Skymiles Change Rumor?
Mar 19, 2012, 5:49 pm
#181
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Enn Why Cee
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The real losers in this will be frequent leisure and business travelers with restricted budgets or travel policies
if you buy paid f/j, who cares? you sit up front anyway. loyalty program status does very little for you at that point (no clank on your bag, but that's about it)
if you buy 3x the cheapest fare, you DO gt more. EC, bags, boarding - available to YBM. you can also monetize your way into F on domestic routes for a nominal fee
if you are a leisure traveler, you buy the cheapest. or jetblue. everyone loves b6 (and why wouldn't they, with a nicer Y offering than most legacies)
so what is left is the business traveler required to book the cheapest flight for his/her clt-tul weekly commute and the person who flies to and fro paces to hang out with friends and family. for these folks, flying delta justified a (potentially less than reasonable) premium as you have a shot at sitting up front - vs guaranteed Y on any other carrier.
Well, if Y is going to be guaranteed, why spend more on delta? go with the cheapest and don't have any expectations. DL should similarly not have any expectations for customer loyalty either, though. action/reaction right?
if you buy paid f/j, who cares? you sit up front anyway. loyalty program status does very little for you at that point (no clank on your bag, but that's about it)
if you buy 3x the cheapest fare, you DO gt more. EC, bags, boarding - available to YBM. you can also monetize your way into F on domestic routes for a nominal fee
if you are a leisure traveler, you buy the cheapest. or jetblue. everyone loves b6 (and why wouldn't they, with a nicer Y offering than most legacies)
so what is left is the business traveler required to book the cheapest flight for his/her clt-tul weekly commute and the person who flies to and fro paces to hang out with friends and family. for these folks, flying delta justified a (potentially less than reasonable) premium as you have a shot at sitting up front - vs guaranteed Y on any other carrier.
Well, if Y is going to be guaranteed, why spend more on delta? go with the cheapest and don't have any expectations. DL should similarly not have any expectations for customer loyalty either, though. action/reaction right?
Mar 19, 2012, 5:49 pm
#182
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 5,292
No. It's not that I am flying all of these EQM's non rev and asking for more benefits.
I think that spending this much time in an aluminum tube means that I have shown that I am loyal to the airline, as I have flown with them a lot.
If I bought full fare F on AA JFK-LHR I shouldn't just get EXP automatically after 2 flights.
(2X JFK LHR isn't even 20k EQM)
I think that spending this much time in an aluminum tube means that I have shown that I am loyal to the airline, as I have flown with them a lot.
If I bought full fare F on AA JFK-LHR I shouldn't just get EXP automatically after 2 flights.
(2X JFK LHR isn't even 20k EQM)
Mar 19, 2012, 5:50 pm
#183
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: HNL
Programs: DL PM/1MM, BW DE (lifetime), HH DE, Marriott PE (lifetime), National Emerald Executive
Posts: 7,205
I know that oil cartels are illegal (well, or at least they were back when I studied economics). What about airline (cross-alliance, I mean) cartels, on a matter such as this? (Them colluding and all, or at least some, 'independently of each other' (yeah, right..) deciding to do such a program devaluation at once.)
Mar 19, 2012, 5:50 pm
#184
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Mar 19, 2012, 5:53 pm
#185
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
If DL could dump it's LUT pax and replace them with Y/B's, they would be dancing in the streets in ATL. No way does any other carrier actually want people who pay 10% of the top fare.
UA functionally wen to a spend-based system on 3/3. While miles are still earned by distance/segment, UG priority goes to fare class over elite status (all kinds of qualifications here, but the primary point is spend). AA & DL will follow suit within 12-18 months and that will be the norm.
A miniscule and insignificant % of pax will stamp their feet and swear they will never fly their carrier again and an even smaller % will actually jump ship. But, they won't be happier elsewhere.
Fares aren't based on distance flown, so there's zero justification for awarding perks such as free seats and UG's based on distance flown (and less so on segments).
Mar 19, 2012, 5:55 pm
#186
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Not if that person only flies once a year.
Perhaps some of us travel a lot more than you and are in a better position to "game the system". I suspect that as a DL PM and AA nobody, you have to pay a lot more for First than we sLUTs and that colors your opinion. Can't really blame you for supporting a change. I might be less ambivalent if DL actually provided a front cabin experience that was more AA and less the current dismal upgrade class.
Perhaps some of us travel a lot more than you and are in a better position to "game the system". I suspect that as a DL PM and AA nobody, you have to pay a lot more for First than we sLUTs and that colors your opinion. Can't really blame you for supporting a change. I might be less ambivalent if DL actually provided a front cabin experience that was more AA and less the current dismal upgrade class.
