Bruce, I respectfully disagree. Looking over the past year, I would have easily met the new spend requirement for PM. I was a few segments short and a few miles over. I am careful to purchase the least expensive ticket available, but scheduling realities mean I'm not always able to purchase when the ticket is cheapest.

It seems DL chose the amounts needed to qualify at each level so as to be easy to attain for business travelers like me, who get status based on flying, but harder for people who were flying for the sake of status. Regular corporate travelers will likely not have to change a thing to make these dollar requirements. My guess is most business travelers will keep on at present activity levels and easily keep qualifying for their present level.

People who might be inclined to purchase more expensive tickets are likely the same ones presently inclined to purchase M or higher for the extra miles. No change.

I would like to know just how valuable us AmEx people are to Delta? What percentage of our purchases are they making? I'm lucky in that my wife and I have a side business reselling goods. We average well over $50k/year on our Amex. The funny thing is, I hate our customers at our office who use AmEx, and contemplated not accepting it anymore. They charge too much, and take an extra business day to credit my account.

Dear Moderators

I have a plea....

Can we have TWO threads. One that's locked and only the Delta "posters" who actually WORK for Delta can post to with the actual info? And another for the UMPTEEN pages of "rants", "fighting" and "I am taking my business to carrier X" (And you guys have reached a new low with the "physically small" comment. This is not a locker room LOL!)

I am sure there is useful info in here, but I expect a lot of us don't have time to read the 10,000 posts that aren't really useful. (Luckily I was able to just search on Dwayne's posts but... really do we need 54 pages of whining as a sticky? I know we can't avoid it, but stickeys IMHO should be for useful facts!)

LOL. Unless I am Jeff Robertson, Richard Anderson, or any rung on the corporate ladder in between using some random radio guy's id....NO.

I just express a clear "OTHER SIDE" of the argument on here that seems to infuriate others to the point of mudslinging, immature insults regarding endowment, etc....which further cements my point of view (especially to any company lurkers).

Anyone with ANY business acumen that has stepped foot on a DL plane in the last year knew this was coming. It had to come.

I HAD to go to IST to assist a friend that is a missionary in Turkey. The entire plane was nothing, but mileage runners. To listen in on conversations in the club, to see how this group (granted, anecdotal observations) behaved and discussed their "elite" status made it oh-so-obvious there are A LOT of gamers that are playing. Yes, DL set up the rules that made the "gaming" legal, but now they have changed them. Thank God. 2015 can't come soon enough!

Imaginary Memo from Delta HQs:

To all employees traveling on company business,

It has come to our attention that many of you are finding the lowest possible prices at various hotel chains and putting them on your expense accounts.

This practice has to stop immediately!

You are demonstrating a complete lack of loyalty to Hilton, Starwood, Marriott, etc, when you book a room for $60 per night when you can get that exact same room for $200.

Moreover, you are endangering your status at these hotels and that is something which is completely unacceptable to Delta. It is embarrassing to us to have employees who have low (or worse, no) status. We realize that you cannot always manage to reach top level, but you certainly can become middle level at any chain which you frequent and get free bottles of water, no charge for the internet, or even upgrades to better rooms when the hotel is almost empty.

In the future, when you book a hotel room at a rate lower than that which you could have paid, you will have to justify this and get your department manager's approval before you will be reimbursed by Delta.

I agree...

My manager flies WN since he is mostly flying short hops at high cost. Since he does not fly internationally for pleasure, he could not earn status on DL despite being higher revenue than I. I fly DL and UA since I fly a mix of long-hauls at low cost for leisure and short-hauls at high cost for business, and I take the upgrade benefits on those short flights despite the low miles earned.

Delta's MQD requirement should move my domestic spend from UA to DL, and long-haul spend from Asian Skyteam carriers and Star. However, this change to MQM earnings decreases the overall utility of flying Skyteam internationally.

Since I really do not care about domestic upgrades that much, perhaps I'll use WN for high cost short-haul flights (Business Select is a solid rebate!). I can credit occasional DL flights to AS, giving me perks on AA and DL. The most important DL benefit for me is EC seating on DL and KL's international flights, but other carriers are also adding similar options at reasonable cost, and I get a 50% discount if AS MVP...and I do get Y+ on UA now.

So we conclude that the much hoped for winowing of the elite ranks (by some) is just that - empty hope.

Oh---it will thin them. There wouldn't be so much panic in the streets if this wasn't going to affect status standings.

No, there will still be winnowing, but it will come less from the true business traveler who is purchasing a mix of low, medium and high fares and more from the people who are solely purchasing low fares. In other words, the people who are spending money with DL will keep their status. The people who aren't spending money with DL will be winnowed.

It seems DL chose the dollar amounts toward the midpoints of what the people in each medallion level are currently spending. That would mean winnowing about half of each level.

Besides, if the point of the program is to maximize DL's profits, doesn't it make sense reward should be based on money, which can become profit, and not miles flown, which is cost?

I, for one, look forward to 2015!

+1,000 ^

A compliment and a recommendation
 

Regardless of where I stand regarding this announcement, the fact that Delta proactively communicated this out to the masses so far in advance is something to be applauded. It was timely, leaves a full year for anyone to make adjustments to their loyalty if they so desire, and was backed up with an initial set of FAQ. Well done!

Recommendation: Add MQD to the MySkyMiles now! (even though it does not count yet.)

Let people see how their spend gets calculated during 2013 calendar year so they can get used to it for 2014.

I couldn't agree more. I pay for everything out of pocket and I'm never close to the cents per mile to maintain my gold status, even at 70,000 miles per year. I'm not complaining, it just is what it is. I'm going to enjoy my status which will last 2 more years. I may even make platinum this year if with an extra push. After that, I'll have to figure it out.

To be clear, this was announced less than 24 hours ago, not 3 days. And it applies beginning in January 2014. Why would someone think a phone agent would be fully versed? The agent was clearly speculating, based upon her perceptions of the motivations and what is, to be frank, a quite naive view of how this might be accomplished. I mean, does she think that DL is unable to track revenue from DL flights booked on other carriers' stock? Really?

As for "officially" putting this matter to rest. They have. The FAQs clearly state that DL flight numbers earn MQDs. What, exactly are you looking for? Why are you assuming a qualification to an unqualified statement?

Because I've grown increasingly weary of the wild speculation and the constant demands that DL address every ill-conceived rumor that pops up. In this case, we have a demand that DL address something that they have already clearly, and in plain English, addressed!

The lack of earning for a non-DL coded flight is an issue. But it wasn't the concern that BER raised and it wasn't the one that I responded to.

This whole thing is bogus. Is this in part because the medallion status flyers have increased so much over the past two years?

Either way, we need to take a stand against this.