Right at the SM/GM split...
 

Right now I'm on pace to break through to GM for my first time, and I'm doing it primarily on segments all over the east coast.

Is it worth it to roll over the 20k+ miles and stay at SM or move up to GM and start over for 2012? I'm in the DC area and I get a pretty substantial amount of UG when I travel, even to most of the hubs except ATL.

Are the benefits of GM status worth it? I'm going to be taking a trip with my girlfriend to Europe and think that having GM might be useful if just for that alone.

Thanks!!

I say Go For It! With all the promos and CC deals it is fairly easy to get SM without flying much so I say go for Gold and deal with 2013 status later..

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...-get-amex.html


That's one take. 'Worth' is a productive search term, leading to all forms of:

'Is Silver worth it?'

'Is Gold worth it?'

'Is Platinum over Gold worth it?,' etc.

+1 also SkyTeam club access in Europe on the TATL flights as Skyteam Elite +

In my opinion, one of the biggest jumps in the benefits ladder is between Silver and Gold, so I say go for it.

(FYI, the traditional abbreviation for Silver Medallion is FO, rather than SM as SM could be mistaken for SkyMiles. FO is an old school abbreviation for Flies Often.)

I went from fo to gm this year after being fo for 6 years. For me the jump is worth it, mostly for the 100% bonus miles and because the gm line picks up right away, while I had been on hold in the fm line forever. I got upgraded nearly always as a fo flying out if cvg, ewr, and jfk, but I still say its worth it for the aforementioned reasons

Definitely go for it. The 100% bonus is also nice, and when traveling in Europe you can go to the global sky clubs as Elite plus, a nice benefit.

If you usually have hectic days, free SDC is a lifesaver and is one of the best reasons to go for GM in my opinion.

I would say go for GM, I made GM this year and will rollover about the same 20k miles but I have another 22k booked through the end of status so I plan to re-qual as GM before it expires. Definitely worth it as I also was FO for the past 5 years, SDC alone is worth it IMHO.

When you make the move to GM, you'll finally discover how much FO sucks.

Free SDC alone is worth it to me. Also the bonus miles are nice perk since the wife and I are looking to take another trip to Europe in a couple years.

I'm DC based as well. Do you normally fly out of DCA, BWI or IAD?
Out of BWI I found I hit most of my UG as SM, but at DCA they were tougher to get. As a GM my UG percentage at DCA is much better. Also, it's nice to clear a few days out.

GM also gives you the Sky Priority regardless of UG. I second SDC as well. Very helpful.

I'm actually in a similar situation, about to go from GM to PM. I definitely think GM is worth it. If you are concerned about repeating next year, consider the DL Platinum or DL Reserve Card. I have the reserve and I factor those 30k DL Reserve Bonus MQM's into my planning in terms of hitting status.

So true

I'm considering getting the Platinum card -- I have the gold right now, but the platinum seems like a smart call.

I split my flights out between DCA and BWI -- I live in Chevy Chase so it's really a matter of which one is cheaper most of the time. I find that out of BWI my UGs happen a lot more; DCA I get them all the time for flights to MEM, but it's a lot more rare going to other places (I also fly a lot on weekends which may skew my data).

I think I'm going to go for the GM after what everyone has said -- I know I'm going to be flying a substantial amount next year and I might as well enjoy the benefits of GM rather than FO.

Thanks everyone!!

I live across the street from DCA, so I prefer that when possible. I flew a lot more BWI last year than this year. DCA-MEM, CVG, STL, JFK have all been easy UG. It's the ATL and DTW flights that are tougher.

If you plan your travel and AMEX accordingly, GM is easy to maintain. I'm about to hit PM, but I've already done the math with rollover, known flying next year and my AMEX I can easily make it back to GM, PM will depend on how much business travel I have to do.

I know it's more $$, but if you travel enough the Reserve card is nice because it gives you SkyClub access.