HongKonger

There are lots of ways to get Amex involved. You can still get points per dollar of Amex spend, bonus points on your flights for having a certain level of Amex card, lower redemption levels or better tier availability for certain levels of Amex card, etc. They will definitely figure out a way to keep Amex happy.

dcline414

Do you think the redemption changes are going to be more complicated than simply expanding the "pay with miles" program to all SM members and eliminating the award calendar and award tickets?

That would explain why they haven't addressed the award calendar issues, and would enable Delta to manage all inventory through pricing, rather than tracking award seats as well. Plus it would more or less "fix" the value of the outstanding miles, so it would control their liability on the books.

Not that I'm a proponent of this, but I would assume it is more or less inevitable.

luv2ctheworld

I've been around FT long enough to see that there are posts that have absolutely no chance of becoming reality, and some that show a logical progression. Others have been fairly spot on. It seems there's questionable circumstantial information... not really enough to kick into real consideration, but there's some logic there.

I recall the UA/CO merger which had some rumors of what the new program would be like. Plenty of heated discussion, and in the end, the reality was that it did resemble some parts of what was rumored but not exactly what was posted. So there can be nuggets of valid information in speculative posts.

Regardless, everything should be taken with a grain, tablet, or bucket, of salt.

But given that I've lost hope on DL, I occasionally drop by the forum to see how much further my SkyPesos have devalued and how much more frequent flyer unfriendly, and loyalty reducing steps DL can take.

mtkeller

Again, how do they provide inventory to their partners under a purely fare-based award scheme? I mean, it's not like they provide much inventory to partners, but it seems there's going to have to be something beyond fare-based. Although, maybe they'll do something like let partners have seats from the cheapest revenue buckets. AF already draws their Premium Voyageur award space from a bucket that's also for revenue purposes. DL could offer E inventory as partner award space as well. Not sure what they'd do for first/business, however.

dcline414

Perhaps Delta would just allow you to pay with miles the same way as they do now, with Delta paying the partner for the portion of the ticket you bought with miles.

Can't you use "pay with miles" on F/J tickets? (I'm not a DL CC holder, and refuse to give in to their pressure tactics.) How would that be different than their current redemption policies?

rylan

Yes you can... just that it'll cost you over 500k miles for that discount intl J ticket whereas it could be 120k-200k miles for an award.
This is where many of us are extremely worried about the new program...

DLdweeb

And how will the Amex shills be able to claim "a free rountrip" when the cost of the ticket is not known?

akonradi

I think that the question was related to members of partner FFPs redeeming for DL awards.

cliburn

I am not sure I am a HVC or not. I buy Y and J tickets when I need to. But I buy L/U/T for leisure. And I will do a MR (or the like -- a totally discretionary trip) to maintain status.
It adds up to Diamond.
But I have normally given 100% of my business to Delta (and Skyteam partners) unless they were WAY out of the ballpark farewise. So normally I do (ex MSP) pay a premium to fly Delta (and since the merger, I find myself connecting more an more, despite being in a hub). I am pretty sure the whole mess would move to another airline if the changes are too dramatic. Award availability already sucks. Elite status has been the driver of my loyalty.

dcline414

My guess would be a travel voucher, which will have restrictions similar to the new E- fare class and forfeited if you make any change.

Basically the same as what you get now: enough miles for free travel on any day that doesn't end in "Y"

kevinjrwagner

So speculation is that DL will move to a revenue-based earning scheme, similar to what SkyBonus already is. But I'm sitting on 300+SMs. I understand how earning could be affected, but does that mean 25K domestic redemptions may also be gone?

DiverDave

Based on past history with DL here, I would doubt that FT is having any impact at Virginia Avenue.

David

dcline414

Maybe the same, but in reverse? Partner pays delta in cash when FF member redeems partner miles for "pay with miles" award travel...

dean1121

I'm dubbing the new program SKY DOLLARS!

And I for one can't wait

bennos

I don't think it's having no impact, I just think the impact it's having is completely unrelated to the decision making process for EOS.

An amusing and perhaps appropriate acronym. Who remembers eos? Targeted HVCs with an all J TATL... lasted 4 years.