bubbashow

More often than not, those loss leader fares are a response to competition, NOT the need to fill seats. DL is discovering their fare discipline now is serving them well (and training the customer). Those loss leaders are there and probably forever will be. However, they are now saying the perk of those fares is the transportation itself. Less than .10 per mile is not what they are looking for.

jamesteroh

For hubs I don't think it will really make a difference and people will still MR seeing many will have a Delta credit card and will be exempt from the MQD rule providing they charge $25K a year on the card. The people that put $25K a year on a delta Credit card will still MR as usual.

I am basically forced to take Delta unless I want to connect out of DTW, unless I happen to be flying to a competitors HUB city. And even if I chose to connect I wouldn't have lounge access, being able to SDC easilly onto an earlier flight (something I do a lot), a lot of the competitions planes out of DTW don't have first service service for the first segment, etc. I am sure it's that way for flyers in ATL and SLC as well.

bubbashow

BUT, DL talked to many high-rev Medallions and found out that the flooding of the Medallion levels was a MAJOR sticking point. In addition, I am sure the mileage bonuses are influencing their bottom line. I will use IST again....27,000 banked miles for transporting someone over 13,000 miles and then providing a free domestic ticket on top of it? Not sustainable, considering the domestic ticket in many cases costs more than the IST mileage run.

I am a firm believer in WFBF, but road warriors often can't. Thinning the herd will hopefully give hope (at least the upgrades will go to the right people). SKY boarding that is longer than regular boarding is atrocious. The SkyClubs are a zoo. Yes, DL sells unlimited Day passes, but they also give away a lot of memberships with DM.....this will eliminate that.

Baby steps in the right direction.

DiverDave

"Your loyalty means the world to us, and SkyMiles is one of the ways we like to say thanks."

Let our loyalty program take you further than ever with Medallion® benefits and SkyMiles memberships. It's just our way of saying "thanks".

From http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles.html

David

NYCTraveller

Just wanted to confirm something...

A search of Delta.com for a roundtrip fare between JFK and BCN yields a fare of ~$910 all in. Of that, $551 are taxes/fees. So, if this new policy were in effect now, I'd only get $379 MQD's for this route even through I paid more than double?

TomA

Yeah, it seems no one can see it in themselves. That's kinda the way these things play out 99% of the time.

The extraneous puffery in your OP betrays you. Nice try though.

bubbashow

It's an airline, NOT a lover. LOL.

bubbashow

No...the fuel surcharge will count toward the MQD as well.

javabytes

Don't you hear the way Donald Sutherland talks to us all though?

bubbashow

It is a bit more seductive than Richard Anderson =-).

rylan

Has that been confirmed by a DL representative, or is it just an assumption?

florin

I do understand business. The model is just inconsistent and makes little sense to me.

(a) If paying one's "fair share" for flights is what should matter (i.e. not qualifying only on MRs), then Amex does not fit here, just like mileage runners don't.

(b) If Delta's bottom dollar (DBD) is what matters then Amex clearly is part of this, but then why eliminate earnings on JV TATL flights? Paying for EC, UGs to F/J, baggage fees, ticketing fees, mileage redeposit fees... these are all direct cash contributions to DBD and these should then count towards MQDs. Every time you're forking over cash in favor of DBD, it should count.

Crazyhotelguy

On this we agree.....

Zomba

I just hope that he's wearing pants when he sits at the desk everyday...

bubbashow

On DL.com

Medallion Qualification Dollars: Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) are the sum total of the SkyMiles member’s spend on Delta-marketed flights (flight numbers that include the “DL” airline code), inclusive of the base fare and applicable surcharges, but exclusive of government-imposed taxes and fees.