notyouravgjt

I am sorry if this has been discussed before but I just happened to find this interesting "trip extra" on DL website. For only $9 dollars more a person you can have priority boarding. I guess their is no real value of being an FO anymore with DL, other than upgrades. It would be interesting to know how many people purchase this.

Crazyhotelguy

I have ourchased this on AA where I am dirt.

I believe this was announced some time ago.

xliioper

Given that a FO does not have to pay for it, I'm not sure why you would say this somehow proves there's no value to being FO. Your logic seems flawed to me. The fact that DL Gold AMEX holders get it for free would be more of a valid complaint in my book.

HongKonger

Why? They purchased it too, with their annual fee.

jdrtravel

I agree with the OP. This means that FO's board with anyone who wants to either get a credit card or pay a very small amount to board in advance. Delta needs to either allow FO's to board with SKY or give them their own section before the credit cards and now the $9 bunch. I imagine it being hard to feel recognized for loyalty when your "perk" is basically being given away.

mikepa

Even worse is MMs are in their too unless they have earned higher status.

HongKonger

They definitely have earned it!

DL2SXM

FO's can still check one free bag.

agarc

I just don't think the legacy airlines care about the silver tiers...holding the affiliated credit card essential grants the same benefits.

Flying 25k miles probably doesn't yield any significant revenue for the large majority of silver tier fliers so why should any airline offer more benefits for this level? I sincerely do not want to offend silver elite members, especially those on this board, but I honestly believe the airlines care far more about revenue over miles flown. I think we will see a continuing shift from recognizing distance to recognizing total spend. The legacy carriers' definition of loyalty is changing.

Boarding in the Sky zone is hardly a real benefit for higher tier elites, especially if you get stuck at the back of the line...suggesting FO to be included in this zone is a terrible idea. You might as well board everyone together after first class. Adding another boarding group won't solve anything either (e.g. United Airlines).

SCEflyer

You overlook the ability of an FO to select premium seats at the time of booking at no charge. This is a real benefit.

notyouravgjt

For me that was a benefit when I was a NW FO but DL only lets FO select the "premium seats" for free not the "premium premium seats" I remember flying NW from AMS to DTW on an A330 and being able to select 10A for free (HUGE BENEFIT). Now as a DL GM I was asked for another $50 or 10% of my fare to have that seat. I didn't pay it because I am happy with a free seat and using my HOOU for that flight.

Ooompa Loompa

No it does not. The credit card doesn't give 25% more miles, free upgrades, free premium seats on ALL flights, free EC on domestic flights on day of travel, higher priority customer service line, priority waitlist, or discounted EC on international flights. As someone who spent the first 4 months of last year with no status and a credit card, then the next 5 months as an FO, I can tell you these things make a big difference.

jdrtravel

While this might be true of each individual silver level flyer, its not true of them as a group. As a group, I would think that FO's are a significant revenue generator for the airlines. I'd actually be very curious to see what the total revenue of all FO's is compared to the total revenue of all Diamonds. Since there are so many more FO's...(I assume)...I wonder what the difference would be? I suppose the problem is that this revenue is not earned on the individual level, so the airline has less incentive to reward individual loyalty.

Also, priority check in, premium phone line, choice Y seats, discount EC seats and occasional first class upgrades are not benefits that Amex offers....

Lurker1999

I suppose it'll annoy the forum regulars that I find this beneficial to me as I have no status on DL but am using some miles finally to fly a domestic round trip on one of DL's fortress routes. But I guess DL will get a few more dollars out of me as a result.

Interestingly the DL T&C are very customer unfriendly as a voluntary change to your itinerary will void the priority boarding and you'd have to pay up again.

HongKonger

Don't you know facts are overrated?