I guess if you define a great marketing strategy as driving large volumes of unprofitable sales, then it is a great marketing strategy. If you define a great marketing strategy as one that actually drives profitability, then it is a little less clear how great it was.

As for the questions of competitiveness, I think the FF golden age was doomed precisely due to competition. The success of carriers that eschewed aggressively playing the FF game (B6, WN, etc) showed the carriers that (overly) generous programs may not be necessary.

Relying on an FF program is a desperation move for carriers that lack the product to attract true HVCs and the efficient cost structure to compete on price. Unfortunately, it is a move that doesn't work.

DL is doing first class "monetization" so well that when my boss decided to change flights (days) a couple of weeks ago, it would have cost $700 just to return a day earlier in coach. The monetized first class fare on the change was $200. So they "sold" one more FC ticket, got $500 less cash, and made one Diamond flyer slightly less loyal.

I would have considered that a bad thing for Delta, but maybe their accountants know something I don't. For instance, I've never gone bankrupt.

DL just reported a 2% increase in pax traffic and a 13% -- yes, 13 -- in profit for the last quarter. Call me crazy, but I'm sure they're not fretting your boss' $500 or the fact that his time isn't worth $700/day (which in and of itself has nothing to do with whether F was sold out.

They did gain an extra 200 dollars, which goes straight to the bottom line. The diamond should know by now that the only way an upgrade will arrive for sure will be through purchase. The diamond should know that he/she could have bought the same upgrade. The diamond should be aware that all upgrades are "space available" and that DL is getting good at selling that available space.

+1

They just need to get better at upselling. Look at how many FT threads there are complaining about not being able to PAY up to the next class booked.

Considering how prominently the FC price is displayed when searching by price for economy, you would thing the post-booking upgrade price would be equally prominently displayed after booking.

There are many reasons one might book the cheapest flights available, then be willing/able to pay more to upgrade to first later. Delta needs to make this upgrade stupid-simple... Like easier than posting missed upgrade complaints to FT. ;)

The FCM paradigm hasn't affected me until recently. SAN based PM. Tonight the last ATL-SAN plane still has 19/26 FC seats open and still no V inventory. I am 6 of 14 on the list with 19 available. I need a window to sleep on this route, but my profile says I prefer aisle. After the gate processes upgrades I will probably be assigned an aisle, instead of choosing my own seat five days ago.

I paid for coach, I should be happy with coach. And I am, truly. But this delayed slam dunk upgrade chaps my in-seat mileage earner. /vent over

If you NEED a window, you should buy a window. If you'd like a window, play the lottery and good luck.

And pre- or non-FCM, they would have gained an extra 700 dollars. I know which I think is better, but apparently Delta's accountants disagree.

LOL....I think they have it figured out....look at the quarterly numbers. In the grand scheme of things it is working out quite well, even though some Diamonds are sitting in back.

In which quarter, on which planet, is getting $200 better than getting $700?

1) correlation DOES NOT equal causation.
2) short term results DOES NOT imply/guarantee long term success (profit).

Exactly.

In fact, they are often in direct opposition since investments in the hard product and in employee benefits/training often lead to better long-term profits, but reduce short-term profits.

Bravo Ft'ers....y'all seem to have it all figured out when it looks like you won't get your free upgrades.

Hold on...I will go check the mileage run forum to see who DL's "most-valuable" customers are.

I tend to be in the griping is well within reason camp. However, clearly the Airlines are doing their due diligence before enacting decisions that screw over their loyalists. See attached link re: Bain study on Airline profitability. http://www.bain.com/publications/art...e-profits.aspx

With respect to biz travelers the article says only 15% are loyal to one brand when the price is close. So we are the 15% my FT friends. And the price most definitely is always close. This goes into another discussion re: fares and airline deregulation. However the fact that airfares havent come close to following inflation and are nearly the same as those of 20 years ago can be attributed to the other 85%. The airlines are to have their cake and eat it too.

They want their price loyalists, (the 85% that flies DL when the fare is cheapist) and the 15% brand/FF program loyalists. Even if the 15% flock to the 85% the airlines still win. Rant = over. In conclusion IMHO even out the 85-15 to more of a 70-30, 60-40 etc. and we will have less to gripe about. And, the only way that happens is the fare fight amongts the airlines slows down and fares begin to rise.

This isn't about one-small minded "boss," it's about 10's of millions of $. There is always one pax somewhere who would have been helped by a different decision, but based on DL's public reporting, it's not many.

In addition, the example is a terrible one. Given that the "boss" would have apparently been seated in Y and had to pay $700 more, my suspicion is that this has nothing to do with an UG and everything to do with a fare bucket not being available.