travelerjim

Just my two cents...I realize I am not an airline executive, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

LOL...
and for me...I will fly the coop...
Hello United!
tj

Supersonic Swinger

Perhaps they are listening but they haven't for the past two years since they acquired NW, certainly to flyers based in Asia.

When I moved to Singapore from the US I was a GM and wanted to be loyal to DL because the onboard experience is better than AA and I'll be happy if I can get through the rest of my life without ever having to fly UA again.

There's even a credit card in Singapore which can earn you Skymiles, but:
- there has been no award chart to tell you what you can redeem them for
- over a year ago the NW site, where you had more visibility on redemptions with airlines other than DL, was shut down
- points promos and the Amex relationship are primarily targeted at US based members
- Redemptions on the DL website for Asia to US are a sea of Medium and High anyway
- one-way awards at half price in order provide some redeemability aren't possible
- calling in to redeem often shows you are more aware of DL partner airlines than the DL rep you're speaking to.

Perhaps the focus has been on the US since the merger, but there is a loyal base in Asia (primarily as a result of the NW acquisition) on whom there has been no focus, just as SkyTeam is gaining critical mass in the region. Many of the issues I've listed are ones DL has been aware of for some time (as posted on FT), but to quote Jeff Robertson when Cranky Flier asked him about one-way awards "It’s just not at the top of the priority list." http://crankyflier.com/2010/09/16/th...es-discussion/

Maybe they can refresh that loyalty base but if they can't put something as simple as a redemption chart up ex-rest-of-world, I haven't been waiting in the hope they decide to at some point. I was almost going to transfer miles to DL in order to book one of these supposed 20,000 SIN-NRT awards, but now I'll continue to look forward to redeeming Asia-US one-way in J using 55,000 AA miles.

I commend AAdvantage to Asia based flyers who want to redeem internationally at rates which are actually achievable to someone who isn't putting the GDP of a small South Pacific Island nation through their credit card and already flying on 150 days of the year. I'm sure others can recommend other programs.

I really like DL the airline, Skymiles just doesn't make a compelling case for it - perhaps for FTers like mooper, but not for me.

kazuwox

Judging from their attitudes (no redemption chart more than 2yrs, no advance
notice in changing redemtion miles), i dont think they care about customers,
esp Asia-based ones, Jp-residents : ex-NW lovers.

DL could have shown a chart if they really want to, but they didnt,
which i would take it on purpose.

As an Asia-based flyer what i can do is just burn my DL (originally from NW)
miles somewhere and never come back to DL. The long good-bye.

kats

I have noticed DL sent e-mail to their customers in Japan to buy more miles 2 days before the change. This is the funniest joke so far this year! Big controversy going on in Japan right now.

Winkdaddy

Its easy for Delta to increase the redemption amounts when they didnt even publish the original amounts in a chart in the first place.

GUWonder

DL published such award ticket pricing in charts and made them publicly available. Then DL pulled the charts out of public eye and hid them. The entire time before and since, DL has published award charts and award travel rules, but it just has the most recent published ones retained for internal use while publicly fleecing its customers and setting up its customers for further fleecing by playing this kind of customer-unfriendly game via the use of smoke and mirrors.

I find that this awful approach to customers is so very typical of DL SkyMiles management that if I were to be surprised by this situation with intra-Asia trips that I'd have to slap myself for behaving like an ostrich with its head buried in sand.

Soros

This is one of the most frustrating changes that Delta has made since the merger.

Charging different level of miles by distance within Asia make NO sense. If anything, Delta should first apply such scheme in US & EU (e.g., charge more for SFO-JFK than SFO-LAX).

All I interpret from this change is that Delta simply does not want loyal Asian customers (even after indicating that it wants to become a premium airline in the region).

Well, I am probably one of few DMs you have in Asia, and you just lost my business completely to UA (after my flight today). Thanks so much for treating loyal Asian customers like that.

TJPACIFIC

After the merging, I've tried to adapt to the Delta. Delta, your management is so greedy and sneaky. Hiding the child fare from the website + the difficulty of the low level redemption. As an Asian elite, I don't see any reason to fly with delta or stay in skyteam. The SkyPeso is the worst program with consistently devaluing. I will inform this issue to Thai travel forums.