I was in DL F YYC-SLC and I didn't really find it that good.
(Sep 2011)
This, and the constant DL Skypeso devaluation is why I am not a DL flyer.
Mar 19, 2012, 5:56 pm
#187
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As a matter of business commonsense, I can assure you that if DL goes to a revenue-based awards system, UA, US and AA will not status match people who buy el cheapo discount fare buckets as a matter of routine.
If DL could dump it's LUT pax and replace them with Y/B's, they would be dancing in the streets in ATL. No way does any other carrier actually want people who pay 10% of the top fare.
UA functionally wen to a spend-based system on 3/3. While miles are still earned by distance/segment, UG priority goes to fare class over elite status (all kinds of qualifications here, but the primary point is spend). AA & DL will follow suit within 12-18 months and that will be the norm.
A miniscule and insignificant % of pax will stamp their feet and swear they will never fly their carrier again and an even smaller % will actually jump ship. But, they won't be happier elsewhere.
Fares aren't based on distance flown, so there's zero justification for awarding perks such as free seats and UG's based on distance flown (and less so on segments).
If DL could dump it's LUT pax and replace them with Y/B's, they would be dancing in the streets in ATL. No way does any other carrier actually want people who pay 10% of the top fare.
UA functionally wen to a spend-based system on 3/3. While miles are still earned by distance/segment, UG priority goes to fare class over elite status (all kinds of qualifications here, but the primary point is spend). AA & DL will follow suit within 12-18 months and that will be the norm.
A miniscule and insignificant % of pax will stamp their feet and swear they will never fly their carrier again and an even smaller % will actually jump ship. But, they won't be happier elsewhere.
Fares aren't based on distance flown, so there's zero justification for awarding perks such as free seats and UG's based on distance flown (and less so on segments).
Mar 19, 2012, 5:56 pm
#188
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 5,292
If AA or UA set up shop in DTW with a comparable set of flights, I would take a look at the other offerings.
I want nonstop to LAX and BNA. I don't want to take UA to IAH to go to LAX. My time is simply more-valuable than that. While I have nothing but conjecture on which to base my opinion, I would imagine that most serious business people feel the same way.
Mar 19, 2012, 5:58 pm
#189
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UA functionally wen to a spend-based system on 3/3. While miles are still earned by distance/segment, UG priority goes to fare class over elite status (all kinds of qualifications here, but the primary point is spend). AA & DL will follow suit within 12-18 months and that will be the norm.
Mar 19, 2012, 6:00 pm
#190
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 5,292
Too many elites all getting free F upgrades = terrible first class cabin. Read the UA thread for current examples of that.
Massive amounts of bonus miles = a devaluation of the miles that are out there - simple economics.
Mar 19, 2012, 6:00 pm
#191
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To where am I going to go in DTW? Where is Woolman DeskSitter going in ATL?
If AA or UA set up shop in DTW with a comparable set of flights, I would take a look at the other offerings.
I want nonstop to LAX and BNA. I don't want to take UA to IAH to go to LAX. My time is simply more-valuable than that. While I have nothing but conjecture on which to base my opinion, I would imagine that most serious business people feel the same way.
If AA or UA set up shop in DTW with a comparable set of flights, I would take a look at the other offerings.
I want nonstop to LAX and BNA. I don't want to take UA to IAH to go to LAX. My time is simply more-valuable than that. While I have nothing but conjecture on which to base my opinion, I would imagine that most serious business people feel the same way.
And, sometimes, my GF tags along.
Mar 19, 2012, 6:00 pm
#192
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Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,345
AC which essentially has no network carrier competition in its entire country?? About as useful as using ANZ as an example.
I see a lot of people making up a lot of things in this thread, some of it frankly, kooky and crazy. My prediction is that if any changes are made they somehow mirror what I posted in my first post on this thread.
I see a lot of people making up a lot of things in this thread, some of it frankly, kooky and crazy. My prediction is that if any changes are made they somehow mirror what I posted in my first post on this thread.
Mar 19, 2012, 6:00 pm
#193
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Enn Why Cee
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how come ryanair is not used by many business travelers? oh, it goes nowhere and it operates one flight a day.
the cheap flyers play their role in the game - by filling the gaps when there aren't enough ybm. folks. lose those and lose the network.
Mar 19, 2012, 6:01 pm
#194
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I do see a connection. However, there are many kettle elites that could be eliminated (i.e. the pax that take a TPAC + have AMEX reserve)
Mar 19, 2012, 6:03 pm
#195
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Why does DL run promos where you can earn Plat with 6 segments then? If they're out to kill a monster, let's not look too far past the fact that this is one of their own creation...