StayingHomeIsBetter

It's possible that they might offer, as a carrot, an assurance that we can continue to use "Old Miles" under the old rules, as long as we have "old Miles."

After all, they have already used that dodge once to their advantage.

Those of us who have been around long enough will remember the last wholesale devaluation of mileage accounts. We were told then that "Old miles will always be old miles."

That lasted a few years, and then "always" took on a different contextual meaning.

bubbashow

^

Thank God someone else is making sense.

I can't imagine 1/2 of the people on here having any real-world business experience or dealing with customers. The level of crazy is off the charts when dealing with DL. It's a business!

DLdweeb

Similar to 1MM getting lifetime FO. Now it's "complimentary annual FO". I think we can infer where this is heading.....

nebraskaboy

+1 I would have a fat savings account right now if I would not have spent much of my discretionary money with Delta by knowing that my weekend trip to XYZ would net me a great travel experience with possible/probable upgrades, lounge access (which I am happy to pay for), and miles that I can reasonably redeem for International travel. Because of my great experiences I am constantly extolling the virtues of Delta to friends and family and have even convinced my partner's company to switch the majority of their travel to Delta.

With a revenue based program that only sees YBM customers as beneficial, none of this would likely have happened. I would likely have just chosen the cheapest price vs. sticking with one carrier for the possible benefits.

fti

Yep. Delta is a business alright. A business that often promulgates lies and half-truths (see above). No wonder people on here are so antsy. Delta's past actions (over and over again) made them so.

SOBE ER DOC

Pot calling Kettle. Pot calling Kettle. Come in Kettle. I have something I need to tell you.

Not that you necessarily intended it this way, but I hope you understand this comment is a bit sexist on quite a few levels.

StayingHomeIsBetter

Actually, to be fair, when I last asked I was told that, if you attained a certain MM level before the rule was changed, you retain the lifetime status.

So I was a lifetime FO as a 1MM (because I hit that threshold back in the 1990's). But now, as a recent 2MM, I am an "annual complementary" GM.

I have wondered... if they do away to the "annual complementary" benefits, do I revert to being a lifetime FO? Of course, by then, they will likely be requiring the FOs to serve as baggage loaders before allowing them to board.

Of course, "lifetime" has various and sometimes unusual meanings in the DL management vernacular. Flying Colonels were originally told that they would have lifetime Crown Room membership. So, when it comes to "lifetime"... YMMV.

lordsutch

Look, due to SOX, SEC rules, etc., a publicly-traded company like Delta is not going to announce (or even hint at) serious changes to SkyMiles that would have a material impact on their balance sheet (eg their giant liability in unredeemed SkyMiles) in a message board thread. They'll announce what they want to announce when they're ready in a press release and coordinated website roll-out, and not a millisecond before.

So feel free to speculate away, but anyone who actually knows anything isn't going to say jack, lest they get to spend some quality time in Martha Stewart's old jail cell for a while.

babe11

Hmmmm....thought that was you. Absolutely hilarious comments made by someone who has a history with "The Hog Incident". No wonder the reference made to "roll in the mud".

Etereve

DeltaFan4Now

LOL. I think what you mean, is burning skymiles in a panic, especially at the HIGH level...

bocastephen

That ship already sailed via the job postings which already hint at serious changes to the Skymiles program. Whether or not it has a "material impact on their balance sheet" will depend on how customers react to the reality of these changes.

We started moving customers away from UA to DL a few months ago, but with the new DL rules on reward and upgrade ticket changes and now the uncertainty of where SM is headed, we are going to start moving customers to AA, especially given their D-EQM programs where our customers can ramp up their status quickly.

I know my customers are already unhappy with this level of uncertainty and it's my responsibility to communicate this sort of information to them so informed decisions can be made about upcoming travel budgets.

When the 'revenue based' rumors hit UA, there was no comment from the company either - but all we had to work with was the unsubstantiated information from one source which the company jokingly poked at when the 2012 program was finally announced. This situation, with descriptive job orders and project names is completely different and Delta needs to be very careful here. I'm amazed how they didn't consider this information would get out and make its way over here.

canadatosiberia

Wowza - 2 day hiatus, and this gong show is still rolling with steam!

I am guessing that DL has figured out that they need to communicate ASAP, or maybe not... might have been in their interest NOT to put their name on some of the job postings, etc, but maybe it was their way of getting around SEC rules??? Let it out, people rebel before it actualy happens, then when it goes through everyone just lies down and takes it. May also be connected to the bigger gonger over at UA/CO right now - like how bad news from government comes out during disasters...

StayingHomeIsBetter

We have seen situations in the past where the DL Right Hand did not know what the DL Left Hand was doing.

And, more generally, DL management has not demonstrated an acute awareness that the laws of cause and effect sometimes produce negative results.

Dovster

Not only does DL change the price of M fares, it also makes them disappear.

I just took a look at 3 itineraries, all (non-stop) TLV-JFK-TLV:

The first leaves on April 8 (it gets into JFK on Easter Monday, when many businesses are closed) and returns on April 13 (arriving in TLV on Saturday, when everything is closed). Price for M fare: $2618.60.

The second leaves on April 16 (Monday) and returns on April 22 (the following Monday). No M fares are offered. The lowest available price is C at $4809.

However, if you want to leave TLV two days later (April 18 -- Wednesday), meaning that there are only two business days left in the week, and stay until April 25 (arriving on Thursday afternoon, giving you only 1 Israeli business day), M is available at $2543.00.

In short, reasonable M fares can be had, but you have to look for the days when businessmen don't want to travel.