While I cannot speak for Maserati, there are other interesting "loyalty" programs which are similar enough to an airline's FF program to bring into the discussion.

BMW offers an exceptional discount on a new car purchase/lease if you go on the European Delivery program. This is a program straight from BMW Corporate, and I saved 7% by doing this after negotiating my packages with the local dealer (already happily incentivizing me as I'm a repeat customer), got a companion ticket gratis on LH, 2 weeks' vehicle insurance in the EU, and a nifty little welcome reception after my tour of the 3-series factory and museum in München.

This builds brand equity. The cost reduction and low-cost "extra" benefits provided incentivize the customer to buy into the brand experience, drink the Kool-Aid, and then turn around and happily relate to everyone why they're driving in the US with a München license plate on one side of their car. You now have an advocate for your brand, quite literally flying the flag (clinking DM tags anyone?), and you know that unless a massive TARFU experience happens, you will have a repeat high-value customer continuing to advertise for you among his/her associates, likely also individuals with the purchasing power to buy into your brand.

Brand equity and public perception matter more than ever today with the outlets individual consumers have to wide audiences (FT, Twitter, G+, etc), both to nurture positive outcomes as well as defuse negatives (note the response time of @deltaassist). Delta, to survive, must position itself as a premium brand, and the loyalty program must continue to appreciate and reward the elite flyers that bring the revenue.

tl;dr? Loyalty matters to any brand that isn't a pure commodity, whether luxury cars or air travel, and smart corporate incentives are provided by forward-thinking companies to their best customers, because even in a down economy you keep yourself the default purchasing decision because of those added gestures.

It just doesn't make sense for DL to sell out their FFs for $50 FCM. If they were getting full F for the FC then of course it would make sense.

People like to quote the "limited availability" clause in complimentary UGs, but when one has flown Y domestically exactly once over the last 3 years (except when on CRJs or AMEX companion fares) despite never having bought a domestic F ticket, then this "limited availability" sounds like legalese just in case something goes wrong.

I fly *only* DL domestically, and the main reason is the unlimited UGs. I don't fly enough to be DM on DL and have status elsewhere, and DM is definitely better for UGs, so DL owns my soul. But I do fly enough to have status on all airlines. If FCM causes me to lose UG chances, then I won't fly DL so much. I'll spread the love, start flying UA internationally, build up mid-level status on UA, DL, and perhaps even AA (which has much more convenient West Coast routes for me). Then I'll have all the advantages of being a FF on all the airlines, choose my routes and times according to convenience and price, and DL will compete with the other airlines for my business, if they care to. And that is their choice. I will have exercised mine as a consumer.

So, not really whining, just not understanding DL's business case here.
$50 just isn't that much for DL to gain. But to those of use who don't get reimbursed for F, it's a mountain that can't be climbed.

Sure.

A lot of people won't be happy about it, but it would be a heck of a lot better to put these lousy new (worst-in-class) upgrade terms in writing and communicate them to medallions rather than spelling out the current well-defined windows and then hiding behind some escape clause that allows for no upgrades to be given until the gate.

Delta, please just rewrite the policy how you want it and then honor the policy to the best of your ability.

Is that really so much to ask for?

We've heard this so many times from you that it ... oh, well, you know. It is not about seeling a product, it is giving something in return for the loyalty. DL gives absolutely NOTHING. I flew DL only once since Decemebr, and I couldn't be happier!

Had the price differential between F and Y were significant, then yes, by all means. But milking a loyal frequent customer out of $50 ain't good business. DL advertises UDU as a big deal that sets their program apart from the competition, yet that benefit is not there in reality. Just say so on the web site -- "once in a blue moon, you may have a chance of getting an upgrade at the window, and twice in a blue moon at the gate. In reality, don't you even think about it." On a 16F cabin with 16F seat not clearing a DM at the window is absurd. Seriously!

Precisely!

If it's so cheap, why not buy up and expense the amount of the coach fare?

But that's how DL has always been! They never communicated about anything honestly. It is either "a good change" or just being silent. When they cannot come up with a "good change" spin, it is the latter. Honesty has not been DL's forte, and then they wonder why DL's employee morale is so low ... It's pretty simple: the same corporate culture applies to employees and customers alike.

Some companies do allow domestic F, usually for top tier management. A number more permit their employees to buy UP fares. To me, the time to complain is after boarding in Y and not getting the upgrade, not at the 5 day window when the possibility still exists.

How about this for FCM? http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/4838/deltauv.jpg

Any MBA (well, maybe not the MBAs that stink at math) will tell you that, in a commodity market with well-developed systems to allow for comparison shopping, customer retention is vastly overrated and customer acquisition costs approach zero.

What does a program that leverages differential rates of duty for 'used' vehicles to offer a discount have to do with loyalty? BMW offers the same deal to anyone that wants it. It has nothing to do with rewarding loyalty.

It is less the FFer, and more the absurd pricing on F that previously existed. The mistake was dedicating space and cost to a product that you then gave away.

There is simply no way to leverage any sort of brand loyalty to drive yields. Given the volumes of travelers that DL serves, it is simply impossible to effectively discriminate on price based upon loyalty. This whole notion that people "pay more" to be loyal is simply impossible over the long term. It is absolutely silly to forgo current revenue for "future revenue" without the ability to price discriminate.

+1^

Or one could wise up and not take marketing personally.

Applebee's tells me that they serve delicious steaks. I don't get personally offended that this is not the case. Similarly, I don't get personally offended when DL tells me that upgrades are on a space available basis and that space doesn't become available

None. I wanted to buy one. I went to the dealership and told them that I wanted to pay for a Ford Fiesta but get a Maserati. For some strange reason, they passed on my idea.

So, I promised them that, the next year, I would come back and buy another Maserati, provided that they sold that one for the price of a Ford Fiesta, too. Again, they said no.

I then promised to come back in year 3, and again buy a Maserati, provided they sold that one for the price of a Ford Fiesta, too. Once again, they said no.

We went on like this for a while. Eventually, I realized that Maserati doesn't value loyal customers.

Perhaps the growth of Economy Comfort within the fleet might help alleviate some of this conflict(?) Maybe DL can offer this on more domestic routings as time goes on. Certainly a good number of people now opting to pay up to FC would consider EC as a nice enough perk if it became more widely available.

Monday morning, first flight, coach close to being full. Why would you be surprised DL was holding on to FC.