If these folks are genuinely bringing in a "fair amount of revenue" then they should have nothing to worry about.

Delta's gross sales/revenues were $35B in 2011, perhaps on track for $38B in 2012.
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing...dal/financials

Delta served over 160 million passengers in 2012.
http://news.delta.com/index.php?s=18&cat=47

Gross revenue averages about US$225 per passenger through 3Q 2012.
Thus an FO spending $2500 annually brings in revenues equal to 11 "average" passengers.

Using these measures, the new MQD spend categories seem to indicate that Delta anticipates medallion members generating:
Silver: 11.1 times more revenue than the average passenger
Gold: 22.2 times more revenue than the average passenger
Platinum: 33.3 times more revenue than the average passenger
Diamond: 55.5 times more revenue than the average passenger

Just imagine if Delta could increase the average revenue per passenger to a measly $500 each? Gross sales/revenue would approach $80 billion. Seems significant to me!

Of course we can analyze routes, fares, revenue-per-mile, etc. to chip away at this, but the underlying economics are clear - all medallions are considered in the top 10% of revenue-earners for Delta and well worth cultivating.

The almighty international SWU is worthless. for example...
 

If I buy an S fare and fly JFK to BKK I will spend $5600 on the ticket and earn 36,000 MQM's. If I fly the same route on an M fare it will cost me $4500 and I will only earn 18,000 MQM's. So, for another $1,000 I get an extra 18,000 MQMs. In that sense, this change is actually quite good. Maybe my peresonal change is to make two less JFK to LAX flights a year and buy the TPAC S fare. Delta has made it palatable to buy a J ticket now with the 100% bonus MQM. This folks essentially makes the international usage of an SWU worthless.

Think about it, for the extra grand, no more worrying about Z inventory, get 100% bonus MQM's, its a no brainer. As I said above, I will simply adjust where I take my flights and how many I take. I can easily divert $1,000 of my travel budget to the same ticket.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Just holler if you need help shoehorning your head through the cabin door of your next flight.

Since when are they "giving away the farm"?

I went from being an infrequent flier to a frequent flier on DL (by their definition - MQMs - if not yours). They made the definitions of what a 'frequent flier' is, not me. And now they are pushing the goalposts back.

Like another posted said, I played by the rules. I thought that $1,776 J sale was outstanding. I wish they'd do it more often; I'd give them more business if they did. But now I'm being punished for taking advantage (in part) of a good deal (I don't call that one "giving away the farm")? That I purchased in good faith?

I just purchased an LAX-HNL flight on DL for this weekend the other day. In going through all the available Coach fares that were presented as choices, every single one came up as "Not upgrade eligible". Even fares up to nearly $1000 (just short of the Bus. fare).

Why did I bother getting to Gold then? :confused:

The OP you quote explicitly stated that it was DL that gave away the farm. And nobody is taking the attitude that flyers screwed up. Up until now there has been a group of fliers that have followed the rules to their advantage. Those rules have now changed and everyone has been given plenty of notice.

I guess this means I need to order as many AMEX gift cards as possible to burn miles and re-think my hobbies of MRs.

And as others have stated, I will def be flying with the lowest cost carrier even though I am limited in options.

I don't disagree with anything you said. In fact, that was even how I worded it: Delta gave away the farm. And everyone was playing by the rules. I even said that in an earlier post. But the problem is Delta realized that you can have too much of a good thing, and as has been said by a few in this thread: "If everyone is elite, then no one is elite", and the program is devalued for those who most deserve it. The game is now changing. Delta determined that the current rules were not benefiting them financially, and have decided to make a change. Thankfully Delta has given fair warning so that those who are likely to be impacted can make adjustments or take their business elsewhere.

You bring in revenue but you also cost revenue. If you're a leisure travel on a low-fare ticket, it doesn't take much "lost revenue" in benefits before your benefits are costing DL more than it's making on your ticket. Those who travel for leisure often buy the lowest fare ticket. When a non-elite buys this ticket, DL makes extra money from the non-elite through bag fees, premium seating (if purchased), etc. When an elite buys the same ticket, DL loses out on that revenue. Delta is finally implementing a system to reward those who pay top dollar to show that their business is actually valued. I'm not anywhere near one of the top spenders at DL, but I really do understand their viewpoint and frustration when they're regularly spending $600-800 for a short length flights, but because of the limited MQM earning, can't compete with the guy who is a DM from a few trips to Istanbul at $500 and a few transcons at $200 round trip.

S fares are only 150% MQMs, so you would earn 27k MQMs, not 36k.

This must be developing, because I looked just before wrote that post and they were unchanged. Prompted by something else, I checked again not long after and biz fares were slashed but coach unchanged. Now you're saying there's been cuts across the board. Sucks.

You are right. My work does have any travel requirements so every flight is on my dime. Same for my husband. We can't afford $15,000 dollars each year to maintain our current gold status. So sad! Guess we are looking at Silver for the remainder of our travel days.

True.

But for the folks who would get enough MQM but would be a bit short of the spend requirements, I think they'd be more likely to switch most/all of their spending to other airlines rather than spend a bit more on Delta to actually make FO.

For instance, I made Silver on UA 2 years ago, spending around $2100 (2 transcons and a NYC-BKK, all round trips). If I didn't try for status, I could have flown other airlines and saved proably $50. If there were minimum spend requirements that I wouldn't meet, I wouldn't take extra trips or spend more, I'd just fly with other airlines instead and save the $50.

Before you get too carried away, note that the effect of this won't fully kick in until March, 2015. That's still 25 1/2 months away.

However, it may cause some delay for new DM's in 2014. If they meet the 125K MQM's but not the MQD/AmEx $$$ by the same time, their status will be held up. That will provide some temp minimalization for DM's in 2014.

Only 50% MQM bonus for discount F/J fares. Only full F/J get the 100% bonus.

I totally understand this argument, but it just seems that requiring this for FOs would mean losing more revenue than passengers having a slight preference for Delta. Until you reach FO, there's no loyalty at all, and it doesn't seem smart to lose these travelers. (see my post #603 above about me flying with United)