TheMoose

No one is slamming Delta for offering this option. Kudos for the ingenuity, even if it does look pretty similar to the SuperSize deal from Northwest. More options are better than no options.

But if anything, they're slamming the rates of the cost/mile. Back when it was $20/2000 miles, it was a 1 cent/mile ratio which was reasonable even for FlyerTalkers. Certainly not outstanding, but a reasonable option. But at 2.8 cents/mile, it just isn't reasonable for anyone unless they truly don't know any better.

I don't think you need to bend over backwards to defend Delta on this. This is Flyertalk after all, and you're making an argument that only appeals to the infrequent types who don't know any better. For Flyertalkers, people that do know better, this isn't a deal, and Delta will face criticism for the ratios they offer. Know your audience.

pmaddock

Yes - NWA had 1K/$20 for regular members and a kick to 2K/$20 for Card holders. At the 2k/$20 it was a penny a mile which was OK if you needed a rounder. This rate makes me think "SUCKERS!"

N639DL

I would do it if it gave out MQMs.

TravellingMan

Was talking to an United agent about all the multiple offers for miles that keep getting touted when I check in at the United kiosk. He remarked that he has never seen anyone ever take up on the offer. I dont have much hope for Delta succeeding where United has failed. Maybe United might drop all those prompts since Delta is following them

Expect more clutter from Delta when you check in.

bennos

The phrase here is "opportunity cost". If I'm at 24k, hardly ever fly, and could (hypothetically) book a r/t at 25k that might otherwise cost me, say, $300, then $28 to allow me to purchase a $300 ticket for "free" makes sense.

But yeah, for a FF this is somewhere between pointless and nuisance.

robert4travels

American Airlines also has the option already to double or triple your RDM miles for a price. I think it's called AA miles multiplier and is offered during check in on a flight (I saw it on a recent AA flight that I took). With AA it's also a bad deal, even buying miles separately is cheaper than going for this option.

It was only a matter of time that Delta followed suit. There are always people who fall for this kind of tricks, so it will no doubt be a money maker for Delta, especially when award tickets are harder to come by than with other airlines.

FlyAO2

Better they make some money on a dumb*** instead of me. They probably have a Monday morning meeting at the airlines where they get a good chuckle of all the people who bought this in the last week

Sez_Who

Received this email from DL about purchasing additional miles with each r/t DL flight. Seems you can 'earn' up to 3K on each trip but: [1] the cost is .028/mi and [2] these are SM, not MQM.

My question: Why would anyone want to bite on this deal?

https://dmn.delta.com/skymiles/award_builder/

GYEWorldTraveler

Some people are not as educated as the FT community and will want to get to an award ticket quicker. For some, when they will be short 3,000 from 25,000 it may be worth it for them to get 3,000 miles for $84 so they now have enough miles for a domestic award ticket (Assuming a general member can find a low level award ticket lol). Paying $84 for 3,000 miles for someone without status certainly beats paying $400 RT MSP-LAX to get that amount of miles is probably how they will think of it.

Sez_Who

Thanks GYEWorldTraveler, hadn't thought about it like that. Guess I am stuck in FTer thinking but it might make sense for others.

sharktums

United offers this as well.

javabytes

So does CO. And CO offers you the option to purchase EQMs as well, but they're expensive as hell, even compared to the already exorbitant 2.8cpm.

doglover

NW offered a version of this. The price wasn't bad so I used it occassionally to build miles. DL's program as usual is far too expensive. I won't be taking advantage.

bandoayan

Don't know if this has been posted earlier, Just received this in the mail:

We want to help you make the most out of your upcoming flight by giving you the chance to build your mileage balance even faster when you fly. With Award Builder™, you can easily get more miles on your upcoming round-trip Delta flight to quickly increase your mileage balance.

Get an extra 1,000 to 3,000 miles on your flight for as little as $28 (for 1,000 miles). The choice is yours but don't wait. This is the perfect way to get even more miles when you fly so that you can pack your bags for your next Award vacation even sooner.

Make your Award Builder purchase before the beginning of your upcoming round-trip Delta flight to get more miles.

Bonus Miles
Cost

1,000
$28

2,000
$56

3,000
$84


Here is the link:


https://dmn.delta.com/skymiles/award_builder/

gt_croz

That's silly.

It's priced essentially the same as "buy miles" so there is no real advantage to this program. It's clearly designed just to sell miles to people who would otherwise not consider buying them.

Part of the new up-sell culture I guess.