason to spend money stupidly.