TheMadBrewer

So how do you score my LAX-(DL)-MSP-(DL)-AMS-(KLM)-NUE -- or even LAX-(KLM/JV)-AMS-(KLM)-NUE flight?

One of my pet peeves with PMNW is they had lots of promo's where 100% of the segments had to have been on NW metal. So the above example got zilch (on the promo). I sure hope Delta isn't dumb enough to do something like that!

I also wouldn't be surprised if the MQD waiver ends up being only for the Reserve card -- and if they do keep it on the Plat DL Amex they remove the bonus MQMs. For a DM (or SC member) the Reserve doesn't give you a lot for the extra fee -- a bit more MQMs (for a higher spend), ability to gift the MQMs and a slight UG priority bump. A change like that might force more to the Reserve card.

SkyTeam777

What we have yet to see is how this is going to affect redemption levels...if redemption becomes based on price, then we are all in trouble. Who is going to pay 500,000 miles for a business class ticket to Europe (besides the people who don't know better and accept what delta.dumb prices out routinely, haha).

The new award chart possibilities scare me.

runninaway

In 2012, when my spend was at 10K I was just a bit under 50K MQMs....from my perspective, having both of us being tied at PM is definitely a good thing.

NewYorkMoscowFlyer64

I wonder if MQDs rollover? Say you start flying delta fresh in 2015.....you fly 150,000 MQM and spend 15,000 MQD. Does that mean that in 2016 for achieving 2017 Diamond status you only need to fly 100,000 MQM and spend 10,000 MQD? Or do only MQMs roll over, but not MQDs.

Also, isn't this new MQD requirement a takeaway of the unlimited MQM rollover? Say a flyer has been flying 175k MQM per year. In theory, they could fly 125k on Delta and 50k on another airline. However, Delta produced a "carrot" called "unlimited MQM rollover" to get the customer to continue flying on Delta rather than flying the competing airline. Now that MQMs are no longer good enough to achieve status, the inducement that was offered to fly over 125k MQMs has been taken away but only after the customers already took the bait and proffered their business. So, Delta induced customers to fly extra all these years since unlimited MQM rollover was introduced, and now that the customer has flown on Delta instead of the other airlines, Delta pulls a "lucy" and takes back the carrot/inducement. Maybe I am misunderstanding, but if this is a correct read, it does not seem like good faith dealing.

bpe

Even if they did come out with a new award chart based on the price of a revenue ticket, it could be done independ of MQD requirements and these other changes to skymiles.

It would also be very difficult to implement for SkyTeam partner bookings - for instance if I wanted to redeem an award on CAN-URC (for arguments sake; a domestic flight within China where Delta doesn't fly to either city), how could they determine the price other than a number on a chart since you can't buy it from Delta? Not saying that it's impossible, just seems unlikely to me. The only airline that does this that I can think of right away is Southwest, and their fares, lack of alliances, and business structure is simply so different that I can't see this working here.

Of course, there's nothing stopping them from simply raising the redemption rates anyways, but that can also be done independently of the new MQD stuff.

itsaboutthejourney

I wish it was so these comments can be joined with that topic.

And you were right? Perhaps best to wait until tomorrow when DL officially announces the latest news? Or when they announce the redemption part? Or when the IT systems are in place to implement fare based awards?

I'd suggest you focus on the merits of the SkyPeso program rather than LedgeT.

BenA

Yes, many of us; even at 5.5cpm, much higher than most of us would consider mileage running for, Diamond can be achieved with $6500 or less in Delta spend. At the typical MR threshold of 4cpm, with a Delta Amex, you could achieve status with as little as ~$4000 in spend. (And I've booked trips as low as 2cpm in the past, which could cut the value even further.) Spend can go down even more if much of your flying is on a partner like AS where revenue might not factor in to the equation (hello, Seattle-based elites).

I'd probably get hit by the spend threshold, but the Amex exception is fortunate and keeps me from grabbing the nearest pitchfork.

The particularly interesting part to me is the reduction in M fare benefits. Many negotiated corporate fares book into M class, and this has the potential to frustrate corporate travelers at large companies - unless this is being done to free up resources that will be allocated to improve upgradability.

mooper

At $0.08/MQM, that's $2,000 per 25,000 MQM, not leaving many more MQMs to be desired for each tier according to the new plan. Throw in various bonus MQMs via non-credit-card channels and only those who earn at very cheap, consistent rates might require a boost. And again, for anyone already utilizing the branded cards to even a modest degree won't be affected. In the worst case scenario, if you've been earning Diamond by flying at, say $0.04 or $0.05/MQM on average with no MQM bonuses on top, you could spend $25K on a branded card and be set.

O Sora

Smells like a trial balloon.

rwoman

Out of pocket, I spent around $11k last year and work spent around $3k for various travels...I had over 125k BIS...so not too far off the $12.5k.

mnredfox

LOL, but our advice is soooo bad. But wait, didn't JR go to one of those big named schools?

Oh, the thought scares me...

craig44485

So I am a DM and fly 5 TPAC's a year, on M fares, use SWU to BE, and spend $13,500+/-. I make a few domestic trips a year also, all in all earning about 135K MQM's, but live full time in the Philippines. Will this effect me at all, and if so how?

Thanks

DeltaFan4Now

I suspect the $25K AMEX spend is linked to the $25K threshold on the DL Plat AMEX - a $30K spend requirement would sound more Reserve-related.

Akiestar

The good thing so far is that all these new rule changes should not affect Medallions outside the United States (for now), and I hope they stay that way.

As far as I'm concerned, my loyalty to DL should not be dependent on how much I spend flying DL. It's not my fault that most of my long-haul flying in the last 1-2 years happened to be on other SkyTeam carriers (KL, AF, CZ and AZ for that matter), and yet I'm an FO anyway. At least I still give DL my business, even though they're not making a buck out of it (though I bet they have ways of doing so anyway).

The revenue-based redemption scheme though is majorly scary. It's expensive enough to redeem tickets to the U.S. from the Philippines: what more if they increase the redemption rates even further?

ryanm

You could be right, and I wouldn't put it past them. But it may not be necessary. I would imagine there are a lot of elites who, in order to spend sufficient MQDs, will end up buying tickets they might otherwise have used miles for. For the past few years, once I knew I'd have 50K+ MQMs (all BIS) for the year, I'd then use miles for a BE ticket to Europe or holiday travel to the west coast family. I don't think I was spending $5K for this, though--I imagine more like $4-$4.5K. So now, to keep gold, I'd need to buy any remaining tickets rather than redeeming miles. DL wouldn't need to devalue its award chart any more, since people like me would so rarely be in the position of getting award tickets. (Unless I've totally shot my wad on maintaining status that I give out award tickets to family members as Christmas presents, since that's all I can afford....)