Skymiles Change Rumor?
Mar 19, 2012, 7:16 pm
#241
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I'm going to expose my lack of familiarity with the long-term history of the program here... but wasn't the 'miles that never expire' thingy a relatively recent adjustment to the SM program?
You're accounting for miles accumulated from over a decade of flying (and that's just way too much time at altitude), but weren't a lot of those program years under the "use 'em or loose 'em" model?
Again... I'm not flaming... just want to try and better my understanding of your situation.
You're accounting for miles accumulated from over a decade of flying (and that's just way too much time at altitude), but weren't a lot of those program years under the "use 'em or loose 'em" model?
Again... I'm not flaming... just want to try and better my understanding of your situation.
And here's where I step into unfamiliar territory, but is it not true that DL carries no liability for miles in passenger accounts with less than 25k miles? Very few people who accumulate huge amounts of miles were ever in danger of their miles expiring, unless they did an about face and completely abandoned DL. So the mileage expiration is really only something that helps very infrequent flyers, who probably have smaller account balances for which DL didn't carry much of a liability anyway. Easy target for some good marketing and PR with little cost. And if there were already plans to alter the earning/redemption structure, this adds a whole new coating of nefariousness...
Mar 19, 2012, 7:16 pm
#242
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: ATL - DL DM/3MM - HH Lifetime Diamond - Marriott Lifetime Plat
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There have been a lot of comments about how LUT flyers aren't profitable.
Realize that not all LUTs are created equal.
As an example, this week I'm flying ATL-YYZ on a T fare - $825
How can that be compared to a T fare I flew last week for the same number of miles but for $195?
Realize that not all LUTs are created equal.
As an example, this week I'm flying ATL-YYZ on a T fare - $825
How can that be compared to a T fare I flew last week for the same number of miles but for $195?
Mar 19, 2012, 7:17 pm
#243
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Mar 19, 2012, 7:17 pm
#244
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this is freekin awesome if it is all true. My $70K PA should get me some recognition I guess.
Who knows, the $50k non DL spend in other travel I have documented and sent to DL may have contributed. Yipppeee, can't wait.
Who knows, the $50k non DL spend in other travel I have documented and sent to DL may have contributed. Yipppeee, can't wait.
Mar 19, 2012, 7:19 pm
#245
Join Date: Aug 2011
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Isn't priority based on?:
SM Status
Fare Paid
Travel Disruptions
As an FO on a Y fare, I presume I'm behind the DM on a T... is that an inaccurate view?
Mar 19, 2012, 7:22 pm
#246
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No, a FO on a Y fare trumps a Diamond on a B and used to get upgraded pretty easily until P fares.
Mar 19, 2012, 7:22 pm
#247
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This is a handy little utility that shows you where you stand based on your status and fare code: http://cwsi.net/mupc/
But the gist of it is:
-DM on SWU
-PM on SWU
-DM on Y
-PM on Y
-GM on Y
-FO on Y
-DM on B through Award/PWM
-PM on B through Award/PWM
-GM on B through Award/PWM
-FO on B through E
-Companions or elites on same PNR with companions
Tiebreaker within fare class is AmEx Reserve card, then time of request. Not sure how travel disruptions affect the UG list.
Mar 19, 2012, 7:26 pm
#249
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Mar 19, 2012, 7:27 pm
#250
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So, I'll bite on this...I have been told several times by DL that I am a HVC. I flew 300K+ miles BIS in 2011, spent over $100K (mostly through full J tpacs, and refundable Y bought last minute) in 2011 and I have banked millions, literally millions of SMs (DL dining, AmEx promotions, DL promotions, Hilton double dip bonuses, etc.) that I have virtually never redeemed in the 11 years now that I have been flying DL. Why, then, would I care negatively about a revenue-based program? Simple...further devaluation of the SMs that I have accumulated. I figure that at some point, my days of heavy flying and long hours with entire months some times spent on the road will eventually come to an end. The accumulation of FF miles is a spoil of living such a life in business. When I walk away, I want to be able to use those miles for my wife and I to travel and fly whatever class of service we want to sit in and never have to worry about giving DL a credit card number ever again to purchase a ticket.
If DL goes to a strictly fare-based program, then those miles I have accumulated with plans on using them in retirement have zero value or very limited value. For those reasons, if this is the future direction of the program, it stinks! It screws over every one of us that has been loyal to this airline for so many years when we could have been flying a competitor for less money. It is precisely because of loyalty that I have stuck around with DL now for the last decade through all the bad business decisions and through the current and ongoing devaluation of the SM program. It will also be precisely because of the feeling of being stabbed in the back that I would seriously consider the chance to status match to another airline and see what the grass is like on the other side!
If DL goes to a strictly fare-based program, then those miles I have accumulated with plans on using them in retirement have zero value or very limited value. For those reasons, if this is the future direction of the program, it stinks! It screws over every one of us that has been loyal to this airline for so many years when we could have been flying a competitor for less money. It is precisely because of loyalty that I have stuck around with DL now for the last decade through all the bad business decisions and through the current and ongoing devaluation of the SM program. It will also be precisely because of the feeling of being stabbed in the back that I would seriously consider the chance to status match to another airline and see what the grass is like on the other side!
It's not the earning that we should be so worried about, but the SM redemptions and the drastic changes coming to that. Either a-la-SkyBonus, or, worse, a-la-Pay With Miles (only) redemption based on price, and "Bid on Award Flights" (wow), will eliminate the only remaining useful and good value (though already very limited) way to use up one's SMs: for int'l flights in J. That - earning SMs for a chance to spoil oneself and one's family to fly in J (that would otherwise go out empty or just filled with NRSAs) - now being on the chopping block as of Q3 is what I am really worried about - and we all should be.
Personally I don't care much about earning on flying (that is only marginal anyway) as much as being able to use what I have (and what I get via CC spend) in a way that gives an adequate value in cpm. If it goes down to 1cpm, it'll be pointless to have a DL co-brand CC, then US Bank FlexPerks and other such up to 2cpm cards will make the most sense (1-2cpm value, and airline credit towards food, checked bags, etc.), and AmEx is sure to lose a lot of business. But as AmEx really has such a strong hold on DL, I am not sure will they let DL do this and thus lose them (AmEx) so much business.
Mar 19, 2012, 7:28 pm
#251
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Only on select* routes....
Mar 19, 2012, 7:29 pm
#252
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Did I ever mention or use the word rioting? UA is in a meltdown right now. Word of advise to those wanting to leave the mother ship, head to AA and avoid the implosion that is UA.
Mar 19, 2012, 7:32 pm
#253
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I was looking for flights the other day, and FC was $22.50 more than the lowest available coach fare a month in advance (fare was $600ish RT)...
I think DL should do what CO switched to a while back. If you are a medallion and you buy a full Y fare, you get an instant space-available upgrade. (Let's face it... you're paying for a ticket that is often multiple times the discount FC fares. I seriously doubt DL is losing out on many paid full F domestic flyers in this case.) Everybody else's upgrades come from the V bucket.
Mar 19, 2012, 7:33 pm
#254
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Mar 19, 2012, 7:33 pm
#255
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Maggots!!!
Maybe Delta can hire Gunnery Sgt Hartman to humiliate LU and T fare Meds before each flight to really let them know that they are not going to sit around and take it from those cheapskates any more....