Soros

I am going to inform this change to Korean travel forums as well. How in the world is Delta going to compete TPAC with KE/OZ? Makes no sense at all.

s1c3r1a1b3b3l1e1

DL has not competed with KE/OZ since KE had safety issues and North Korea shot down their jets 30 years ago. KE/OZ offer a far, far superior product. Everyone knows it. But, they also charge for it. DL is after the price sensitive US market. They have shown us repeatedly, and most clearly in the past week, that they are either not interested in or don't understand the quality sensitive Asian market.

One of the best things about SM was the ability to redeem awards on KE in J at a reasonable rate within Asia.

Delta needs to understand that to be competitive, they don't need to beat the competition in every category, but they definitely need to stand apart in some categories. Northwest's WorldPerks program in very large part made up for the fairly poor product in Y. DL has a slightly better Y product, and IFE makes up for a lot. But, the question is whether or not that makes up for a defunct loyalty program that leaves such strong ill-will in its members.

RealHJ

About IT, of course you are right on. That is why DL should dump it's 1960's era IT infrastructure and at least upgrade to something from this century... but oh wait, they just went through a big massive downgrade a year ago.

But, you are not right about a way to earn interest. On a dollar you can earn an interest: you can put it in a savings account and get interest. But, for SkyMiles there is no bank that will accept one's 100,000s or millions of SkyMiles balances as a legitimate currency to deposit and earn an interest on.

If you can earn interest on a currency, you expect it to be depreciate (and if it's expected to depreciate a lot, you typically earn a higher interest). But, for loyalty points it is a norm in the industry to make any massive changes to a program effective for the loyalty points earned after the change date, while keep the old policy/pricing in effect for ones earned prior to it.

This is helpful. Thanks!

Re: HA, "Hawaiian HA Y - D Z/T HNDHNL not eligible route " is correct. Also, HNL-ICN is not eligible either. (And HNL-SYD charges SkyHigh(TM) mileage, much higher than HA itself charges, and as such is a really poor value - just a side note on this.)

No, it's just that they really don't care. If they cared, they would turn on their computer and pick up their phones and figure it out without further delay - as any other even semi-responsible person in business would do. But, Dullta seems to have really low standard both for its operations and customers, as well as of its managers. Sad.

Some people within Dullta surely care. But, those who make the decisions clearly don't.

...but, then quietly take it away again soon thereafter or simply just don't deliver it, but don't admit to it being taken away (though it is). Like they've done so many times it's even pointless to count...

Seriously, it's hard to think of a business that is more dishonest and double-standard than Dullta is. Why do the shareholders allow the bozos that run Dullta run it into ground and lose its highest value customers? (The damage is not immediate, but over years and months will be evident as Dullta keeps shrinking proportionally to other airlines and keeps further and further worsening it's already "worst of class" reputation.)

Sabai

Not to pick nits with your post, but it was the Soviet Air Force that shot down KAL-007 and not the charming chaps of Pyongyang.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_...nes_Flight_007

reed2x

Anybody taken a look at the availability on the award calendar? This devaluation is even worse than we thought.

NRT-SIN J 1 day at low level in the next year (May 11th)
NRT-BKK J 1 day (Feb 23)

These routes have always had poor availability, but 1 day. you gotta be kidding me. Must be everyone cashing out their skymiles.

cozy5920

I have been a devout NW fan in Japan since the late 70s. I was going to see how Delta would fare post-merger, but they have completely disappointed, as well as ignored, its loyal customer base in Japan and the rest of Asia-Pacific by pulling these series of silly stunts. Delta has pushed me over the edge with the latest devaluation of the Skypesos, not to mention the other program "adjustments" already implemented. Being greedy is one thing, but unable to forewarn its customers with the latest changes in the loyalty program is totally unacceptable and pathetic. Delta management should be ashamed of themselves. Is it too hard to see the rest of the world from the deep south you are based?

Heated debate going on this weekend in Japanese travel foras. Everyone is pissed!

As for me, I am going to jump to *A, after almost 40 years of flying NW/DL. Such is life. Premium airline in AP?? Keep dreaming!

luv_flying

Can share the jap forum links?